Games Books

The ups and downs. The highs and lows. The good the bad and the ugly of LV advantage playing. Could not put it down.

Read it all in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down!

LV Pro is a card counter. He turns himself from a degenerate losing gambler into a degenerate winning card counter and shares all the details as he proceeds to build his bankroll trip after trip, beating the casinos at their own game of blackjack. Unlike the high-rolling whiz-kids on the MIT team in Bringing Down the House, LV Pro grits it out, starting on small teams, but deciding to make it on his own. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas is the usual rule, but not this time. The good games, the interesting folks who count cards and pursue them, sex, drugs, and money...all find their way into this genuine account of one man's pursuit of the Vegas dream.

I too have been following LVPro's adventures in the Blackjack Insider newsletter. When I heard that he was compiling a book of his trips, I just had to read it and see how it all started!

His approach to grinding out an advantage in BJ play against the casinos was written in a much more realistic style than other books I have read on the subject. I could relate to his goals, problems, highs and lows in his pursuit of the elusive bankroll.

His style of writing is easy to read as well as humorous. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and found many nuggets of knowledge that I can apply to my own pursuits.

I have followed Barfarkel's trip reports as posted on bj21.com for many months now. "You've Got Heat" is a compilation of the reports that blackjack fans have followed for several years on bj21.com and on Henry Tamburin's Blackjack Insider site.

"You've Got Heat" is not a how-to manual on card counting. It is, however, a very entertaining read about the author's journey into both the secretive world of the card counter and the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas.

Books such as "Bringing Down the House" would have one believe that card counters live a lavish existence and routinely throttle casinos for millions of dollars. "You've Got Heat" dispels this myth and shows that the card counter faces an enormous challenge. Barfarkel describes the emotional highs and lows of his grind against the casinos in a very straightforward fashion.

Las Vegas guidebooks and Travel Channel specials generally show only the glitz and the glamour of Sin City. "You've Got Heat" explores the various cultures and subcultures of Las Vegas from many angles, ranging from the ritzy shows at the Bellagio and other high-end Strip properties to the prostitutes, vagrants, and other unsavory characters at the city's numerous run-down casinos.

Anyone with an interest in either Las Vegas or blackjack will like Barfarkel's book. Frequent Vegas travelers can learn a great deal from Barfarkel's experiences. All aspiring card counters should read this book so that they may thoroughly understand the focus and discipline required for long-term success.

This book is the best damn book in the history of mankind! The level of detail and craftsmanship is not to be believed. I bought fifty and handed them out on the street to change people's lives. There's a rumor that after reading this book, a scientist was inspired and found cures for 4 different diseases!

Actually, I bought the book and it's very cool. "Wild" Bill Abner is a gifted writer and his love of gaming comes through in every page.

Don't let the title of this book fool you, this is not your standard Almanac. Bill Abner has crammed more information into this title then I though possible.

The format is terrific with one page essays on the games of 2005, Closet classic's, older titles and of course my personal favortie the corporate graveyard. Besides being an incredible fun read, this book is informative. The little tid bits at the bottom of each page and the quotes from developer interviews just ads so much to the book.

No matter how much you think you know about games, Abner knows more and he will pass these gems of knowledge on to you in this title.

Sticking a date and the word "almanac" on this really does a bit of a disservice to this fine collection of essays. The word conjures images of data and trivia when in reality Bill Abner has provided nothing less than a compelling piece of gaming literature. This work functions as so many things: a state-of-gaming address, an introduction to gaming sub-genres, a guide to classic gaming and, as they say, "much, much more."

The unifying thread which keeps this collection from disorder and disorganization is the lively and straightforward writing of Bill Abner. Abner is an absolute authority on gaming who couples his knowledge with a witty and direct writing style that never threatens to get geeky or preachy. The enthusiasm and energy Abner brought to this project is palpable not only in his writing but in the breadth, and sometimes obscurity, of the topics covered. He places games into the context of the greater gaming world, extending back to its obscure origins in the late 70's and early 80's, rather than simply reviewing 2005. Best of all for the reader, his enthusiasm is contagious and will leave you smiling, reminiscing and certainly searching out several new games.

I was introduced to gaming in 1994 when my wife bought me a bargin bin PC football game at Target. The game was Front Page Sports Football Pro, and it led me to start playing PC and then console games. Along the way, I read Bill Abner's reviews and thoughts in the form of website or magazine reviews or usenet posts and message board comments. His thoughts were always well written and intelligent. If he liked a game, chances are it was a good game.

One game in particular was High Heat 2000. I had been on the outs with baseball after the last big strike and had not given much of a thought to baseball - real or in a game - for several years. Bill's reviews of High Heat 1999 and comments on the upcoming 2000 version made me interested in a game that apparently had depth and a lot to offer, and eventually that game even brought me back to the real game on the field. After taking that good advice, I started following his reviews closely. He always gives his honest opinions and never tries to oversell or undersell a game. When there were bugs in High Heat, he pointed them out. When the AI was questionable in a game, he made that clear in his review -even if he understood that his audience might not care as much as he did about the dropped passes in NCAA 2005. There were games that Bill disliked but that I ended up playing and liking, but that did not stop me from enjoying his perspective.

He does the same thing in this book. He gives his honest thoughts about the games he has played. In fact, the best thing I can say about this book is that there are pages about games that I could care less about and will never play - but I read them anyway. I am a limited gamer - mostly sports games with an occasional FPS thrown in for variety. But that did not stop me from enjoying his essays on adventure games or puzzle games or even children's games.

The reason is that he is a good writer. These essays and reviews are written by someone who is passionate about gaming and has the knowledge and imagination to convey his thoughts and opinions. He was faced with a difficult task - writing about a subject that moves faster than the speed of the internet and games that are old news a week after release. But what he writes is not old news. The games may be months or even years old, but the essays hold up. I have no doubt that I will discover a game from the pages of this book that I would not have played otherwise. It might be an old game I pick up in a bargin bin, or it may be a new game by a developer he brings to my attention in this book.

If you like playing computer or video games and you like good writing, this book is for you. If you want to learn about video games this is a great place to start. The book is well written and well edited. It is easy on the eyes - not an issue to many gamers but an old timer like me appreciates publishers who use a good font/font size and utilize intelligent layout and production values. It is also well priced. While you are waiting for that new game to appear on the shelves, you can spend your time reading this book.

I bought this for my dad, who loves games but doesn't really know what's out there. I can tell him what I think he should buy, but this book was a perfect read for him. There was a lot of stuff I hadn't even heard of like the game Fate. Great stuff. Dad particularly liked the Bargain Bin stuff (good games for $20 or less.) It's a pretty big book but it's a very very easy, fast, and fun read. It's a very unique book. I dont know of anything else like it.

I personally enjoyed the grab bag essays and even though I already know most of the games discussed in the book, for a newbie gamer or for someone just getting back into the hobby this is A+ material.

A word of warning: this is NOT a book to buy if you want to dig deep into each game. Each game gets 1 page but there's SO much content in it I think it makes it a faster and better read. Plua you can go online if you want to get more info.

Also, this is not a book for people wanting all the dirt on the PS3. It's barely covered. Still, I think it's worth getting, particularly if you're not a super hardcore gamer.

This product helped my grand daughter who was having math difficulty better understand math concepts. She was having fun at the same time.

This is a book your kids will enjoy, as far as you would ever expect your kids to enjoy a math workbook. The puzzles do build up a bit of suspense, and I like the problem solving approach. Recommended!

Nice and challenging. My kids are happy with it. I give them one challenge from this book on the drive to school every morning and give them 10-15 mins to complete. It's nice to have books like this. They're only 8&9 but they cover most of it.

I used a couple of these mysteries in my 5th grade classroom. The students enjoyed them because it was different then the way they usually practiced problem solving. The only downside to this book is that I think it is more challenging than the ages suggested. There were only a few stories that were appropriate for my 5th graders and those were still very challenging for them. I wouldn't reccommend this book to someone with a general ed. 4th grade classroom but it is perfect for junior high (6th, 7th, 8th) students!

I'm a private math tutor and am using this book as a Friday reward for two sixth grade girls who are studying algebra one with me. It is challenging in some interesting ways. It is full of story problems to be unraveled, about two kids who are detectives. I had given it to my daughter, who was the first year teacher and she said her kids loved it more than any other part of math. They can be solved alone or in groups. I really recommend this book.

Having worked with great pros like Dave Stockton, Lee Janzen and others, a psychologist and her husband work with more than 300 PGA pros comparing their mental game abilities with those of champions.

The areas considered are: focus and concentration, abstract thinking, emotional stability, dominance and competitiveness, tough-mindedness, self-assurance, self-sufficiency and opimum arousal and tension management.

On each section, they give a questionaire, which then you score and see your abilities comparative to those of champions. For example, on focus those scoring 8.0 and higher have good routine and focus on last round, while my score was 5.6. Suggests ways to improve.

As another reviewer pointed out, one can take more complete inventory and send in for assessment.

This book is definitely for the player who seriously wishes to improve their game with effort and persistence.

We spend so much time pounding balls at the range when we really know that most of our mistakes are mental?? I thought this book was GREAT! I followed it last summer and my handicap dropped from 12 to 8 and I played less practice rounds. Next spring I plan to continue working on the mental side of my game (with this book) and hopefully drop a couple more strokes. This book would also be a great read for the off-season.

I filled out the GolfPsych questionnaire and Deborah and John gave me the results comparing me to the traits of champion golfer's. Although most of my results didn't surprise me, I wouldn't realize the rational behind their theory until my game went south. I always thought I could analyze my shot result and correct it immediately. What I have since found out with their help and the concepts in this super book, is how much all that analyzing contributed to my problem. I'm looking forward to finishing the entire program. If you want to play better golf and enjoy it more, you have to read this book!!!

As a professional golfer, I've found this book to be of great help. I plan to take the test Dr. Graham and Mr. Stabler write about to clear the cobwebs and play to my advantages. What a relief!!

this is instruction for the future. the pro or scratch am can't compete without this edge. the answers to why we play the way we do are no longer a mystery, buy the book!

I bought this book a week ago. Although I haven't had time to study it all in depth, I already like it more than my other opening books. I already played the accelerated Dragon, without knowing a lot of theory.

Many Whites play some sort of move order to reach the Yugoslav variation of the Dragon. That's not possible against the Accelerated, since Black can play ...d5!. But there are many tactical points in those lines to make Black equalize or win a pawn right away, and I always missed them. This book will allow me to punish mistakes every White seems to make, and I like that most :).

Furthermore, this is an opening book with quite a lot of text. It starts out with an overview of typical plans for both sides, and in the analysis chapters, many moves are accompanied with a small line saying what the idea is. I know I played many moves from other books not knowing why...

And it is complete. Aside from the main Accelerated e4 c5 Nf3 Nc6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 g6, it also covers lines like the hyper-accelerated (e4 c5 Nf3 g6) which I sometimes like to play to avoid 3.Bb5, in 23 pages!, and things like the dubious e4 c5 Nf3 Nc6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6.

The authors are absolute Accelerated enthusiasts so maybe there is a small Black bias, but I think most people who want to buy this book play it as Black anyway. The opening is completely playable.

I am one of those people who doesn't play the Sicilian often, because of how sharp and bookish it can be. In particular, the Sicilian Dragon is something I play only in the least important blitz games, as there are so many variations, and one's king gets stormed so darn often. From hard experience, I'd known that the Yugoslav variation stuff doesn't work against the accelerated dragon, but I'd never known the move sequences nor how to deal with all those c4 Maroczy Bind situations. This book capably tells you how to play the Accelerated, how to turn back white's efforts to try the Yugoslav Attack, and how to deal with the bind. It has a nice chapter on the Hyper Accelerated, and a mildly throwaway chapter on the Semi Accelerated system with ...Nc6 and ....g6. This is a good book, easily understandable by a B player like myself. Well done.

This book supplied lots of practical information. A "must have" for the dedicated chess player.

The Sicilian Dragon is an exciting opening to play as black but dangerous too. This is an excellent book for those who love to play the Dragon. Dragon players should add this one to their opening collections. It contains some tactical themes too. Shows how to play against whites setups, including the Maroczy Bind. Very solid and theoretical. Advanced players will find this one useful too.

In an earlier review about "Chess Openings for Black, Explained (A Complete Repertoire) by Lev Alburt", I've stated that GM Dzindzichashvili left out the line starting with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qa5 as on his 4th DVD of "Roman's Encyclopedia of 40 Essential Chess Openings" featuring also the Accelerated Dragon. Instead, he only treats the main line where Black plays 7...0-0, not 7...Qa5 (assuming that it was him who wrote the part on the Accelerated Dragon - read my review there if you wonna know why I think this is so).

For people who have this DVD, I've got good news: the book "Accelerated Dragons" (Everyman Chess - by J.Silman and J.Donaldson - first published 1998 and reprinted 2004) contains 38 pages (!) devoted to this particular line. Note: instead of 13.a3 a5 (Dzindzi's recommendation) they only mention 13...b4 and 13...a6, so maybe 13...a5 really is part of Dzindzichashvili's (later?) revelation on this line...

Accelerated Dragons also spends 22 pages on the Hyper Acc. Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6) although there's one little error on page 296; the authors mixed up two games. They wrote: (after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 Bg7) "4.dxc5 Na6? 5.Bxa6 bxa6 6.Qd5 Rb8 7.Qe5 and Black resigned in a few more moves in Braley-Pupols, Match 1970", but this way White simply drops his queen to the bishop on g7! The actual move order came from a Smith-Morra Gambit (in a friendly reply from J. Silman regarding this matter, he didn't mention which game exactly though): 1.e4 c5 2.d4 g6 3.dxc5 Na6 4.Bxa6 bxa6 5.Qd5 Rb8 Qe5.

Summarizing: in the book "Chess Openings for Black,explained" the "Anti-Yugoslav Variation" (with 7.Bc4 Qa5) is lacking completely, although on DVD 4 of "Roman's Encyclopedia of 40 Essential Chess Openings", GM Dzindzichashvili recommends this line to be used as a major weapon for Black after White plays 7.Bc4.

One thing Dzindzichashvili and Silman/Donaldson have in common: they both give the line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 (2...g6, Dzindzi, but this transposes) 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.f3? (their evaluation) Qb6 9.Bb3 Nxe4 which, according to them, wins a pawn for Black after White plays 10.Nxe4 Bxd4 (Dzindzi, page 62) or 10.fxe4 Bxd4 (Silman/Donaldson, page 11).

This assessment is probably wrong (I've read this in a review on "Chess Openings for Black, Explained (A Complete Repertoire)" written by "A.J. Goldsby I "A.J.G."". He says:

'Also - on page 62, there is another oversight. After 8.f3?, Qb6!; our team of authors provide the following comment: "Black threatens ...Nxe4 and ...Qxb2. White does not have an adequate defense - for example: 9.Bb3, Nxe4!; 10.Nxe4, Bxd4; and Black wins a Pawn." All this might be true, but 10.Nxe4? is a terrible move, ('??'); White has to play 10.Nd5!, with a fairly good game. Play could then continue: 10...Qa5+[]; 11.c3 Nc5; 12.Nxc6 dxc6; 13.Nxe7+ Kh8; 14.Nxc8 Raxc8; (Fritz confirms that this is Black's most solid move in this position.) 15.0-0. ("+/=") White is slightly better due to the two Bishops, the computer confirms that Black cannot play ...Nxb3; anytime soon, as this releases the WR on a1. (Bobby Fischer reached this position as early as 1958!!!) See the contest: GM W. Watson - GM M. Chandler; ICT / Lloyds Bank (Open) / London, ENG/UK; 1984. (All this was adequately covered in a book on the Accelerated Dragon - published a few years ago, written by IM's John Donaldson and IM J. Silman. There was also a good book on this opening by GM's P.H. Nielsen and C. Hansen, published in 1998, I believe.)'

This reviewer obviously skipped page 11 of "Accelerated Dragons", but I do get the impression he knows what he's talking about concerning White's refutation of 8.f3 Qb6 9.Nxe4 (by playing 10.Nd5 instead of 10.Nxe4 or 10.fxe4).

So, except for a few minor errors in "Accelerated Dragons" and the inconsistency between Dzindzi's DVD featuring the Accelerated Dragon and his new book (as I've explained above), the two books "Accelerated Dragons" and "Chess Openings for Black, Explained" together should provide a pretty thorough guide to the (Hyper) Accelerated Dragon.

The book covers everything from the basics of setting up a scene with lighting to writing your own shaders with detailed descriptions of the Renderman API. Overall, excellent overview for the intermediate graphics prefessional.

The world of computer graphics books is filled with fat, pricy tomes that are frankly little better than rehashes of the manual. "Advanced Renderman" is a completely different sort of book.

While Renderman is the ostensible subject, the authors actually cover the entire graphics workflow-- and explain the "why" of it all. Their section on anti-aliasing, for example, is concise, complete, and makes clear the implications of all those little doo-hickeys in 3DS -- you remember the AR explanation better, because its based around how rendering works, rather than how a particular application works (which may change in the next rev, anyway)

Smart guys, smart book-- highly recommended.

This is a great book, written in clear and understandable English. It proivded me (a novice) great information about the RenderMan interface. Not only did it provide a reference to the various API calls, but it also includes an introduction to the basic maths behind it, as well as chapters that discuss CG in general. A thoroughly well written, useful and informative book. It is indespensible for any RenderMan user and in fact, for any CG artist.

This book is written by six renowned professionals in digital lighting field. Even you are not a shader programmer, chaper 1 and 13 show the aesthic architecture of lighting composition and tell us the beauty of 'Photosurrealism'. The depth of each paper is just amazing and you can find more beautiful tecnical information from other papers written by the same authors.

This book far exceeds both The Renderman Companiona and Texturing and Modeling: A procedural approach(Two very good books) in the presentation of massive amounts of information, as well as simplicity of presentation. While this book does sort of deal more with BMRT and PRMan(look at the authors, sheesh...) than the Interface, per se, it does a very nice job of presenting information specifically geared towards them. The inclusion of a section on mathmatics and physics is especially appealing for me, because I'm not yet out of high school. Anyway, if you aren't too much of a miser, buy this book.

Oh, and since these reviews are not supposed to reveal cruical plot elements: There IS a self shading cloud shader!

This is one of my favorite books by John and I would highly recommend it to any intermediate to advanced folder. Like most of his books, it gives you some fairly simple models to start out on (grass, tree) and then move to some more intermediate ones (various African birds, snake, crocodile, etc.) Getting into the more difficult animals you have things like a hippo, gorilla, chimp, aardvark, etc. Next you will tackle models like the elephant, rhino, gazelle, plain giraffe and lion. Finally when you are ready to tackle the hardest models, you have his "multi-colored" animals which make full use of both side of traditional origami paper, the striped zebra and the spotted giraffe. You can see John's developing skill as one of the premier origami authors in this book. The diagrams are all wonderfully done and easy to follow for any experienced folder, and the models themselves are all quite detailed, even some of the easier ones are beautifully representative of the real animal. John clearly puts effort into making a number of these models capable of standing up and often having 3 dimensional aspects such as the lion and hippo in this book which have large bulky heads similar to the live counterpart. If you love animals and love origami, this is definitely not a book to miss!

This was my first "intermediate" origami book. I really enjoyed the fact that the models are spread out over several different levels of difficulty. You can start out with the simpler animals and gradually advance to the more complex, ending with the hardest model in the book, a striped Zebra. It took me 4-5 hours to complete the zebra, but I am so proud of it! For anyone who has experience folding, this is a great book!

For all you John Montroll fans out there, buy this book. For everyone else, buy this book also! It is one of the best books for animals, with a wide variety of difficulty levels. From simple 'grass' to complex striped zebras, this book has it all. I enjoyed making some of the more unique models, like the bee-eater and rhinoceros. Another nice thing about this book in particular is that the models are much different than what are in many other books. Because the theme is Africa, a lot of the animals in this book I have never seen made in another book. (Some however, have been made elsewhere, and quite honestly, better, such as the elephant and gorilla).
The Bottom Line:
If you like Montroll, animals, or semi-complex models, buy this book. If you are a beginner, there may be better choices, likewise, if you are an expert, there isn't a lot to whet your appetite. For everyone else, a great book for your collection.

This is my most favoured book in Origami. I have done all the models from the zebra, giraffe, elephant. All models are par excelance. Montroll is my best folder. I think folders who like folding animals should try Racoon from Inside our Origami book by Montroll.

This is a great book for experienced folders. This one along with North American Animals makes a great pair. One thing I find missing in most reviews is the contents is so here it is. There are 24 models in African Animals in Origami and they are Grass, Tree, Sacred Ibis, Crowned Crane, Flamingo, Crocodile, Hippopotamus, Snake, Chameleon, Bee-Eater, Hoopoe, Hornbill, Gorilla, Chimpanzee, African Elephant, Ostrich, Vulture, Aardvark, Rhinoceros, Gazelle, Lion, Zebra, Giraffe, and Spotted Giraffe. Happy Folding.

This book compiles all known games played by Alexander Alekhine over his career. It includes many (MANY) games from Simultaneous displays, as Alekhine did so many of these exhibitions all over the world, throughout his career. It also includes every 'serious' tournament game, and all of Alekhine's match games, along with many consultation and blindfold games. This is not a biography, although there are light biographical sketches periodically, and also information on his travels between each new destination.

As with every McFarland Chess book I own, the physical quality is quite high -- hardcover, very well bound.

There is a lot to like -- I'd consider it the only book on Alekhine's games anyone would need, but for two slight drawbacks:

First, not every serious game is annotated. This is not a really serious problem, because the games which are not annotated are generally annotated elsewhere. For example, none of the Alekhine/ Capablanca match games are annotated, despite the fact that Alekhine annotated most of his wins and some of the draws for his best games collection. It's hard to fathom why they were not included here. This makes it less all inclusive than it would otherwise be.

Second, all the annotations are Alekhine's. This is a minor issue, since his notes are generally accurate and good. Still, notes by other players would be nice, especially in the way it was done in Forster's epic biography of Amos Burn (in my opinion, the book by which all other Chess biographies should be measured). Forster commonly included notes by several players of the day within individual games, and he often added his own notes, or annotated a game fully himself where no other notes were available.

Another slight demerit to this book are a regrettable number of typos. I have not noticed any in the prose of the book, but I have noticed a few in the game notes, just going from a random sample of games.

That said, this is a great work. I wish it had been more of a true biography/ games collection, but that would have made the book absolutely huge, and a truly monumental work, as Alekhine lived, as the saying goes, in 'interesting times'.

This is a wonderful book in any Chess lover's collection, and is a true desert island book.

Alekhine was not just World Champion, he was important for the development of Chess itself. He thought in terms of what it meant to unbalance the position. Alekhine took this concept and forced it into his games. Whether he was on the hunt with his own attack, or desperately defending he relished positions in which he could take some advantage he had and use it to the maximum. That he greatly favored being the attacker is obvious. This book is the most complete collection of his games in existence and will reward your study many times over. Not for the beginner, it is very expensive but worth every penny

This book is truly a marvelous book to have in my library. I have been collecting chess books since 1969 and despite having almost 500 chess books not much comes close. This book most clearly resembles the excellent two volume book on Rubinstein by John Donalson and Nicolay Minev. As big as a phone book this book does not easily fit on all bookshelves. The only caveat is that there could have been more anotated games. One example is that all the games from NY 1924 should have been annotated as Alekhine himself annotated all the games from the tournment and all of his games from that tournment should have been annnotated.

This book is excellent! It is expensive but worth every penny! It would have been nice if it included some rare photos but this is very minor. Even if you own other works of Alekhine's this is still a good book to have because of it's completeness. The publisher has other chess books of this quality on chess masters such as Capablanca, Marshall, Steinitz and Reshevsky.

This book is everything Amazon's desription says. And it's a very solid hard-cover job, with excellent layout and printing. Some interesting biography bits prefacing each chapter were new even to a die-hard Alekhinbe fan like me.
Finally a book that does him justice. One could only wish that *all* the games were annotated, à la "Chess Stars" series (I have all four Tal volumes), but it's really hard to complain about a fine book like this.

We have been reading various books to my daughter for the past 5-6 months. Now she is a year old and this is one book she points to and insists we read. She turns the pages on the book and bounces up and down when she see the pictures.

I am buying some more books by Helen Oxenbury for her.

Sing-songy verse like the other books in this series make it a favorite for babies just getting into books. Fun gift, too!

We have all of Oxenburys books in this series (Clap Hands, Say Goodnight, All Fall Down & Tickle Tickle). We also have her Big Baby Book as well. My daughter is 13 months old and loves books, but the books she continually picks out and hands to me are the books in this series. She adores them. My husband and I have probably read these hundreds of times to her, and she is captivated by the art work and the rhyme. A definite must have for your little one!

I have all 4 of these Oxenbury books and both of my kids have been absolutely captivated by them. It is the only book that they will just sit and actively listen and follow from between 6-15 months. Watch their faces while another reads it to them and you will be amazed at how the respond to the simple, large pictures and rhymes. As an adult, I am attracted to more detailed and complex illustrations, but this is what a BABY likes! Any of her books are a perfect way to introduce you child to book reading.

This is my 8 month old's favorite book. Everytime I read it to her, which is everyday for the past several months, she goes into a state of bliss. She loves the big, happy, bouncy multi-cultural babies and I always sing the words to her for added pleasure. Great choice for infants.

This book filled my burning desire to know everything about dollhouses & furniture from the last 50 years. There are no gaps of missing information or omitions of important items in this detailed and comprehensive book. Quite a relief after seeing an army of inadequate collector books flood the market. I'll have hours of fun reading this. My only complaint is some of the photos are dark or of poor color quality. I want to view these things in their full glory.

Informative, well written, well illustrated. If you're a collector, this book is a great reference.

This book is jam-packed with useful info, great pictures, and a very enjoyable writing style. I found myself constantly saying "I had that -- I remember that -- my friend had that one!" The book has been my constant companion ever since it arrived. What's more, it has sparked a new interest in collecting the old tin litho houses from the 50s and 60s -- items I had all but forgotten when I moved on to 1" scale wood miniatures. Thank you for a truly remarkable book, one which many of my friends will be enjoying, too.

After searching for a reference book of this type for many months, I finally discovered this book through the internet. I have over 50 collectible reference books in my library and this one I would rate at the very top. A comprehensive, beautifully photographed, helpful reference guide.

Zillner has actually answered burning questions I've had on dollhouses and their furnishings. This is by far the BEST reference I've seen in 25 years of collecting. I highly recommend the book.