Beginners Books

I purchased this book with the thought of getting a little more sound out of my American Strat. The book is an excellent source for the internal wiring of the guitar but it also contained useful information on selecting aftermarket pickups.

Added bonus!! It contained the wiring diagrams for my Les Paul. This is a must book for anyone that wants to understand how the electronics in their guitar works!

I really enjoyed this information. The techniques I learned are great for what mods I want to do to my axe. Fender Guitars have thier own sound and wiring. This ref book has made it easy to make the mods I wanted happen.

This is another great step-by-step guide which will teach you endless possibilities for your guitar. From wiring in new pickups, with countless configurations, to a vast array of tonal possibilities. All of which enable you to sound like the pro's or to create your own 'personalised' sound - all with easy to follow instructions and easy to see photo's. If you don't buy any other book, you should at least buy this one! A great reference tool for anybody wanting to maintain & Hot Rod their own Axe, whether you are a beginner or an advanced guitar tech, there will be a host of DIY Mods you WILL be capable of doing! Many thanks to the writer for creating such an easy to follow guide.

...just some great clear-cut-easy-to-follow steps to guide you into the
wonderful world of doing it 'your way' which is the best way. This book
won't make you break into a sweat or shiver like rocket science would.
Four-wheel hot rodders...beware of the Strat-feedback bending around the corner.

I consider this to be the simplest, easiest to read and understand, yet most comprehensive guide for buidling, rebuilding, or customizing the famous stratocaster guitar that I have ever seen! There may be other manuals that cover certain things in greater depth, but I don't know of any other book that makes everything so plain with large photos and well designed diagrams as this one for working on strat guitars. I own a few of them and am always wanting to know how to do this or that, and now I DO, thanks to Mr. Swike. If you own even one strat, you should also own one of these books - they make a great pair.

Was a little too much for a beginner. But gave me lots of good ideas that I will try when I become more experienced in Kumihimo. Beautiful pictures in the book. Great as a reference text, but do not use if you are trying to learn.

This was the first book I purchased on this subject. I have to admit it was not easy getting started, but the book became my "bible". I am now creating leads for show dogs using this skill. They are selling very well and I can hardly keep up with my orders. I strongly recommend this book for anyone wishing to gain a good background in working with Kumihimo.

This is an excellent resource for kumihimo. Condition was as stated, shipping was speedy. A great transaction. Thanks!

I'm very pleased with this book. It has all the braiding patterns I'll need for a good while, and the instructions are easy to follow and the illustrations are clear. This is not a book about the history and all that; it's just patterns, which is what I was after.

This is an excellent guide to braiding. the illustrations are very clear and the instructions easy to follow. I strongly recommend it.

This is one of Dr. Seuss's best for very young children. It is fun to read, and will surely make you giggle, especially when you see the pink underpants! The pictures are cute and we always pause to talk about them. There are few words and soon your toddler will have them memorized, and be reading along with you. The kids and I highly recommend this book.

We also recommend "Jamberry" by Bruce Degen and "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" by Dr. Seuss.s

LOVE THIS BOOK. IT is silly but awesome. So memorable. My son loves this book!

These books are smaller than I expected but I cant complain for the price. Good for young children. Simple

The thing I like best about this book is that the words and the pictures go together nicely. When the words say "Our eyes see bees," there is a picture of a lot of bees. So, from an educational perspective, you can have your child point to a picture while he or she hears the verbal description of the picture. It's helped my baby lean several words and phrases.

This simple concept is something that a suprising amount of childrens' books lack. It is good for two reasons. It helps them put words to pictures, and it helps them learn to read. The book is for children that are 4-8, but it's ability to help children match the verbal sounds of words to pictures makes it appropriate for infants as well.

The learning potential of the book is enhanced by the rythm of the words. The book's sentences ryme and procede in a rythm that makes the book more enjoyable for your child. My baby is noticeably delighted whenever he sees that we are about to read this book.

It is highly recommended.

This is the perfect book for the youngest of Seuss fans. It's a very simply book that starts out with a boy pointing to his eyes and saying what they are...and then to his bunny friend's eyes. The book goes on to explain what eyes do and what they help us see. I thought the pink underpants was a little strange, but they're just kids afterall!

I'm a little surprised that I didn't notice anyone else had harped on its beautiful cover. The cover is absolutely beautiful with its its pretty sea-mint green background and wonderful illustrations. I always thought the boy's eyes looked more like they belonged to the rabbit...they're huge!

To sum it up, it's a cute story about eyes!

We bought this book to accompany the Butterfly Pavilion from amazon.com. This book was a little above her level of understanding, she is only 2 after all. She did get the gist of it. Great illustrations and concise.

Excellent book- my 3 & 5 yr. olds loved it, and it was easy enough for them to understand, yet descriptive enough that they were intrigued. We bought it in preparation for buying a butterfly habitat to watch the process ourselves. Great learning experience.

I am very much impressed with this series of books, as I have ordered 4 of them. Your service is great and I continue to enjoy doing business with you.

I bought this book with the butterfly graden and we gave it as a birthday present. By the time the caterpillars came in the mail she was so excited and she new everything that was going to happen. This was propbably the best birthday gift I could have given an animal loving child. I will give this gift over and over again.

I bought this book for my friend's three-year old, who has been facinated recently with butterflies. I can see that he'll be interested now - and he'll be able to grow into the more detailed information later.

The clever title refers to our narrator, a cute white terrier-ish dog, who discovers from "mommy and daddy" that he's going to have a baby brother! After this initial excitement, however, Dino the pooch seems a little disappointed: The new baby doesn't look like him at all! Janice Savage's debut work teaches basic concepts such as "alike" and different", as well as introducing colors, numbers, and, briefly, emotion (for example, "excitement," "love," and "family").

Graphic artist Savage produces intense colors and clean lines, and wisely refrains from cluttering her pictures with computerized razzle-dazzle. (The only eveidence I saw of that were the neato eyes--the pupils are concentric circles of brown or blue that lighten as they reach the pupil!) There's only one concept per page, and the colorful backgrounds--and them thar hypnotic eyes--will draw your young one's gleeful attention. A dog, a baby, and some funny but simple comparisons ably illustrated--It's simple but entertaining. For example, against a common green and orange background, facing pages compare the feet of the dog and his non-canine brother. "I have four feet" describes a picture of four furry, smudgy, possibly dirty paws. The next page shows the bottoms of the baby's two pink and pristine feet, with the contrasting words "he has two feet."

The conclusion has a little paeon to the constancy of family love, and the acceptance of differences, but I would have preferred a little twist. Those virtues will certainly appeal to parents and gift-givers, but the story needs to get a little more playful with all those differences; It's just a little too safe. This is admittedly a minor and very subjective opinion, but enough for me to feel that the story didn't fully reach its potential.

Oh...I called this "innovative"--let me explain.

There's a running discussion at Amazon.com titled, "Picture books or chapter books or both," in which readers talk about transitioning between these two types of books. I think "I have 4 Feet, He has 2" bridges an earlier reading "gap," the one between board and picture books. Ms. Savage's work would be enjoyed by kids younger than the 4-year old bound of the suggested age range. The simple concepts, the contrasting closeups and baby and dog, and the bright, eye-cathing colors have the feeling of a board book, but in a much larger format. True, it may not survive a bathtub as well, but for time ashore, this is a smart alternative. A definite pleaser, I hope we'll see more of Ms. Savage's large format books in the future--and so will your dog and baby!

This is a great little 24-page picture book, especially for the toddler who's second in the family--after the dog.

The bright pages, with very few words each, are perfect for babies starting to turn pages on their own, and are less inclined to eat the paper than they were just a few months ago. (even if they chew a corner now and then the book is printed on heavy stock, likely to withstand the stress.)

This adorable tale is also a neat way to introduce very little ones to counting. Kids having two feet, and their older "brothers" (as it were) having four.

A good one, for sure.

This is a nice children's book about families in transition, with a deceptively simple twist- like the Beatles converting a simple love song to second person to make "She Loves You" unique- of telling the story from the point of view of a pet adapting to a human baby. It's a nice bit of displacement for discussing new family arrivals with kids. Of course, this book ends with a happy ending that doesn't necessarily reflect the fate of some pets, that function as psychological place holders for babies, when the real deal comes along, but little kids don't need to be burdened with that layer of reality. The illustrations are dynamic, and the book itself is a very quick read, so it's also a handy one to sneak in at night when the kids negotiate for one more book before lights out.

Janice Savage creatively came up with a new way to tell a familiar tale and deepens that accomplishment by telling the tale in a way that will entertain children AND help them learn simultaneously.

Wow. That says a lot right there. One would think tackling such a number of things at once would cause a landslide of word-picture-debris, but in this delightful case it is exactly the opposite.

Children want to hear more of it.

Primarily it is the story of "having a new sibling" albeit in this case the sibling is for the family's dog, who just so happens to be the narrator of the story. It quickly engages the reader (the adult) who can then share that enthusiasm contagiously with the child.

There are plentiful opportunities to turn the read-aloud session into a "learn even more aloud" session, making the book even more of a living-breathing experience.

Perfect for a little one who also is expecting a sibling, but is truly fine reading for every child in the preschool age (perhaps read-to by the older sibling who can tell tales of when the younger one was first born!)

Author/illustrator Janice V. Savage's debut picture book is a delightful story about noticing and appreciating our differences. She presents the story of a new baby in the family with a twist--from the dog's point of view! Fluffy white Dino is the adorable family pup who must figure out and accept a new baby brother who has pink skin and only two feet.

The illustrations are drawn in large, vivid blocks of color. I appreciated them for their simplicity and generous size. This book makes a big impact for its small format.

My children all grew up on this one, by not only learning animals, but being proud of who you are. I have been reading it every night to my 18 month old for a year. He wont go tho bed without it, and he has alredy learned how to recognize all the animals in the book.

I love this book. I read this book to my neice everytime she comes to visit. It has a wonderful moral to the story and kids are sure to really be engaged in the story everytime you read it!

My toddler son received this book as a gift for his first birthday. It came highly recommended from a teen friend who had treasured it as a childhood favorite. We weren't disappointed. I am not sure if it is the language, simple illustrations, or the premise but he never tires of It's Not Easy Being a Bunny. Not only do we recommend this book, we have already purchased it for other first birthday gifts. We give it an unequivocal A+ rating.

My little guy doesn't have any patience for books except for this one and "Put Me in the Zoo". We have to read this to him almost 4 times a day, and he can finish the ends of the sentences. It's so fun to see him enjoy books, and hopefully it will introduce him to other books too. I highly recommend this one. It's fun, helps with animal recognition, etc..

Now it's my daughter's (3 years old) favorite book.
I don't know how long it's going to last, but it's been at least 3 weeks that we read this book a couple of time every day.
She knows every word in it. And she loves the fun sounds I make( for Moose and to show the expression of P.J. when he tried to live with the skunks)
I don't know how deep she can understand it right now, but it's fun to read and our whole family enjoys it, bacause at least once a day my daughter asks everyone to listen to it.
I'm sure that it will be a nice book for early readers, because of the repetitive words.

My 4 and 5 year olds love Junie B. Jones. This is the first chapter book on cd we have purchased and they love it! They listen to it while they are going to bed at night. They even tell me which chapter they were on when they fell asleep:) Great buy!

Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))

I love all of Barbara Parks books about Junie B. Jones. I think they should make a movie of this book. I think this is the funniest of all the Junie B.books. If you have a little girl who loves to read or be read to, I cannot recommend all of the Junie B. books enough.

Would make a great addition to any Easter basket! This book is a little better than cheater pants!

My daughter has the whole collection she love keeping up with Junie B. I have not read a book in it's entire but from what I've read she is a very curious, funny little girl. I recommend this book and all the others also. My daughter was hooked after the 1st Barbara Parks books and althought she is older now she still cracks up laughing when reading. Totaling entertaining!

After more than 25 books, Barbara Park's series about a very loquacious first grader with a vocabulary far beyond her age (and the writing ability to go with it) is still going strong. So I suspended my disbelief and read JUNIE B., FIRST GRADER: DUMB BUNNY to my six-year-old.

In this adventure, the rich girl in class, Lucille, invites everyone over to her mansion to participate in an over-the-top Easter Egg Hunt that will result in a play date in Lucille's heated indoor swimming pool. Lucille wants her boyfriend Sheldon to win, but Junie B. and her arch-nemesis May (the original "dumb bunny" in the title until Junie B. gets something of a comeuppance later on) are ready to pounce, pound and scrabble their opponents in order to get a dip in that grand pool.

There is a lot of falling down and Batman-type expletives (WHOOSH! SMASH!), and the kids are none too nice to each other until Junie B., in a sudden acknowledgment of good judgment, makes a quick and well-appreciated sacrifice to save the day. We laughed at some of the pratfalls, and Lucille's annoyed Nanna character was amusing as well. Junie B. shares the stage with a lot of different people, but she is clearly the star of the show, the story told from her point of view.

Whether humiliated in a pink bunny suit or gloating over her lack of selfishness, Junie B. thinks in capital letters with lots of exclamation points and writes in her journal about what she has learned. The journal entries are cute and engaging, and spell out the moral of the story without being too pointed, which we appreciated.

If this is your first Junie B. foray, it might be helpful to go back and read some of the earlier books first to relax into her strange environment. Otherwise, DUMB BUNNY certainly will offer fans of the series more of what they have come to expect from this little girl and her friends.

--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano

My daughter love this series. It's a little hard for me to read due to the poor grammar and name calling. Let's face it though most first graders have poor grammar. There are worse things that she could be reading. We have all of these books and they are well loved.

Nate The Great lives up to his moniker as the neighborhood detective who works alone in this hilarious and page-turning novel for young readers.

The simplicity of the writing will add to the enjoyment for kids and parents, as well, who will be sure to be reminded of hard-boiled detectives in those old black-and-white movies we've all seen on TV.

You'll love sharing this book (and a big stack of pancakes) with your kids!

Nate is one of the best kid detectives I have ever met. The books are instant classics and I was inspired and interested in reading the whole series since third grade. I will buy the whole collection no matter what, just to have this smart gumshoe in my book case for my own pleasure to read again and again.

This book is a great detective book. Nate helps his friend find a lost picture.

I never did read any Nate the Great growing up...and what a shame. It's amazing that Sharmat can do so very much in terms of story and humor with so few words. It's great for beginner readers and uproariously funny as a read aloud story (especially if you can do the P.I. voice-over effect). This initial installment (I believe there are over 20 in this series) finds Nate the Great on hire for his friend Annie who has lost a favorite picture of her dog Fang. Nate is confidant that he can find the missing painting and sets out to systematically follow all the leads he's been given. He questions suspects and eventually tracks down the culprit, while enjoying meal after meal and snack after snack of, what else, but pancakes (his favorite food, of course).

This book is funny, charming and most of all...my kids just LOVED it! I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old, sometimes story time is tough and we're having more and more trouble finding books that appeal to both a 6 year old by and an 8 year old girl! We'll be reading more Nate the Great, because they both found it hilarious and best of all, Girl easily read it to Boy several times after having it read to them as a bedtime story! Absolutely Hilarious, I give it an A+

With charming illustrations and a clever case-cracking hero, early readers will love to read this book as well as the others in the Nate the Great series. Nate has a kid's dream "job" of being the neighborhood detective, and he is surrounded by quirky companions whose cases he solves. These witty stories with a vintage originality will have kids reaching for the next one . . . and the next. . .

While this is not quite Dr. Seuss' most inspirational book, it is certainly up there and is the type of book happily devoted to creativity. The illustrations are fun and silly, as is the text, but there is still that smidgen of proper Seussian wisdom.

Not too long, not too short, extremely entertaining as all Seuss books.
I gave 4 instead of 5 stars because I am very frugal about scary images with my kids and as I read it I remembered a couple of the pages scaring me when I was young.

This is my favorite of all the Dr. Seuss books I have seen. It is imaginative and the illustrations are really fun. My son and I read this book so many times that we had to buy a new one. When my son was an infant I would find him sitting on the floor looking at this book on his own and he would be mesmerized for several minutes while turning the pages.

Very fun to read. My toddler son enjoys hearing it. Can't go wrong with this Seuss title.

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! Is a charming book by the immortal Dr. Seuss who wrote many fine children's books in his time. Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! is no exception. This book encourages children to imagine and eventually explore the world without fear.

The book has excellent illustrations that amuse children--and adults; and the rhyming text always impresses me.

The book starts by encouraging children to use their imaginations to think up what other animals and/or places in the world may be like. This alone can stimulate a lot of conversation between you and your child about other places in the real world and what life is like there. This will go a long way toward teaching younger children about the world out there that one day they will be exploring for real. In addition, the book also has Dr. Seuss using his own imagination to give examples to children as to how to use their imaginations; we get words about foreign things and sounds like "guff" and "schlopp." This does a marvelous job of teaching children to always be optimistic.

The book has even more value. Younger children will profit from learning words critical to their growing vocabularies including yellow, blue, red, pink, black, white, night, day, left and right--and more! Excellent.

The book cover withstands some throwing around just in case your child accidentally mistreats it; and, as always, the paper quality of these books by Dr. Seuss is very good.

I highly recommend this fine children's book. It teaches much to both very young children and older children as well. Get this and enjoy it with your growing child!

My four year old son is in love with this chapter series! A friend suggested it to us since he seemed ready for a more advanced reading material at bedtime. My husband reads him a chapter every night...sometimes more because they don't want to stop. It's become a great tradition for them, and something they both look forward to. We love that there are so many in the collection! Start with number 1 and just continue. :)

We loved Magic Tree House#12: Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne. Jack and Annie had a challenging riddle to solve in the Arctic. They needed to solve the riddle to become master librarians. There was a lot of action in the story. Jack and Annie had to work together to get back home safely. We learned many interesting facts about the Inuit people, polar bears, and the Arctic. Mary Pope Osborne used descriptive language that helped us visualize. We loved the story and think you will too!

MY 2nd GRADER read it to the FAMILY! we all LOVED it! IN SCHOOLS WHERE THERE R SO MANY STUPID AWEFUL BOOKS FORCED ON STUDENTS LIKE THE MINDLESS --- ( junie b jones series OR THAT horrible harry JUNK!!!) THE MAGIC TREE HOUSE SERIES REALLY COMES THRU WITH BOOKS TO HELP A YOUNG MIND GROW WITH USEFUL CARING & KNOWLEDGE!!! ANOTHER POLARBEAR BOOK MUST HAVE IS: (POLARBEARS AND THE ARCTIC! NON FICTION MAGIC TREE HOUSE ALSO)

You should read this book because it has good facts. Did you know that a 270 lbs female cub polar bear can go on thin ice without falling through? Is that cool or what? My favorite part is when Jack and Annie meet the cubs and play. It takes place in the Arctic. What do you think will happen to the two kids? Will they become frozen dinners to the bears or will they get save? Read the book to find out!

By Mr. Sondericker's 2nd Grade Class (Marilla Primary, Marilla, NY)

We loved Magic Tree House#12: Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne. Jack and Annie had a challenging riddle to solve in the Arctic. They needed to solve the riddle to become master librarians. There was a lot of action in the story. Jack and Annie had to work together to get back home safely. We learned many interesting facts about the Inuit people, polar bears, and the Arctic. Mary Pope Osborne used descriptive language that helped us visualize. We loved the story and think you will too!