Beginners Books

I ordered the Junie B. books for my granddaughter. She loves them! I personally have never read them but I can let you know that at 6 years old and having this interest in reading speaks for itself.

Therefore, I recommend this series.

I bought the first, second and third boxed sets of Junie B Jones books for my granddaughter, who is 5. She can read them, but also likes for her mom to read them to her at night before she goes to sleep. They are funny, interesting and just a whole lot of fun for one so young!!

i purchased this set for my granddaughter. she loves this series and was thrilled to get this.

When my two granddaughters, ages 6 & 7, showed me how excited they were for these books, I was glad to get them for Christmas. Anybody that excited about reading made it a pleasure to buy them.

I bought this set for my granddaughter for Christmas and am already aware that she really enjoys these books. I imagine she will want any continuation of this series.

Everything runs smoothly in the Carraclough household when Lassie, their wonderful Collie, is around. But when desperate times takes desperate measures... it minuses Lassie out of the family. While everything is going hay-wire in the Carraclough home, the Collie is on a thousand-mile trek to get back with her family again. Lassie will come across many unbearable situations and obstacles, but the calling to get home overrides anything she may run into.

I loved everything about this book! The dedication of the homebound dog, to the quaint villages of England and Scotland, and all the characters within... I savored every word! It is one of my all time favorite books, and I'd recommend it to any dog or book lover!

Other than the language being like in ancient times, "Thy, thee" this book was excellent and a good savory book. It is not a fast read though.

Why has it taken me so long to read this excellent book! It is not just a "children's" book. One of the best books I have read in a long time!

Still an interesting, emotion-provoking and relevant read for the 21st century's jaded youth. It's about the most basic kind of friendship and loyalty, where an animal exhibits more of both than do the humans. Some of the Depression-era references and rigid class distinctions probably aren't as relevant today, but the core of the book, the love of and for an animal, remains. Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful reproduction of the original World War II edition of the classic Eric Knight story. I find it appalling that many Americans do not know that the original Lassie of the story was British because I read the original "Lassie Come Home" short story (published in the December 1938 issue of the Saturday Evening Post) in school. This original story is a well-written, haunting tale of a poor Yorkshire family forced by economic times to sell their son's beloved collie (a tricolor dog, not a sable as portrayed in the movies and on TV) and of the dog's long torturous journey home during which she meets kind people--a couple who nurse her after she swims the river Tweed, a kindly peddler--and cruel--callous dogcatchers, bullying boys--as well as farmers protecting their livestock. A classic in every sense of the word.

The service was exceptional as always and, the CD's are a great hit for my children as they follow along with the books. Ages 5-7

just loves these stories. They really are fun to listen to, and now he can hear them when ever... no waiting for mom!

These books on CD are fabulous. My five year old loves them. He tells me that he doesn't need illustrations because he can create images in his own mind. They are very educational. Each story covers a topic in such an interesting way that I now use these them to introduce that topic. These stories generated interest in history, science,art and much more.

My six year old loves these CD's! He wants to listen to them whenever we are in the car to go anywhere! I will have to buy more!

My son, who is 5, loves these stories! He would rather listen to the Magic Tree House Stories than watch a movie. And that is saying something for a kid that thinks the world is going to end if he doesn't get to watch his daily movie!
I love them because they have a smattering of interesting facts and the each story is long enough for me to get my dishes done uninterupted!

I'm 23 years old now and thinking about this book just makes me smile. It was my favorite book growing up along with The House That Jack Built. I could read these books OVER AND OVER again every day of my life and be content. It's a great book to not only learn to read, but a good lesson in accepting differences among each other. And that's a great lesson to learn at that age!! If you're looking for great book for your youngster, THIS IS IT!! (along with the whole series!!) :)

This book is absolutely wonderful. I remember loving to just look at the pictures before I could read! I cannot say enough about it. My favorite book of all time.

I use this book every year to introduce ACCELERATED READER to my students. I introduce it as a "read-aloud" and we discuss the text and pictures as I read. Students "act out" the various things that Morris does and students even sit ON their desks when Morris does. There is always a lot of laughing and giggling as Morris learns many things on his first day of school. Morris Goes to School is a great book to show your children how involved they can become when reading.

THEN....... they get to go take a short 5-question AR test on the computer. It's a great book and a great introduction to AR.

My 6-yr-old son loves Morris the Moose and this book was just as funny as the first one. Morris gets confused because he can't read or count, so he goes to school. My son can read it himself and always laughs out loud at Morris' silly antics. Highly recommended!

I picked up this book to read with my son, and I have to say that we didn't find it particularly funny. Certainly not as funny as the other Morris books. We had about two chuckles in 64 pages. Which is not to say that the story is bad. It hangs together well and provides some very good kid-friendly examples which show why it's good to attend school. Morris, for example, is shown fumbling around town, not knowing which store is the candy store because he can't read. And Morris is also stumped when it comes to figuring out how many gumdrops he can buy, because he can't count.

The publisher suggests this book as a practice reader for those in first grade or younger. My experience convinces me that this book is a little too hard for most children in this age range. For one thing, there are 64 pages of text, which is quite a bit for newbies to sit down and read at one time. And the vocabulary is fairly advanced with words like: wrong, sting, meant, interrupt, couldn't, sandwiches, cream-cheese, piece, fruit, hamburgers, arithmetic, antler, count, make-believe, and forest. And in fact, the Accelerated Reading designation for this book is 2.0 -- which means that those experts feel that the book is suited for entering 2nd Graders.

[The AR designation is a general "guide" that rates books on a relative scale of difficulty. Children can certainly read at levels above or below their group range, so that this number should only be used as a aid to help choose books that are appropriate and not frustrating.]

Three Stars. This is an okay book which shows why learning is necessary. In my and my son's opinion it wasn't as funny as the other Morris books. The Publisher suggests this reader for ages Pre5 to Grade 1. The 'official' Accelerated Reading (AR) designation, however, is 2.0.

I can cook if I know what I'm doing, though my problem is.. I don't. This book has a great variety of recipes in it and is very easy to follow.

What made me laugh is when I caught my wife's grandma copying recipes out of it.. someone who is slightly more experienced at cooking :)

And they are ALL delicious!! I can't rave enough about this amazing beginner's cookbook. The recipes are excellent, and absolutely anyone will be successful cooking with them. I bought this book in 1994 when it first came out and made "Your First Dinner" (baked potatoes, roast chicken, a big green salad, homemade dressing, and baked apples), and I was so incredibly proud of myself (prior to that I was pretty much the ramen noodles and take-out food queen). I'm living proof that by the time you work your way through this cookbook, you will have a very respectable cooking repertoire!

The author has a wonderful tone, friendly and confident without being condescending. The layout is great, every recipe fits on one or two pages and the directions are crystal clear. I've never even lamented the lack of photographs in this book, which is highly unusual for me since I am a visual person.

Some of my favorite recipes that I am still using 13 years later are: cold asian noodles in peanut butter sauce (although we use soy now due to kids with peanut allergies); roast chicken; roasted red peppers; dressed cucumbers; caesar salad; potato salad; sweet corn soup; linguine in white clam sauce; steak in cabernet sauce; meatloaf; crunch-tender cabbage; apple crisp; and Brenda's brownies.

A++++

This book is an awesome find. I discovered it over seven years ago when I was in college and still refer to now that I'm more experienced with cooking. It explains the basics and assumes that you know nothing. It leaves nothing to chance and most of the recipes have a short list of ingredients so you aren't stuck with extra stuff that can't be used again until you repeat that dish. If you are debating between this book and another, this is the one to buy.

This is the best cookbook I have ever owned. It was one of the first cookbooks I bought, and my experience with it (rave reviews) convinced me cooking was not hard and I could master this art and really go to town for guests. I have just emerged exhausted and humiliated after exploring the high end, fancy, haute-cuisine cookbooks in an attempt to impress, and after disastrous attempts at bistro cuisine, realize that its back to the basics with Elaine for me- her recipes are delicious, foolproof, and because I grew up refusing to learn how to cook, a true lifesaver.

This book has been wonderful! As a 29 year-old bachelor I have never learned to cook and lived for years on pre-made foods. As I'm settling down now with my love, I decided I had to learn to cook. But in the past I found cookbooks and friends who tried to show me to cook very frustrating because rather than truly teaching, they assume that you know a lot of things and haphazardly tell yuo what to do on a certain recipe.
I wanted to learn to cook in a methodical well thought out way from the bottom up. This book was the solution! It starts with descriptions of essential cooking preperation techniques and what ingredients and tools you should have in your kitchen. It goes through very simple recipes and gradually builds to harder recipes. Each recipe explains the fine points of how to prepare it. In other words, it really "teaches" you to cook rather than "telling" you how to prepare a recipe. And it does it well!
I only found two small downsides. As I went through the book, sometimes I craved a few fancier and stronger flavored recipes, but the recipes were all very enjoyable and designed at an appropriate level of difficulty. It also would be nice if they had pictures to illustrate and inspire.
Over the last six months, I have gradually gone through 80% of the recipes. I'm excited becasue some of the best recipes are still to come, and now I'm looking forward to what cookbooks I'll start studying next!
This book was what I needed to help me go from a non-cooking bachelor to a cook for life. I hope it will help you too.

THIS BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT LEARNING TOOL. IT IS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT AND I AM SURE IT WILL BE READ AND EACH CHILD WILL LEARN FROM IT!

An excellent message and a good chapter book for those readers who are starting to gain confidence.

I just got this book yesterday for my son who just turned 3 years old. He really enjoyed it and after reading it, he kept asking me to read it over. He was very interested because he started asking questions at the end. He just started preschool and I wanted to introduce him to possible situations he might go through while in school. This story gives a great lesson on how to handle a situation when someone says something mean to you. My son also enjoyed it because the situation takes place in school and at a basketball court, which he can relate to because he started school and he loves to play basketball.

I was looking for a book to help my 9 year-old deal with other kids who say cruel and demeaning things. My son and I sat down and read the book together and then discussed how saying "so" when mean things are said takes away the bullies power. We decided that "so" was his new secret weapon.

My son was so excited when the very next day at school he used his secret weapon and it worked. He has also shared the book with a few of his classmates and it has helped them too.

GREAT BOOK!

The Meanest Thing To Say is not about saying mean things back to mean people. And it isn't even about mean people. What it IS about is children learning self-control, level-headedness and heart. When the new kid, Michael, calls Little Bill names, and says he has to think of the meanest things to say back the next day, Bill is frustrated and anxious. This comes up at home and his dad tells him to just say, "So?" to everything. Little Bill does this and it halts Michael. It takes two people to fight. But the moral of the story doesn't stop here. Bill observes Michael is a new student and maybe just needs a friend. So he invites him to play basketball with him and they become friends.

Unfortunately it is reality that children can be very mean and hurtful. As parents, we need to teach our children how to handle bullies and it's equally as important to teach them not to BE a bully. Also, just ignoring mean actions and words doesn't always work. Everyone has good in them and we all, ages 2-102 need to offer kindness instead of anger. Great job, Cosby! Thank you and please keep writing. Peace & Soar!o8E

This is a wonderful how-to book for beginning quilters. It has step-by-step instructions for many different projects and includes many of the most popular quilting patterns. The projects are modest (squares, runners, placemats, totes, wall hangings, etc.) and well matched to a beginner's skill progression. The price is very reasonable also. All in all, it is a very good buy.

I have a good amount of sewing experience so I was hesitant about purchasing this book thinking it might be too basic. Also, I wondered if I would be interested in actually completing many of the projects. I am glad I made the purchase! I have no experience in machine quilting so I appreciate the detailed, simple instructions. Most of the projects are ones I actually want to make and use or could give as gifts. I would say more except that I would just be echoing all the positive things previously written. If you would rather learn machine quilting from a book rather than a in a quilting class, this is the book for you!

A friend bought this book for my 13 year old daughter. She is new to quilting and using a sewing machine, and has found this book so easy to follow.

So far seems to be a good basic book for the beginner

I first bought Sewing 101 by the same publisher and was impressed by the easy-to-read and follow directions as well as the patterns at the end. This book gave me confidence to try different types of project. I highly recommend it!

I bought this set for my 7 year old daughter for Xmas and she just loved it. She read every single book. It was a great series to get my daughter excited about reading for pleasure. Easy too for a new reader.

If you daughter likes fairies and ponies, these are the books for her. My daughter who is 6 loves them and begs me to read another chapter everynight.

My daughter is 5 and just loved these books. She was very excited to know where the fairies would be found. I also enjoyed reading them with her.

My daughter and I stumbled up Ruby the Red Fairy, it was just such a good story, we had to get the whole collection to find out what happens at the end. My daughter is five years old and not only enjoys reading the story - because it is just challenging enough for her (and advanced reader), but also just loves the story. I am sure we will be reading all about the other fairies as well, the weather and gem fairies! Great stories!!!!

What can I say! This Rainbow Magic Books 1-7 Boxset was a gift from "Santa" for my 7 year old. It was great to see her reading them for most of Christmas Day. She loves this series and has created a puppet show, her own written story, and even paper drawings of the characters so she can include them with her WebKinzs. Highly recommended by dad!!

Sister Anne's Hands are different; that is one of the first things Anna Zabrocky notices about Sr. Anne. Set in the 1960's, in the days of hatred toward anything that made a person different, this book explores Civil Rights, learning, and love from the perspective of a black-skinned nun and a white-skinned child. Through the course of the book, we see through word and picture the image of how Sr. Anne's hands tell a story. They go from being the object of Anna's curiosity about all the colors in them, to being the expression of a child's love for her teacher in a card Anna makes for Sr. Anne. Anna learned the greatest lesson: to look beyond the fear of our differences to learn of the love we share in our similarities. This is a very intimate look, through the lens of diversity, at the love that grows between a teacher and a child.

This book is particularly useful to me in my work as a Catholic religious educator because it demonstrates through historical fiction, an approach to respecting life in all of its forms, and celebrating that which makes us unique! This book is special to me - I was attracted by the name. I have two aunts who are nuns, one of whom is named Sr. Ann. My aunts shared their vocations as nuns and their professions as teachers. I remember seeing pictures of Sr. Ann and Sr. Alice Marie in their full habits. I recall thinking about how strange they looked in their pictures because by the time I was born, nuns no longer wore a habit every day! The best memories of my aunts involve the feeling of being loved and whole in my aunts' presence, and that sense of love and being whole is very prominent in this book. Perhaps one of this book's greatest strengths is the author's ability to weave together many challenges to a person's dignity (exclusion by color, creed, and vocation) into a theme where differences and diversity are celebrated! The theme of this book aligns very closely with the tenor of the current presidential race in the US. In that, it is a timeless treasure and does not seem to have any apparent weakness.

Having lived as a child in the '60s, I found Sister Anne's Hands to be a authentic mirror of this era's racial biases and a gentle reminder that education is our best hope for an end to "isms."

Marybeth Lorbiecki takes a situation of racism and turns it around. She shares with the reader how a negative can become a positive between two individuals, even if the community at large stays negative. And with that, human lives are changed forever.

First, this is an outstanding book. It has substance and a wonderful message that makes its point without being preachy. Second, it is still a children's book that kids will enjoy reading or having read to them. Finally, the artwork is first rate and a joy to look at. It is the complete package. With so much mediocre childish children's 'literature', this is the real deal: a quality, substantive, enjoyable book. Enjoyable to read for parent and child.

Sister Anne's Hands is an incredible picture filled book about a girl growing up during the time when Blacks and white's were still at war. She learns through her teacher (Sister Anne) that it doesn't matter what's on the outside it matters what your like on the inside. Through this heart warming book your child will learn important lessons on building good character. I liked reading this book because it gave me inspiration to follow my heart through everything I do. Your sure to love Sister Anne's Hand!!! Author of Sister Anne's Hands: Marybeth Lorbiecki

This was a favorite childhood book for me and I was thrilled to be able to buy it for my boys (2 and 4) this Christmas. It has quickly become a favorite of both, especially my two year old. Here's to many happy readings!

I love this book as it is a classic from my childhood and was excited to read it to my two year old son. He also enjoys it and I imagine will like it even more once we get some snow here and he can relate more to the images in the book.

I bought this book for my three boys (aged two to four) hoping it would be as good as the most excellent book "Summer". Sadly, "Snow" is not in the same league. Indeed, it's a bit on the boring side, with forced sounding rhymes that aren't nearly as much fun as those in "Summer". My boys never ask me to read it. Summer, on the other hand, is a frequent, favorite request.

Still, it fits winter and the drawings are enjoyable. While not a must have it still has a place in our library.

I read this book all the time when I was young and was quite thrilled to have found it for my little one. It's so neat to read what is possible to do in the snow, all the while describing it in a rhyme. My favorite part is when they go skiing and the dog slides down on his tail! He's the first to discover the snow and gets his little child friend to come out and play. They go from there and it is just very, very cute. Especially in the end when they put an umbrella on the biggest snowman so he wouldn't melt, but wind up putting snowballs in the freezer to play with another day. Highly recommend!

Two children, a boy and girl, experiment with the lovely things you can do with snow. It is in simply rhyming verse and is a great beginner book for children readers, the expectation of what words are to come are fairly obvious

I especially love the simply drawn and coloured pictures. They are basic but rich. Each character is roundly appealing. We don't get snow where we live but my children run outside just in case. WE often read the two books (snow and summer) at the same time. The same two children doing nice wintry and summery things.