Beginners Books

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.

I bought six of my favorite childhood books for my great-grandson..."Little Black Sambo", "The Three Billy Goats Gruff", "Henny Penny", "Chicken Little", "The Three Little Kittens", and "Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit". My great-grandie is 2-1/2 and I can't wait to read these wonderful stories to him.

Timely delivery. The book was great. My great grandson loved it.

I bought this book on an impulse, simply based on the brightly colored illustrations and a brief refrain that that appears when you look inside the book. I couldn't be more delighted with this purchase. The book is a wonderful addition to my fairy tale library and my kindergarten kids absolutely LOVE listening to and participating in the retelling of the story, especially the rhyming refrain..... "I'm a troll from a deep dark hole - my belly's getting thinner. I need to eat and goat's a treat - so I'll have you for my dinner!".

PS - I agree: How lame that Amazon has mixed together reviews for all these various versions of "Three Billy Goats Gruff." They are all so different and all by different illustrators and authors!

Anyway, this is a comment about Marcia Brown's 1957 version, which I found to be incredibly gory. Rather than merely knock the troll off the bridge, this billy goat gruff graphically dismembers him, poking out his eyes and reducing him to "bits, body and bones." Yuck! There are other, mellower version out there... This one's not a favorite. (ReadThatAgain!)

Cute book with pictures that keep their attention. My boys walk around all the time saying "who is going over my bridge" in their gruff little troll voice! "Don't eat me... I too little," they say. I am so glad I added this book to our collection.

This book is effectively an ABC for kids. Published in the 1960s it still provides a valuable teaching aid to get young children learning their alphabet. Each letter has anassociated series of words and story attached to it. With characters such as "Aaron" the alligator, and Abigail a girl, simple sentences are conveyed with quirky illustrations to help children learn various concepts. From "Abigail crosses the road" to "Aunt Ada likes Lions" the book leads the young reader from A through to Z where we learn that "Zero is very cold for zebras". A fun way for any child to learn to read.

I got this book 32 years ago when my first daughter was born. We began "playing with" the dictionary when she was around 1, and it was such a source of laughs for both of us. She did learn her letters. At 18 months , while walking through a marked parking lot, she surprised my friends by saying "Mommy, standing on "A". I gave the dictionary full credit!

Now this same person is expecting her first child. The Dictionary is on it's way to her house right now.

Excellent book. My three-year old learned all of her letters in a fun and amuzing way. She was intrigued by the pictures and the activities the characters were perfoming. I highly recommend it for any preschooler.

Kristina, Mother of Tiffany

While all of the books with the Dr. Seuss label can be considered essential reading for children, this one is more essential than most of the others. In terms of books used to help children learn to read, I found it to be unequaled in value. I still have the copy my daughter read and it is worn to the point where the spine is falling apart. Not through misuse, but from being opened and the pages flipped over and over again.
In the beginning, I read it to her, but it did not take long until she was sitting by herself looking through the pages and saying the words. Each word is accompanied by an illustration and in most cases a brief sentence where the word is used. Many of the illustrations incorporate the usual Seuss silliness, such as the green alligator carrying a sign stating, "I am a horse." All of which is designed to give the meaning of the word "true."
One of the best books I have ever seen to help children learn to read, I cannot include enough superlatives to express my opinion of it.

This dictionary is in my book box of Seuss favorites.It really is a PD Eastman book.In March schools led by the NEA selected to promote Dr. Seuss on his birthday. A literacy celebration to promote reading.That is why I had my classroom Suess box out and re-found this book.


("Ten years ago, NEA started a reading revolution. From a one-day celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday to a year-round literacy campaign reaching nearly every home, school, and community, NEA's Read Across America is building a nation of readers. " Or so their site reads.)

It's a kind of teachers uniting to read with children and take a literacy stand yearly shout out. Now it's had ten years to blossom and expand and be a part of Spring in schools. I assumed at its start that each year they would broaden this to another author until years later we found ourselves focusing National Attention on a wide variety of authors, but that was an incorrect assumption as Dr. Seuss remained the primary focus.
And that's cool too. The program does encourage literacy generally. It's worth checking their site to find out more about Read Across America.

Somewhere inside of this it seemed the NEA was finding a phonics answer to promote reading to sidestep whole language, which I found a sad nod to those with limited views, but who cares really? It's worked in schools and it makes March more pleasant as you cook up Green Eggs and Ham or read the story of Horton or think about the Lorax, put on your big Cat in The Hat shoes, or wonder about the "differences" in our world as you read "Red Fish, Blue Fish" and how "from here to there and there to here funny things are everywhere," yeah no kidding. And I don't think Dr. Seuss really meant ha, ha funny. I really don't.

In my book boxes, as I said, is a 1964 copy of a Seuss/Eastman dictionary. I'm going to order several. Children in my room at the five group reading tables enjoy reinforcing their ABC order, reading the short and funny entries and they are beginning to grasp the construct of a dictionary by using the clever text and looking up things. Dr.Seuss or rather Eastman buries good jokes in his pictures and words too for added fun. There's lots of alliteration. A "blackbird is at the blackboard" under the entry for "black". "Drops are dripping" under "drip". "James at the jam jar" under "jam". Oh...none of that sounds as funny as it is, you need a copy to see.

Right now things are coming together for my readers but there needs to be a little motivational push to get them inside a book. Because at first reading is work. So when they read his little twists and turns, or the pictures have funny little almost naughty sneezers and loud, louder, loudest concepts it tickles them pink. And then I can begin the process of putting very young children into alphabetical order contextualized inside dictionaries and then move them from this into their child dictionaries and resource materials. Those really are so much drier and not as accessible. This helps.

As I said, this taught my brother to read and I remember for a time that he would recall words he knew were in here and then go put them in his writing using the dictionary to spell them in order to write better sentences. You can't ask much more than that. Excellent then and 43 years later this old lady teacher recommends this as a classroom resource. Too bad it is not reprinted in hardback as classroom sets. I'd get it in a blink of an eye.

My children love these books I didn't know if they would like them because they don't have alot of pictures. They just can't get enough

waited for a month to receive the book.

This book is fabulous.
One of the reasons I like it is because it talked about fires, earthquake and natural disaster. Another reason is because it was near our city! The last reason I liked it is because they lost their city but still had hope. I learned some exellent facts. I learned the fire burned 28,000 buildings! They had half a millon people there. The earthquake was called "The Great Shake". It was one of the biggest earthquakes ever! I would recommend this book for three reasons. The characters are fun. Jack likes the realistic and Annie likes the magic. The second reason is the excitement and learning wonderful facts.
Earthquake in the Early Morning is a excellent book.

My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!

I like this book because it is interesting.
It keeps you wondering whats going to happen next.
It is also very funny.
So you might want to read this book.

This is a wonderful book! I am an art teacher and use it in my classroom to teach patterns. When I read it to my students (K-2) they laugh and giggle and just love it. It is also a great story to teach children that being different is aok and even something others may wish they were.

Elmer is a very cute book with a great message. It's a little long for Preschool but great for older student's. There are little puppets that can be purchased to do along with the story, which are great and get students more involved.

WE LOVE THIS BOOK & IT'S REQUESTED ALOT. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I love this book! I always loved how Elmer was so colorful and different and how he always made the other elephants happy and laughing. Its too bad that he tried to change himself just to be like everyone else because everyone liked him the way he was. Its good that it teaches kids that you should just stay the way you are and not try to change yourself just to be like everyone else.
I gave this book 5 stars.
Kathy Weirauch

If you've never encountered Elmer before, you have to get this book. David McKee has a wonderful sense of humor and these books are just hysterical. Elmer, with a patchwork coat, is the jester in a herd of elephants. But, he starts to feel like the only reason they laugh at his jokes is because of how he looks. So, off he goes to roll in some gray berries to cover up his coat and when he returns to the herd, they just think he's another elephant. Without him, they just stand there, are very serious, and have no fun at all. Somehow, Elmer thinks this is funny and just has to laugh so he says "Boo" and all the elephants jump about a mile. They start laughing and wish Elmer was there to hear the joke when it starts to rain and off comes Elmer's disguise. They all laugh at his wonderful jokes and are very happy he's there. It's just a great book, very colorful and very intriguing to read. My little one just loves Elmer, so much so that I'm going to have to go to B&N and get him a stuffed Elmer and Wilbur! These are great books and are destined to become a classic.

now my kid is afraid of bird eggs for fear an alligator will hatch. Bad idea when we have a bird building a nest on our front porch. would have been better to be one of the flamingos

It's a great book to read to toddlers. My brother and I loved "Are You My Mother" and the "Dog" books when we were little so I thought I'd give this book to my niece. I showed it to my brother before I wrapped it, and we both laughed at the story. Two 30+ year old men laughing at a children's book. That's good comedy! PD Eastman showed such personality and story in the illustrations, they add depth to the simple words. And the premise is cute.

this was a fun book for my child to read, and I recommend it highly. The animation is fun, and makes the reading come easier for the child.

This book has a very cute story line.
My daughter was especially intrigued by this book because we often talk about birds and have even watched a few build their nests outside.
It also has a good story about what birds eat....to help children envision what birds feed to their young.
Very well written and great for beginner readers.

Boy, is this ever cute! when a little boy puts an alligator egg in the Birds' nest, they take care of it as if it was their own. They sit on it until it hatches then when he does, they feed it constantly! It's funny watching an alligator eating all that "bird food" and still grows huge. The end is particularly nice. They decide it's time for "Junior" to learn to fly but instead, he learns to swim. Sure is a cute story - especially on caring for others. Highly recommend!

My daughter (age 7) is never "keen" to read books. When she told me she liked the "Fly Guy" books she read in class - I went and bought the series! There are 5 books, total. The stories are silly and have a fun "gross" factor that most kids would enjoy. The books have a few chapters, but they are easy readers and so it allows the kids to have a sense of accomplishment (having read a "Chapter" book), while not being too labor-intensive. I would definitely recommend them for kids that need to be "encouraged" to read.

My little girl was introduced to fly guy in Super Fly Guy! She just loved the story! Of course we had to pick up the first story!

Buzz is looking for something to catch for the Amazing Pet Show. He meets fly guy as the bump into each other. Well fly guy boinks his noise. He catches him and takes him home but nobody believes a fly can be a pet! Dad tries to get him with a flyswatter! My girl told him NO! Even at the show, the judges keep telling him a fly is not a pet! But flyguy wins them over in the end!

This book deservedly won the Theodor Geisel award as it's really easy to read and it's interesting enough to keep children interested.

Artwork is great as my girl did not get tired of the pictures!

Used this book with groups of struggling readers. It was motivating and they wanted to read the sequels. They are very fond of Fly Guy now, and they are very excited about the next book. They want to write a letter to Tedd Arnold and ask him to write more Fly Guy books.

My three year old daughter has an odd bug phobia and this book is the best! The graphics and story are so funny that I actually don't mind reading it over and over. I get as much of a kick out of it as she does. Of the 100+ books we have for our kids this is my reigning favorite!

This is officialy my six year old daughter's breakthrough book - the first book she picked up on her own and read by herself. The fun story and pictures pulled her in, the carefully crafted text kept her from getting stuck and giving up.

We've since ordered every Ted Arnold book we can get our hands on and she has built up enough confidence now that she can get though harder books.

Highly recommended!

My five year old has been loving Henry and Mudge for months now and we have checked every one of them out of the local library. We finally decided we just had to know how the story all began and saw a reference to The First Book. We quickly ordered it and couldn't be more pleased. The story explains the beginnings of Henry's deep attachment to Mudge. These are wonderful books. I don't know anyone we have recommended them to who hasn't fallen in love with Henry and Mudge.

My sons adore Henry and Mudge. These books are fun for them to read, and the classic "boy and his dog" characters are very endearing, particularly big, drooly Mudge. Well-written and entertaining, this series is great for kids who think they don't like to read or who have trouble reading, because they're funny and easy enough so that the child won't get bored or frustrated trying to read it. A definite must-have for any kid's bookshelves.

I bought some of these Henry & Mudge books for my 9 year old nephew Buddy when he was in the second grade. I gave him one or two, he read them, and kept asking me Are you bringing anymore of Henry & Mudge. I said Yes do you like them and he said Yes. Now my youngest son Ramon who is 7 loves them. The stories and the pictures are great for children and are perfect for second graders. I would recommend them to any second grader in a HEARTBEAT.

My son was reluctant to read in his elementary school days. This series caught his attention and by the time he finished all the books in the series that we could find he was intrigued enough with reading to go on to other books. Now, he is a high school senior with stellar SAT scores. I'll give partial credit to Henry and Mudge!

As of this writing, there are some 20+ Henry & Mug books, each one a small masterpiece. However, this is the one that started it all!!

Everything great or small has it's beginning, and in the beginning of THIS book, which begins, in turn, the whole series, we meet our hero, Henry. Henry lives with mom and dad, but he really doesn't have any friends. No other children live on his block, he doesn't have any brothers or sisters. So, he asks for a dog. That dog is Mudge who swiftly goes from a teeny, handful-sized puppy to the 180-pound pooch we know and love through the rest of the series.

What makes H&M books so wonderful are the bright, simple illustrations that mirror the text and the easy realism of Mudge the dog. Unlike other fictional dogs, Mudge doesn't talk, walk about on his hind legs or save the universe: he is just a big, happy, loving pooch who, like dogs everywhere, is totally dedicated to his pal, Henry. He's like a real dog... a real BIG dog, but a real dog nonetheless. He falls asleep when he's bored, he follows Henry everywhere and is unhappy when Henry's not around, and occasionally he eats things he's not supposed to. Practically any child would love to have a companion like Mudge.

H&M are one of those rare types of books that easily fall between two categories: picture books and chapter books. They're well illustrated and the text is simple and easy to read, but the story is also divided up into chapters (usually three). This makes these books perfect for young readers who may feel that they are starting to move beyond picture books but may not be ready for full-blown chapter books with little or no illustrations. The stories are simple and comfortable and the stuff of everyday life, so a child doesn't need to have a great deal of worldly experience climbing mountains or leaping tall buildings in a single bound to see that reading can be fun.

If you start here with Henry & Mudge, by all means, don't stop here! Go on to enjoy all the other adventures that these two share! You and your children will never be disappointed!

Being in a go club that sees many beginners I feel fairly qualified when I say this book will not help you improve rank until you are 15kyu (AGA/KGS) and really waiting until you are in the single-digit kyu range will give you the best rank improvement per time spent reading... I first read this book at 13kyu and was really stretching. I recently re-read this at 5kyu and got much more out of it. If I had to pick a perfect rank to read it at I'd say 7kyu.

All that said, the writing style is superior to every other go book I've seen and there may be merit in reading this without the goal of rank improvement. Many other reviewers have pointed this out as well, but you should know that if you are 15kyu you will not be able to follow many of the problems, and in the end you will probably still be 15kyu.

For those goaling for rank improvement, I would strongly suggest reading at most one chapter per day. You need to play games between chapters or else you will not correctly apply what you are learning. With most other intermediate go books (such as Tesuji or Life & Death) it is not as damaging to read it all in one sitting... but Lessons in the Fundamentals must have games played between chapters. It is painful to make yourself stop reading between chapters, but you should.

This book is an endless source of information. As you get better at go, you get more and more out of it. When I first started playing, I learned little from the book but I did learn valueble basic tactics such as the net and the ladder and so forth. Later, I learned useful tesujis and opening strategies. After putting the book down for about 3 months, and as my skill increased, I went over it again and found more useful info including a generaly good attitude towards go.

I suggest this book to anyone who wants to keep playing go. It may not be useful at the time you get it, but keep skimming through and I gaurantee you will find useful information along the way.

I personally find this book very useful (at least for myself, but I believe as well for many of you guys). It is especially true if you read it the second and the third time. When I review my own game, I can find out a lot of mistakes which Kageyama has mentioned in the book. (Like forget to struggle to go ahead) There is a Go competition during summer, and I have just finished this book the third time. Some of the tesuji in the book is very useful.

I guess it will be good to learn the basic rule of the Go game and then play for a while. (may be a hundred game), then start reading this book. Then you can get the most out of it. (I believe Kageyama himself has suggested us to play for many games to get the feeling first. He mentioned player usually meet barrier at around 11-13kyu, 5-6kyu and 1-2kyu. So I guess if one train up to around 15kyu and then start reading this book, it will be very useful. And then review the book once a while. Get the fundamental idea in your mindset. And you will find Go even more interesting

Kageyama packs the book full of useful instruction, given in a chatty style with the occasional self-deprecating humour. While not a book for the absolute beginner, he surprises many readers by starting with ladders. But he shows that they are excellent training for reading (calculating) ability which also builds self-confidence during a game.

The book also covers strategic principles, typical endgame play (and a common mistake by handicap takers), josekis (corner openings).

Of course, in such a game full of complex possibilities, books can't solve everything. For example, I presume it requires experience way beyond his book to know whether a move is "proper" or "slack".

With his no-nonsense style, and quick wit, Toshiro Kageyama takes you thorugh 'the basics' of Good Go. Go, like mathematics, is a language (one of its many names is literally translated as 'handtalk'). Here, Kageyama is teaching us how to spell.

We are provided with easy-to-follow instruction and guided problems in chapters on Life and Death, Ladders (including spiral ladders); Territory and Spheres of Influence; How to study Joseki; Good Shape and Bad; Endgame Pointers; and my favorite, Tesuji (snap-backs and the like).

Kageyama also gives us a general feel for how the stones 'move' on the board, and the direction of play. These Lessons, and his writing style, combine with anecdotes from his professional career and television appearances to make this a wholly enjoyable book.

More on his style: The effect of Kageyama's writing is as if he's right there with you; very conversational. He will encourage and support, but he will also slap your hand if you are not paying attention. Make no mistake, his sole intention is that you express yourself, get better, and have fun along the way.

Beginners around 20 kyu and below:
You may want to concentrate on learning the alphabet, so to speak. But you should know that this book has some very simple 'words'. As soon as you feel comfortable playing on a 19x19 board, then find this book.

My daughter has been somewhat obsessed with the Little Bear tv show on Noggin for almost a year now. It's all she watches so when I saw these books I was really excited. We got them for her for Christmas and she just loves them.
I reccommend the books cuz they are sweet stories about Little Bear and his friends and family.

The little bear stories are one of my son's absolute favorites. It is a shame the cartoon is no longer on the air, as I'm sure he'd love that too, but the books are adorable and heartwarming as well. My son loves reading these books, and its really a joy to read this to him and see the expression of delight on his face. Really a great book for your kids.

I bought these books for my 4 month old daughter. We've already read them (just before bedtime) more than once. I grew up with these books and they bring back great memories of when I was younger. These books are great for bedtime with the real little ones, and perfect starters when they first start to read on their own. Every child should be familiar with these books. They are classics.

This is a set of books that is perfect for children to read. Innocent, heart warming, and charming, Little Bear is a series that your young child will love to read again and again. Also, if your child loves the Little Bear series as much as mine do, there are dvds of episodes from the tv show based on these books that they would love as well.

As far as good, clean, books for kids 2-6, thre are none better than the Little Bear series.