Beginners Books

My son received this from his preschool teachers on the last day of school. It was an instant hit and favorite bed time story.

The layout of the book has text on one side of the page and illustration on the other. The book starts with "Here is the hand that knocks on the door" and shows a monster's green hand. Page 2 continues with "Here is the hand that knocks on the door, that startles the spider....", and shows a picture of a spider. Each new page builds on the previous sentence and adds on to the story. On and on we go through the house until the reader finds out who is at the door.

The text of the story is peppered with pictures replacing of some of the words (so where it says "here is the hand", the word 'hand' is replaced by the picture of the green monster's hand).

What I've found when reading this story to my 3 year old, is that having the pictures interwoven with the text is helping him to notice that there are words on the page instead of just focusing on the illustrations. Now I find him trying to follow along with the text as I read the words. I'm not a teacher, so I can't comment on whether this will help in teaching kids to read, but I think we've stumbled onto something here.

I would definitely recommend this story for preschool aged children.

Very cute book - along the lines of the story of the woman who ate all that stuff with out the death! - Perfect for younger children who are interested in books but don't quite read yet - they see the pictures and can tell you what is coming next! Great Halloween present instead of candy!

We just got this book and I've read it nearly a million times already to my 5-year-old. He loves the text and the pictures for each elevation in the story telling. Wonderful pictures that engage! Great ending, too.

I bought this book only because Halloween is coming and this is the first year my daughter is actually aware that it's coming. She turned two (2) years old in July. I bought the book about 2 weeks ago and she has already memorized the book and "reads" it to us every day (several times a day), page by page, verse by verse!!! She LOVES it. It's really fun to read.

i work in a preschool/day care center, and we use this book all the time. the children ask to hear it all year round they love it so much. if you get this book, i would recommend the cassette that goes with it. it makes the book twice as much fun!!!!1

I love this book. I use to read this book to my children when they were little. Now my children have children, and I wanted them to also enjoy this fun book. To me, this represents all my childhood memories of Halloween. I love the illustrations! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Halloween.

Great poems for Halloween. Fun to read aloud with one child or a group of children. I used it in my classroom for many years. I bought this copy to donate to the library at my church.

my mom enjoys telling this story:

when i was about four, she checked "it's halloween" out at our local small-town library and brought it home. i made her read it every night, memorizing every word, and if she tried to skip a page, i'd call her on it.

when it came time to return the book, she couldn't find it and had to pay for a new copy for the library. some time later, she was cleaning my room and discovered where i'd stashed my copy under my bed.

greatest halloween book, and among the greatest children's books in general, ever.

I still have the copy my mother gave to me in 1978!! It is my favorite children's book, and it should be a part of every home library. The illustrations are great, and the little poems are so catchy.

It is the best Halloween book ever. It has just the right amount of creepiness to get kids really excited about Halloween. A fun book with simple rhyme schemes and memorable illustrations, it will keep kids interested. I'm 27 and I still love it.

Yes I did like this book because it's by one of my favorite authors and I have almost read every single book in the series.
The book was about this girl called Jessi who has just moved into a new neighborhood. Jessi Jessi has this really great group of friends called the Baby Sitters Club. Jessi gets a sitting job for this deaf boy called Matt. Matt uses sign language instead of lip reading. Jessi is going to be in a ballet show called Coppelia and Matt's mom has been making arrangements so that the 8 kids in Matt's class can go see Coppelia. They have arranged for Haley to be the narrator and for Matt and Haley's mom to stand up on the stage and sign everything that Haley says so that Matt isn't left out. After the show Jessi finds out that Adle came to watch the show. Jessi's cousin Keshia is from Okley, New Jersey came to see Jessi be Swandelia. To celebrate the show being a success everybody who knows Jessi went to a restraunt to have ice cream.
Anybody will like this book.

this book shows jessi to be a passionate, caring and even talented protagonist/narrator of the story. She is very much into ballet and recently joined the babysitters club, so when she babysits for a deaf 7 year old boy who communicates in sign language, she befriends him and is interested in learning it and does so and also teaches it to the neighborhood kids and help matt make friends that way who were very understanding of his situation. Also, jessi had a great awareness of how the deaf and disabled are marginalized by society for their disability and invited a bunch of deaf kids to a ballet she is dancing in and got a translator to do sign language onstage to show what the plot of the story is like as they watch the beautiful dancing, and in turn empowers them and gives them the message that just cause they can't hear music doesn't mean they cannot appreciate the arts. Also because jessi experienced racism from neighbors after moving to stoneybrook from new jersey, she could probably relate to the pain of being marganlized. Great start for jessi I love this book!

i'm taking ASL in school and i was looking on my books shelf and found this book and i decided to re-read it. its really good. the only thing that bugs me is that on the cover jessie is using see sign when the book said it was ASL. it doesn't matter to much though. it is a really good book and shows how people who may seem diffrent at first glance can have a lot ion common with you. i hope you enjoy it.

A very touching and realistic story. It features a young boy named Matt who was born deaf and this family, the Braddocks, move into Stoneybrook. Putting Jessi as the main character in this Babysitter Club book is very interesting because the deaf cannot hear music and therefore, none of them had exactly went to watch a musical or a ballet concert. Jessi's a ballerina and she feels especially sympathetic towards the deaf in that very aspect.
This story touches on the sensitive areas of a deaf person's life, about being ridiculed by others, looked down and thought of as weird. However, the babysitters were intrigued by Sign Language and the other kids int he neighbourhood begin to slowly accept Matt and were fascinated with sign language.
We also find out more about the deaf in this book, we learn some sign language, we learn that it is crucial that the deaf are kept well away from busy roads as they cannot hear cars approaching. We also find out how some families are being inconsiderate in not bothering to take up sign language to communicate with their deaf family member and instead, expect him/her to lip-read instead. Lip reading is extremely difficult.
The story has a happy ending and reveals what Jessi does to make the children in the school for the deaf happy. A must-read.

When Jessi baby sits for Matt Braddock, Matt is a special child. So Jessi teaches him a sign language.

Good to read with school kids to help them understand avoid and/or handle difficult situations.

My son loves this book - he is 6. Gives a good portrayal of a bully and relatable humorous solutions to dealing with them.

What a gem of a book. My 7-year-old loved it, and my 5-year-old has practically memorized it. Great lesson, well taught, and what kid couldn't use tips on how to deal with bullying.

The King of the Playground
By: Phyllis Renolds Naylor

This book can inspire little kids to stick up for themselves. It teaches little kids that a bad situation can always turn out good. A friend is always around the corner.

There are a lot of funny exaggerations.
On page 23 Sammy chases Kevin in a tank.

The illustrator did a good job of elaborating the colorful pictures.
On page 2 the author did a really good job of explaining his spider-man shirt and his horseshoe pants.

The writer really captured the roll of an elementary school bully.
On page 3 Sammy kicks Kevin off the monkey bars.

My opinion on this book is that it is a good lesson to stick up for yourself. There is always a friend out there for you. You just have to compromise a little bit and you will find someone.

I bought the book because my 4-year-old son had been on the receiving end of some of the unfriendly behaviors that are the basis of the book. My son loves the book. Aside from the fact that he gets the author's premise (reasoning rather than reacting), he just genuinely enjoys it. He laughs out loud at some of the situations in the book. It didn't trigger the meaningful discussion I'd hoped we'd have about bullies (unbridled parental optimism on my part there!), but it's made for a lot of fun bedtime reads.

One of the great gifts of Judy Blume is that she doesn't lie to kids. Her books are refreshingly - and sometimes painfully - honest. As a kid, I sure appreciated it. Too many books lie, because they think children can't hear the truth. They ignore the fact that children already *know* the truth many times.

The truth in this book is that sometimes, having a brother or sister just sucks. The lie that most people would try to give is the moral that you really, deep down have to love your sibling after all - right?

Well, Ms. Blume skirts very *close* to that moral, when each child realizes midway through a rant that getting a special privilege without their sibling isn't any fun, and, indeed, their parents try to push that moral on them - but no, that "no fun" bit is just another reason why their sibling is awful! And the next day they remembered, not the moral, but the rivalry.

Each child's rant about their brother/sister ends with the thought that maybe their parents like the other one best. I think we've all felt that. I did just last week, and I'm an adult :) There's no reassurance here except the other sibling saying the same thing.

If you're uncomfortable with this sort of presentation of facts, I'd suggest you borrow the book from the library before buying. Otherwise, I firmly suggest you buy this book for your own library.

This book is one of my all-time favorites from childhood, when you would have bet money that your parents loved your brother (or sister) more than you! Written in cute prose by the wonderful Judy Blume, this book puts sibling rivalry into a funny and sweet manner.

I only wish I could find the one from childhood, when each kid had their own "side" and the book flipped over!

This is a great book, especially for kids with siblings! It shows how both children feel like the parents like the other one better and that they don't like each other but realize that life isn't as fun without the other sibling around. Highly recommend this!!

Wordsmith Judy Blume uses more verbal magic in this illustrated children's book about a little brother and a big sister. Another book that, at age 12, seemed "too kiddie" and beneath me.
I don't care if you're 60, 16, or 6 years-old! Even if you did not have the experience of growing up with siblings, or, in my case, I was the youngest, but had a smaller niece that acted as a baby sister.
Read so you know the title. Read so you know better than any Child Psychology book on the structure of Sibling Dynamics!

There are remarkably few authors that have managed to write for almost every single age group. Judy Blume is one of the few. Though admittedly she has yet to write a baby book or large print text for the elderly, Ms. Blume has somehow managed to write picture books, young readers, full chapter books, teen novels, and even an adult title in her day. We all know who Judy Blume is, but we probably know her for very different reasons. As a kid, I knew her primarily as the author of "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". My husband, on the other hand, associates her with that deliciously forbidden text, "Forever". For some kids out there, though, "The Pain and the Great One" is going to be their first impression of this undeniably great author. As of this review, it is the only picture book ever written by Ms. Blume. Be that as it may, it shares with all her books the frustrations and confusions that all kids can relate to on some level. Ms. Blume, the great empathic, should consider adding a few more picture books to her repertoire. This first book demands it.

A white page with a pink border. In black and white print are two words: The Pain. A sister then begins to relate to us exactly why it is that her little brother is a pain. Right from the start, you see where she's coming from. This is the kind of kid who insists that his mother carry him to the breakfast table every morning. Unlike his big sister, if The Pain doesn't finish his dinner he still gets dessert. A truly shocked and probably envious sister watches, broccoli perched on her fork, as her brother dives into a delicious bowl of what looks to be strawberry shortcake. One night, she gets to stay up later than The Pain, but comes to the almost immediate conclusion that, "without the Pain there's nothing to do!". The cat seems to prefer him and she finishes with the thought that when it comes to her parents, "I think they love him better than me". Suddenly we're looking at another white page with a pink border. In black and white print are three words: The Great One. Suddenly the perspective has shifted 180 degrees. We're in the head of The Pain and he's talking about his older sister. Sarcastically referring to her as The Great One, the boy talks about all the stuff she gets to do that he doesn't. She feeds the cat, so it must obviously like her better. She knows how to do all sorts of stuff without messing up. She swims with pleasure and isn't afraid to put her face in the water. The boy's final thoughts refer to his own parents as well. "I think they love her better than me". The end.

The book was originally published in 1985. Reading it, I had to wonder if it could be published today. In the current publishing market, I can see well-meaning but oblivious department heads trying to convince Ms. Blume to give the story an ending where the boy and girl become best friends and everything ends up hunky-dory by the last page. I was a little shocked that on a first reading, this is exactly what I found myself expecting. No, what I expected was worse. Because when I got to the pink bordered "The Great One" page I suddenly thought that the story would show how much the little brother really and truly admires his older sister, even if she thinks he's annoying. There's probably a book like that out there somewhere. This book is not it. This is a book that tells it like it is. Sibling rivalry has never been so clear. Cleverly, Blume inserts tiny (I hesitate to call them) lessons into the story so that in the midst of each kid's litany of complaints, they learn things as well. The Great One learns that staying up late isn't fun without her horrid little brother. The Pain learns that playing with his sister's blocks all alone isn't fun in the least. If you're looking for anything more sappy than this, however, you're out of luck. This is Blume telling children what they already know, and kids will appreciate the honesty.

Illustrator Irene Trivas puts her back into this book. It's funny, but depending on who's telling the story, the illustrations shift ever-so-slightly in their favor. When The Great One talks about The Pain, everything he does is understandably annoying. When the boy talks about his sister, on the other hand, she suddenly becomes infinitely competent, intelligent, and skilled. She's annoying in an entirely different way. Trivas also gives each kid some remarkable characteristics. The Great One tends to sport a cowboy hat with a bright green or red feather planted in the brim. The Pain wears a wide variety of hats ranging from goggles, winged helmets, and baseball caps to his own cowboy hat and football helmet. Trivas hasn't done any picture books quite as prominent as this one since its publication. Let us hope she gets rediscovered in the coming years.

The obvious book to pair this one with would be, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst. Both books are legitimate complaints from kids who feel woefully put-upon. Ms. Blume's books tend to have one thing in common: They know how to show unfairness from a kid or teen's perspective. Nobody does righteous indignation like Judy Blume. "The Pain and the Great One", a kind of he said/she said book is the ultimate example of this. For some kids it'll teach them that there are two sides to every story. For others, it'll just reinforce previously unsubstantiated claims that their other siblings have got it better. For me, it's just a great book that needs to get rediscovered. That's all.

This book is very touching. It's about a young girl who's just moved to America and isn't sure if she'll survive or make friends. And that's until she meets Priscilla, a girl who befriends her and they become stuck together like glue. Readers of all ages will enjoy this short, fast-paced book.

The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang is one book that you cannot put down. All though in the beginning, it is sort of boring, once you get through a few chapters, you will not stop reading it until you finish.

This book deserved 200 stars. I loved it the from the moment i started reading it. It is masterful and wonderful. It is appropriate for a large range of ages (i would say from 8 to 15). The suspense is wonderful, and the ending is MARVELOUS! At the beginning, it may seem a bit dull, but if you read on to the 3 or 4th chapter, you will fall in love and not be able to put this book dowm. The plot is remarkable, and it always seems to have you waiting to see how this wonderfully creative girl will solve new problems. Read this book, and see how GREAT it really is for yourself.

"The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang" is an important book for children and adults alike to read. In America, we have so many cultures living side by side, it's important for us to attempt to understand one another. Dori Jones Yang successfully creates a book that is enjoyable, educational, and inspiring. I feel many people will enjoy this book because they can relate to, in one way or another, the main character Jinna. After moving to Seattle from China, Jinna (Gina as she is dubbed in English), finds herself unable to communicate in school. Not only can she not understand and speak English, but she finds herself unable to speak AT ALL. Soon after, Gina is befriended by another class outcast, Priscilla, and both children are able to overcome their anxieties and issues with the help of each other's friendship. This is an excellent, inspiring book. I hope to read more books by Dori Jones Yang in the future.

Dori Yang's ten years in Asia provide her with a rich treasury of Chinese customs. She brings a Chinese family to America and spins exciting yarns. Ms. Yang weaves a colorful tapestry of fantasy, reality, suspense-even desperation. Ultimately, frightening faces become warm and friendly. The language is appropriate and readable for students who need to learn English very quickly. It is an engaging book and important to all students especially to those struggling with our language.

This book contains the quote, "Don't be saddish, have a radish" that many people seem to quote without being able to cite where it came from!

I used to own this book as a child and I loved it, but having moved several times, its disappeared. I would love a copy of it so that I can share it with my son. I remember it being called A Special Swap though over here (UK) Please reprint this book. its a real treasure.

I'm not sure how I got my copy of this book, but it has always been one of my favorites. I have had it since I was a little girl, and I was trying to get hold of a copy to give as a present to my niece, and also one to keep for when I have my own children. I suppose the fact that I am going to have to make do with the tatty old copy I have makes it all the more precious, and I'll be sure to keep it safe! I think its a lovely story and one all children should have the opportunity to read.

I, too, first heard this book read on Capt. Kangaroo. I often checked it out of the library to read to my two young children. My father would push them in their strollers. He walked along when they learned to ride bikes and roller skate. Now at 76 years old, he is suffering from Parkinson's and has to be pushed in a wheelchair. My grandson, his great-grandson, loves to help push him. I want to get a copy of this book to read to my father and give to my grandson as a special memory.

This was one of my favorite books when I was a little girl. My mom and I used to go to the library just to get it and I always knew exactly where it was in the library. I don't know why we never just bought it. I guess being a library book made it more special. Recently (about 20 years later) I thought I'd surprise my mom with a used copy. First I couldn't find a copy and now I see this book is going for [$$$] I think we should be ashamed of ourselves for exploiting a beautiful children's story, ironically written about love and generosity, and turning it into what everything else seems to have become, an empty, profit-driven shame. I'd reccomend this book very highly anytime-- at a reasonable price.

This book is one of the best programming language books I've read, along with "Oh! Pascal!" by Cooper and Clancy. It's use of humor and simple, straightforward examples, grab your attention right away and keep it through the entire book. It's hard to believe a programming book can be hard to put down, but this one was.

It also explains complex concepts in simple, elegant ways, just like good programs should be written.

I would recommend it to anyone learning FORTH, and I would recommend sections of it for people trying to understand specific concepts in any language. For example, the explanation of stacks was excellent!

I bought my own used copy of this book, but it is available in its entirety online, so it is unlikely to ever be reprinted.

Somebody REPRINT THIS BOOK!

"Starting Forth" is the only Forth book I own. After reading it, I was able to implement a Forth runtime system, compiler, and interpreter, from scratch, in 8086 assembly - the results can be found at home.earthlink.net/~jknapka/jkf.html . I credit this mainly to Leo Brodie's skill as an expository writer. The book is a gem; if someone were to reprint it, I for one would buy several copies, just in case.

The reason no one will reprint "Starting Forth" is that Forth is not sufficiently trendy. If we rename the language "JavaForth", we'll be drowning in reprints...

Sigh.

This book is a very clear introduction to programming and the stack. The cartoons are very entertaining and descriptive, and the book would make light reading even for beginning programmers. Those who program, but not yet in Forth, will also be happy with the quick introduction.

Why on earth is this fabulous book out of print?

A wonderful book. I bought mine in 1980, and a week later I had an old Northstar Z-80 computer running real-time behavioral experiments in FORTH at (so it seemed) blinding speed.

We need this book!

You should read Wagon Wheels by Barbara Brenner and it is historical fiction. The Muldie boys and their dad were going to the West. They came to Kentucky to make their wood house. In Kentucky, it was a free land. One day the Muldie boys' dad went to find a new place to build a new house. It is a good book because the Muldie boys try to find their dad. It makes me feel very happy to read the book because it was historical fiction. I learned about the Homestead Act and I learned that you can help each other.

This was the first chapter book I ever read by myself. It was a great adventure. It is about a family of black pioneers. I was sad in the beginning when I read that the Muldie boys' Mom had died on their way west. When they made their first friend out west, and learned to make a dugout, the story began to get exciting. My favorite part was when they made friends with a group of Native Americans. Later, the three Muldie boys traveled over a hundred miles on their own to find their father on his new homestead. I was thrilled to read on the back page that my first reading adventure was based on a true story. I would recommend this adventure to any new reader.

This novel is about an African American family who moves from Kentucky to Nicodemus, Kansas during the time of westward expansion. The father left his sons in Nicodemus, while he went on to find a place for them to settle, the children followed. The family has a positive encounter with Native Americans, who give them food during the harsh winter. The family experiences a prairie fire, wild animals. This easy-to-read yet adventurous story about boys of various ages would work well with the informational book about Nicodemus.

The main idea of Wagon Wheels by Barbara Brenner is how the Muldie boys survived when their father went to find free land. The book is historical fiction. The Muldie boys went to look for their father because their dad went to find a place to live better. The important events are that the Muldie boys and their father went to find free land. The Indians helped the Muldie boys by giving them food to eat. I like the book because it was interesting. It was based on a true story. It was good and made me want to read it again. I learned that families help each other when they have a problem.

Another great offering from the "I Can Read Book" series. This book is also a Reading Rainbow Book, and it is a true story!

My kids loved the fact this amazing little story about black pioneers in 1878 is true. Considering that I used to have qualms leaving them alone in the house while I went to our mailbox at the end of our pipestem, they find it fascinating that three boys (8, 11, and 3) were left alone while their father went further west to find a good piece of land to settle. Then he sends a letter with a map and tells them to come find him 150 miles away - which they do. Simply amazing.

Straightforward writing, simple sentences, my 1st and 2nd graders loved it.

Me and my grandchildren love John Butler's books, especially "While You Were Sleeping". The illustrations are so vivid and life-like. The book teaches color and counting concepts in such fun and interesting ways. Children want to hear this story over and over again. Please Mr. Butler, keep writing books for children.

I've read this book to my son (now age 3) from the time he was born. It is one of his favorites. We make the animal sounds on each page and now he counts each animal. It can be an upbeat energized story for playtime or you can read it slowly and softly for a great bedtime story.

This is such a beautifully illustrated book- my 16 month old son just loves it. He loves the moon and the stars and the illustrations of the moon, stars, and animals are just beautiful to look at. And along with the beautiful picures, the author also counts from 1-10 with the animals - 1 Tiger goes hunting (don't love hunting but I change that word), 2 mice cozy up together, 3 bears play chase etc. so it is fun to sometimes practice counting with him- even though it is a bit early for that! But, this is a wonderful nighttime story for children. A must have!

I first got the board book version of this book for my daugther & really fell in love with both the story and the artwork! A few months later I happened to read a review where the person said there was a difference between the Hard cover and Board book version. So... I decided to also purchase the book in Hardcover as well.

Now that I have both side by side, in my eyes here is the difference between the 2 books. The Hardcover starts with a little girl being awoken by her mother in the morning, and while the girl is waking up her mother begins to talk about how all the animals that where awake last night while she was sleeping are now all sleeping, whiles she is now awake. From those 3 pages the books are both the same.... and then the hard back has 5 more pages at the end that the Board book does not.

I know that board books are small for small listeners with short attention spans, so I think the publishers choose to shorten a few pages that really do not matter if they are deleted from the book. The board book still stands alone as just as awesome without those 8 pages some of which are illustrations.

I use the board book at night before bed to show her that the world is big and while she is sleeping others are awake and so forth. The board book begins with the outline of a home against a stary, stary night. While I plan to use the hard cover book when I introduce her to it one morning or afternoon. Both books are illustrated so beautifully and it still to me is such a neat process that while we sleep, someone in the world is playing!

I have also seen this done in the "Family of the Earth" Books as well.

John Butler's WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, captures the essence of what animals do at night while a young child is tucked safely in his/her bed, soundly asleep. Ten different animals are featured throughout the pages of the book, including mice, tigers, penguins, and more. The lyrical prose will have very young children drifting off to sleep before the story is done, while at the same time will keep them dreaming about the lovely illustrations and animals contained throughout the story. A lovely bedtime book for all children, especially those who are under the age of 5.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper