Beginners Books

Excellent, fantastic. My girl and boy love the story and it is very good for numeric development..
counting , adding..
Buenisimo.

What's not to love about this childrens favorite? Perfect for all those who start spanish in school.

This Spanish version of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is just as cute as the English version. Children will love the pages of varying sizes with holes where the caterpillar has eaten up the food.

You can also practice counting up to five with your little one as the bug eats one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, etc.

The vocabulary in this book DOES require a Spanish speaker in the home. My husband does not speak Spanish and this book is too hard for him to read to our babies, whereas he can read other Spanish board books. Additionally, as it is only in Spanish, my husband cannot compare the Spanish words to English.

Still, I think it's a great addition to your library if one adult speaks Spanish and you are trying to teach your children the language too.

My daughter is only 20 months old now, but we began reading this book to her at about 14 months. She has learned the names of fruits in spanish and how to count to 5 within a couple of weeks of beginning to read it. It is one of her favorite books along with "Oso pardo, Oso pardo...". This is one of the required books for a spanish class that she will be beginning when she turns 2. As a spanish speaker it is a really easy book for me to read with fun pictures that my daughter enjoys. Even now she loves to put her fingers in the holes to count the fruit. For parents/caregivers who are not quite as experienced in reading spanish, it may be a little difficult to pronounce some of the words, but with some help you should be able to read the words effortlessly after a few times. My parents and in-laws don't speak much english and they love reading these spanish books to their granddaughter. It's a great way for them to bond.

This is a great Spanish book for children. They learn the days, some verb tenses, and foods. The pictures help one to remember the words. Great for adult and children.

This is a grat book with good pictures and texet. It is easy to read and understand.

this book helped me a lot and found it very interesting and gave me
a lot of ideas.

I gave this book along with a lathe as a Christmas gift to my Father-in-law. He has a machinist background, but had not used a wood lathe before. This book offered a great starting point for him. I read the book also and found it to be very good.

I recently decided to give a shot at wood turning. Being a complete beginner without any time to attend any classes I started by shopping around for different books and DVDs.
In my opinion, "Learn to Turn" is by far the best book available for starting woodturning.
It is written in a very simple style and illustrated by numerous color pictures.
This book is short, well organized and go straight to the point.
The book is divided in two main parts.
The first part introduce the basics of woodturning, the tools, sharpening, sanding, finishing.
The second part is a composed of a multitude of photo essays that show you how to use each tool and drive you through several simple projects.

This book is an excellent reference for the new woodturner. It makes no assumptions, and starts from the VERY beginning, so some may skip some of the beginning sections. However, the book is organized to guide you through the process, and includes projects to use your newly found skills. The book reads very well, and will give you the fundamental knowledge you need to get started. It's also filled with excellent photos to help clarify the text. I would highly recommend this book to other beginners (in fact, I already have).

After the first 20 pages, I was making 20-point plays
in games that I would never have seen before this
book. Whole categories of life and death problems
can be reduced to simple questions about the shape of
their potential eyespace. Having this in your favor
is something that every player needs to know.

Some of the problems are fairly tricky at the 10kyu level.

This book introduces different life and death situations and variations of them. Actually the book has 36 groups of different shapes of life and death situations. Every group has the same vital characters which are explained with few words and examples. After that thera are a few problems and pretty good answers to problems. This happens again in every chapter.

This is a book you HAVE TO READ WITH GO-BOARD! You should try to solve problems, that gives you good overview what is important in every shape. I found it educationnal to "play" problems with someome. Both try to kill or save a group. That worked for me and my friend.

This book is good for a player who has already played a few games and notices he/she is loseing groups which he/she thinks should be alive.

I learned to notice new good and bad shapes in my games.

Introduction:

Life and death is one of the critical elements in the/a game of go, but what exactly is it? It is simply whether a player's stones are captured or prevented from being captured (though I won't go into a deeper explanation here). It's simple, yet very important. To become a strong player, an important fundamental is to be strong in life and death, and if you ask any go player (amatuer or professional) how, the answer will be "Solve lots of life and death problems."

Solving problems helps strengthen a go player's reading ability, and with repetition, the shapes in the problems will be more familiar to the player when they appear in his games (reading is when a player mentally forsees how the game will continue, thinking about different continuations, and to the find the best result possible for both sides). These fundamental shapes also appear in life and death.

The Book:

Content:

Normally, books about life and death are simply "problem books," which simply contain life and death problems. Life and Death (the book) is a bit different, and is mainly concerned about the fundamental shapes that appear.

The book begins with a small introduction about life and death, and defines some common terms that the reader will need to know. Moving along, each chapter is devoted to a specific shape, or theme. A chapter is begun by introducing the reader to the shape and showing them some of the common continuations that can occur. On the next page, the reader is put to the test, and is given some problems to solve.

Difficulty:

N.B.: The content in this book is aimed at stronger players who are at least in the single digit kyu range (9k up), and will not be suitable for beginners. For beginners, some books I recommend are the Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim, to learn about the basics of life and death, and for life and death problems, the Graded Go Problems for Beginners series by Kano Yoshinori and 1001 Life and Death Problems by Richard Bozulich.

Summary:

Pros:

* Smooth process: I like how the reader is introduced to the shape and it's continuation, then is given problems to tackle himself.

* It is kind of a quasi-reference book, especially for the corner shapes, but is definitely not a life and death dictionary.

* Size: Though it's not related to the content of the book, it's a small book, which is a handy thing.

Cons:

* Price: My major gripe is the price, which unfortunately is the norm for go books translated into English. But still, $15 for this tiny book...

Conclusion:

Life and Death is an excellent book for the stronger kyu player to learn about the more difficult fundamental shapes that appear in games.

If you are a Go beginner, I recommend studying (as I did) the book of Go problems for 30-25 Kyu before this one.

But after that and Richard Bozulich's book, this is certainly the next book to turn to.

I'm currently studying this book, "Life and Death," and another book in this series by the same author, "Tesuji."

"Life and Death" is a step easier than "Tesuji," although counter-intuitively they are volumes 4 and 3 in the series. Although the techniques used to kill or save groups come from "Tesuji," the positions in "Life and Death" are simpler, more basic and far, far more common. The problems are a bit easier. So I recommend studying this one first.

Having recently read a few books that tried to answer the question, "What is Life?" I was glad to find this one! The answer is simple. Life is two eyes! If you have only one eye, you are dead.

That is why the door group is as dead as a, um, doornail. It only produces one eye.

You can't enjoy a game of go unless you have a pretty good idea if your groups are dead or alive. And this book is good at teaching you to see which shapes can form two eyes and which shapes can not. The chapters and quizzes in this book are excellent training. If you can answer the "status?" questions correctly, you are well on your way towards doing some serious damage to many of your opponent's more dubious formations.

Once you have learned the elements of go and have played some games, what comes next? Well, you need to learn a little about fuseki and joseki. And tesuji (or you won't be able to understand this book). But the first topic you need to learn really well is this one. And that's where this book comes in handy.

I read this book almost 20 years ago in the first grade and was immediately hooked on natural history, dinosaurs, life sciences, and the like, not to mention storytelling itself. The illustrations are entrancing and the format--the history of life as a play in several acts on a world stage--is enthralling. It's highly informative, too, for a young reader (or even an old one), and it was one of the most memorable and entertaining "educational" books I read as a child.

Now out of college, I have recently repurchased it for nostalgia and read it again. It remains a wonderful work. Being from 1961, it is slightly dated in spots. For example, it says that there is no record of life 2 billion years ago, whereas today we have found lifeforms dating back twice that far. Also, the dinosaurs' extinction is attributed to a cooling climate, because at the time the meteor theory was not widely accepted.

But this of course is nitpicking. The ultimate point of the book is that it's an introduction to the history of our planet and everything on it, including us. The central message--that our own life stories fit into the grand tapestry of life's history--remains. This is a remarkable book, and paticularly if you have a young child, I highly recommend picking up a copy.

I am so glad to see that this book is still in print. It is my favorite book from childhood and I still have my battered copy which I hope to share with my own children some day. The book is beautifully illustrated and written. The author conveys the beauty and the grandness of Earth's origins in a paen to natural history. The illustrations are what always captured me though. They are like nesting russian dolls, each layer presents its own story and suggests new meanings. It is a great introduction to the joys of exploring our world and our history.

Why don't the bookstores carry this one? In the tradition of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Katy and the Big Snow, Life Story presents its main tale in VLB's characteristic artwork wrapped with interesting mini drawings. My children and I enjoyed this title, and I am considering buying several more copies to keep on hand as gifts. (This review was titled and written with the assistance of Sal, age 8.)

As a child this was my favorite book as well. I had it checked out of the school library so often I may as well have owned it. I was thrilled to recently find it still in print, and I ordered a copy for my kids -- and one for myself!

The artwork is incredible. There's something about the style of it that almost... psychedelic. There's a swirling flow to it, with orderly ribbons of plants and animals winding into the distance. Yet while highly stylized, the artwork at the same time offers a wonderful sense of realism. The swamps of the Carboniferous seem so dark and mysterious; the verdant forests at the opening of the Cenezoic Era are infused with the essence of life born anew. And the intricate borders around the "program" at the beginning remind one of the lovingly detailed borders one might find along the high ceiling of some Victorian-era museum.

Even after 40 years, the science behind the book holds up amazingly well. If you want to inspire a love of natural history in your children, get them this book!

If you want to introduce your children to a prevailing modern paradigm/belief system regarding the origins of life, this isn't a bad book to do it with. It is understandably written with Ms. Burton's charming illustrations. As you will see from my title, I regard it as a fairy tale which I want my children to be familiar with. I shelved it next to D'Aulaires Greek Myths.

Yes, I am thirty something and I admit that this IS one of my favorite books! I keep this in the 'frequently viewed' section of my bookshelf! But then, I happen to consider it a sad shame to ever put away a good childrens' book!

There are funny poems throughout the book, and the pictures are really colorful, hand-drawn and fun to look at. My kids enjoy the book, but I don't think they appreciate it in just the same way I do! Some example of my favorite parts:

There's a two page comparison of the 1st and the 179th days of school.

"Other foods that my tickle your tastebuds" -which features foods with funny names.

I love the poem of the "Bad Hair Day" and the next page has adorable drawings and "Ways to Hide a Bad Haircut."

...and so much more! This is a great book! I recently gave a copy of it to one of my dearest friends who is 60-something and she lOVED it, and keeps hers out too!:)

I think I AM a KID again when I read this book!

If you want a book that you'll enjoy reading as well as the kids then this is a perfect choice!

She came to the school my kids go to and I was subbing at the school that day. She is WONDERFUL! She is down to earth and has the kids attention when she talks. The book is fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read this book to my nephew as often as he asks, which is just about every night, which I don't mind at all. It's amazing how we're both still completely tickled by the fun and ingenious wordplay and the colorful artwork that this book brings together perfectly over and over again. And somehow the author makes it look easy to do.

My nephew knows most of these clever and sweet poems by heart, and I have to admit, so do I. If you're a cynical ex-kid like me, this briliant book will take you back to a time when puddles and bugs and sticky stuff were fun things to be played with, not avoided. Thanks for reminding me of how I used to look at the world when I was young and innocent like my nephew, Ms. Whitehead, and also for giving he and I a whole lot of great laughs together!

We can't wait for your next book of poems to come out, 'Holiday Stew'...I'm sure we'll be memorizing all of those poems, too...and we'll be loving it!

This book is a treasure- I've given copies to all my friends who are moms. The kids just love it, and ask me to read it again and again. Of course, they know their favorites by heart.... how can you resist a poem about Rutabaga?
The variety of the poems and the delightful (and funny) childhood adventures/experiences each relates are just as enjoyable for parents to read as they are for children to hear. The illustrations are charming and full of thoughtful details for little eyes to find. This is our favorite family book- I can't wait for her next one!

Lunch Box Mail is a wonderful children's book of poetry. It's nonsensical,fun, light, entertaining and definitely a way for children to get a great start in reading on their own. The illustrations are creative and childlike.

In this book, Mallory finds that boys and gym are big bad things. The only good boys are her boyfriend and his brothers. But soon Mallory learns the truth about boys. And about gym.

I could relate to hating gym and being ridiculed but it was sooo funny when mal thought the hobarts were angels and learned the hard way that they were brats and her own brothers were the real angels. You have to read it to know what I mean, it's just sooo funny!!!

I hated gym too so much, I was always clumsy myself and volleyball was a nightmare. I was always getting hit in the face just like mallory and it broke my glasses one time. I developed a phobia for big balls flying in my face ever since and I would be depressed after class because I wanted to impress them and do well, but it just wasn't my thing. And mallory's character spoke about myself.

I wish I had read this book when I was in jr high, because I can really identify with Mallory and what she goes through. I dropped out of P.E. in 8th grade because I couldn't take it anymore what was happening to me in our co-ed P.E. class. I wasn't the athletic type and was a klutz, and was harassed by the guys who would call me fat, etc. and it was a totally humiliating experience for me. I especially hated soccer, I just couldn't get it, and the guys took total advantage of this by slamming the ball into me ow!! They thought it was the funniest thing in the world to see me in pain. Like in Mal's situation, the school authorities couldn't understand why I'd refuse to go to P.E. Like Mal, I too was punished due to my failure to participate. By highschool I had a medical waiver so I didn't have to do P.E. at all. I was free! I don't think kids should have to suffer through P.E.; It is a dumb rule to have it as a requirement. What does it matter; it's not doing anything for your education...

Mallory has never been a sports person. In fact, you could say gym is her least favorite subject. Nut now Mal's worst subject has turned into an absolute nightmare. Gym classs has gone co-ed.

It covers standard and nonstandard (dog paws) units of measurement, length, capacity, weight...it's entertaining and leads itself to creative lesson ideas. Kids love it!

This book is a keeper. One to have in your collection of childrens books. Great for teaching measurement.

Lisa has a homework assignment. She needs to measure something. Why not Penny? She uses standard units of measurement, such as inches and centimeters, along with non-standard units of measurement, such as dog biscuits and herself, to measure her dog Penny, and other dogs too. She conducts weight comparisons of dogs with the use of a teeter-totter, and then she takes Penny home to conduct volume measurements with food and water. The illustrations are done in a simple and direct way to help children understand the concept of units of measurement. This is an outstanding book.

I loved this book. The book was so fun. Kids love this book because it has to do with dogs. It was very easy to read and to understand all of the measurements. Kids get into the book and want to go measure their own dog or cat at home. I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who has to teach measuring to their kids or their class.

I used this book with my kindergarteners and they adored it! They already knew Penny from the book about maps so they were excited to listen to a Penny book in math. We used it as our starting point to get an overview on measurement and then went back to specific sections of the book to learn about each type of measurement. When Lisa used herself as a measuring tool, the students used their bodies as measuring tools. When Lisa used dog biscuits to measure Penny, we measured things in the room with dog biscuits. There are so many ways to do the things that Lisa does in the classroom and bring this book, and measuring, alive!

This book really brings out imagination in young children. The big illustrations help for them to see the picture fully with the words.

The author explores color and shape in it's simplest form to enable childres to absorb the illustration quickly and easily, thus they hear the full meaning of the words at the same time. Excellent teaching reading book for k-2

My 2 year old was given this book as a hand-me-down. We read it to him and he has insisted on reading it again, and again, and again.... I'm sure this book will be a long-time favorite!

I used to be a Teacher Aide for a daycare for kids ages 2-4. Every day before naptime the kids would beg me to read this book to them. And not just once but twice! They loved when the baby bear went down to see the dragon. And at the end of the story they would all shout the last line "milk and cookies"!! Since then I have had a baby of my own and would like to get a copy of this book that sure will be a favorite with my daughtor.

in Frank Asch's _Milk and Cookies_ the author introduces the common childhood fears of monsters, and presents a story which helps children overcome that fear.

Mama, Papa, and baby bear are visiting at Grandma and Grampa's house. They spend the night. Baby bear looks through the cellar door to see Grampa feeding "a dragon" in the cellar, which is actually a wood stove. Later baby bear has a dream of a dragon coming upstairs, which eats all his milk and cookies. Crying baby bear is then taken downstairs by his father to see "the dragon." After that, baby bear is no longer scared; he and his grandparents and parents all eat milk and cookies.

My 3-year old son loves this book. He sympathizes with baby bear, and he loves the way the story is resolved, of course. I'd recommend this, as well as Frank Asch's book _Goodbye, House_ as excellent books for children aged 3.

ken32

I had this book when I was younger- I'm 20 now. I was thinking about a story I read when I was younger about a couple who moved a mountian (or at least thought they did). I also remembered the Reading Rainbow rendition. I searched all over the Internet for the title because I no longer have it, or can't find it. Then I remembered it was a Scholastics! book. Here it is 10+ years later and I still want to read it.

Ming Lo and his wife love their home, but not that their house is at the bottom of a big mountain, which caused them nothing but unhappiness. Their roof always had holes from falling rock. It rained often under the mountain and with a roof full of holes it meant their rooms where damp and when the sun did shine it's warmth warmed the house and it was difficult to grow anything.

One day Ming Lo's wife told him he must move the mountain so that they may enjoy their house in peace. Ming lo replies that he's just man, how can he move a mountain? Ming Lo's wife knows of a wise man who lives in the village and tells him he should go and ask this wise man. And so Ming Lo does. Each time doing exactly as the wise man tells him and each time the mountain did not move. Finally the wise man told Ming that he must take his house apart stick by stick .They would carry these bundles in their arms and on their heads, and then face the mountain and close their eyes. Next the wise man said you must dance the dance of the moving mountain. You must do this for many hours and when you open your eyes you will see the mountain has moved. So Ming Lo and his wife did as they where told and when they opened their eyes... the mountain dance had worked and the mountain was now far away!

Arnold Lobel has a beautiful book with soft colored drawing! A great book to have as part of your childs' library.

what I liked about the book was that it was kind of funny. Because ming lo had to go back and forth to his house and to the wise man .But the wise man always told the wrong thin like to give some bread because the mountain might be hungry and thats why it didn't move.And also like to hit the montain with
wood and make alot of noise, but at the end the wise man told
ming lo to take all his stuff far from the mountain and they
were never have problem with the mountain agin.

I first heard this story being read to my fifth grade class. It was a story that I would never forget because it was both hilarious and detailed. Here I am, years later buying a copy for my unborn child to enjoy when she comes into the world..

Ming Lo and his wife live next to a mountain. The mountain constantly drops rocks on their house; clouds form at the peak and rain falls on their house (through the holes the rocks have already made) and it blocks the sun. Eventually, they have had enough!!

Ming Lo's wife sends him off to the village wise man that first tells them to run at the mountain with a large pole-this will knock the mountain far away. Of course, it doesn't work, so Ming Lo returns to the wise man many times to ask his advice. Each suggestion grows more and more silly until the last one that actually works!!

Mr. Label is most well known for his Frog and Toad books. The illustration style is similar with "Ming Lo", sharing similar muted colors but with softer outlines. The pictures highlight the foolishness of Ming Lo and his wife as they bang pots and pans at the mountain to scare it away or bring food to the summit to appease the mountain god. The wise man is an amusing character, sitting under a small pagoda in purple robes smoking a pipe (he produces more and more smoke each time that Ming Lo comes to ask him questions, to the point that he can barely be seen).

The story is easy to read and fun without being ridiculous. It's an excellent book for beginning readers and will keep children interested as they read on to find out what Ming Lo and his wife will be up to next! Highly recommended.

My son has ALL the Mr.Putter and Tabby books (which I highly recommend!), but this one is his favorite. These books are so sweet and funny and the illustrations are just tremendous!!

This was the very first Cynthia Rylant book I purchased for my 7 year old daughter and after reading it together several times, I bought all of the other Mr. Putter and Tabby books. It is easy to read, and very, very funny. The illustrations are great, very entertaining and whimsical. Thoroughly enjoyable!!!

This is another winner from the "Mr. Putter and Tabby" series. Old Mr. Putter and his old cat like to sit and watch the snow, but they must act soon if they want to think of something to give their nice neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, for Christmas. Knowing her unlikely fondness for fruitcake, the intrepid pair decide to bake her one that wouldn't "break her toe if she dropped it." After much ado, they finally succeed in their effort, and fall asleep on Christmas morning in Mrs. Teaberry's house, having just delivered the cake. In the end, Mr. Putter goes home with "a very nice toaster that sang 'America the Beautiful' when the bread popped up." This gentle, subtle humor runs throughout the book and goes well with the colorful, expressive illustrations. Mr. Putter's persistence in trying to bake a cake is admirable. Furthermore, like many good Christmas books, this one shows the importance of giving. A fine book for kids who are just beginning to read.

The Mr. Putter and Tabby series are the sort of books that I would have loved to have when I was a beginning reader. I know that I would have read them over and over again to no end, even once they began to fall apart from constant use. That's why I am so glad that Mr. Putter and Tabby are around now while my youngest brother is learning to read. The non-repetitious (words are repeated, but not enough to become explicit), non-rhyming storytelling contained within the books makes them a pleasure to read continually, unlike many other easy-reader books. And in my opinion, the Mr. Putter and Tabby books are a step in front of Ms. Rylant's Henry and Mudge collection, due to the fact that, in their own way, they create an appreciation for the elderly as the reader comes to love Mr. Putter, the aging main character whose only companion is his cat, Tabby.

In Mr. Putter and Tabby Bake the Cake, Christmas is soon approaching, and Mr. Putter must decide what to give Mrs. Teaberry, his fruit-cake-loving next-door neighbor. Mr. Putter does not understand how anyone could enjoy a fruit cake, and so he sets out to make Mrs. Teaberry a "light and airy" cake for Christmas, one that "could not break her toe if she dropped it." Young readers will follow along with Mr. Putter and his good cat Tabby as they try to make Mrs. Teaberry's cake, from start to finish. Mishap prevails, leaving you to wonder if they will ever get through in time. It all adds up to a cheery Christmas story about giving and the saying, "It's the thought that counts!"

Mr. Howard's cartoon-style illustrations greatly enhance this wonderful story, which is written in such a format to be used as either a 3-chapter book for the beginning reader, or a bedtime story that is longer in length. Either way, the Mr. Putter and Tabby books would be a great find for emerging readers' shelves. Like having a kindly old grandpa next door, they only make life richer!

A delightful Christmas story that emphasizes giving of oneself and pokes a little fun at commercialism. Mr. Putter is as "light and airy" (or light and HAIRY as my five-year-old points out in chapter 4) as ever. Mr. Putter teaches us that we are never too old to learn!