Beginners Books

My 21 month old son loves this book!! We read it every night at bedtime. He loves to point out the things we are talking about (moon buggies, astronauts, planet earth). He gets excited thinking about what is coming up on the next page. While we are having such a great time he is learning about space travel. I highly recommend it!

Each of my three sons, currently ages 5, almost 3, and 1, enjoy this book. We liked it so much we bought it to donate to my sons' preschool! It is a short read but contains simply presented pertinent facts about travel in space. We recommend!

I have a two year old boy and struggle constantly to find him non-fiction books that don't have to do with cars and trucks! It seems Anna Milbourne is who I am looking for. On the Moon is age-appropriate (toddler/pre-schooler), full of interesting facts, and has great illustrations. Highly recommended!

This is the book for you if you have a child interested in space. My oldest son is 3 & loves this book. My youngest child is 1.5 & can already say "rocket!" & "astronauts", pronounced "ternuts & ockets"
The illustrations in this book are wonderful. They are actual photo type images of the Earth & moon with cartoon images imposed over them. The text is short, simple & perfect for early readers. It just catches their little imaginations.
This book also encourages imaginative play related to space. We have looked for moon rocks & taken many pretend space flights since buying this book. I can't say enough good things about this book.

This is an awesome picture book to be read to children age 1 to 5. Children who can read also love reading it to their younger siblings. It's beautiful with lots of pictures and educational to learn about the moon and astronauts. The kids love this book and read it over and over. There are other great picture books on www.suesbooks.info. I have collected loads of these books. Can't get enough of them.

My son loves this book and will get up to re-enact parts of the story. He seems to relate to piglet feeling small.

Poor Piglet, he feels too small to do many things. He is so sad until his friends show him things he can do that help people - like giving hugs! Great for small children. Cute easy to read story for beginning readers.

my 2 year old loves it, she feels like pigglet is small like her and is loved by everyone just like she is loved by her family.

This little book has multiple personalities (in a good way!) On the one hand it has a very nice story about focusing on the positive instead of the negative. For example, at the beginning we find Piglet focusing on the fact that he isn't big enough to climb a tree like Pooh, or bounce high like Tigger. He can't even fly a kite like Christopher Robin.

This makes Piglet (and in turn any small child) sort of sad. Then Pooh tells him, "But look at all that you CAN do." [Book has underlining for 'can'; Amazon does not, so I've capitalized the word.]

Piglet then goes on to remember all of the wonderful things that he can do. He can pick berries, plant seeds, be a help to Rabbit ..., for example. Very nice all in all.

As a reader, on the other hand, it is not quite as good. There is dialog, which a lot of beginning readers have a hard time coping with, as well as some unusual vocabulary such as: bounce, berries, sticks, climb, shouts, sunny, follow-the-leader, always, extra, and mile.

But I don't want to sound too negative. Despite these linguistic hurdles, I think most children who are ready to read will be able to begin to 'read' this book themselves after some repetition. The key is that the story is engrossing, and the pictures extremely good at giving clues about what the words might be.

An example of text follows so you can judge for yourself about the level (from two consecutive pages):

"You can plant seeds,"
says Pooh.

Piglet is a big help
to Rabbit.

Four Stars. Artwork great; covers full page. Good engrossing story for preschoolers with theme of focusing on the positive not the negative. As a reader it's a little difficult. The book is also a little weird in that only the ending pages rhyme.

My 5-year old daughter is just learning how to read, and this was the first book I bought her that she could read all the way through on her own. Step Into Reading Step One books have large print, repetition, and only a few words on every page--perfect for a child just in the beginning stages of reading. My daughter was so proud of herself after she read through this story (which, by the way, is very cute--and the illustrations are nice too).

My daughter says: "Piglet is small but he is a big friend."

The message of this book, which is that even if you're small you can do lots of things, will boost a child's confidence even if they can't read the book on their own.

I've made many of these recipes, and turn to this book again and again. I just made the scallops with walnut persillade for my parents (embarassingly easy) and they (and I) were thrilled with the results! This book is worth tracking down.

This book has been my cooking bible for many years now. We've cooked so many fabulous and easy recipes from here. Wondering if it was still available after yet another good meal I decided to check out Amazon. Get it. It's worth it.

As someone with very little time and no great love of cooking, I require that a well-thumbed cookbook be very high on flavor and low on work. This book is just that. The recipes are so satisfying and easy to cook that for the first time in my life, I'd rather eat my own cooking than opt for takeout.

I love this cookbook - it is my absolute favorite. The recipes are truly quick, easy, elegant, and delicious.

Like her first book, Ann Clarks Fabulous Fish, her latest collection of recipes in Quick Cuisine are simple yet tasty, sophisticated, and clearly well pre-tested. Follow her instructions and you can't go wrong. She deserves to be far better known. To quote Barbara Ensrud, author of Wine with Food, she has "a marvelous way with food."

Ahh, sibling rivalry! The little boy in this story (about ten years old) has asked God to help him sell his innocently energetic, pig-tailed, little sister, Ally Grace. He tells how annoying and mean she can be, then assures others she will be nice to them. He's ready to bargain with anyone interested in buying her.

As he mentions all of the bad things Ally Grace is capable of, he begins to wonder what it would be like not having her around. After some thought, he begins to see the good she is capable of and changes his mind.

God is mentioned twice in this book. Once, in the beginning, and then at the end. At first, it appears the young boy is asking God for help. Later, it's clear he is asking God to help him do a terrible thing. The little boy doesn't turn to God for good.
I think the author should have taken the opportunity to create a good relationship between God and the little boy. Maybe there should have been an adult in the picture helping the older brother understand he needs to ask God to help him cope with his sister. It's cute, comical, and even made me laugh, but I would not consider it to be a children's Christian book.

This is a really great book! I bought this book for my son when he was having a hard time loving his sister. It went over really well and he loves this book!

Great fun for me to share with my grandchildren as well as my own sister and brother. For Christmas I put old pictures of my brother, sister and I in a book for each of them. I then responded to the thoughts on each page with little quips of my own, remembering our own childhood memories. I put a brother or sister poem on the back inside cover and because we were all lucky enough to share the Christmas holiday with each other, I put one in each of their stockings for Christmas morning. What a special memory for all of us about being sisters and brothers growing up and what a special way to teach my grandchildren about the value of having a sibling. Humor is a grand way to get a message across!

This book is a fun way to be able to address the issue of sibling rivalry. Michelle writes in a way that makes it enjoyable to read with your children. You will definitely laugh when you read how a big brother comes up with a creative way to get rid of his pesky little sister. This would make a great gift for an older sibling when a new baby arrives!

Michelle Adams made me laugh. Then she made me laugh again and again as I moved quickly through this delightful story about a loving brother and his "bothersome" little sister.

With four brothers, I've been there. Most likely so has everyone else who grew up in a house with one or more siblings. That's what makes "Sister for Sale" such a special little tale. It's true, it's real, and it's funny.

Michelle writes in a simple, rhythmic fashion that helps you glide through this story and never miss a beat. The facial expressions in the illustrations are priceless!

I loved this little book. So did my wife, and 13-year-old son.

Sister for sale. How about a brother for free?

This book, illustrated brilliantly in an amazing form, follows the Greek Myth of the snaked-haired Gorgon, 'Medusa'. But the story doesn't start there. You see, Medusa was once a beautiful young girl...she upset the goddess, Athene, who punished her in return. The young man Perseus then sets out to find the Gorgon and kill her, this is their story - in a form that young children can follow. A great book.

Medusa is one of the most memorable characters from all of Greek mythology. "Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa" is an effective retelling of her story. Stephanie Spinner's simple text (geared towards 1st to 3rd grade readers) is well complemented by Susan Swan's fine illustrations. Author Spinner thoughtfully provides pronunciation guides for the mythological names.

"Snake Hair" tells how the beautiful Medusa is punished for her boastful pride by being transformed into a monster with snakes for hair and a face so ugly that anyone who looks at it is turned into stone. As the story progresses, the monstrous Medusa is confronted by the hero Perseus (who will face yet another monster before the story ends).

What makes this version of the ancient story really special is the marvelous artwork. Swan's illustrations appear to be cut-paper collages, and they are alive with color and energy. Particularly impressive are her renderings of the multicolored tangle of serpents that make up Medusa's hair. Overall, a well-done book.

I had the chance to read this book to a small group of girls (sorry no boys in my group today) in my daughter's first grade class and they were absolutely agog over it. Normally they chat and talk and fidget, like six y.o.'s will do, while they take turns doing their book reports. But when I was showing them the pictures and reading the story there was dead silence and open mouths. They simply loved it, and I don't know of a better testimonial.

Now lest you think this is kiddy 'chic lit', my four y.o. son likes it as well. And one of the reasons for this is that the book is just as much about Perseus as it is Medusa. [Medusa obviously had a better press agent and, of course, makes for an intriguing cover.] In fact though, we leave the unfortunate former-beauty on page 11 and don't take up with her until some pages later.

Instead, we become involved with our hero, Perseus, who we find in the company of a very naughty king who wants him gone and done away with. To accomplish this, the king asks Perseus to kill Medusa. [Note to moms, dads, and other caregivers: murder is a frequent theme in this book.] Being clueless as to the king's real intent, Perseus agrees. But not being a knucklehead, Perseus goes and asks the gods for help. [Another note to adults: young children may ask what this multiple god business is all about, so you might want to have an explanation ready.] Hermes (Mercury for you Romanists) gives him a nifty pair of winged sandals, and Athena gives him a shield which is shiny like a mirror. (Athena really had it out for Medusa, didn't she?!)

There is actual drama in this little book. And it is fun to read. I stopped and asked my children what they thought Perseus would do. How would he use the shield? How would he slay the sea monster? (If you don't remember, he ran across Andromeda who was about to be eaten.)

Five Stars. Great Read-aloud. Great artwork. Good introduction to ancient literature for young folk. Both my children enjoyed it: The book has fairly simple text, if you ignore the names of the characters, but there is a lot of it. 48 pages. Non-graphic violence. Medusa looses her head, and some people and creatures are turned to stone.

The cut paper illustrations by Susan Swan are the chief charm of this All Aboard Reading Level 2 (Grades 1-3) book written by Stephanie Spinner. "Snake Hair" is, as the sub-title indicates, "The Story of Medusa," who in this version is a vain young girl who makes the terrible mistake of saying that her hair is more beautiful than that of Athena. The angry goddess change's Medusa's hair to snakes and makes her so ugly her look will turn any living thing that looks at her to stone. What follows is the story of the hero Perseus, who is aided by the gods to fulfill his destiny. The illustrations here by Swan are absolutely exquisite and I find it incredible that these were actually cut by hand and are not computer generated (look at the chains on Andromeda, for example). Teachers who use this book in class should be prepared for young students wanting to try their hand at this particular art form (I could never, ever do this).

One of the interesting things about classical mythology are the different variations that exist on the story of Medusa, Perseus and many others...Other myths tell of Medusa as being one of the three Gorgons, who were dragonlike creatures with wings whose look turned men to stone. In some myths it is said that Pegasus, the winged stallion, was born of the Gorgon's blood after Perseus slew Medusa (the one Gorgon who was not immortal apparently). As for Medusa's head, it supposedly becomes part of the aegis, the shield of Zeus carried by Athena. Consequently, having been introduced to the wonderful world of mythology, young readers will have many more fascinating tales to read and learn about in the years to come.

Medusa was a very beautiful Greek woman who was proud of her hair. She combed it lovingly each day and thought it her most beautiful feature. However, being foolish as well as beautiful, she one day made the mistake of saying that her hair was even more beautiful than Athena. "That," reads the story, "was a big mistake."

The rest is, as they say, history. Athena, in a fit of rage, turns Medusa's hair into a nest of writhing, wriggling snakes. Medusa's skin turns green and scaly. She is so horrifying, that as she flees into the forest, animals turn to stone.

Years pass and young Perseus decides to go forth and kill Medusa. The king is pleased with Perseus, not because Medusa will no longer be a threat, but because the king secretly does not like Perseus-- "he wanted Perseus to fail. He hoped Perseus would die."

Outfitted with a shiny shield and flying sandals by other gods, Perseus seeks out and does manage to kill Medusa. On his way home, he finds the beautiful Andromeda chained to a rock as a giant sea monster approaches. Perseus rescues the young, beautiful woman, and returns home to the king.

The story of Medusa is as old as civilization itself. Ms. Spinner has made the story very accessible to young readers in grade 1-3, and the illustrations by Ms. Swan are detailed and astonishing. Each picture is a photograph of 3-dimensional cut paper collages which are sometimes very complicated, like the tangled mess of snakes on Medusa's head. The collages clearly must have taken hours to cut and assemble, making this a beautiful work of art as well as a good story for beginning readers.

The text by Ms. Spinner is short but not choppy. It flows well from beginning to end without being confusing, which will help children who are just learning to read. The subject is a good one-- a hideous creature turning people to stone just by looking at them! It certainly will hold a child's interest! Ms. Spinner has also included pronunciation guides to the Greek names, which will not only aid in decoding, but will help reinforce breaking words into syllables.

Though short and intended for beginning readers, this is a wonderful book and clearly the author and illustrator took their time and intended it to be a story that will be read over and over again. As a teacher, I would recommend this story to be including in a beginning basal reader, or multiple copies used for group reading. Art teachers could easily use this book as well to discuss 3-D rendering and collages for all grade levels.

Masterfully executed, a highly recommended book!!

I read this book in one sitting and I'm going to go back to it when I have more time. I think this would be a great movie.

This is a great read from start to finish. It moves at a good pace, has a strong narrative voice, great characters and an unexpected ending. Funny--and sexy--romance too.

Jack Driscoll's Stardog is fast-paced, witty, and smart. Driscoll's protaganist, Earl P. Godfrey, is an everyman for the road--taking us on a wild ride for redemption and romance. But expect the unexpected--no cliche's here about the open road. Only humor, fun, and that rarest of endowments, heart. Don't be left out--get out your credit card to get this book in your hands. It belongs on your book shelf.

Driscoll mastery of craft makes this book both a great fast read for the summer reader or a pleasing exploration for the lover of literature. Highest recomendation.

I loved this book! STARDOG by Jack Driscoll is an amazing "ROAD" novel! The story is enticing from the onset, and the characters are original and captivating. This book has movie written all over it!

Browsing the center isle of my newest local book store, Stardog's stunning blue, black and silver cover caught my eye. Tempted by the quotes on the back jacket, I spurlged and purchased Stardog in hard cover, and am I ever glad I did. I had been searching for a good rainy weekend read and I found just that in this hilariously funny(at times sad)novel. The only problem with my purchase is that I came up short on Sunday morning with reading material! Simply put, I never set Stardog down until it was a done deal. My first thought... "wow, what a great movie this will make". I hope a movie happens because I'll be first in line at the ticket counter to purchase front-row seats.

Stardog is a wild and funny, tender and endearing tale of human redemption at its very best. I encourage you to take the ride in Earl's cherry red Ranchero and enjoy the read.This book is a sure bet--a gamble you won't go wrong with.

I paid for overnight shipping and did not recieve the product for 3-4 days. The product was in great condition though. Very pleased with the book itself, just not my waste of money on shipping!

A very highly recommended instruction guide and reference work for filmmaking students and aspiring filmmakers, Practical DV Filmmaking by Russel Evans (Film, Video and Multimedia Lecturer, internet broadcasting advisor and freelance writer on video production) is an informed and informative guide to minimal-budget film making, including all of the diverse "tricks of the trade" involved in the production a marketable film. Enhanced with an accompanying CD, Practical DV Filmmaking is sure to enable even the most novice filmmaker to attain a mastery of the filmmaking process for the low-budget end of the entertainment or documentary market.

The book itself is excellent and answered most of my questions. The depth of the book is in the supporting material. So many internet links to great content can take you months to read if you wanted to spend the time. Very intelligent in the layout. It gives you exercises to complete before you go to the next step and the exercises are designed to get you to know yourself as film maker and to get to know your equipment and tools (ie limitations). This book goes a long way in helping you realize yourself as a DV film maker.

This book is just filled with great advice for newcomers to video/film making.

It fully meet my needs as a starting point to clearly layout basics that one needs to take into consideration not start out blind, it really saves you time by focusing on the esential quickly.

It also helps by defining many concepts one perceptivelly understands or thinks one does.

I have bought several of the cinematography/videography books on top of the "must have" lists and by far, this is the one I can hardly stop reading.

Highly recomended, go for it, you will not regret it.

The CD included is of very little value, trial versions of software and transcripts in Word format instead of a nice multimedia just sucks.

Next time Mr Evans, have your editors work harder if they want to "include" something.

Include printable forms like storyboards and frames with the thirds rule and alike with real practical value for begginers.

Maybe spreadsheets with basic calculations...be creative, the files included are very boring, more so after going through such an entertaining and educational book.

This book is fantastic. Evans outlines everything from the direction that audio waves are received depending on which external mic is used, to the compression rate for web movies. The book is incredibly up to date, as it should be considering it just came out. The set up of the book is very much like the 'for dummies' series, considering that there are projects along the way for you to undertake to sharpen your skills, along with info and ww link boxes. Most other books out there just outline what you need to do but don't tell you how to do things. This book really tells you what is going on when your making a film, and just doesn't say, if you do this then the picture will look pretty. He gets technical, and that's what needs to be said to give people getting into this a better understanding of what they are doing . He starts off with a great intro, for those who are just getting into digital filmmaking it really outlines what needs to be done to succeed. He identifies each technical aspect that he is going to cover, and then goes on to explain how you need to get to know your camera. Its obvious that a ton of research has been put into this book, as it really tells you everything you could possibly need to know. If you buy this book first then there really is no need for any other book out there. I've read this book cover to cover 1 time so far, and plan on reading it 2 more times.

A while ago my company decided to expand into Portugal and I didn't speak a word of Portuguese. This course has helped me. The grammar explanations are excellent and there is a lot of guidance throughout the book on pronunciation. The vocabulary is practical and is supported by a two-way (i.e. Portuguese-English and English-Portuguese) mini-dictionary at the back of the book. The speakers on the tape have different accents, which has helped me 'fine tune my ear'. I believe that a sign of the quality of the book is the comments that I receive on my business trips saying how well I can speak Portuguese.

I also like the fact that the book educates you as to the cultural aspects of the country eg Fado singing as well as historic landmarks to visit eg the tower of Belim. I have also found this useful in helping me build up business relationships in that I can show I know something about the country and I always have a place in mind for when I am offered as a trip somewhere as part of my visit! Yet another strong point is that the book also covers Brazilian Portuguese. I shall be needing that too.

This course is for both European and Brazilian Portuguese. It systematically shows the differences and tells the learner how to switch over between the two. Grammar explanations are more detailed than usual in most language courses. Vocabulary is very practical, what you need to communicate. The course is user-friendly and actually teaches you the language. Better still if you buy the latest edition, 2002. It has lots of extra real life material, exercises (all with key), and has both CDs and Cassettes.

Teach Yourself Portuguese by Manuela Cook is both for European and Brazilian Portuguese. It systematically shows the differences and helps the learner to switch over between the two. Grammar explanations are more detailed than usual in most language courses. Vocabulary is very practical, what you need to communicate. The course is user-friendly and actually teaches you the language. Better still if you buy the new edition, of 2002. It has lots of extra real life material and exercises (all with key) and has both CDs and Cassettes. Highly recommended!

Teach Yourself Portuguese by Manuela Cook is both for European and Brazilian Portuguese. It systematically shows the differences and helps the learner to switch over between the two. Grammar explanations are more detailed than usual in most language courses. Vocabulary is very practical, what you need to communicate. The course is user-friendly and actually teaches you the language. Better still if you buy the new edition, of 2002. It has lots of extra real life material and exercises (all with key) and has both CDs and Cassettes. Highly recommended!

Teach Yourself Portuguese by Manuela Cook is both for European and Brazilian Portuguese. It systematically shows the differences and helps the learner to switch over between the two. Grammar explanations are more detailed than usual in most language courses. Vocabulary is very practical, what you need to communicate. The course is user-friendly and actually teaches you the language. Better still if you buy the new edition, of 2002. It has lots of extra real life material and exercises (all with key) and has both CDs and Cassettes. Highly recommended!

In the book "Too Many Secrets" there was a lot of suspense going on. It made me want to keep reading until I knew what resolved the problem, but then another problem came up and just kept on reading until I was done. This isn't a boring Sherlock Holmes story, it's upbeat, in the 90's, and always keeps you on your toes. I strongly suggest you read this, even if your not intrested in mysteries this is the book for you!

A prety realistic book and the spence is amazing. Patrisha Rushford describes the caracters very realisticly. It's so exiting I personaly couldn't put the book down and I mean that literality I read the book straight through.

I have always liked mysterys, but the ones I normally read weren't very interesting. These books always keep me surprised. I like the way they always take a sudden twist at the end to make the least likely suspect the culprit.

This book was AWESOME! I like mysteries but I couldn't find any aimed for my age group (13 almost 14) that weren't gruesome! This is one of the best series out there in my opinion! Jennie McGrady Rocks! I love the romance too. Theese books don't have a dull moment yet they have a good value system, none of that aweful stuff!

Too Many Secrets is a fabulous book by Patricia H. Rushford! It's main charcter is Jennie McGrady, a 16 year old girl whose father disappered, a mother whose dating another guy and a 5 year old brother Nick. It's about Jennie suspecting that her grandmother is missing or had been kidnapped and went in search of her. While she's searching for her, Jennie's relationship with Ryan, a boy who lives next door to her grandmother's, grew. Together, Jennie and Ryan uncover devious plots, friends that are foe and puts their life on the line in order to save Jennie's grandmother. I recommend this book to readers that like a good mystery combining romance! It is a great book that truly outlines problems of life. This is a Christian book, though I am not Christian, I still found this book real thrilling. Way to go and keep on writing Patricia Rushford!

I have perused with great joy Jean Lubin's book for young children. As a father, grandfather and great grandfather I found Jean's work to be creative, inventive and imaginitive. A uniique teaching method and tool both for parents and Christian Education teachers. I am certain Jean's book will bless and motivate young children to learn about the Lord Jesus and themselves.

My kids love this book! They can't put it down! It is so much fun...I am getting it for all my nieces and nephews. Perfect Christmas gift, as it is a daily devotional that starts on January 1st. Finally, an entertaining way to teach young kids the basics of the Bible!

Combined with whimsical illustrations, Train Up A Child is an invaluable tool for triggering creative and spiritual talents in the developing child. I was particularly taken with the profound simplicity and love which Jean Lubin projected her own experience as a mother and a teacher and practicing Christian. No matter what your religious identity, you will treasure this book and pass it on to special friends and children.

This is like "My Utmost for His Highest" for children as young as three...up to around ten or so. I am so excited I finally found a devotional the kids look forward to...fun, creative, and powerful!

I am nine years old and even though my family is Christian, I didn't get alot of the stuff they tell me about in Sunday school. Now i do a page of Train up a child every night before I go to bed and i am really understanding that Jesus loves me for the first time. My little brother likes it too. This book is fun and great. You should get it.