Beginners Books

Then this is a great book. My four year old loves it. He giggles when the children get so dirty they have to "stay in the bath for 3 days." He loves the idea of the kids hiding out in the back of the fire truck and getting to go to a real fire. Very cute story!

Every child will love this book even if they are not particularly interested in fire stations. This is the story of a little boy who is convinced by a mischevious friend to stowaway aboard a firetruck and follow the firemen to a fire at a paint factory. There are wonderful, colorful illustrations of the little boy and girl getting so covered with paint that their parents don't recognize them, and then taking big sudsy baths with huge bubble and splashes of paint when they get home. The children I know who love this book enjoy both the adventure of the plot and the vivid illustrations.

We love the books by this pair (Munsch and Martchenko). The Fire Station was an immediate hit with my soon to be four year old. Not only does it have the requisite fire engine, but the kid characters are curious, smart, adventurous and have relate-to personalities. The writing is inventive and colorful, is great for read-aloud, and doesn't talk down to kid readers. Martchenko's illustrations are great.

This is a great story for kids who love fire engines, kids who are irrepressible, or kids who know another kid who just won't take no for an answer.

Michael's friend Sheila won't let the word "no" stop her; not from Michael, and not from any of the adults. She wants to see the fire station so she takes Michael in with her and asks for a tour. The friendly fireman agrees, but then Sheila wants a ride in the fire engine and is told "of course not." So, Sheila gets in the engine anyway (dragging Michael along despite his protests), and wouldn't you know it, the alarm goes off, and the two of them are part of a huge downtown fire detail.

Martchenko's vibrant pictures, as in so many books he does with Munsch, are glorious. And the ending can lead to a great discussion with your child about learning a lesson, and how some people have more trouble doing so than others. The two children have such definite personalities, Michael the insecure worrier and Sheila clearly on her way to thrill-seeking sports such as glacier skating.

This is one my kids asked me to read them many times over.

I'm a second grade teacher and I read this book to my students at the begining of the year. Needless to say I had to buy 5 more copies, because my students always wanted to read that book. The stories in the book might start off as scary, but they end with a joke. Children won't be afraid of this book. It's a great book for children 6-8 years old.

I read Five Funny Frights. I liked the chapter called Bloody Fingers, because the oldest was scared but the youngest sister wasn't scared. She went up to the guy and said, "Get A Band-Aid".

I read Five Funny Frights. I liked A Dark Dark Story best. It was a good story. I think a lot of kids will like the book. It is by Judith Bauer Stamper. The Illustrator is Tim Raglin.

I read Five Funny Frights. I liked A Dark Dark Story best. Itwas a good story. I think a lot of kids will like the book. It is byJudith Bauer Stamper. The Illustrator is Tim Raglin.

I borrowed this book from the public library for my 3 year old daughter and after I returned it, she kept asking for the "flower book." The illustrations are beautiful and the concept is really nice.

We have a two-year-old daughter who picks this book out every day and every night to read. The illustrations are breathtaking. The story is simple but relevant; we follow every detail as the father and daughter walk the city street and ride the bus. We love to watch the daughter planting the flowers with her father; the mother coming home from school to see her birthday surprise. I have no doubt that this book will be with us for another generation or more (at least in our house). Thank you to the two wonderful artists who created such a special book.

I am a student teacher in a three year old preschool classroom. We recently planted mums outside our window, and afterwards read this story to the children. They loved the beautiful pictures and the contrast between the city flowerbox and our daycare garden.

my pre-school class found the book to be very exciting and could'nt wait for me to turn the next page.the bright colors of the cover and pages were so liking a good childrens book,that we planted a garden like described in the book.i have had parents ask where can they get this wonderful book for their own child. we really enjoyed it!this book described a family so close and loving,you can't help but smell the flowers and feel the love in that household.

This is the summer before second grade for my son and Fluffy books are perfect to keep him reading throughout the summer. Fluffy is a guinea pig who lives in a classroom. He is very funny and witty. Fluffy will keep your child laughing and interested.

I love all the Fluffy books! Fluffy figured out that the groundhog was nice.

Fluffy is a guinea pig who spends his days in an elementary classroom. As part of their lesson about groundhogs and Groundhog Day, the children bring three additional guinea pigs to school to stage a GroundPIG Day race. Fluffy breaks away from the pack and darts into a hole that turns out to be a real-life groundhog burrow. There the groundhog admits that he's shy and doesn't want to face the media. Fluffy, our hero, takes his place. His family at home is later surprised to see Fluffy on TV that night, not seeing his shadow.

This is a fun Level Three book for 1st and 2nd graders. The illustrations are comical, and the storyline is amusing and discussion-provoking.

I thought it was funny when Fluffy pretended to be the ground hog. Easy to read. I like the worm on the cover. I think its a good book.

Great book for any cat lover

author of "Hobo Finds A Home"

This is a wonderful and touching story. The gentle illustrations really give you a feeling of being in the small rural fishing town in which the story takes place. My three-year-old, cat-loving daughter was so entranced by the pictures that she sat as still as a statue as she listened, although there were considerably more words-per-page than she is used to.

One caveat--if you have a tendency to get choked up when reading sad books, (or if your children tend to get upset by sad books) preread this before reading it to your children or giving it to them to read.

As an elementary school teacher, I have used this book in many different types of reading workshops with a variety of students. Students of all ages respond to this story with a mix of delight, emotion and wonder. It is a fabulous way to generate a discussion, or to engage the students in a personal exploration of opinions, feelings or reflections. I highly recommend this book to adults, teachers, parents, children young and old - you will not be disappointed!!!

Author Marilyn Helmer and illustrator Paul Mombourquette have rendered a minor masterpiece in Fog Cat. Helmer weaves a tale of Hannah, her Grandfather, and elusive cat they spot on the seashore one day. Through persistence and patience, Hannah slowly wins the confidence of this feral cat, drawing her at last into the home she has come to share with her Grandfather. The day-to-day simple lives of this trio, bound together by love and necessity, is revealed not only by Helmer's choice verbal depictions but also by Mombourquette wonderful illustrations. His delivers exactly the right tone for the story, matching image to words seamlessly, capturing the warmth of the home and the rugged misty beauty of the seascape.

The story ends with Fog Cat's unexplained disappearance, but Hannah does have left the sole surviving kitten from a litter. Helmer neatly bookends the beginning and ending of her story, neither explaining why Hannah has come to live with her Grandfather, what happened to her parents or her Grandmother at the start or resolving what happens to Fog Cat.

Beautifully illustrated story that is perfect for my emerging readers. It shows the harshness and beauty of winter as well as the comfort of various animals in their homes. Even as an adult teacher reading it to my class I was entranced by the quiet beauty that follows the entire story. It's simple to read, but even those simple words are smartly written.

This book evokes the peace of winter in the woods. Animals travel home, each in his/her own way. We see the animal moving in the woods, then snuggled up in its own cozy home. The illustrations are beautiful. I've purchased two copies so far--one for my sons and one for a cousin. I'd highly recommend this peaceful book to anyone with a beginning reader in the family.

In this beautiful book readers follow a variety of different wild animals home, as they seek shelter from a winter snowstorm. Vivid watercolor illustrations by Jacqueline Rogers set this level 1 beginning reader apart from others. Rogers uses contrasting warm and cold hues to distinguish between the cold outdoors during a winter storm and the coziness of home. Her realistic renderings will satisfy even the toughest critic, each page a new masterpiece. Young readers, especially animal lovers, will not only be captivated by the illustrations, but will also find Benjamin's simple text a comfort. Repetitive words and theme, and use of various action verbs keep the reader interested. More complex words are kept for the latter part of the book. This book will remind all readers of how peaceful yet powerful nature is. It is the perfect book to enjoy while curled up with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day.

This one is quite well done and is an excellent choice for the entry level reader. The text is quite simple, easy to follow and to the point, yet is, for some reason, very peaceful. You actually enjoy listening to the child read. I cannot say enough about the delightful paintings of the various animals in this book. Technically, the artist in spot on the money. I note that each picture leaves plenty of room open for discussion with the child as they read the book, or better yet, after they have read it several times. This is certainly one you will want to add to your child's library or your school library. Highly recommend this one.

Franklin is mad and having a bad day. Franklin does not want to do anything. He misses his friend.

We love the Franklin series. He lives a real life, and teaches honest lessons. He doesn't always win, but even that is appealing in this book.

This is a very touching book. It shows emotions of what happens when a close friend moves away. Frankin takes it out on everybody. But in the end his father figures out that it was Otter's moving that upset Franklin. His father told him how they can still stay in contact with each other. Franklin sent Otter a puzzle that he made.

Franklin, our favorite little turtle, struggles through the day after his good friend Otter moves away. Everything seems to go wrong until he finally has a relieving talk with dad and realizes that he hasn't really lost his buddy, but that their relationship simlpy has to take on a new dimension. This is yet another greatly illustrated, wonderful book in the Franklin series, which helps teach life's lessons and morals to our young ones.

My son does not particularly enjoy reading himself, but this book series is one that he happily read. I highly recommend for any child that is interested in animals and some of the gross and interesting things that they do. We went to the zoo after reading this series too and my son had a ball seeing some of the animals from this series. He thinks these books are cool.

You can tell a good book by how quickly it becomes mangled. This book was and still is read often. Hopefully it will last until all the kids out grow it.

Freak Out! is one of my daughter's favorite books. This introduction to some of the stranger animals that share our planet -- from pink dolphins to blue-tongued skinks -- is chock full of interesting information and illustrations.

My daughter found this book to be both engaging and cool. She loves animals, and the neat thing about this book is that she learns about some very unusual ones and their bizarre and exotic qualities. She enjoys learning about the animals as well as seeing the vibrant illustrations that go with them. As an adult, I found this book to be well researched and clearly written. It's the kind of book I can easily read multiple times and not be bored!

THese are really fun phonics readers. They have flaps on some pages with additional words and art work .. The art is fabulous!

If you are looking for cute, fun books to help teach your children phonics, get the Usborne Phonics Readers! We prefer the board book versions of these books, as opposed to the paperback versions, because they are more sturdy and include fun lift-the-flaps. The text is simple, direct, and even funny. Stephen Cartwright's illustrations are adorable.

"Frog on a Log" was the first book in this series we purchased. It was such a hit that we decided to purchase "Goose on the Loose" and "Fat Cat on a Mat" for some phonics variety, and they are loved just as much.
My kids, ages 1 and 3, love to read these books over and over and over and over... so beware of that before you buy!

All of the Easy Words To Read series are fantastic for children just learning phonics. My reading delayed and dyslexic students finally have something fun to read. Great illustrations, nice little story line and best of all, they are made up of mostly phonetic words that repeat. This repeation and phonetic approach is of major importance when instructing young readers with reading difficulties. I use these books with my private students and in the early grades in the primary school where I run a volunteer reading program. I hope that more of the same will soon be on the market.

This book is about a frog that sits on a log by the bog. He suddenly jumps over the bog with one big hop and starts to jog. When the frog stops jogging it's foggy outside and a dog appears. The dog starts running and bumps into the log causing the frog to fall off the log. Frog gets up and gets back onto his log and along comes Pig through the fog. Pig is looking for the dog, but he bumps into frog's log causing frog to fall into the bog. The next day its sunny and frog straps himself onto the log, Pig and dog push the log and it falls into the bog with Frog tied to it.


This book would be wonderful to teach children about phonics and the different sounds. You could use this book to teach children about regular phonics and irregular phonics. This book forces children to sound out the words and since the words rhyme it makes it easier to figure out the difficult ones. This short book can also be used to teach kids to pay attention to details. It could be used as a game to see who could find the duck on each page the fastest. This book can also be used to teach beginner readers about sequence of events. After reading the book you could have each child draw pictures in the order of how the story happened which would also teach the children creativity and art. This book can be used to teach kids about the letter y and all its different alternate endings such as ie and the i sound. This book can teach children about several different endings such as "ed" as an alternate ending for the "t" sound and ow as an alternate ending for the "ou" sound.


This book is wonderful to teach children about rhyming words and phonics. I like how it gives information about phonics at the beginning of the book. It also provides a page at the back of the book that goes more into the irregular words that the reader will find within the book. It gives a list of the words and provides some details about how to sound the word out. The pictures are colorful and fun to look at. The illustrator also adds a small yellow duck to every picture that the reader is supposed to find. This provides the reader with some entertainment before, during, and after reading this book. This is a great book for children just learning how to read and I would love to use this book in my classroom someday.

We found this book at the local library and my children would have passed it by. It had not been checked out for 24 years. They love this book and want their own copy.

I liked this book but i didnt love it at all i mean thier wasnt really any adventure

This was one of my childhood faves...there's mystery, archaeology, opera, romance, New York City (uptown and downtown), a dog that becomes a man, and a genie that pops out of a carpet and saves the day. Written by George Selden (famous for penning The Cricket in Times Square), the author knew how to mix the exuberance of youth with the anything-goes quality of Gotham to create a most clever tale (with a happy ending). A great read for smart kids with broad interests poised for adulthood.

this book is F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C. I highly reccomend to kids who love fantasy. I admit in the beginning i a'm a kid at saint ann's school and we wrote reviews about on a note card and the said:this book sucks etc.

so you get my point this book is FABULOUS for kids from ages 7-12.

your life will be better if you read it TRUST ME!!!