Animal Farm Books

The Mr. Putter and Tabby series is a delightful and whimsical set of tales about an older man and his pet cat. These are simple tales, no complex Russian novel-like characters with conflicted psyches (although his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry is a little strange). Arthur Howard's illustrations are a perfect match for the story - just the right mix of whimsy, expression and humor. The last illustration of Zeke looking out the window at the incoming pears still makes me laugh.

Pick the Pears is one of best in the series (along with "Walk the Dog" and "Feed the Fish"). Our kids range from five to eight and each loves the book which has put the book on heavy rotation in the bedtime story schedule.

I agree with all the reviews. The Mr. Putter books are all wonderful beginning-readers, but this one is especially enjoyable. My Kindergardener read it to me over the last few days, and he was laughing out loud! He really enjoyed reading this book. He thought that Mr. Putter shooting apples through the air with a sling shot was increadibly funny (as were his pink poodle underwear!) He loves the characters, Mr. Putter and Tabby. I'd recommend any book in this series for children learning to read, but I highly recommend this one because it is so much fun!

I use the Mr. Putter & Tabby books for my ESL students. Mr. Putter & Tabby Pick the Pears is their favorite. The language is perfect for either children to build vocabulary or for older language learners for translation and acquisition. The stories are cute and charming. The illustrations are delightful. They look deceptively simple, but really are extremely well done with watercolor. The artist truly brings the characters' personalities to life.

What is particularly nice is the gentle humor used and the continuing themes. Mr. Putter is constantly referred to as "old" or not receptive to silly jokes (i.e. the poodle boxers) during the books but there are flashes of his playfulness throughout the series. while he is set in his ways with his garden, his tea and his love of opera, he still loves toys, trains, car rides and planes. Mr. Putter & Tabby are perfect companions who also have a very close relationship with Mrs. Teaberry, the next-door neighbor and her good dog Zeke. Tabby and Zeke have no dialog but their personalities shines through as well.

This series of books cherishes the differences between people and respect for the elderly. It has been my honor to present seven of these books to my students. They love them. Mr. Putter & Tabby Pick the Pears is the best of the series although they are all gems.

Mr. Putter and Tabby are just a delightful reading experience. Pick the pears invokes the fun and creativity sometimes forgotten in today's much more fast paced world. We have this entire series and read from it at least weekly, but Pick the Pears is easily in the top three.

Some books have magic in them. You know the ones. They stay with you long after you've closed the cover. The rhythm of Ryland's words along with Howard's whimsical illustrations will have you "zinging pears" right along with Mr. Putter.

The Mr. Putter series is just about as good as children's writing gets. You can't go wrong with any one of them. But this one is our favorite.

You can't help but love reading this book aloud to your little one! The rhymes, illustrations, and humor can't be beat. And there's something irresistible about "Fix it Duck!" My two year old always reaches for this book and when we get to a job for "Fix it Duck", he pumps his fist emphatically while singing "Fix it Duck!". I highly recommend this book, as well as Duck's other board book - Duck in a Truck.

This is a great book especially when you started with Duck in the Truck. Very cute story and great illustrations. Lots of detail in the illustrations that are fun to pick out.

What a wonderful story this is....poor Fix-It-Duck only wants to help and he keeps making things worse and worse. A delightful bedtime story you will enjoy again and again.

It's okay, the story is fine. But compared to Duck in the Truck this one is just okay.

that we bought it and donated it to our local library to share with other kids. I have 3 children ranging in ages from 3 - 8 and we all LOVE DUCK!!

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist, a "big sister" to many, and a proud aunt. These books are worth the money for gaining the attention of young children as well as teaching age-appropriate concepts/information.

Good buy from a great seller-

My kids LOVE this book! I read it to them several times a day and they never seem to get tired of it. Great rhymes and great pictures! Definitely one of their favorite books.

This is a great book just like all of the other "Snappy" books. My son loves them all. He's always throwing them up on my lap for me to read to him. Fun to read, great pop-up pictures...A+

My kids are 2 1/2 and 1yr. They love it! It's a really cute, simple, rhyming pop-up book that teaches the sounds that animals make. They're excited everytime we read, which is often!

I highly recommend this book as well as the other pop ups that are made by this company. The one with the colors is really cute too

This is a favorite of my 15 month old. He has had this book since he was about 6 months old and has enjoyed it since the start. All the Snappy books are fantastic and we have most of them. Snappy Farm Animals is colorful and simple to read. Babies love the colors and the animals. The farm starts out nosiy and slowly calms down as the animals go to sleep and the farmer waves goodbye.

This book is part of the curriculum for 3 year-old children at private Carden schools, along with Good Night Moon. Both are Classics and belong in every child's library. The pictures, although sketches, look like the real animals, which is a plus compared to many cartoons, and the premise Disney's more modern Baby Einstein is based on too. It introduces children to the Real World. It also teaches the quality of being giving and sharing what you have, and how a gift doesn't always have to be tangible, since a hug can be a great gift to give and receive too.

Ask Mr. Bear is a wonderful little classic. I like to read it but more important, my 3 littlest cherubs love to have it read to them. It has a good storyline and the older artwork adds variety. They love the ending -- a big bear hug for mom! It is a favorite at our house with the under 7 year old group.

Wonderful children's classic to add to your child's collection. Heartwarming story about a little boy wanting to buy his mom a birthday gift and along the way he asks all his animal friends. The end is sweet and endearing.

I loved this book as a child, now my children love it. It gets them thinking about gifts they can give, and understand that a hug and a kiss for Mom is one of the best presents they can give. I've gotten a lot more of them since reading this book to them.

I can recall reading this book to my much younger siblings and then to my own 4 children; now I am reading it
to my grandson. I especially like the way the animals help the little boy find a gift for his mother with the perfect
gift not being something material but just a lovely big hug. What a wonderful message to pass on to a child.

We stumbled across this book at a church rummage sale this past week. What a delightful find! The illustrations are wonderful. The rhythm inherent in the story had me putting the words to a spontaneously inspired tune starting on page one. We have been singing this book before bedtime all week. My 4yr and nearly 2yr love it.

This is a wonderful book to read with passion. It is a favorite of mine to read to my primary students - sharing the excitement of a barn dance, while preserving the mysteriousness of a full-moon night. Important addition to a library - but only for those who want to stay up late with all of nature! A fabulous book. I adore it.

I love this book, and frequently give it as a gift. Its perfect for young boys. The verses have a great cadence, and the illustrations are beautiful.

One of the best kids books around and a favorite of my four little ones.

As one of our family's favorite books, Barn Dance! by Bill Martin has been worn out twice at our house. The story is set on a farm at night as a "skinny kid" discovers that there is more going on after dark than the old owl lets on. The farm animals show him that a certain kind of magic exists if you just believe. The book is fantastically written with a slightly irregular-sounding rhythm that is fun for adults to read to their children, and our kids beg to read along--making this one of the first books they would try to read alone. We have also read this aloud to our daughter's class to rave reviews. This is a great book to dive into over and over, you'll find the magic will have you tapping your toe along to the "music" too!

I purchased this book for my great niece. I was very happy with it. Well worth the price.

Classic book and I want to read it to my son. I'm sure he'll appreciate it when he gets older. It was shipped in perfect condition. Thank you!

This is the same book you read as a child but in a hard cover, with giant print. I am really happy with the high quality of this book.

Charlotte's Web is a terrific book to use when your child is ready for read-aloud novels. What a life time memory this will create for you both as you read chapter by chapter aloud. It has a perfect theme of friendship to encourage so much dialogue. Don't let your child leave childhood without it in his/her memory!

This was one of the first "long" books that my 5 year old and I have read together, as opposed to picture story books. He absolutely loved it. Our only issue was sticking to one chapter a night, as he was always begging me to continue for just 1 more page!

The story is tender and realistic; a little sad in places, but good life lessons for even sensitive listeners - and a happy ending. My only very minor negative would be that in places the vocabulary and dialogue are a bit specific to time & place (American farmland), so culturally diverse young readers might need some explanation. I was easily able to substitute or explain a word here or there, and my son followed the story just fine.

My mother had this book when I was a little girl and I always wanted her to read it to us every Christmas time. I just love the illustrations! And even at a very young age, I would want her to read the authors note at the end that talks about all the symbolism in the pictures. When I got older I would read it to myself on Christmas Eve before going to bed. It is such a beautiful book! I was very excited to be able to buy it this year, so that next year when my baby girl is here for Christmas, I can read it to her and it can be a family keepsake.

Me and my son love all the books Ms Berger writes, This is a re-telling of the first christmass, but with a very soft tone to it, my son asked me to read this book several times the day it arrive, read it, it's a must.


also read other books by Ms Berger,

1. Grandfather twilight 2.When the sun Rose 3. Gwinna 4.Angels on a pin 5.All the way to Lasa & 6. A lot of Otters.

This is one of our very favorite Christmas books. The pictures are beautiful and dream-like. It's just a wonderful book.

My Godmother got me this book for christmas of 1985, and I still love to curl up on the couch on christmas and read it. It tell's a beautiful story with beautiful pictures to help tell the story. This is a great gift for the younger children.

What a beautiful story. It is very moving. I highly recommend it.

bought this for my 23 mo old son. Loves dump trucks so this is a perfect pick. Recommend to all children who love cars and trucks. Just a happy story!

What a joy it is to see this book again. Many, many wonderful books were read to me and my sisters as children in the 1950's. But this delightful wacky tale, so full of movement and warmth, remains the most beloved of all. Thanks to the publishers for reprinting it and to those who wrote of their own memories.

This reissue of the 1950's golden book "The happy man and his dump truck", is a wonderful tale about a friendly man who takes some farm animals for a ride in his truck. Each time he sees a friend he tips his hat and his dumper giving the animals a slippery slide. The illustrations are colourful and fun. Is also a good introduction to farm animals and the sounds they make.

My son is now 45 years old and still remembers me reading this book over and over and over to him as a child and him reading it back. It was one of his favorites. Ironically, he is now a carpenter and owns his own truck. I just ordered the "collectible" version and will be giving it to him as a surprise for Xmas. I think he will really treasure it and tell his kids about it.

This is very old fashioned. The story is that man gives farm animals a ride in the back of his dump truck. He make the dumper go up and the animals slide down. Wheeee! My son gets a kick out of this as it combines his two favorite things: slides and trucks. There are not too many words on each page. The style of writing is very simple.

This book is probably politically incorrect, though, as the animals don't wear seat belts and they get into a unknown man's truck. (I would prefer their farmer be the driver of the truck.) If this bothers you, you shouldn't buy this book.

Look, I'm almost 26. I'm in a punk band. I don't have any kids but my drummer does. I was digging through the library catalogue under the subject "punk" and this came up so I had to get it just to see. Farking hilarious! I love the witty character development and dialogue, even though it's obviously simply written for little folks. The illustrations are great with funny details and nods to pop culture. The website is also very funny with its spoof on MySpace. Basically, I cannot wait to tell my drummer about these books tomorrow, so she can get them for her daughters!

I recently attended Art All-State in Worcester and Jarret Kroscozka was one of the Artist Mentors for the program...At the end of the mentor slideshow he got up and did a life-changing reading of Punk Farm. E-I-E-I-OH!! The pictures are adorable and it's basically and amazing kid's book, buy it!

Must be willing to sing it and act it out, if so, this is the one for you!!! Storytime Fun.

We originally got this book at the library, but my daughter (2) loved it so much, we had to buy it for her. It's really a fun book and we enjoy reading & singing it to her. I can only recommend it!

I read this book to many of my music classes. They ALL loved the book--from pre-k up to the fourth grade. It's funny, silly and cool all at the same time. They LOVED listening to the Punk Farm version of Old MacDonald.

The book can be used to teach about the instruments used in a rock band.

I just ordered Punk Farm on Tour. Can't wait to get it!!

Tales of a Texas Boy
All reviews on this edition apply to the Kindle version, too.

Tales of a Texas Boy took me home. I grew up in Texas on a large chicken farm with a grandmother who told me stories of the 'good ol days'. Marva captured for me a sense of peace and a longing for how things use to be. This is a great book for children of all ages. Marva, Hon would be proud.
Sarah--Utah

Tales of A Texas Boy is a funny, charming, and bittersweet vision of a vanished time. Its host of characters include a jack mule from Georgia named Samson, a grandfather who fought in the Argonne, and (unbeknownst to Eddie) Mae West, encountered in a roadside café. The stories, narrated in Eddie's West Texas accent, perfectly capture his childlike perceptiveness. The sense of place is wonderful, whether we are passing the evening on horseback across the prairie, bone-hunting in the dry washes or watching Sophie the bear roll up to the county fair sitting in the back seat of a Studebaker. What a pleasure it must be to spend a day with the man behind these stories!

Ms. Dasef wrote a marvelous portrayal of America's history through stories told by a young Texan. She takes the reader into events such as World War I and The Great Depression. The photos add to the depth of this most enjoyable book!

Ms. Dasef has captured the essence of her father's life on the Texas prairies. These folksy, heartwarming stories bring to life endearing characters who were real, flesh and blood people struggling to farm the priaire lands of the Texas panhandle.

The stories are enchanting, humorous and often contain a sort of morality tale. I especially liked the one about the grandfather taking on a hired hand he could not really afford simply because even though his family had little, the hired hand's family "had nothing."

In this day of callousness and cynicism, Tales of a Texas Boy resonates with echoes of the real America. Kudos to Ms. Dasef and to her remarkable family. A great read for all ages.

Barry Yelton,
Author of Scarecrow in Gray, a Civil War Novel