Literature Books

A charming book with lively illustrations and an unexpected ending! Children will love the animals and rhyming text and will instantly relate to the young girl and her beloved friends.

Wonderful book. My daughter loves it. We read it almost everyday. The illustrations are great as well.

The central character is a spunky imaginative girl with diverse interests ranging from playing in the mud, dancing, and playing doctor to having tea-parties and playing dress-up. She wears comfy jeans and other non-pink clothes throughout most of it, and even her pajamas are not pink. My daughter really enjoyed the rhyming, lyrical text, and the bedtime theme makes it perfect for pre-bed reading. We started reading it at about 12 months I think and it is only recently (she's now 2.5 yo) that it seems to be losing ground as one of her "must-read every night" books.

We have had this for almost 2 years now, and it is definitely a favorite. Our son is now 2 1/2 and still loves it. It is such a cute book! The illustrations are great, and the text is very rhythmic and flows well. When we go to the zoo, we recite the different rhymes when we see the appropriate animal ("I know a hippo and when she's not busy, we spin round and round until we get dizzy."). We have given it as a gift and I recommend it to everyone. Get this book!

This was liked by my son but my 2 year old daughter absolutely LOVES it. She has memorized all the rhymes and I hear her "reading" it to her animals after lights out. Any kid with a crib full of animal friends can relate to this charming story. And like all GOOD toddler books, it ends with SLEEP.

the whole family loves the I spy books.. I sat amazed as I realized the four of us were there piling over each other to find the bear.

The I Spy books are fun books to read and do with your children. This book is no exception. It's not too hard for the younger children or too easy for the older ones (adults included).

Sit cozy in your recliner under an afghan and explore this gorgeous book with the little person in your life. So much to look at and search for. The I Spy books are all fun and this one is particularly well done. Children get so excited when they spot the items listed to search for...and find so many more interesting things along the way! All these books hold their attention, stimulate minds, and promote conversation! No batteries required, does not make electronic sounds, does not plug in.

My, almost three, twin grandsons and I, spend many fun times looking for the objects in this book. They get so excited when they find something asked for! My 5 older grandchildren always loved all of the I Spy books too.

This is your classic yet up to date version of "find it" on a picture page. Items are listed on the bottom of the page that must be found by the reader. Some are very challenging! It's great for parents as much as it is for kids! Enjoy!

I am a long-time fan of James Herriot's books. I worked in an independent book store when I found this jewel, and I have given it at every baby shower and young child's birthday since. It is a collection of stories taken from his books and illustrated. The stories are sweet, poignant tales of the literary veterinarian's encounters with four-legged friends in England.

If you are an animal lover or Herriot fan, this is a must- see. The illustrations are realistic with a touch of warmth and they bring life to the stories that graced these literary masterpieces. Many friends and family who recently have had children love this gift. It is a book to be cherished and read to/with your children for years!

The binding is solid with a dustcover I remove when reading with small children (who love to rip my dustcovers!). The papers is a tolerant high gloss that can easily withstand sticky little baby fingers. My niece and I have clocked many hours reading and cleaning this book!

The stories in here are not just bedtime tales. This is life-enriching literature with quirky characters and poignant emotion which you will treasure for years to come. I got as much out of reading these to our son as he did, and you will all enjoy the illustrations. As with real living, the death of a beloved pet is included in one of the tales, so if your children would be upset by this, you might discuss beforehand.

Our 3.5 year old daughter loves this book. The illustrations are beautiful and the stories compelling. They are on a level that she can relate to without feeling condescended to. The stories are interesting and fun for adults to read and they are great to talk about afterwards.

My 7 yr old son and my 5 yr old daugher both LOVE this book. And so does mom! It has beautiful illustrations and the stories are warm and wonderful.

This is a great example of a living book. The stories transport the listener to another place, and the journey is a pleasure. My 5 and 8 year old daughters love these stories and their illustrations.

My 9 year old daughter devoured this, and quickly after, the "Empress Tomb" sequel. I haven't yet read them but her fascination/identification with the characters, her expanded vocabulary (truly interesting words like "mausoleum") and her desire to share the books with all of her literary friends has me sold. Quick note: the kikistrike website is fantastic as well. Thank you to Kirsten Miller for creating complex, empowered girls and for kicking off what I hope will continue to be an unprecedented series!

Technically, this would be 4.5 stars, but Amazon doesn't allow half stars.

Ananka Fishbein. Your normal twelve-year-old girl whose life is a "flavorless mush". Until. Until a sinkhole appears in a the park across the street, and she discovers the Shadow City deep beneath the streets of New York City. Until she meets Kiki Strike, a mysterious girl who wants to be "dangerous". So begins an adventure to explore the Shadow City that will bring together six very different but very talented twelve-year-old girls.

This book is brilliant. Yes. It honestly is. Completely witty with a fun narration by Ananka and with great characters. Unrealistic? Probably. Do I care? Maybe a little. Not a lot, but...just enough to keep me from completely loving this book. I just didn't believe that characters all the time. But setting aside disbelif, this book is great fun. Exciting and hard to put down and definitely full of enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I will definitely be reading Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb.

Im not even finished with the book and im already in trance in the books "spell". If you love mystery this is the book for you .Its about a group of exceptionally different girls. Dont judge this book by the cover , it looks like its for a older group of girls but its not.Its a good read for mature 9 year olds and up.At first my mom would'nt buy it for me because it looked to old but if you asked me I'd say "this is one of the best books I've ever read.I like this book because its about smart, powerful ,strong girls...Girl with a plan

This book was like a breath of fresh air to me! Unlike the many different series of Chicklit for teen girls, this book is a great contribution to what's available for teen girls to read. I confess that I am a fan of the Eoin Colfer series of Artemis Fowl books and at times Kiki reminded me of the main character in the series i.e. Artemis Fowl.

One other major character is Ananka Fishbein, who is called upon to help Kiki with a certain mission. Together with a small group of other girls each of whom has a special ability to give to the 'team', Kiki and Ananka face smugglers and kidnappers to come out victorious if not a little bruised.
Ananka is the perfect main character because she is both courageous and smart but also not infallible.

I had to read this book for my college English class, and I have to admitt that I wasn't thrilled about reading a children's book. My class started reading the book last Tuesday, and I had it finished by Thursday. Even though it was a kid's book, normally I wouldn't be able to finish it in two days unless I had both days off, which I didn't. This book was so good that I couldn't put it down! I almost missed my bus stop because I was reading it on my way home. It was written so well, and had a better plot than most Adult novels. I am about to order the second book even though it is a hardcover, and I don't have any place for it.

My four year old boy and I read this for homeschooling. I do not think he is really understanding the devotions. They say it is for 4 year olds but I think it will be a few years before he will be able to comprehend the contents.

We love this book. I bought it for us to read our 6 year old son for family devotion time. While he enjoys it, and we truly benefit from it, I wish we had discovered it when he was 4 yrs. old because it provides a very good basic foundation for learning verses. The Awana verses he is learning now are more advanced, but he still enjoys the stories that go along with the verses in this book. If you have a 4 year old, it is not too soon to start which we strongly recommend.

I wanted to comment on the quality of this book - the layout, illustrations, format and paper stock are top quality, and this is a book you will want to use for several years. Top drawer. See also Susan and Richie Hunt "Big Truths for Little Kids" which can take up where this book leaves off. I'm glad we found them.

This is a great book! My 4-year-old is memorizing a scripture each day, and with reviewing them nightly, he is retaining them very well. The devotionals are helpful for the children to understand God's will through scripture. They are very optimistic in regards to how others will react when we pursue God's will, but that's okay with me. My son has even rebuked his younger brother with one of the verses! I love that he can see the purpose in context.

I am so glad a friend recommended this book! My 3 1/2 year old daughter loves the stories and is learning the Bible verses too. This is actually the only children's book I have seen that talks about the Holy Spirit and His role in recalling Scripture to mind, prompting us to make right choices, etc. This was a great purchase and I definately feel it is playing a key role in my discipleship of my daughter by making her conscious (as much as she can be at this age) of issues of the heart. The one caveat might be to start with this book early; an older child might find the siblings in most of the stories a little too good to be true. They are portrayed as very sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and almost always immediately sorry when they do something wrong. Overall, I highly recomment it.

Wow this has been great for my 6 and 4 year olds. This is much different from the usual Bible stories for kids that teach events, but this teaches character. The stories and themes build on one another and the book includes recommendations on how to review previous verses. My kids have learned many verses without trying too hard. They engage in the stories and actually pray for Missy and Bill, the kids that illustrate the principles. If you want to empower your children to be like Jesus then this is the book for you.

A good mixture of the practical and the inspirational. Excellent exercises for you to do on your own.

The subtitle says that this is a Guide for Busy Women--true enough, but it works for men too, and
just as well.

Highly recommended.

I could very easily dub this book, the best, however that is to be determined in the eye of the beholder. I can say with much conviction, that it is the book I turn to the most often for advice, straight forward answers and direction as well as a nice glimpse at a reality check.

Any writer will tell you that you don't write a best seller overnight, and this book will tell you that too. Unlike many other writing books available the pages don't contain advice at how to leave your 9 to 5 job and write the world's best novel. Instead the book is filled with useful, real advice for determined writer's to utilize and honestly get their pens on fire.

There are dozens of exercises to get you thinking and writing, with originality and flair. The book is well written and is a very easy book to devour in a short period of time. Except that you will more than likely find yourself reaching for it again and again to participate in the exercises and get you thinking on a more creative level.

A must have book for any would-be writer's bookshelf.

I had originally checked this out from my public library but found the information so useful that I bought a copy for my own personal library. Very good and practical information to inspire and motivate you to write!

I bought this book when it came out, read it, marked the heck out of it, and used its ideas a few times.

I plan to now read it again, and use it again, 3 years later.

The Power, Challenge, and Talent to Write, And Developing it, is important.

I like to write.

Always have, I guess, ever since I was in Elementary School ( early 70's ), then Junior High and High School ( mid/late 70's ), writng book reports, and then letters to the editor of the local paper.

For various reasons none of that ever translated into a career path.

I read somewhere that we are always afraid to start something that we want to make very good, true, and serious.

Rita Mae Brown once wrote: "Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts."

This book influenced the last 3 years of my blogging, on 2 blogs, and will help anyone who reads it.

This book will help you find the writer within, and find the time to write more as well.

This book offers run-of-the-mill exercises that fail to inspire one to write. If you struggle with the act of sitting down and putting pen to paper, this book will not change that. I would love to see a book out there that offers innovative exercises that not only inspire one to write, but also improves writing along the way. If anyone can recommend such a book, please message me.

I bought the book for my grandchildren after having purchased "The Chicken That Could Swim" and loving it. The puzzles and illustrations in Puzzle Island are absolutely amazing! The whole family (mom, dad, grandparents, grandchildren (ages 4-9), aunt and uncle was involved in figuring out the names of the animals as well as looking for the animals in the pictures. After about 2 months, working on it at least once a week, we finished the book, solved all the puzzles and found all the animals. What is so amazing is that as you read the story you don't even realize all that is hidden on the pages. We loved it and can't wait to get another Paul Adshead book.

After going through several boxes in my garage, I finally found this book. I've had it for over 10 years and still am amazed how great this book is. It still grabs my attention and it doesn't matter that I remember the answer, I love looking at the pictures and solving the puzzles all over again. I can't wait for my son to enjoy this as well! I recommend this book to everyone out there!

abslutely wonderfol book. Me(8) my sister(11) and my brother(12) have almost finished it. We have been doing it since yesterday and are very very excited about finishing it. It has kept us puzzled scince! If I could I would rate it 20 stars!!!!!!

I loved this book as a kid. I remember brushing it off when I first got it, but once I actually sat down and read it, it was surprisingly intricate for a children's book.

Everyone seems to have a problem finding the fourth animal in Lily's Pond. But I have found it! Unscrambling AGILNRST gives the bird STARLING. It is very difficult to find but once you see it, it is very clear. It is at the top right hand side of the page directly below the letter S and the missing P of the frame. It is one of the leaves of the tree. The head is directly below the missing P and the tail is below the S and below another leaf. You have to flip the page upside down to see it. Hopefully this helps you all sleep better tonight!

EVEN THOUGH THIS BOOK REFLECT SIMILARITIES TO THE PROPHET HOSEA, THE STORY CENTERS AROUND IMAGES. IN THE BIBLE STORY THE PROPHET IS TOLD TO TAKE A WIFE OF WHOREDOM, WHICH IS NOT THE CASE AND THE PROJECTION OF MARIN BUT CHOICES THAT ONE MAKE WHEN THERE ARE NO ANSWERS. HER CHARACTER IS ABOUT A WOMAN SEEKING TO SOLIDIFY HER AFFECTIONS BUT CAN NEVER FIND ANYONE TO BELIEVE IN HER UNTIL THE END. BOTH SHE AND HER HUSBAND REPRESENT FOR ME THE PROJECTION OF TWO IMAGES COMING TOGETHER SEEKING TO VALIDATE WHO THEY ARE IN A WORLD APART FROM EACH OTHER. CAN THEY FIND SOLACE IN EACH OTHER AS SHE REPRESENT ONE WHO SEEKS TO BE VALIDATED AND HE AS ONE IS STAUNCH IN FAITH AND THE CHRISTIAN IMAGE TO REPRESENT EVERYTHING SHE NEED IN HER LIFE? HE FINDS HER AND SHE GRAVITATE TO THAT WHICH HE HAS OFFER AS THE LOVE OF CHRIST IN AFFIRMING HER. BUT THE TENSION COMES WHEN HE DOES NOT SEE AND UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONAL PINING OF HER SOUL AND THAT OF BEING INSECURE. BEING THRUST INTO A REALITY IN WHICH SHE IS NEVER COMFORTABLE WITH HER ROLE, SHE ENDURES AND OVERCOME SOME OF HER FRAILTIES BY CLINGING TO HIS REALITY WHICH EVENTUALLY SEND HER SPIRALING INTO HER OWN PERSONAL JOURNEY FILLED WITH THE TREACHERY OF A DECEITFUL WORLD. THE STORY IS MOVING AND SHE FINALLY IS ABLE TO OVERCOME THE DEMON OF HER SOUL THROUGH HER OWN PERSONAL JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY, CHOICES AND THEN CONSEQUENCES. A WONDERFUL STORY THAT CAN BECOME A MOVIE.

This book, I think, is her best. I have read several of her books. None of her other books had me so emotional. Great story of God's love and redemptive power.

Have not read this book yet, but it is a book that I had on my to-read list. Being that this is a hard-back book, this was a bargain.

The book was the bomb. I gave this book a 4, because it started off very blah. At first I was like man this book is boring, and there were some places that left you wondering. It kinda did some jumping in the beginning. I mean it was like they met and then they were married. I was like what happen; it was kinda like that the first couple of chapters. However, things turned around, about a 1/4 of the way in the book. Then I seen why the beginning was sooo subtle it was like WOW! DAG! OMG! I did like the way it ended thought I didn't see that coming. It is defiantly worth your time. It has defiantly moved up into one of my favorite books; I can't wait until it is presented to my book club.

I wished I had read it long before now. It kept my interest at all times. I enjoyed it so much.

BG

The book was exactly what I was looking for and it arrived just in time for me to teach my lesson. The students loved it and I will teach a lesson each year using this book. Extremely informative.

This book is really well done. I enjoy reading the sing song words and the pictures are appropriate for the emotions. One day I told my daughter she couldn't have something and after she finished crying she she said she was "sad". I was totally impressed. Cute book, worth the buy.

Wonderful book helps open dialogue about feelings and emotions. The pictures are colorful and interesting. They really help understand the emotion they illustrate. My son still talks about the book when he is trying to explain how he feels.

My 2.5 year old loves this book. It has beautiful pictures! It has creative rhymes! It has an important message! - To help children understand and identify their own feelings. Also to remind their parents and other caregivers that children have all these feelings at one time or another, but are still learning how to express them. We need to help them with that task. For emotional intelligence, a happy home relationship between kids & parents and success in life.

My three-year old is learning about feelings in preschool and she LOVES this book, as do I. This book is a great intro to feelings and goes beyond the stock "happy, sad, and mad" into a wider range of emotions. The illustrations are cute (like the pointy toed fairy shoes on the swinging "happy" child and the odd eyeball hat on the "silly" child) and the rhymes are very catchy. The book is visually interesting -- the font and presentation of text on the page varies to match the mood. After reading the reviews below, I was disappointed to learn that this was actually an abridged version -- if you haven't been spoiled by the more complete text, you won't know what you're missing & you'll no doubt find this enjoyable.

My children received this book as a gift, and our 5 and 3 year olds really enjoy the story. The illustrations are very well-done, and the story is beautiful.

This is more than just a children's book. It is something very special and beautifully illustrated that caters for the child that lurks inside all of us. The simple story touches not just on human faith but issues of the heart that will promise to bring a lump in your throat at the end of it. If you have young children, read it to them. If you don't, find a quiet moment and read it aloud to yourself. I promise you, it's really good for the soul. A wonderful gift this Christmas or any time.

This is a wonderful book about a folk tale regarding the Eucharist. Make sure you read the passage at the end, it is based upon a true story! My children love this book. It really helps them appreciate how important the Mass is.

I have ordered several copies of this book and given them as gifts, and I will order many more I am sure. It is a terrific First Communion gift, providing a very tangible example of the value of going to Mass, it is a message which resonates with parent and child alike.

This well-written tale, reportedly based on a true story, demonstrates to young children how the Mass ought to "outweigh" life's supposedly finer things -- in this case the delicacies of a baker. As others have observed it is beautifully illustrated by Katalin Szegedi; her watercolor drawings help children develop an early appreciation for the three transcendentals: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. The book takes about seven minutes to read, so it's perfect for reading to young children (7 and under.) "The Weight of a Mass" deserves the fine praise it has received here and elsewhere, and it makes one look forward to other titles by the publisher Gingerbread House. Highly recommended.