Interactive Books

This has rapidly become my 22-month-old granddaughter's favorite book. We all love the charming and beautifully designed popups, especially the last one, "all colors". A bit fragile, but that just means it is a teaching opportunity on how to take care of fragile, beautiful things.

This is one of the best pop-up books and is very well made unlike others I've reviewed. Our 10 month old LOVES to open flaps and these are quite easy to open. She also likes to tear, so I have to be quick to move on the the next page =) The colors are bold and very beautiful and just pop out at you. Very beautifully done! I wish there were more pop-ups like this one since our daughter loves to interact with books and is always looking for a flap or something to touch or move. She loves this one over and over again until she pushes it away.

Every color has a different way of popping up! My daughter loves this books, especially the green snake and black and white penguin pop-ups! Fantastic book for interaction and visual learning.

Pop ups were disappointing. Very basic. Good book for teaching colors to young children.

We bought this book two years ago, I fianlly packed them in my daughter's keepsake box. We loved these - they are simply beautiful.

My Grandson had checked out a couple of the Look-Alike books from the Library. He really liked them, so I decided to get him one for his 5TH birthday. He really enjoys finding the look alike objects in the pictures, and spends a long time for a five year old doing so.

My twin 5 yr old boys love these books. It has become a night time ritual with them. There are so many cool things to spot. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for something to do during quiet time.

My 3yo son and 37yo husband both love this book (as do I). We can easily spend half an hour or more every evening playing a modified I-spy game - and it's no easy feat keeping a 3 yo entertained that long. I would highly recommend it for travel, except that it's a large size book which makes it a bit unweildy to carry.

This is a another book filled with fascinating ways the author puts together pictures using common everyday items. You'll never look at ordinary items the same way again once you see how she creatively puts together her pictures. Children and adults alike will be fascinated by this book. If you want to give a child a book he or she will look at over and over again, this is a good choice.

My kids love these books. My son checked one out at the school library. My husband and I were amazed at the detail these pictures have. It puts I spy to shame. My kids look at these books all the time. Great for the car, or restaurants, they keep my seven and four year old happy, and I also enjoy looking at all of the cool pictures. They use everyday items and combine them into ordinary things. For example a chair might be made up of pretzel sticks for the legs, a ritz cracker for the seat, and something else for the back. There are hundreds on each page! Amazing!

I loved this book. This book is great for many reasons, but my favorite is the conflicts. It is about four owls, Soren, Twilight, Digger, and Gilfy. They are flying to the Great Tree. On their way, they run into a lot of problems. For example, they see a dead owl, so they go and bury it. Unfortunately, it was a bobcat's meal and he is still hungry. Then there's the problem at the resting spot, a tranquil lake and nice trees. But its a little too tranquil. The tranquility is just enough to brainwash you and turn you on your friends. But when they finally get to the tree, their reward is great. They can become a Guardian of Gahoole. They have made it through the toughest times of there lives.... Yet....

You'll have to read the books to find out what happens to the friends next.

I have read all 14 of them (most twice!) and think this is probably one of the four slowest in the series. I will not spoil anything(a good review shouldn't spoil the ending -..-) but I will say that this is a book that is simply a setter-upper and a filler. Some things happen, and it is fairly interesting, but pales in comparison to the rest of the series and other action packed books. However, don't let this stop you. If I were you, I would buy that 14pack that is the last one left, because this is the kind of book that is the "darkest befor the not-quite-so-far-off dawn" kind of book.

GET READING! =)

"We are a band." Soren makes this statement many times throughout the book. He is telling his friends, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger, that they are a family and always need to stick together.

This book is about four little owls. They are trying to find The Great Ga'Hoole Tree. They are hoping to find Soren's family there. I felt really bad for the little owlets because they are orphans. They are trying to survive out in the wild on their own. At least they know how to fly, hunt, and fight.

They don't end up finding Soren's family at The Great Ga'Hoole Tree. The four owls, and Soren's old nest made Mrs Plithiver, end up living there. They each go into trainings and got picked for a job. I felt really bad for Soren because he didn't get what he wanted and everyone else did.

Near the end of the book, Twilight and Digger had the job to rescue owls and put them back into there nests. Well, there were no hollows around, so they brought them to The Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Digger was on the ground and saw an owl. It was Eglantine, Soren's baby sister. This was such a happy moment in the book. I am so glad that they found her. I was really sad though to find out she is sick. Soren stayed with her day and night. The real question I had after they found Eglantine was, "Where is the rest of Soren's family?"

The book The Journey is a very well put together book. I would recomend this book to anyone who loves books about animals and adventure. This would be a good book for teenagers, adults, and even younger kids. This series also leaves you hanging for the next book. I can't wait to read them.

Cameron Sparks


IS THIS A GREAT BOOK?
"A wise old owl sat on an oak; the more he saw the less he spoke; the less he spoke the more he heard; the more he heard the more knowledge he gained; why aren't we like that wise old bird?" ~ Old English Proverb.
The Journey is one of the best books in Kathryn Lasky's Guardians of Ga'Hoole series of twelve books. This book which is a fantasy fiction is about four young owls Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger who recently escaped from St. Aggies Academy, which is a school that mistreated them. The owls go in search of the Great Ga'Hoole tree where a group of dignified owls live. The dignified owls are considered the guardian of Great Ga'Hoole Tree. It is rumored that they live in the tree; however, most owls in the kingdom do not believe that the dignified owls or the tree exist. According to legend, the four owls have heard that the dignified owls have done great things to help other owls. They believe that the dignified owls can help rescue others from St. Aggies Academy. After a long journey to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, the four owls experience even more adventure.
The Journey to me is a really good book, and I think that this would be an excellent book for grade school and middle school students to read because of the following reasons: First, it describes the events in the story very realistically. Second, it shows good characterization of the owls and other characters that are introduced throughout the book. Third, it surprises you with events you were not expecting. For Instance, when Digger and Twilight were on a search rescue mission to bring back some injured baby owls and they stumbled upon Soren's sister who was badly hurt.
This book was a definite page turner because each chapter made me want to find out what's going to happen in the next chapter. The plot was exciting and adventurous. Even though the characters were owls, I related to them as if they were human beings experiencing the same difficulties that human beings face. I definitely connected to what they went through during their journey; especially Soren because he had a sister that he cared a lot about, like I care about my sister. The biggest surprise in the story that kept me reading was when they rescued Soren's sister. I recommend this book to kids between the ages of 10 through 13. Overall, The Journey is an amazing book and a must read!

After leaving St. Aggie's with his friend Gylfie, Soren, Ms. P., Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger leave to go find the great Ga'Hoole tree. The tree is full of magical owls who perform great deeds at night. While on the journey to this wonderful tree, the "band" stops at many different places. First, the band stops by the Mirror Lakes. This scene is summer all year long. To owls, this place is a paradise! After leaving the Mirror lakes, the four owls completly miss the great tree and run into a little home called the Narrows. Here, a group of puffins survive using certian skills to hunt and nest. After having the puffins look after them, the gang sets off once agian to find the glorious tree.
Once they reach the tree, the four owls are greeted by the king and queen of the tree: Barran and Baron. These two help find a home in the tree for each owl and show them how the tree works or operates. The next night, Soren and the band find out that they will be placed in different chaws or classes in the tree to learn certian skills. Soren is unhappy with the idea of the band being broke so he talks with the teachers of the tree to see if somehow the band could be placed in the same chaw so they could be together. The king and queen talk Soren into spitting up the band for a better cause.
Later that month, Soren's long-lost sister,Eglantine, is found. Unfortunatly, his sister is under a certian spell that almost sounds like moonblinked(when owls go crazy because they sleep at night). Luckly, the owl singer and harp player was able to brake the curse with her songs and harmonising. Now that Eglantine is cured, Soren is releived for the moment.
Suddenly, an urgent message indictates that Ezylryb, Sorens teacher of his chaw and loving, caring, mentor is missing! On a exciting search and rescue mission, Ezylryb is lost and can't be found! Will Ezylryb be found? Will Soren and Eglantine ever find their family? The story contineus in the next book of the series.

It's now over 6 years since this book came out and it still has a tremendous amount of relevance. I am rereading it again and stop by every now and then in hopes that a new edition will come out. I have all the other Zeldman books and they are all useful, but nothing approaches how much I learned from this book. It amazes me how much of the content is still applicable. Anyone who's been doing this since the book came out can make mental notes about what has changed. A proponent of CSS before it was practical (really), Jeffrey seems to have planned a long shelf life for this book.

If you're a graphic designer who is entering web development (which is a large segment), it's still a must read, but beware the 4.x browser version suggestions, and don't bother to try and support tables any more. It's not necessary, and it's bad form for oh, so many reasons. Everything else in the book is absolutely essential for the transition. Your best bet would be to read it and ask questions from someone who's been developing websites for a long time (and is open to web standards).

And if you've been building these things for a long time, it's still a great book to revisit at least yearly.

You can't really go wrong with a Zeldman book, imho, at least so far. If he writes something on knitting, I can't guarantee it...

This book gives a good overview of Web Design till 2001.
People who are interested in where the web is coming from will like this book. If your are looking for how web design is done today anno 2005 I would like to recommend Jeffrey Zeldman book "Designing with web standards".

Even though some of the content in this book is outdated (such is the nature of a book based on the internet, which evolves daily), it is still a mainstay in my collection. I would recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in web design.

Jefferey Zeldman teaches basic, foundation building principles that you will use almost daily during your tenure as a web designer. If your looking for a book to hold you by the hand and teach you how to perform specific actions with step by step coding, this isn't your book. Instead, it touches upon ideas and methods. Zeldman covers topics from designing good navigation to fundamental steps in working with a potential client.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It would have received a perfect score if it wasn't for some outdated material. Purchase this book, it should be a part of any collection.

A thorough, comprehensive and usable book for people trying to migrate from traditional media into the (sometimes) scary world of new media.

Jeffrey Zeldman's unique voice permeates the entire book, holds your hand, and gently guides you through the ups & downs of working with the web. His examples are concise and to the point, his writing style (as always) humorous and friendly, and, most importantly, you get the feeling that he truly loves this medium, and would like nothing more than being able to help another person discover just what the fuss is all about.

Should be on the shelf of every designer - no matter what your level of experience is.

This book opened my eyes to issues such as accesibilty, css and xhtml, I now have a site that is fast to load and easy to update. I found this book to be an easy read,[ I am neither a graphic designer nor a trained web designer] I really like Zeldman's writng style and will use some of his points in my classes web design for photographers. The mix of code and ideas was great and for once I just read the book rather than being tempted into turning on my computer and starting work.

This version is closer to the CD of Raffi songs that my kids listen to.
The pictures are excellent -it's easy to make up new stories to go along with the original text.

I read all the reviews before I ordered this book and it sounded great. However, when I first took it out of the box I thought I must have ordered the wrong book - could this little book be the one everyone on Amazon raved about? The answer is - YES! My 14 month old son loves it when we read (correction: sing) this book to him and asks us to do so over and over. The illustrations are full of little details that he loves to study and point out: apples rolling on the floor of the bus, dog licking the driver's face, etc. A wonderful little book!

I bought this book based on the other reviews I read and they were right. My (almost) 2 year old girl loves this book and asks for it to be read over and over at bedtime. Definitley her favorite book so far!
Highly recommend it.

book and the song that accomanies it. Even though my kids have gotten a bit older we still have fond memories of the book. We even sing the song to other children we meet!
Thank you, [...]

This is a fun book to read and act out. We sing the song, bounce with the bus, tell everyone to move on back with the driver, etc. The book is very little, which makes it good for carrying around but a little harder to see the details of the pictures.

I found this book/series while searching for Choose Your Own Adventure type books. I've never played Dungeons & Dragons, have always wanted to, but no one to play with. The Lone Wolf series is a wonderful substitue for D&D to play solo. I wasn't sure what I'd get or how much I'd enjoy this book once I received it. I'm glad I purchased this book. It was great fun, only took me a couple times to get the hang of combat and calculating the points. It's quite a change from video game RPGs which I'm extremley familiar with. If you are looking for a great RPG solo book to get you started this is the book for you. It's written for teens/kids so it's easy to read and easy to get into but it does have depth. I've died 6 times in my quest and lived 2 times. I'm very eager to get the second book in the Lone Wolf series and further my adventure. There aren't many solo RPG books, it was popular in the 80s. Books like this are a gem. If you have it, keep it, if you don't have it get it. It passes the time, it's fun, it's an adventure.

I thought I had them all, until the internet happened. It's very exciting to see this worthwhile series rising from the ashes. In fact, one might take that literally, comparing the second printing of the series to the formation of the magna-kai, or second order. All back to that old idea of phylogeny recreating ontogeny.

Anyway, buy this. It's the best gamebook series of all time and Magnamund is in the top ten if not top five of all the imaginary worlds of the sword and sorcery tradition.

I haven't been so excited since they started making atari games again.

I read Joe Dever's books when I was in Junior Highschool (more than 12 years ago). All I could say is that no series are quite as good as these series. Rather than continuously publishing new novels from some unknown authors someone should really republish these series (Lone Wolf).

The Lone Wolf book series successfully blends Choose Your Own Adventure with Dungeons & Dragons type role playing. A perfect next level of reading for younger fans of the Choose Your Own Adventure series. I started reading this series when it came out in the late 80's. I'd say I was in around 4th grade. I grew out of the series before the Magna-Kai adventure was complete, but I still have most of the books. Recently, I flipped through book 16 and was totally brought back to Joe Dever's realm of high adventure fantasy. He makes it seem like your right there in the action with potential danger lurking around every page turn. It's extremely addictive, even for people not actually playing the choose a number game. (I always just used a 10-sided die.) Each section of writing is rarely over 2 pages long making it highly adaptable for a TV, movie, or video game series. These types of books are great in helping to develop self-reliant kids capable of forming independent thought & decision making.

I started this series probably 15 years ago, maybe more. I remember being so wrapped up in this interactive adventure that I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next installment. Well, while cleaning off my shelves a few days ago I stumbled across these gems and I tell you, I got overwhelmed with the same feelings.

You are Lone Wolf, the last of the Kai Warriors in the land of Sommerlund. Throughout your adventures (the are 28 books and 4 "World of Lone Wolf" books) you will face monsters big and small, wizards, magicians, puzzles, riddles, and everything else your imagination can think of.

This book is just like your standard "Choose Your Own Adventure" book except that it is more interactive. Not only do you choose your path, but you also choose your skills, equipment, and whether or not you want to battle enemies. This book employs an interesting combat system in which you pick a number from the "Random Number Table" at the end of the book by closing your eyes and poking the page with your eraser (see my shared photo). I highly recommend getting ahold of a 10-sided die to use instead, because after a few books one can learn where the higher number areas are.

I had the first 15 books of the series when I was younger and now that I've reread them, I am scrounging ebay and used Amazon books to locate the next ones. Unfortunately all of these books are out of print. If you are looking for these books, I highly recommend getting the UK editions of books 12-20 because the US editions are abridged and are missing huge sections. Additionally, there are many "broken links" since they were edited so when it says to turn to page XX it takes you to the wrong place. Also, good luck finding books 21-28 as they were ONLY printed in the UK. They are very rare and if you have them, hold on to them!

Finally, Joe Dever has authorized the free distribution and licensing of his Lone Wolf series which are available online. This resource has the unabridged editions which makes it great. I will not give out the URL as part of the reviewers agreement but with a little searching you should be able to find it. However, I am still a fan of reading the paper version, and look forward to sharing this epic series with my children, should I ever have any.

My ten year old loves legos ... and I love peace and quiet in the car! This product worked out great as a "trip treat", the bag was great so he could keep track of them. We use an aluminum cake pan with a plastic cover for a lego desk/holder in the car, but the book with a bag made it so he could take it into the hotel and restaurant with no fuss ... and isn't that what every mom really wants ??? no fuss??? GO LEGOS!!!!!!!!

This has many fun and challenging activities a child can do with Legos. The projects use the pieces that come with the book plus basic pieces most Lego fans will already own. Easy to follow directions with fun results. The child can use the basic ideas and expand upon them, so this kit isn't limited as some are. We got it for my son's 10th birthday and I think it would be appropriate for an 8 to 14 year old.

I purchased two books. One for my 6-year old son and his same-age cousin. They both enjoy creating projects from their Lego books, as well as using some of the instructions along with their own ideas and creativity. I recommend this purchase.

He wasn't excited when he opened it up but after reading what you can do he got VERY excited and was looking forward to get home to his Legos.

I asked for this before Christmas and got in January. I didn't check the contents of the bag until Saturday (February 2nd) when I had time to start building the models. Six pices were missing, two of them very important (24-tooth gear wheels). I got some extra-pieces, but some models I won't be able to build because of the missing gear wheels. I tried returning the item to Amazon but I had until January 31st so if anyone buys this please check it very soon, the models are fine, easy to do, BUT I WANT MY MISSING PIECES!!!

Once again I am enchanted by Robert Sabuda's imagination and genius. This is a lovely collectors book to enjoy at Christmas, or any time.

I already had this book myself, but I purchased multiple copies to give as Christmas gifts this year. I think they were very well received. I have all of Sabuda's pop up books and this one fits in nicely. If you like Sabuda's books, you'll love this one. If you don't have any of his books yet, this is a nice one to start with.

If you are "into" pop-up books this is another to add to your collection. If want to sit and look and read with kids another great book. I would not give the book to the kids, as with all pop-up books this one is fragile

This is a great book to share for all ages. Kids and adults are fascinated by the ingenius pop-ups. A great low tech reminder of the wide-eyed wonder that makes Christmas fun.

makes you feel like a child again..finding a childish fasination
in each pop up..It makes my face light up and puts a smile on
my face with the realization how much work goes into these pop ups

I purchase this item recently and just love it for the quirkiness of it all! I've had friends and family look through it when they visit and it is just a great little coffee table conversation piece. It really is well planned out and the 'Pop-up' side of things does make you feel like a child again. There is a few little surprises that I didn't expect when I ordered it but I don't want to ruin it for anyone interested! I found the story to be enjoyable and it's something different. Thumbs up to the creators of this book because it has bought a little smile to everyone who I have shown even if they aren't into Elvis at all- something which I can't understand really.

This is an excellent book. The quality of the pop up pictures are wonderful. It is a real collector piece. Definitely worth buying if you are anyway interested in Elvis

My friend and I purchased this for our "Elvis fan" for Christmas. This book is is so much fun. It has great pop up pages that are interactive, such as a little photo album with pictures, or the kitchen page you can open the kitchen and cabinet doors. It was much more than just a regular pop up book. Our friend loved it! I recommend buying it for those true fans.

I'm not a big Elvis fan at all, but my MIL is, so I bought it for her. As soon as it was opened, I sat and read it cover to cover! I loved the details and the stories that went with each page and feel like I don't need to go and take the tour, now! (I once drove by Graceland, but didn't take the tour.) Fantastic, interesting, well-made book. I agree with another reviewer that some pages have to be turned carefully to prevent pop-up parts from bending, but that was a rare thing and only applied to the smaller pieces, like a corner of a table and a candlestick in the livingroom.

Cool book! Worth every cent...

GRACELAND: AN INTERACTIVE POP-UP TOUR is a must-have for any Elvis fan. I bought one for a friend, and it was such a hit that several of her friends have purchased them also. The pop-ups are well done, and the book gives a lot of information about Elvis and Graceland. It makes a great birthday present and will be the hit of the party.

I've bought books, and I've bought books, but I haven't had one like this one. It's great. Everything I read in it I can understand and the lightbulb goes on. I'm using it now to enhance my own web storefront, Zeke's Dragon Nest, at [...] to sell my books. Thank you for making this book available.

'Letting Go' is a wonderful guide for creating web content. It gives concrete strategies for making the words you haven't let go of truly work for your site. It teaches how to put your users first and structure and write content that will smoothly get them where they want to be and happily engage when they arrive. This book helps you to understand the logic of usability and in turn free up your creativity for making effective navigation and messaging.

I recommended this to a friend of mine who is a VP of a web development company and he turned around and sent me a link to their recommendation that ALL their clients read 'Letting Go'.

Letting Go of the Words is very clear, easy to read, well organized, and thorough. It offers numerous examples of what works and what doesn't, and it explains why. The author covers best practices for web content in a manner that is easy to understand and implement.

While the title of the book makes it seem like it only discusses "words," it actually covers much more than that. The real focus is on making your site more user-friendly. I found discussions of links, illustrations, active and passive space, and general style recommendations to be extremely useful.

I think this book would be just as useful for someone who is designing pages as someone who is just writing content. Much of the book goes over design best practices that would be helpful to programmers and designers.

Overall an excellent resource. Highly recommended.

"Letting Go of the Words" is a book that I recommend to all of my new web content authors. It's easy to understand language and visual examples really make this book a great read. I really appreciated the attention to accessibility and usability as well as they are becoming fundamental to good web design.

I've worked with a web developer for 2 years, and have stayed on the editorial side. However, now I have more input into the site design, and I'm finding great assistance from Ginny Redish. She's done her homework to help the reader delve into the minds of their site visitors, and thinks outside the normal constraints.

It offers technical assistance without being a coding manual, and for the creative person who is not a coder or developer, this is a terrific tool!

It's not for the programmer who knows the how-to side, but it's for the content and creative person trying to attract the right attention and reach the right people.