Pig Books

I love Helen Lester books and this one is probably my favorite. This very clever!! It totally entertains while teaching a lesson! I read this one to my children (5 & 8) and my kindergarten class and it received rave reviews. It's a rib tickler! I would also recommend Helen Lester's "Listen Buddy"!

My 5 and 8 year olds love this book. It is a fun book to read. It also teaches a lesson in a humorous way. I also recommend Helen Lester's book Listen Buddy!

A cleverly written book with a great moral, but probably too old for my 3-year old to completely appreciate. But it's my favorite and I'll continue reading it until my kids are old enough to appreciate the lesson and the clever writing.

Cute book, a bit too much pushiness and not enough lesson, but cute.

This is a great book for kids of all ages. I read it to my fourth graders the first day of every school year, and this year I bought copies for all of the other fourth grade teachers. Pinkerton always has to be first, until his greed teaches him a lesson that allows him to happily take the last seat on the bus.

There are 4 or 5 books in the Mercy Watson series now, all wonderful. My girls, 5 and 3, want me to read them to them every night. You can't go wrong.

I bought this book for my 1st grade daughter. She wanted chapter books. She is not too much interested in reading by herself but with this book not only she reads but she wants to keep reading to find more about the story. Plus the illustrations are nice and funny. I am on Amazon tonight to buy the other 3 books. In fact, I suggest buying this Mercy Watson: Princess in disguise first and if you like it then the box has the other 3 titles. Its more for K-1, it might be easy for 2nd graders. Hopefully the author will come out with more soon.

This is a great addition to the DiCamillo series for early readers. I've been recommending Mercy to every teacher and parent I know. Lots of humor, great story lines and characters, and delightful illustrations. A wonderful book for developing readers. More Mercy please.

Every parent/child should know Kate DiCamillo, a wonderful author with fabulous books. Mercy Watson books are so cute.

We loved this one so much that we went out to the library the next day to find the others. My son read them in no time and wanted to read them over again-something he hasn't wanted to do in a long time. Love it!!!!

I'd buy this book for the marvelous artwork. Ms. Burgin's images manage the right balance between spooky and reassuring. And they are beautiful in themselves. The story, by Ms. Waite, is mysterious enough for a child, but not too scary for a very young one. All told, a marvelous book that doesn't talk down to its readers (or viewers) and - thank goodness - doesn't dwell on (gag) "self-esteem."

Most reviewers mention 2-3 years olds loving this book. I first came across this book when I was home schooling my first grade granddaughter. We also checked it out of the library more than once. (She now attends public school and is in the third grade.) My memory of the book was so fond I felt I had to own a copy for myself. I know she will be surprised and delighted to see it again and I look forward to reading it to my great grandchildren.

My 2 and 4 year old daughters love this book. We have taken it out of the library so many times, that it's time to own it. The illustrations are beautiful.

This book is an absolute classic. All my kids loved it and we are keeping if for the grandchildren. I plan to purchase more to spread its magic a little further among my near and dear. BUY THIS BOOK!

Both of my children, ages 4 and 2, really enjoy this book. They have fun finding the owl on each page and anticipate the story climax each time.

Cynthia Rylant has excelled at making a very easy to read book very FUN to read and entertaining to the adult listening or reading to a child.

She has accomplished a hard thing easy for a child and delightful to an adult.

She catches the subtlety of Poppleton's disdain turned friendship for his neighbor, Cherry Sue, with great writing. The terrific illustrations by Mark Teague add a lot of depth to the story.

Rylant's books were a breath of fresh air to me while teaching my children to read.

After being utterly charmed by the Mr. Putter and Tabby series, we found the Poppleton books by the same author and now cannot get enough! Both my six year old and my three year old sons adore these books. The illustrations are beautiful and make the animal characters real and expressive. And the stories are wonderful and appealing to children. Very warmhearted. A delight to read aloud and fun for beginning readers too.

I love Poppleton! When he slathered chapstick on his snout during the dry parts (of his book), I laughed for hours. The illustrations really express the writer's thought and deliver the punchlines beautifully. Poppleton, unlike so many other cheesy kid's books, is one book I don't mind reading over and over and over. I laugh like an idiot every time!

With so many books that insult the intelligence of little kids, it was refreshing to see one that is funny and clever and well-illustrated all at the same time!

Poppleton is great fun for kids and their parents. We can't wait for more Poppleton books to read. These are funny stories in the tradition of George and Martha by James Marshall.

My daughter loves these books, and always asks me to find more. They combine a quirky personality with good solid values, giving food for discussion as well as a chance to laugh together. The language is also quite simple and so my daughter is attempting to read it herslef.

Warmly recommended.

This is such a fun book to read to a young child. My four year old daughter loved the pace of the book, and couldn't wait to see how it all ends. She absolutely loved the characters and the cute little drawings of them. When we finished the book, she wanted to read it again right away. And again, and again and again. That's the true test of a childrens' book!

Our son, 3 1/2, LOVES this book. He is into anything that is scary...but doesn't want to be scared (if that makes sense). Like Scooby Doo...starts off scary, but there is always a reason, nothing supernatural! Terrific illustrations, educational and surprising! Fun book to read for the adults too. The type of book that you notice something new each time you read! Adorable!

this book is so much fun! my kindergarten class loved it! perfect for halloween!!!!

This book is creepy throughout, yet is cute. The mice-like animals are spooked, but the resolution is fun.

There is a stress on colors and like-sounding words, so it's perfect for a toddler (learning colors) or young child, learning to read.

Another favorite of my boys.

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We purchased the Beasty Story before we had children. Now that we have children we love it even more! I love the flow of the story and the illustrations as well. My 2.5 year old understands the surprise humor and laughs hardy each time we read this book. It's different than some of Bill Martin, Jr's other work, but is wonderful. Don't miss this!

I have loved Kevin Henkes books, especially his Lilly books, since well before I had a young daughter. I was excited to buy her this boxed set as her first introduction to Henkes.

I was a bit disappointed that they seem to lack the wit that the rest of the Lilly series has. I missed comments such as, "You mean that bump is a baby? I thought you were just getting fat!" It's just sugary-sweet treats, and perhaps an attempt to teach educational concepts.

My 3 and half year-old loves this collection -- one book is never enough, all five have to be read in one sitting, preferably twice! Luckily the stories are not wordy, but charming and whimsical and some even have a little lesson, though delivered so as to barely notice. The illustrations are superb as always.

This is a great set for anyone teaching the Lucy Calkins Units of Study for Primary Grades!

As mentioned in other reviews; this set of books is nicely smallish (5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches), and beautifully drawn, and the 5 stories are lovely. What no one has yet bothered to mention is the answer to "What do you get?" in this smallish, prettily drawn and nicely written set?

You get 5 small, hard cover books in a nice, slick board box;
Lilly's Chocolate Heart, Owen's Marshmellow Chick, Wemberly's Ice-Cream Star, Julius's Candy Corn and Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick.

Each short story involves a 'treat'; an Easter Marshmellow Chick, some Halloween Candy Corn, a Forth of July ice cream, etc, that barely mention the holiday to which they owe their existance. For example, although Owen does get an "Easter basket", there is no mention of Christmas in Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick and no mention of why a red, white and blue star-shaped ice-cream would be Wemberly's special treat "on a hot day".

All of which is fine with me, I thoroughly enjoy reading these with my 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 year old kids, even our 18 month old seems to enjoy these stories, but I feel if we were not a Christmas-and-Easter-celebrating household, this set would have been a bit of a bummer. So, consider yourself warned. :)

first, these are great little stories. kevin henkes is a fabulous author. my only issue is that i would have liked to have known ahead of time that all the stories were about sugary sweets and the characters hording their sweets in some way. it's turned out to be fine - my daughter still loves the stories. i just would have liked a heads' up.

My daughter fell in love with the Clarence and Smokey books a few years ago, and now that she's 7 she still loves to read them regularly. The three books in the series are hard to find, but they are some of the funnest children's books around!

One of our teaching assistants came to me and begged for this title to be added to the library collection. After checking the book out online, I ordered it. To my delight, it arrived in my book order, and I immediately read it to my 2nd graders in library. We all fell in love with Clarence and Smoky. Both characters are well written and delighfully drawn. The simplistic storyline can easily be read by beginning readers. This is a must for every personal collection!

Not only does my daughter thoroughly enjoy Clarence & Smoky & the colorful illustrations, but I like the idea that she's getting fun lessons on compassion, friendship & priorities. Having lived in the big city & now finding myself in "the West," I truly enjoy this book myself. (Or perhaps it's my similar tendencies to pack my favorite snacks & not enough clothes when I travel...)This is one of the few books I don't mind reading 4 times before bed!

Clarence really has it all. He's a "wee" pig with a nice apartment in the city. And he is fortunate enough to take a vacation. He's excitedly boarding a bus for a ranch out west. Clarence is even excited about the bus ride.

Things look pretty gloomy when Clarence arrives at the ranch. He's too late for dinner, he's forgotten his favorite pillow, and there isn't a familiar face in sight.

Life is brighter when the next morning Clarence meets Smoky, a large purple horse. They become fast friends and partake in simple adventures together. But when Smoky is no longer needed at the ranch, Clarence fears he'll never see his friend again. Clarence must figure out a way to keep his friend with him. Will he?

Clarence has pluck! And his sense of adventure is wonderfully refreshing. The delightful illustrations add so much to this lovely story of friendship and "going the extra mile" to stay together.

I found myself chuckling numerous times when I looked at the pictures of Clarence packing, having snacks on the bus and line dancing with Smoky. But my favorite is the last illustration in the book as it represents love and friendship.

Armchair Interviews says: Children will enjoy Clarence and Smoky's adventures and we suspect their parents and grandparents will also.

Clarence, a city dwelling little pig, sets out on his first big vacation to a dude ranch, out west. After a long and interesting bus ride, he arrives and meets Smoky, a very large and friendly purple horse who introduces him to all the pleasures of western ways. Smoky takes him on long rides through the mountains and canyons, teaches Clarence to play cards with the boys, line dance, and perform on the washtub in a cowboy band. They eat, nap, and even read stories together. It's a wonderful week. But as his vacation comes to an end, Smoky tells Clarence he's getting too old to work on the ranch anymore, and is going to be sold. Best friends are hard to come by, and Clarence can't stand the thought of never seeing his favorite horse again. So he uses all his bus money to buy Smoky, and together they begin the long ride back to the city. It may take years, but as long as they're together, they have all the time in the world..... Jean Ekman Adams has written a delightful story with a gentle message about loyalty, compassion, and friendship, that won't be lost on young readers. Her simple and engaging text, with its satisfying, happily ever after ending, is beautifully enhanced by her charming, bold, and vibrant illustrations, full of endearing ranch characters, and subtle, humorous detail. Perfect for youngsters 3-7, Clarence Goes Out West And Meets A Purple Horse, is a sweet and entertaining, feel good story, that is sure to put a smile on everyone's face. This soon-to-be classic, is a picture book youngsters will beg to read again and again.

Brooks wrote the Freddy series between 1927 and 1958. They combine superb character development, unbelievable educational content, and generally mesmerizing entertainment. They are appropriate for reading to children as young as five or six, and make excellent readers for children from nine to as old as early teens.

If you read Freddy to very young children, expect to leave out some slower-moving segments and provide lots of side explanations. The good news is that these books can make your kids WANT to know more about judges and juries, bond and bail, the electoral process, World War II, banking, newspaper publishing, geography, ... I could go on and on. The vocabulary-building value is also enormous: words like "constituents" and "torrid" are sprinkled in throughout.

If you look at the membership of the Friends of Freddy organization, you'll find it is predominantly male. I think that's because of the book titles, not the content. My second grade daughter looks forward to my reading Freddy every night. She has named toys after Brooks' characters. Brooks handles the characters and their relationships so deftly that literary experts have suggested that these works actually inspired Orwell's Animal Farm. Oh, and the president of the First Animal Republic was a female.

Before Overlook republished the entire series, some rarer titles were bringing as high as $200 each. That fact aside, this combination of the first three titles in a single volume is a terrific bargain. I would argue that Freddy Goes to Florida and Freddy the Detective are the two best books of the 26 book series anyway.

In this age of unlimited access to Disney DVDs and slam-bam, in-your-face video games, the Freddy series just might be your kids' ticket back to calmer, more thoughtful, and much more valuable entertainment. But be warned: you may find your fifth grader reading under his blankets with a flashlight long after he's supposed to be asleep. It happened to my parents when I was in the fifth grade.

Such fond memories from my childhood. I read all of Freddie's adventures when I was around 8 years old and they stick in my memory. That was over 50 years ago! I can't believe I remembered Freddie's name. Any child will enjoy this series. Freddy has been a good friend in my memory for all these years. Enjoy!

My 5th grade boy couldn't seem to get as interested in reading as his older borther was at the same age. He disliked all of the many, many books we have from when his older brother was that age. His older brother liked conflict type books like Jacques' Redwall series where there always seemed to be some grand battle brewing between good and evil.

The younger one is much gentler and avoids conflict and dark books like the Harry Potter series. Finally, I found that he likes the same Freddy the Pig stories that I so tremendously enjoyed reading when I was his age. There is no fighting although there is adventure and a gentle page-turning plot of "what will come next". To my surprise I find these are much better than the more recent books intended for his age group so I guess he just has good taste.

I read them to him at bedtime and he reads them on his own at other times. The earlier stories are almost 80 years old but they don't seem at all dated. Each book has a main plot with lots of little sub-plots running though them just like an adult novel. Once you accept pigs, cats, mice, etc, talking and interacting with humans everything seems perfectly reasonable. Interesting and fun - highest recommendation.

I was seven or eight when I found the Freddy books on tape at my library. I checked one out and am still listening and reading them five years later. My parents constantly wonder why I read such easy and, to them, childish books.
But the reason is very simple. They are wonderful books, which immediatly
transport you to the marvelous world of Freddy and his friends. Cocky Charles the Rooster and his irritable wife, Henrietta, the sarcastic and witty Jinx the Cat, Mrs. Wiggins, the intelligent cow, and a plethora of other well written charecters grace the pages of these books. They are also books that make you think. More than once I had to ask my parents what words like "constituents" ment. I learned things about banking, trial and jury, and geography, among other things.
These are books for everyone, but especially children. Freddy was a magical part of my childhood. Anyone who hasn't read these is missing out
on a magical part of life.

The Freddy books are so great! They are especially good for reading out loud and the whole family will find them exciting and hilarious. They're good books for all ages.

This whimsical, quirky story about friends helping each other is great reading! The illustrations are FANTASTIC, the storyline is very engaging ... My 10-yr-old son and 7-yr-old daughter [as well as me!] absolutely love it!

Very entertaining, with a great lesson about the benefits of working as a team. You'll want to add this book to your collection.

The illustrations in this book are exceptional. There are so many 3-D details from the life-like expressions on the characters' faces (Iggy's face as he's trying to reinflate hot dogs with a bicycle pump is priceless!)to the crumbs of cheese on Gruntly's workshop floor to the labels on the jars of Iggy's buggy bits. The story line is entertaining and has a good message about the importance of working together to achieve goals, yet it isn't preachy nor does it talk down to kids. And there is just the right amount of grossness to really appeal to kids (stinky toes, bug parts, dirty socks). It's the kind of book you can read over and over and not get tired of, because you find something new each time. I bought one for my neice and my co-worker's son.

Great characters, story, and fun illustrations entertain my 4 year old daughter. Silly enough to keep me entertained through numerous bedtime readings. It has high rotation in our house.

The story is rich with details. I loved the lighthouse on the prairie. My two boys were constantly quizzing me on the sillyness. The animation is breath taking. I fell in love with Gruntly and anyone who knows me, knows I dislike mice greatly! So, when is the next one?

I have not seen a children's book with as detailed and exciting computer illustrations as this.

The guys who make Veggie Tales present Mr. Gruntly Fromage, a mouse, and the Reverend Ignatious O. Bumblesmog a frog who looks something like a snake with long wool knit socks.

In this adventure, Iggy and Gruntly work on their cheese sculptor and stinky socks.

This highly original, delightful tale mixes the gentle friendship of "Frog and Toad Together" with the silliness of Dr. Suess, with a dash of Shel Silverstein tossed in.

I fully recommend "The Great Cheese Squeeze" Bryan Ballinger and Keith Lango.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

I had this book when I was a very little kid. My mom bought it and to this day I remembered it. I am definetly thinking of buying a copy for when i have kids.

I am a therapist and I use this book for clients both young and old. It is such a precious book with a wonderful message. If you are a parent especially of a little girl get this book for your child. Then get a pig of some kind as a reminder to like themselves no matter what.

My mother bought a copy of this title for me to give to her future grandchild. I was so inspired by it, that I want to give it to all of my friends now. This book has delightful drawings and a wonderful message. This book is fun to read as an adult and a child. It is so important that children and adults are surrounded by positive messages like the one this book has to offer. I recommend it for everyone!

A great way for preschoolers to repair their fragile sense of self and self-respect. Any child should be able to absorb these positive message to repeat to themselves when they feel down.

The positive messages of this book are complemented by the terrific illustrations. A very simple yet important text as it teaches little ones to like themselves. The main character is one very upbeat pig. My son enjoys and laughs at the illustrations. The text provides fodder for conversation. Not too heavy in a figurative or literal way, this book is small enough to warrant a place on every small child's bookshelf. You may also want to check out Ms. Carlson's other books as they are all terrific. Highly recommended!