Animal Books

This is the touching story of a girl and her cat. He goes missing and she try's to find him. Mr. Pusskins learns grass is not always greener on the other side. A great story for teaching children about love and tolerance.

I saw this book on display about a year ago at a bookstore. I was so glad to find it again! I'm a 41-year-old woman, and I was instantly smitten with the crotchety Mr. Pusskins. His "portrait" on the front of the book reminds me of when I haven't had coffee. I see there's a second Mr. Pusskins book -- I simply must have it! With Christmas coming up, this would make a fabulous gift to anyone with a sense of humor, no matter what their age.

The cover made me look at the story and I had to get it for my daughter. The expression of Mr. Pusskins alone makes the story funny. He is an aloof cat that is pampered and adored by Emily. He can't stand it and decides to go have fun!

He lives the high life and makes friends with the Pesky Cat Gang. Eventually, the weather turns, things get boring and the pesky cat gang turns out to not be very nice. He finds a lost animal poster of himself and realizes he had it good with Emily. What my daughter found funny was the fact Mr. Pusskins calls Emily on the telephone and she drives the car to find him.

The artwork makes the story really fun. The expressions alone will bring a smile especially if you ever had such a cat.

We can't wait for the new story Mr. Pusskins and Little Whiskers: Another Love story.

I bought this book because my daughter loves cats and because I grew up with a cat that looked and acted like Mr. Pusskins. It quickly became a favorite book and it is never far from my daughter's bedside. She memorized each and every word and reads it to us now. It is a simple story of love lost and found and any child with a favorite "pet" can quickly grasp both Emily and Mr. Pusskins' feelings. We can't wait for the next book to come out!

This is a great book. I saw it in my daughter's classroom and was so taken by the cover that I had to buy it. It is beautifully illustrated and the story is so nice.

I have quite a few of these books from this series and they are my kids favorites! This animal book was one of my son's favorites and it shows. I highly recommend these books!! They teach while being fun to look at.

My kids love this book! It was given to my daughter as a gift when she was a baby. It was one of her favorite books through her toddler years and even now at 5 years old she enjoys looking at all of the different kinds of animals inside. She is crazy about animals and even after all these years the many familiar and unique pictures inside hold her interest. And now that she's in Kindergarten she likes to say the name of the animal and try to decide what letter sound it starts with.

My son is now 2 and it is one of his very favorite books to look through. He is constantly following me around asking me to name different animals for him. He gets frustrated with me daily for not sitting with him longer with this book.

There are so many kinds of animals packed into this one little book. And I love how they're categorized into baby animals, fast animals, powerful animals, spiky animals, etc.

This book has seen a lot of little hands in the last almost 6 years and the spine is starting to come apart so we're buying a new one. I know my infant son will enjoy it as much as my two older children when he gets older!

Everywhere we go, various educators are surprised by how many animals my children can recognize and this little DK book is one of the reasons.

Colorful and pretty comprehensive (for the preschool and under set) it depicts not only the usual zoo and farm animals, but also creatures such as a blue whale, pigeon, emu, starling, slug, buffalo and boa constrictor.

The division of animals into categories such as 'creepy crawlies' and 'powerful' is very unusual for a kid's book, but very useful for parents because it serves as a reminder of attributes that we can point out to our youngsters.

The animals are too numerous to list here, but some of the categories are: Giant, Babies around the farm, Babies in the wild, Birds, Creepy crawlies, Noisy, Powerful, Swimmers, Climbers Speedy, Armored, Colorful, Spotty, Stripy, Spiky, and Nighttime animals.

Five Stars. Excellent educational material and great fun.

Book is built to last. It's two years old and only in two pieces. Which may seem like alot but our twins fight over it. Now our 1 year old want to get in on it as well. We may have theree pieces soon which is still acceptable given the rough housing over it.

Another "First" book that my son adores!! Many different animals are represented & he loves to go through each page & each animal... GREAT book- highly recommend all "first" books!!

My daughter who is 9.5 asked me to purchase this for her after we read a library copy. It is a sweet tale, well told. She much preferred the illustrations in the 25th anniversary edition.

Nice illustrations, good strong story line. For being such an imaginative story, it's fairly realistic in how to think of solutions, instead of quiting. Very good story for young readers.

Steven Kellogg is an excellent artist and storyteller. This is my favorite of his works. I often wished, when I was young, that my uncle in Scotland would send me a huge tadpole, but my uncle only lived 10 miles away in the desert. Not much chance of that!

This book has a great story and is fun! Children will love the vivid pictures as well as the exciting turn of events! I give it two thumbs up! There are two editions out there, the original, and the second edition which has several different illustrations and a few story differences. I like both, but for different reasons and whichever you get, you'll love it!

Sure, the plot is silly. What do you expect when the premise is that a tadpole caught in Loch Ness turns out to be more than Uncle McAllister bargained for? The Mysterious Tadpole is a rollicking romp, rich in absurdity (Only after Alphonse grows four legs and reaches the size of a Volkswagen does the teacher conclude that he's not an ordinary tadpole.), and chock full of Steven Kellog's usual hilarious illustrations. Grab the nearest child, curl up in a big chair, and enjoy The Mysterious Tadpole.

I loved this book as a child and have loved reading it to my son. He received the 25th Anniversary edition for Christmas and while it's very, very good, it has been rewritten and simply lacks the charm of the original (which I would rate an enthusiastic 5 stars). The story is still wonderful and if this is the only copy you have access to, you won't be disappointed. The original, though, is the best and that's why I have to give this edition 4-stars.

The premise of this book is cute, and the drawings make the story even better. Good for kids and parents to share with kids.

I was lucky enough to meet the author at a book signing where I purchased this as a gift for my son. He's 7 and this is by far his favorite book. He never gets tired of reading it, or having it read to him. I agree with the gentleman who said it's a great book for kids and cat lovers alike!! The relationship between the cat and the young owner is obviously one of great love, and how can you go wrong with that, no matter what the story is about!!??

When I actually read the book, I was amazed. Being a 20 year old male, I don't typically read this type of book nor do I know much about them, but this one really was fun to read. The story is very easy to read, but never loses its fun. I would recommend this book to any person with kids or to any cat lover (like myself). Great book, great author, you just can't go wrong. 5 stars.

I loved this book! I read this during my night class and I couldn't help but laugh. It is very funny yet simple. I am not an animal lover but I liked this cat. Children will love the idea of a cat making their lunch. The illustrations are great and really go with the story. Great book!

This book is wonderful! Easy reading, light, fun, and humorous. After receiving the book, I took it home and read it to my cat. I laughed and re-read it again. I plan on reading this book to my Grandchildren at Christmas time, ages: 2 years, 5 years, and 5 months. Granted the 5 month old will not understand, but in the future she will. The illustrations are great, too. Easy for children to identify with. I hope this author continues to write.

this book is my favorite, ive read it 3 times becaue i cant let any of that wonder book escape my mind because i want to remember it forever.if you are thinking about buying this book, BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!! you will love it and catch yourself wanting to read it over and over again.

this book is my favorite, ive read it 3 times becaue i cant let any of that wonder book escape my mind because i want to remember it forever.if you are thinking about buying this book, BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!! you will love it and catch yourself wanting to read it over and over again.

No Small Thing
By: Natale Ghent

Twelve-year-old Nathaniel and his sisters, Cid and Queenie, find an ad for a free pony, and they just can't believe their luck when their single mom says yes they can get it. But how will they afford to take care of it and where will they keep it? Well Nat has money he's been saving in a box his dad gave him. He has $95.36 from his paper route. He uses that money to feed and clean Smokey. But when they are on the way home from getting Smokey, (Queenie's riding) they get attacked by a big dog, which spooks Smokey and Queenie falls off and breaks her collarbone. They were all scared. But they make it through it, all the fighting and tears and form a special bond. -Smokey. Well one day the barn Smokey stays at, catches fire. It destroys the barn completely, so where will they keep Smokey? Nat sells him. It hurts to sell Smokey, but he knows it's the right thing to do.

i really liked this book at first i thought it was going to be about some sappy horse story but it wasn't it was a tale of the hardships the characters face and in the middle of it all is the horse the end

I absolutly love this book. It is a MUST read! If you want to find out more about this book take a look at the other reviews on this page.


I LOVED IT!!!!! I LOVED IT!!!!! I LOVED IT!!!!!

from a fellow horses lover

A fun book for kids, with some deeper insight as well.

"When you go beyond Zebra,
Who knows...? There's no telling
What wonderful things
You might find yourself spelling!"

Actually got this for my new tat, but I love this art

This book introduced "paradigm shifting" into my intellectual vocabulary before I even knew what such a thing was.

Many, many, many years ago (Nixon was President, I think) I read this and was changed. I can remember the the images, the textures, the smells (Ah! The ditto machine and its purple perfume!) and all my surroundings. I was sitting in the elementary school library, facing northwest toward the door. Lured by the title and the premise, I had taken the volume to my assigned seat ("Library" was a class back then, as it should have been) and quickly devoured it.

The concept - that our 26-letter alphabet was an arbitrary collection and not a universal constant on a par with gravity - had never entered my cartoon-addled mind. It sparked an awareness of similar cultural and philosophical constrictions that I have expanded and retained to this day.

Hats off to the Dr.!

Loved this book as a child. Fast-forward thirty-some years, I am a computational linguist with a fascination for exotic writing systems. Coincidence? In think not.

This was my favorite book as a kid & still is. I now have ownership of our family's 'ancient' copy (copyright date 1955, Mom's written inscription: Christmas 1962 for my oldest brother who was age 6). I recently read it to my 6 year old son and he also was taken with this book. I am getting a new copy for him for Christmas as the original is pretty fragile now. This book belongs in every family's collection along with The Lorax, The Sneeches, Bartholomew Cubbins, Horton and the rest of the classic/original Seuss stories.

We bought this one used from a library and it was worth looking for. A different look for Mercer Mayer -- and a hilarious, surprise-on-every-page story. We like the Typhoonigator the best, especially when he gets full to bursting and then... SPLATTERS slime on the next page. That's a real hoot. This one makes us all laugh -- I love that!

One of the all time greats. But I was disappointed after ordering a new hardcover copy. It is smaller than the original printing, with the result that the binding cuts across monster faces. Very lame. I am sending it back and ordering a used copy from the original printing.

I loved this book, with all the illustrations. I could just sit for hours reading and looking at the pictures of monsters. I plan on reading it to my child someday....

THE OTHER REVIEWERS ARE RIGHT ON. I NEVER LIKED 'WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE' AS A KID & WASN'T TOO INTERESTED IN TRYING ANY OF MAYERS OTHER BOOKS. I'M SO GLAD I RECONSIDERED. WE LOVE THIS BOOK! PRONOUNING SOME OF THE MONSTERS' NAMES TAKES A LITTLE GETTING USED TO, BUT OUR TODDLER LOVES IT SO MUCH, THAT THE NAMES JUST ROLL OFF OUR TONGUES NOW.

Although now in my mid thirties, I still remember the story and illustrations from this book -- my childhood favorite. Now that my friends' children are almost to reading age, I plan to give this book for birthdays and holidays so that others can enjoy the whymsical tale with ornate illustrations.

I've said it in other reviews and I'll say it again--I love everything by Mary Ann Hoberman that I've read. This book is great for reading aloud, is fun and engaging, and has a great message for children (and adults, for that matter)!

My daughter is 14 yr. and this is still her all time favorite book from her childhood. It is beautifully written. When read aloud, the rhymes are truly lyrical. I also love the underlying message re. the life enriching qualities of friendship and sharing. Illustrations are gorgeous, unique and really hold a child's attention. I just ordered three copies to give to friends with younger children.

I got this book from the library for my 2 year old and he absolutely adores it. He asks me to read it all of the time! I have to force him to pick a different book to read (for my sanity). The illustrations are very colorful and just grab his attention. There is a nice rhyme to the story that makes is pleasant to read aloud. This is one that we will definitely be purchasing!

The illustrations are what really sold me on this book and the story is wonderful too. It is one of those rare kids books (much like Maria Kalmans) that combines beautiful art with a sweet story. It is quirky and dear.

This is a great book for children. It teaches sharing and how to make friends. I like this book becuase Oliver learns about how to treat others. He doesn't know what life is like, becuase he has always lived by himself and never talks to any of the people in his town. He has one of everything in his house. He doesn't know that his house was only made for one person until he makes a friend and invites her to his home. Peggoty Small tells Oliver that his home was made for one person and she couldn't live with him.
My favorite character was Peggoty Small. I like her becuase she told Oliver Toliver what she tought. She wasn't afriad to tell him about her feelings, she just told him flat out what she thought. Even though she hurt Oliver's feelings, she old him anyways because she thought he should know the truth. This book teaches kids how to make friends, and how to share what you have with others.

Paws and Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog co-authored by Neil Plakcy and Sharon Sakson is an excellent anthology that will even appeal to cat lovers. Heck, even if you aren't owned by any pets, you'll still love this collection of short stories that honors that loyal, loving bond shared between these ostracized men and their four-footed bestest friends. The 25 humble tales range from heart-tickling to heartbreaking, entertaining and uplifting. As someone who's worked nearly 20 years in animal rescue, I tend to get a little bitter at times. I keep this book close to my bedside for those days when I need my faith in mankind restored.

The collection of stories is told in first person narrative from several names I recognize from previous readings - like Steve Berman and Victor J. Banis. The stories are as diverse as the men who contributed them, and arranged under the chapters: Dogs of Our Childhood, Dogs Who Make Connections, What We Learn from Our Dogs, Making the World a Better Place for Dogs and Exasperating Dogs.

There are so many special moments collected here: Charles Busch's poignant and nostalgic "The Guardian Shepherd," Steve Berman's mystical and meaningful "Shi Happens," Victor J. Banis' heartwarming and heartbreaking "The Girls," Jay Quinn's amusing and affecting "Travis" and Kevin Anderson's comical and candid "The Dog Who Outed Me."

Contributing authors are: Charles Busch, Jonathon Caouette, Matthew Phillips, J. R. G. DeMarco, Donald Hardy, Steve Berman, Lev Raphael, Andy Zeffer, Jeffery Ricker, Michael T. Wallerstein, G. Russell Overton, Victor J. Banis, Jack Morton, Hal Campbell, Ron Nyswaner, Randall McCormick, Jay Quinn, Randy Allgaier, David Mizejewski, Justin Rudd, Kevin Anderson, Edward Albee, Alistair McCartney, Brian McCormick and Stephen Kwielchek.

A romantic series of short stores of love affairs between gay men and their dogs. Some are real tear jerkers, others quite funny, but all are endearing and a joy to read.

You don't need to be anything more than a dog lover to love this book. Its not about gender its about the dogs and the people they let love them.

I was worried that this would be someone's doctoral dissertation, but it's not. It is immensely readable--I have trouble putting it down. I was reading it in a casual restaurant when I read a passage about a terrier attacking a St. Bernard that made me laugh out loud. When I was a teen, we had a chihuahua who would bark and growl menacingly at the St. Bernard from across the street. When the St. Bernard had had enough of this, she'd just bend down and give our Rusty a big wet sloppy kiss that would drench tiny Rusty which would very effectively shut him up.

Beneath the main concept of gay men and their relationships with their dogs, there's also a subtle secondary story of gay men living happy, successful--and totally normal--lives. I'm recommending this book to all my friends.

I bought Paws and Reflect for my partner for Valentine's Day. He loved it and put it on my reading stack. And I'm so glad that he did. As the proud owner of a sweet one year old dachshund, we just recently decided to get his new baby half-sister, who is now five weeks old. We were a bit skittish about introducing a new dog into our household. Through stories both humorous and touching, Paws and Reflect has made me more aware of our bond with our current boy and made me excited about welcoming a new little girl into our family.

The writing in this anthology is superb. The short vignettes by both well-known and (to me) unknown gay men touched on so many points of dog ownership. Both the positive and the negative bonds were addressed, without a sense of respect and veracity

My 1 yr. old loves this book. Each page shows an animal with its paws over its eyes and then the page folds out with a "peek" message. The aminals are touch and feel. My baby smiles in anticipation with each page. I would highly recommend this book.

I LOVE "Goodnight Kisses" by the same author. This left me disappointed with the cheap mirror at the end of the book. But, hey, it's a baby book and my baby seems to like it just fine.

We bought this in a discount bin when my daughter was about 4 months old. Now she is 14 months old, and although the book is getting a bit dog-eared and I've taped torn pages, she will pull all the other books off the shelf to get to it. It isn't even necessary for me to read it to her for her to want to flip through it. She loves it! I've just ordered 4 more of Barney Saltzberg's books on here, to give Peekaboo Kisses a much-needed break.

We were given this book when I had my first child. He LOVED it. He would kiss all the animals over and over, opening each flap to do so. Pretty soon he was doing this all on his own! It was adorable. Now my daughter LOVES it too. She also will sit on the floor and open each flap to give each animal a kiss. We have read this so much it is held together with a lot of tape. Highly recommend to anyone with small children or even as a great baby shower gift. How can you go wrong with a book about kisses!

My 13 month old LOVES this book. I can't even say the word "peekaboo" unless I am planning to read her this book because she gets so excited just mentioning it.