Boards Books

This is the third book of "That's Not My...." series that I have bought for gifts. I bought this title for my little sis and she LOVES it. I like how it is interactive so even if a little one can't read yet they can enjoy the book on their own.

I've worked in a book store for a number of years and have a 2 year old child. This is the brand of Touch and Feel books I would recommend over any other. They are the most durable, best illustrated, and have a decent number of pages. We have "Kitten" and "Fairy" and I bought this "Mermaid" one for my niece. I have looked through them all at the store I work at, they are wonderful.

We love these books, we have a couple and I am planning on buying some more. I read them to my 10 month old, very often. I got them for her when she was 2 or 3 months old. Now when I read them, we make it a point to find the little mouse hiding on each page. Great book, they have ones for both boys and girls!!

My 18-month old loves these books! She is intrigued my touching all the different surfaces and flips pages for at least a half hour. These books keep small kids interested.

These are my daughter's favorite books. She loves to feel the pictures and turn the pages. We have been reading them to her since she was 3 months old, and now she 11 months old. We have several, so she picks one out every night!!! GREAT pictures and fun to touch!

This is one of the first Usborne Books I bought for my family, way before I became a consultant for the company. My youngest loved it. The text is rhythmic, the touchy-feely aspect is very attractive to babies and toddlers and there is a mouse on each page for your child to point out. This series is great for vocabulary development, especially those adjectives. For a long while my child would say "that's not my ... " in many situations such as in the parking lot going to our car. "That's not my car, it's too blue." "That's not my car, it's too big." It became a very enjoyable game for us! I call these the "potato chip" books because you can't have just one!

This is a book my 16 month old daughter asks for time and again by saying choo choo...She can now say words like rusty, glossy, and rough from reading this book and touching the textures. A great "learning to talk" aid.

Board book is a terrific book for very young children. My three year old reads it to my nine month old! Graphics and colors are great; use of repeative verse is perfect for the very young, ie. "that's not my train it's ...A must have for a little one's library.

My nine-month old loves this book--he spends a lot of time just flipping through the pages and checking out the different textures. Very simple text is balanced by very sturdy, brightly colored pages. Slightly larger than most board books, too. It's a great deal for the price.

This is my son's favorite book. I started reading it to him when he was about 3 months old and he still loves it at 9 months. (When his toddler friends visit, they read right along too.) The simple but bright graphics really hold his attention and he now loves to feel the different textures on each page. This was such a hit that we now own That's Not My...: Train, Tractor, Dinosaur, Puppy and Teddy Bear!

This is a great book for kids and I highly reccomend it for a gift for kids ages 1 - 6. Kids love the touch and feel and love the Halloween theme.

My daughter loves this! We took it to her school and they are all loving it.

We have several of the touch and feel books in our home and our two year old has always enjoyed them. Kids love touching different things and the touch and feel books give them several different textures to work on. My two year old just loves Halloween. He'll ask to read Halloween books all year round.

As with the other touch and feel books, this one has vivid and color photography to accompany the various textures your child gets to touch including a pumpkin, Pirates Beard, the fur of a black cat, and a wizards robe. One can, I suppose question the educational value of these books but why must all books be educational? Bottom line is that all of these books are fun for kids to read and touch.

My 16 mo. old daughter has at least 10 of these books, and this one is her favorite. The texture parts are large, unlike the nfl book, and she loves the kitty page! There are also pages of a wizard, a scarecrow, a pumpkin, and a pirate.

Our 10 month-old daughter just LOVES this book. She reads it every night & especially enjoys touching the pirate's ROUGH beard...(it probably reminds her of her daddy!) She has several others from this series and really takes notice of the crisp, clear, true-to-life pictures. It's a sure thing! We already got the Christmas one for her! Buy it. Today.

I read this book several years ago and was in a bookstore a while back and recommended it to a friend. It's the classic plot of finding and setting up a dupe to kill and collect the life insurance. What was most perturbing to me about the book was not the plot itself, but the easy with which the detectives were going to close the case without investigating and that the insurance company was simply going to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars no questions asked.

I READ UNHOLY MATRIMONY A FEW YEARS AGO AND HAVE BEEN IN LOVE WITH BOOK SINCE. BEING A NATIVE OF NEW ORLEANS I WAS FASCINATED BY THE STORY LINE. IT WAS A COMPELLING STORY OF EVENTS. MR. DILLMAN WROTE WITH SUCH COMPASSION THAT YOU CANNOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY.

Well-written true crime story of conspiracy to commit crimes for money - including conning a very naive girl into marriage (to an already married man), obtaining a large insurance policy on her life, and then murdering her in a horrific manner. Amazingly cold-blooder killers: however very little background history on them, which is probably why this book is a little brief. There was another story done, "The Girl, The Con Man, and the Massage Parlor King" by Gregory Curtis in Texas Monthly July 1976, and it is now in a book called Texas Crime Chronicles. This story gives a little more information, from a bit of a different perspective, if you are interested.

I searched for quite some time before I asked Amazon.com to find this Dillmann treasure for me. It was certainly worth the wait! Mr. Dillmann takes his readers through the dirty detective work of tracking down a killer in a way that just won't allow you to put the book down. Being a native of the New Orleans area made this thriller even more interesting to me, however, anyone would enjoy this well written tale. I highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a mystery or true crime.

If you love true crime, this is a book not to be missed. Although being a native New Orleanian adds to one's appreciation of the story, every true crime fan will become engrossed in the story of a con man and his co-conspirators, who take advantage of a young naive girl. The story of the investigation is fascinating. Dillman is a master storyteller, as evidenced by his other books. Highly recommended!

This is the second time round that I'm reading this book and so far I'm loving it. For any of us who have ever been so "in lust" with anyone, we can really understand how Ellie feels and what she's going through with her obsession with Jesse.
Ms. McCloy has given us characters that are real and feel real - sometimes I have to put the book down just to register that I have felt like Ellie does too, once in my life.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read, one that draws you in with its purity, yet engulfs you with the heady feeling of pure lust!

Read it, it's a good one!

Kristin McCloy had a picture of the Dalai Lama and Madonna above her when she was writing this book.

Nuff Said.

This is the only book I've ever read more than once

If you've ever been obssesed with anyone, without knowing it or against your own better knowing read this and recognize yourself. This book is about love, sex, death and despair. Not allways is love easy and logical, and Mc Cloy shows us this side of love in her brilliant book. Read it.

The simplest plots can be the most fascinating: small town girl [Ellie] returns to her North Carolina town to deal with family tragedy after several years on her own in the big city. Out of place with her family and former friends and feeling distant from the life she left behind in New York, she consciously and with premeditation begins an affair with a typical Harley-riding bad boy. The character of Jesse is a little cliche-ed, but it is Ellie who is the heart and soul of the story. Her thoughts, actions, and justifications for the choices she makes keep the reader in the moment, moving along with the story. Though Ellie's affair is initially the focal point of the story, a second, more careful reading will reveal other themes--above all loss, grief, and recovery. Ellie's relationships with her father, her boyfriend back in New York, and a co-worker are all very complete and real, in contrast with her relationship with Jesse. She keeps these various parts of her life compatrmentalized, separated from one another. When they inevitably collide, Ellie must face up to the choices she's made. Throughout, she is a likable and sympathetic character. McCloy very accurately portrays the human need to separate oneself from the place where one came from, only to find comfort in returning to that place, however painful. What could have been simply a novel of erotic obsession is given depth by exploring the circumstances that lead to that obsession. The erotic scenes themselves are given credence by Ellie's emotional need. If you liked McCloy's second novel, Some Girls, then don't miss this one. The prose is infused with the same sense of urgency that sets McCloy apart from other writers.

Remarkable book beautifully done, for both children and adults. I'm going to purchase several more. What a find!

A wonderful little book for the youngest to the oldest to enjoy -- beautiful information about the rainforest!

A Walk in the Rain Forest is a wonderful introduction to the tropical rain forest- its plants, animals, and people. The book tells the story of XYZ- a small ant- and his journey through the rainforest. The beautiful pictures and simple text appeals to children of all ages. Additional factual information appeals to older children. This is a great book to use in the classroom to help introduce children to the wonders of the rain forest

This is a colorful look at different Rainforest creatures, written by a teenager. It follows a frog introducing animals you might meet in the Rainforest. It is not quite as good as her other book Under the Sea. I would recommend it for 4-8 year olds, it can be wordy.

I found this book in my quest for interesting books for a course I was teaching on the rainforest. At the ripe old age of 15, Kristin Joy Pratt (now Pratt-Serafini) developed this lovely book. Her illustrations take you on the journey through the rainforest with XYZ the ant. As the reader explores the ABC's, s/he also learns about the life within and the biodiversity. Words, facts and colorful illustrations will encourage discussion about this habitat and make learning the ABC's and exciting journey.

I received this book as a gift. My one-year old loves this book. It is a favorite at bedtime. He does something consistently every time we read it that he does with no other book: he leans over and kisses Biscuit on the final page. Neither I nor my husband ever did this or encouraged it. We have no idea why he does this other than he's expressing love for Biscuit. Of late, he's also decided Daisy and her kittens are worthy of a kiss earlier in the book as well. I just think this book is written in such a way that he understands and is showing his love for the sweet puppy. It's just the sweetest thing I ever saw and I might have missed it had it not been for this tender little book.

As stated in our other reviews, great books! We have 5 of the authors kids books. Our grandchild picks all of them everytime we read to him!!

Biscuit is back again. This time The-Girl-in-Purple-Sneakers is trying to teach Biscuit about what love is. She gives examples of expressions of love (i.e. spending time with the grandparents, etc.). Many favorite characters are back (even Sam, this big dog).

I fell the book may not teach exactly what love is (how many of us really know that?) but it does give practical advice that is accessible by children.

Fun book, great illustrations. A must for biscuit fans.

This story is absolutely adorable: this is my first meeting with Biscuit and it could not have been better.

Each page only has several sentences, all which engage the reader/listener in the story.

Sam soon learned who was on what page and we kept enriching the story by talking about it more and more and more.

It never got old, though, as there was a lot of *laughter* and *animal sounds* to be made as well as hugs and laughter.

My little boy adores this book. He can sit on my lap and hear it over and over again.

I think he loves the question, "What is love, Biscuit?" and knowing there will be a different perspective on every page (although he doesn't know about the perspectives, he knows on one page we quack, on another we point to the different color kittens and on another, we talk about Nana and Grandpa.)

I love the simplicity of the language and what I can add as a reader of a toddler-to-preschooler.

Short and sweet, yes, funny ending, and still enjoyed by my first-grader and will likely be appreciated for a while longer. The drawings are similar in style to those of the immensely talented Jan Brett: full of detail and grace. The little bear, Alfie, is like any normal kid at bedtime (made me think of the Frances books illustrated by Garth Williams), and the images of butterflies versus bats/snow, and birds versus ice, and so on, are clever without being contrived. Highly recommended, a keeper.

One of our favorite kids' books yet. Story is charming, but not "cutesie"; reflects some real knowledge of natural history on the part of the author, and the illustrations are exquisite - make me want to crawl right into the book - especially the final one of Alfie asleep in a sea of spring flowers surrounded by mountain peaks. This is one of a handful of children's book illustrators whose work I would like to have framed on my walls.

This is a well written story that doesn't even need the writing -- the illustrations themselves suffice to transport a child and its parent to a beautiful world of misty mountains and autumn leaves, winter's first snow in a peaceful pine forrest, spring flowers along the shores of a glassy alpine lake. And the bears are cute too. My daughter is only 19 months old, but the pictures are enough to captivate her almost as much as they captivate me. If you want to show your child the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone without actually taking the long drive to Wyoming, this is one way to do so.

When Will It Be Spring? was first published in 1997 as a standard picture book before being released as a board book. This may explain why the story and art seem especially well done. Mother Bear and little Alfie need to sleep through the winter, but Alfie keeps misjudging clues and time and again wakes his mother long before spring has arrived. This theme will work well, I'd think, with toddlers because bedtime and restlessness are important themes to them. Alfie's eagerness and his mother's patience are shown in the beautiful illustrations as well as the text, and will make young children feel good about, not just sleeping and waking, but also about the unconditional support of their parents.

One of the sweetest books I have ever read, this story about a little bear cub who is too excited to sleep during the winter is a real charmer. Well written and illustrated in a way that makes you fall in love with the little guy right away (my personal favorites: one with the mother looking at her seated cub as snow falls and the other being a tiny pair of eyes peeking out of the top of a pile of leaves), parents with kids who are excited by life around them will identify with this story. Even if you are not a parent, anyone reading this terrific little story will see themselves in this little bear. I loved this book.

I am eight years old. My teacher read us this book when I was in first grade. I like the end when they are all in the bed. My teacher sings it to us like a lullabye. We like that.

The soft, simple city and country illustrations and the gentle rhythms and add-on patterns of the reassuring text make this warm and loving bedtime story a good choice for early readers and pre-readers alike. Since my toddler was 18 months old, this has been one of our favorites. We have fun adding our own animal sounds to the chain of events, and, of course our own nighttime snuggles and stuffed-animal cuddles at the end.

This is sweet book with wonderful ryhmes.
The second page ties in with the first page's
ryhme and it does that throughout the book and at the end of the story you realize that the animals are the child's stuffed toys and that they were out in the places where the child's imagination placed them and that they are all home now because the child has gone to sleep.

This book was written by my pre-K teacher. I am now in third grade. This book is a story about a dog, a cat, a monkey, a camel, a seagull, and a brown bear. Each animal has its own page, but the author repeats certain words to give the book rhythm. This is a good book for a parent to read to a child to make the child feel comfortable and at home. By Zoe Jacobson, age 8.

Not only is this book fun to read for children, but enjoyable for an adult reader -- adding a little rhythm track to the text, and a pat-clap from the children, produced a wonderful lesson for my music students. They learned the text quickly and enjoyed the ending which reminded them of similar "toys come to life when you're not looking" stories.

My 16-month-old loves this book--and we do, too! The author's illustrations are very simple/uncluttered so that we can point out everyday objects in the pictures very easily--high chair, duck, ball, etc. It's a very clever book and the repetitive text is great for babies and young toddlers. We will definitely be on a hunt for other "Nicky" titles! This is one book that I don't mind reading again and again.

Although the pictures are not my favorite (I find they are rather ugly), it is a book I am so happy to have. My son loves it and is so exicted to "read" it himself, laughing as I say the phrases and he finds a page to match. As early as 10/11 months he is really engaged by this peek-a-boo book. Board Book material is rather easily chewed though.

This book is my two year old daughter's absolute favorite. She is charmed by the engaging red-haired toddler and loves to discover his peek-a-boo "hiding" places. This book is really perfect for young children. My five year old loves to read the repetitive text to his sister, while remembering how much he loved this book,too.
There are several "Nicky" books around by this author--some easier to find than others---but our library has all of them. They are truly wonderful.

"Where's Nicky?" Just ask our 1 year old daughter, who will run and pull this delightfully entertaining book from her book basket and utter the words "Shhhhhh. There's Nicky?". A story everyone can enjoy, regardless of age. Superbly illustrated and easily read by all of our children, this book is a must read for any family!

Our whole family loves this book! My 1 year old son always picks it up and points to where Nicky is. My 6 year old daughter reads it to him every night before bedtime. The illustrations are great as well. I highly recommend this book for the babies in your life!