Boards Books

Love the pictures of food making the letters, especially when it can be presented with the food present. Involves several senses. Only inconsistence I see is between the letter names vs sounds, though I acknowledge it is difficult to represent all foods starting with just the letter sounds (phonics). Overall a great little book.

The best children's books are those that appeal equally to kids and grown-ups. This witty, ingenious, beautifully photographed book delights readers of all ages. You can't wait to turn the page and see what tasty treat awaits you.

My 13 month old niece tried to eat the letter "G" (for "grapes") right off the page. What an ingenious way of engaging even the littlest young reader. The sturdy stock should hold up well for many hungry pass-me-downs. The photography is exceptional and the lay-out of the food/letters superb.

This book will be remembered by your child and handed down for generations. Although it was just released, it has the feeling of a classic, with visuals that match the whimsical and joyful imagery of the words. You will enjoy sharing and reading this this with everyone, young and old.

Harold Clurman, who has directed many successful plays in his time, shares with the reader some of his wit and wisdom. Clurman breaks down his "technique" chapter by chapter to give the reader his thoughts on character analysis, rehearsals, etc. This helpful book is a great read for aspiring directors, like myself, or anyone already working in the field. Clurman's humor is woven through the book through his use of anecdotes and examples.

An enjoyable, insightful read.

ON DIRECTING
By Harold Clurman

Clurman's On Directing has the simplicity of an introductory text, and the virtue of a career's worth of wisdom. Highly readable, conversational, and amiable, the handbook explores the issues faced daily by a theatre director. What is the spine, or main through-line, or the play? How do the characters' objectives relate? How does one deal with a truculent actor? What is the role of the audience, and how much should the director consider them anyway? Should one direct with the eye or the ear? And what exactly is Method?

Clurman's book, though old, still rings true. He considers art and real estate, popular theatre and theories of the origin of drama in society. He has worked with some of the greatest artists of our time, and they turn up throughout the work: Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, Lillian Hellman, Clifford Odets . . . the list goes on and on.

Although I majored in theatre and took a year long course in directing, I found Clurman's book refreshing and useful. At the same time, I am considering mailing a copy of it to my mother, a total theatre neophyte, so that she can understand the world I have chosen for my career. On Directing is a great book all around.

Along with Elia Kazan, who called Clurman a masterful director possessing the greatest mind he ever saw, Harold Clurman built a peerless career in American Theatre. Present here is his advice to all directors, that new (really only invented in the latter part of the 19th century)creature of the world's oldest art form. Clurman displays his analytical abilities certainly in discribing script breakdowns and picturalization, but he also reveals a real understanding of human nature. His advice on how to deal with problems and crises that always appear during a production prove most sagelike. Purchase this along with William Ball's superlative "A Sense Of Direction" along with William Converse's textbook "Directing For The Stage" to create a most helpful library for any director.

I read Harold Clurman's book 25 years ago when I first started directing theatre, and I return to it now. I still find it fun to read, highly informational, insightful, true. I recommend it to anyone starting out as a director, and I recommend returning to it again and again. Without Harold Clurman's insightful book on directing, I daresay I may never have felt at home in the theatre. He takes you there, shows you how to thrive there, and you want to stay.

My 14 month old son loves the sign language books I've given him. He likes the brightly colored pictures in this book and the close up pictures of children's faces. This book contains signs for words such as big/little, sad/happy, and wet/dry. The words in this book seem fit for a little older toddler to me, but he does really seem to like looking at the pictures. The black and white illustrations of how to do the signs are easy to understand. The book is also a nice size for little toddler hands. A big thumbs up here!

This has lovely pictures and drawings of signs, but they are British Sign Language signs, not American Sign Language Signs! This book and the others by this author, are published in Great Britian. I wondered why so many of the signs were "wrong" until I discovered the books origin!

Contrary to the widespread myth, sign languages are not universal. If you are looking to learn and use the sign language that is used in the United States, these aren't the books for you.....

..The line drawings are not the best...but it is a nice way to read and sign with your child, even children under the age of 2. Giving children, even babies, the means to communicate thoughts, ideas, or wants is such a gift, why hold them back because WE think we know what they can and cannot do. The reality is, when it comes to language learning, children have the upper hand on us adults. That said, I do feel the book is small, but the drawings are actually larger than some of the ones in Slier's books, which also have signs. Both author's books require that you do a little "deciphering" of the pictures, but these are still some of the only books that have the sign pictures right in there. Happy reading!

Each night this book gets read. We were told that our 2 year old is profoundly deaf when he was 4 weeks. Although this was completely WRONG, he isn't even hearing impaired, he does have a speech disability, so we have used sign with him since he was an infant. Our 4 year old loves to sit down with "his baby" and go through the signs and pictures. It is a sturdy book and presents words that kids can relate to. Great pictures and sign illustrations.

First I will preface my remarks by saying I have not played AD&D since around 1991. Although I am aware of the developments since then, I have never chosen to move to the new systems and feed the publisher's coffers.

One of Gygax's last major contributions to TSR, Oriental Adventures details the oriental adaptation of the 1st Edition AD&D rules (post Unearthed Arcana). This is a fantastic game and a fantastic system, although those of us coming to the genre anew might find it intimidating. Essentially this details some of the classic warrior archetypes in Asia (Bushi - soldiers, Kensai - weapon specialists, Samurai - honour-bound warriors) wizard archetype (Wu Jen) etc... Ninja is not an independent class, but a secondary class that some archetypes can have (similar to multi-classing).

There are four races, one which is like an Oriental version of Dwarves, one which are effectively shapechangers, and the three branches of part-human "Spirit folk", and lastly, humans.

Gygax lays out a couple more layers to the normal AD&D experience - honour system and class / caste system, and adds in martial arts for a full Oriental experience. The spell lists from the Player's Handbook are adapted to the Orient, and many stay roughly equivalent.

This book was criticised at the time for mixing different oriental cultures / archetypes into one book. In response to that - this is fantasy. There is enough interesting variants in here to give an Eastern flavor to any campaign. If you are interested in this area you can also pick up fairly cheaply some of the Rokugan books (published by L5R and easily adaptable to this rule set - although written for 3rd ed d20 system, or vice-versa).

However, this is a very good value book now available cheaply second hand. Buy it (and the other 8 or so original titles) because these books are full of imagination. Despite all the years of fixes within second, third, 3.5 and 4th editions, I still prefer these original texts. Buy them while they are still available.

The only fault in this book is that it is written in archaic 1st Edition D&D rules, which is not that easily adapted to 3.5. But this book is worth a translation, because it is far superior to its modern counterpart.

The rules for new races & classes (including ninja and kensai) are much better presented. The martial arts system is a munchkin's dream (It's pathetically easy for anyone to start doing 3d10 punches), but unlike it's 3e successor, its rich in flavor and easy to advance in a far more logical manner. The Wu Jen have never been done as well since this edition, and they have many great spells in the book. As an added bonus, they used a new setting for OA, instead of retrofitting everything to Rokugan, which severely crippled the 3e book.

A must have for any RPG collection.

This book is fantastic, and adds so much depth to the campaign. It has everything you need to run an Oriental Adventure, or make characters in an oriental setting. TSR has yet to duplicate in any other book the remarkebly well balanced rules of this book. For example, the Ninja in Oriental Adventures is more inetersting, better devolped, and more enjoyable to paly with only a few pages of coverage than anything in the 2nd edition complete book of Ninjas. IF you can find it, buy it, you will not regret it. The only drawbacks are that A) the book is out of print, and B) AD&D is moving to 3rd edition, and Oriental Adventures exists solely as a 1st edition book, so the rule converstaion may or may not proove difficult.

Here it is, the most coveted AD&D hardcover in existence - not only for its rarity, but for the excellence of its rules! Here, you get 128 pages of how to play ninjas, samurai, wu-jen, and more; the elaborate Honor system, oriental magic, and the unique monsters and treasures of Kara-Tur, all in one beautiful reference! The golden age of the 1st edition game, here in one volume.

I purchased this book for my daughter when she was 7 months old and she has read it everyday since. The illustrations are very detailed and so beautiful. Every page has a texture for her to feel and now that she is 14 months old she likes to put my finger to the textures and see my reaction. She has learned to identify animals and insects, colors and textures. She still loves to explore the pages and we read this book at least ten times a day! I would recommend this book to any parent with a child ready to learn!

We purchased Maurice Pledger board books (Oscar Otter, Olive Owl and Billy Bunny) for our child at 6 months and at 2 years old they are still favorites. Here are just some of what we love about them. The illustrations are spectacular. They accurately represent the wildlife being depicted. There is a great variety of textures to appeal to a child's desire to touch and feel. Our child's favorite page is the "sticky" plant in Olivia Owl. They encourage interaction with questions like "How many shiny beetles has he found on the rose bush?" (from Billy Bunny) and requests like "Tickle her orange tummy." (from Oscar Otter). They are oversized for board books (approx. 9x11 inches), which our child loves. They give children nice big pictures to look at.

The story is simple: Oscar Otter wants to meet a goldfish, so after catching a glimpse of one, he starts searching for it. Six pages feature flaps to lift in the search. Each flap activates a pop-up or causes something to move. As the last page is opened, a full two-page pop-up is revealed. The artwork is very cute. However, the animals are realistically enough drawn, that the cooperation and friendship between predator and prey seems odd.

This is an entertaining book that we have enjoyed sharing with our 7 mo. old baby. She especially looks forward to the last page because of all the pop ups. Be careful not to put used baby wipes too close to the book, you may end up having to order another. A humble Dad!

The colours and graphics are great, and the book is very readable and rereadable.

Re: previous review... does it really say "little baby diaper pants"? or is it "nappy pants"? Diaper is a U.S. term, whereas nappy is U.K. and Australia (if I'm not mistaken). Maybe two versions of the book have been made for these seperate audiences. But I wouldn't think so.

We always enjoy reading this. Our boy now gives us a big smile whenever we say "pants" during his nappy change.

Thoroughly recommended for child & parent alike.

Our entire family loves this book. It's one of my son's favorites. He's one and a half now, and its been in heavy rotation ever since he was picking the books out (and before...when I was picking them out!)

It full of fun illustrations and the rhymes are catchy.

My daughter loved this book from the library, so we had to go & buy it. The rhyming is excellent & the pictures fun. Any kid would enjoy.

The first time I saw this book and reviewed it for my son, who is two years old, I laughed so hard. This book is great and my son and I get a real kick out of it everytime we read it. It was also a good teaching tool for potty training. It's talking about underpants and everyone has underpants accept one baby who has "little baby diaper pants". I told my son that the baby wears didaper but none of the big boys do. It's really funny and I would tell anyone to buy it.

This book has helped my toddler learn the proper way to treat our dog. The simple words and touch-and-feel pictures make it enjoyable for him to listen to.

This book is a great way to help teach your children how to get along with dogs and cats. I can't wait until mine is old enough to enjoy it.

I absolutely love this book and have given it to half a dozen families.

Each page has a textured "furry" animal that kids will love to pat. The text of the story explains that animals should be treated gently, and that they love to be softly patted.

This is such a great story!!!! Kids love it, and it's a great way to start early teaching the right way to treat family pets. A +++++++++++++++++++++++ !!!! Every family with babies or toddlers should have this book.

I think this book is great. It shows how young children should interact with animals so that they will enjoy them the rest of their lifes.The idea of having the reader pet them gently in the various pages of the book is very creative.

Board Books are a gift from God; they're indestructable. All the kids I watch just love penguins. The photos are great; a great companion to "Penguins 1 2 3."

Madeline loves this book so much, I have it memorized! We have to read it every day and have specific actions we do for each letter. With "N for Nuzzle," we have to hug, we waddle for W, &c. It's a really fun book and a great introduction to the alphabet and different kinds of penguins.

This is a wonderful book! I bought it so our 2 year old daughter could learn ABC's as well as something about Penguins. She loves the colorful pictures and runs around repeating the words now in addition to the letters.

This delightful book is filled with pictures of penguins. Not only that, but it uses the pictures to help teach children the alphabet with Penguin names and words associated with the life of a Penguin. For instance, E is for Emperor and F is for Family. The last two pages of the book contain descriptions of what each word means and how it relates to a penguin's life. The pictures are vivid and full of wonder. I picked this book up because I love penguins and would recommend it to any penguin lover. However, I also highly recommend it as a good alphabet book for younger children.

It's great to find children's books that are different.
I love the play on words and the quirky illustrations. My 15 month old girl can read along to the first few pages as they are words she recognises my everyday - MOMA (mama), Da Da (Daddy) & Dali (Dolly).
My little girl has "Fashion" as well and both books are become well worn!
You're never too young to learn about art!

This visually stunning book fits perfectly in little hands and is filled with stimulating images that children love to look at over and over again. It's printing quality is exceptional and it's by far the best introduction to art for this age group that I've seen. This would make a wonderful gift for any preschool home.

Good for all art lovers not just children - but a very, very, good way to introduce your little ones early on to the beautiful and amazing world of art.

What a pleasure it is to find a book worth relishing again and again for it's clever use of words and graphics arts to foster in young children a love of modern art. Like a quick trip to MOMA snuggled up on your own sofa, your toddler may become familiar with concepts and visuals that can only enrich their love of color and (and simple words which they soon memorize and "read" along with you) and entertain their imaginitive spirits. For your budding Warhol or simply the art lover in you, here is a fantastic exposure to modern art that allows your child to explore, to learn and laugh all at once.

This is a great childrens book. It quickly became the favorite book of my two year old son. The CD is also great. He loves to drum along with the music. Like another review said, the only down side is that the CD does not contain a track of someone reading the book. Regardless, it's great.

I purchased this as a "center time" activity for my music room. I teach music in public school, Kindergarten only. The drum "lessons" are well done and some of the children have attempted them. The music tracks, to play along with, are excellent. It's great for building music skills.

My only wish is that one of the tracks on the CD would simply read-aloud the cardboard book. THis would help our emerging readers. The children are trying to read and they could use the help of a page-by-page reading. With the way it's done, an adult needs to be near-by to either read or explain that sometimes there's a music track after a sentence. If we were just listening together away from the book, it's a fun album.

This series is wonderful! Our two-year-old absolutely loves the Baby Loves Jazz series. We bought a few to start out, then ended up buying the whole set. Two months after acquiring them, she is still enamored and requests to listen to them and read them every day. Her favorites? Well, these are the words we hear most often: "Mommy, read Duck and Miles?" or "Daddy, listen to Duck and Miles?" Philly Joe is also high on the list. I recommend them all. The books stand out on their own, but the music is what makes this series really shine. For example, on Duck Ellington's CD, he does a great Monk style on one track, then switches to great impression of Coltrane's classic quartet on the next track, with a very nice McCoy Tyner impression. Lots of variety and high quality make this series worthwhile (though I could have done without Louis Lion's potty tune). Don't forget the Go Baby Go CD as well (a stand-alone CD without a book), which is perhaps a notch above the music on the book CDs. The ABC tune is her favorite on that one.

My daughter loves this series of books and there aren't any other books out there to heighten her jazz appreciation. The books are very colorful, fun to read and include a fun CD. My daughter and I love these books and highly recommend them. This one in particular offers a look into many different animals that aren't represented in other books. Fun, little story to boot.