Animals Books

I received this book in brand new condition and quick shipping. I am satisfied yet again with my experience ordering from Amazon!

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The book is excellent reading both for kids as well as grown-ups.
The language keeps the balance as few books do - not condescending, but appropriate for children

The youthful adventures of the ever-sensible Frog and his seemingly naïve companion Toad demonstrate important qualities of lasting friendship. This dynamic duo cleans a house, flies a kite, shares ghost stories, celebrates a birthday gift, and even discovers benefits to being alone on occasion. In each of the five vignettes there is a unique balance between the elements of repetition and surprise. Also remarkable about this book is Lobel's one-of-a-kind illustrations. Each green and brown image brilliantly depicts action which serves as a cue for early readers. The simplicity of the drawings allows readers to focus on the text while enjoying the illustrations. In addition to the close match of images to words, the large print, short chapters, and overall themes of the book lend themselves to younger children ages five to eight. While Frog and Toad have many dissimilar characteristics, their differences do not get in the way of their close friendship and their love for each other. Lobel's masterpiece leaves children with several new lessons while remaining exceptionally entertaining.

I've bought several of the Frog and Toad books for my grandson (who is now six) and we loved them all, this one included. They are delightful and refreshing. There is a lesson in every book, and my grandson never loses interest in hearing the stories. One of the characters is a pessimist, the other an optimist, and I think this causes children to really think about life, and consider looking at life as the glass being half FULL! Frog and Toad really rock!

My daughter's nursery is decked out in Frogs, so the discovery of these books made them books we had to consider. They are fun and the illustrations are grest. At eleven months she is too young to read them herself, but we read them to her - and she enjoys them. The stories are simple with a central theme - do good for others, treat your friends with respect, help your firends when they need help, laugh, and aporach life with adventure. These are great virtues to instill in young minds. If the books were made in cardboard stock, Teah would be even more happy with them - as it is she frequently grabs one of them when it's time for her bedtime story - and great bedtime stories they are. By the time she starts to read she will know the stories by heart, but that's ok - fond memeories of bedtime stories like these should help her build a lifelong interest in reading on her own.

I love love love this series by Kitamura . . . Duck is Dirty and Cat is Sleepy are my favorites of the four books. There is something so completely fresh about Kitamura's style -- the plot is simple but humorous enough and allows a 1+ year old in on the joke. Like some others who have posted, I have bought these books as gifts for friends who have just had babies (fairly safe in the assumption that they don't have them already.) The publisher needs to print more!

Our daughter loves to look at books but she will rarely sit through a whole story. We got this book when she was 14 months old, and at 21 months, she still loves it. The pictures are bright and funny and there are few words on each page. The words that are there are words that she says all the time "Uh-oh", "dirty", "duck", etc. and the story is very easy to understand. I find her in her room all the time "reading" the book because she remembers what words go with what picture.

If she is in a mood to sit down for a few minutes, it is also easy to make the story longer by bringing in other aspects of the pictures or just making up other things about the duck. We now have the whole set, and they are our daughter's favorites - evidenced by the fact that they are the only books she does not chew on because she is too busy reading them!

This series is the best! The art is so sweet and cute, and the concept so simple it's frightening! My baby girl, who is 8 months old, just LOVES it when Duck goes "Uh oh!" I will buy this series for all the people I love who have babies.

I've surrounded my son with books since the day he was born but he didn't take much interest. This book finally got his attention. He would pull out ALL the books in his bookshelf until he found 'Duck is Dirty' and wanted it read to him over and over. Eventually, he wanted to read the other 3 books and then blossomed from there. My nephew who was three months older wasn't interested in books either. During a Christmas visit, he ALSO got hooked on 'Duck is Dirty' along with the other Kitamura books. Since then, he loves reading. I highly recommend these books to any new parent.

This is the first book I bought for my daughter when she first started flipping through pages and wanting a story. For months she would say "uh oh" every time I turned a page (this is how three of the pages start) and want me to read it to her over and over again. Definately a good book for 9-14 months.

It all starts when Wendell's mom tells him to clean up his room. He goes up to his room and finds a pig lying on his bed eating chips and reading a comic book! Mark Teague's pictures really give us an idea of what's happening. We would be weirded out if there was a pig in our room. We would feel like pigs! It's a great book to encourage people with very messy rooms to clean up!

We used this book for storytime at our children's center to teach, in a fun way,that kids should clean their rooms. We also have a copy of it in Spanish and did a side by side bilingual reading. The 3-5 year olds thought it was funny.

read it when i was a kid and grew up to own it. such a funny-crazy book.

A little boy does not clean his room. Pigs move in and they together make a mess of things. The boy gets sick of the big mess and asks mom to help. She tells him it is his responsibility. He gets the pigs to clean the room and he helps. Soon the pigs find it too clean and leave.

Wendell's mother tells him his room his is looking like a pigsty, but even so he refuses to clean it. Sure enough, real pigs move into his room. He dosen't mind the pigs company... that is, until he finds hoofprints on his beloved comic books. The pigs help Wendell clean his room and finding it too clean for their liking, decide to leave. Teague's whimsical illustrations fit perfectly with the spirit of his story. A great book for those kids who do not want to clean their rooms...and every one else, too.

I know Amazon says this is a book for 9-12 year olds but I'm older and I loved it. I started reading the Heartland books in like 5th grade but like now I really think this is a book that people my age would enjoy. However, if you haven't read at least the last five books first it won't mean as much to you. I am one of those people that isn't really sensitive and has never cried in a book before but this book made me cry. Everyone should read this book! It's fantastic!

Another awesome example of Lauren Brooke's admirable ability to relate to our-age teen equestrians. With the new and challenging mustang on her hands, and Ty still in the hospital, quite a few surprises spring up, and Amy has to deal with many things she hasn't yet dealt with- such as a horse completely and totally not responding. I won't tell you whether or not Ty wakes up, if he is in a wheelchair, if he is fine, or if he is... dead. One bit of information I can spare without ruining the numerous surprise scenes is that this book is far more emotional and in-depth than Lauren Brooke's previous works, but I can not say I am opposed. Amy seems to still be herself, but more sentimental and emotional at the same level. (...)

I absolutely love the Heartland books since they're all so great and this one was no different.

In Everything Changes, Amy deals with alot. She has to since Ty's still in a coma and there's an un-backed stallion (Dazzle) straight from the plains of Nevada. Plus dealing with all of the other damaged horses by herself and the barn chores.

This was a great book and I hope Lauren Brooke continues on writing.

About the book: Life is slowly returning to normal at Heartland. Amy continues doing the daily chores at Heartland, but without her boyfriend, Ty. Ty is still in a coma at the hospital from a tornado that hit heartland in the previous book. Heartland has a mustang stallion arriving, and Amy is excited. She never got to work with a horse quite like that before, and she cant wait to get started. But when she does get started, the stallion, Dazzle, finds it difficult to warm up to Amy. She realizes she's in for a long haul with this horse. Ty eventually recovers and forms a bond with Dazzle.

My Opininon: Awesome book, awesome series! For horse lovers all around the world! And i know the reading level says ages 9-12, but im 16 and i STILL read this series. I've been a loyal fan since book #1 came out (Coming Home). I recommend this book and all the others in the series to any horse lover.

Oh yeah, and before i forget: This series is ending after book #20 (Always there). But check out Lauren Brooke's BRAND NEW series: Chestnut Hill. The first book is called "The New Class".

I have been reading the Heartland books for quite a long time and they have been all good but this book is DEFINITELY my favourite. This book has alot of things going on in it and at the end it leaves you on a cliff hanger. I can't wait to read the next book(Love is a gift) and anyone who is a horse lover will simply adore this book.

Recently I was reminded of this awesome book, which I loved to have read to me when I was a young child. I'm so excited to share it with my new niece and nephew! Wonderful story line of determination, and emphasis that one can be whatever one chooses to be.

This book was handed down to us from other family members who read it to their kids years ago. We loved it as much as they did and ended up buying a copy to give to our school. Highly recommended.

my daughter enjoyed this book when she was small. so much so that it looked very well used now my granddaughter is enjoying the book and it fast becoming her favorite book to read

Even though it isn't a "funny" book, I find myself utterly amused
with the pictures. The story is simple and charming.
The book is a classic in my eyes, and very special to me. I hope it will be for you too.

My daughter (she's six) just finished reading this book herself, out loud to me at bedtime. It took her four or five nights to read the three short chapters.

In the middle of the book, when Pickles the cat has a small triumph, she said "it makes me cry!" and at the end she said "I wish it just kept going". I felt so glad for her to have the experience of what it's like to read a good book - these are the feelings that make one a real book lover for life!

Like another recent reviewer I thought the pictures a little crude but the cats were remarkably cat-like; there was no effort to make them cute or cuddley. Yet, perhaps because of that simplicity, Pickles invokes a strong sense of feeling/identification as the he "grows" into a better cat through the three short chapters.

I think this was the perfect book for my daughter to read at this time. Just challenging enough, a great story and illustrations that work very well with the story. I'm also am glad to find a good children's book that's NOT about a boy (though Pickles IS a "he"); I'm sure all parents with daughters know that the vast majority of kid's books are about boy hero (yes I know there are some excellent exceptions) so a wonderful book that's not about a boy is a great find.

There's not much more to to add to the glowing reviews already here. I just wanted to say that the kids go crazy for Fireman Small. I like that he is such a sweet caring firefighter who goes out of his way to help everyone. I love any book that instills compassion in its readers. We love Fireman Small!!!

My 2 1/2 year old son absolutely loves this book..the illustrations are lovely, and it is so much fun to read with him. He has already remembered all the words, and fills in most of the gaps as we read it together. He is crazy about fire engines and firemen. I can't recommend this book enough.

My 2-year old follows this story pretty well (it has a repetitive-type storyline) and caught on quickly to the page turn cues (siren). He loves all the sound effects throughout the story. The illustrations are eye catching as well and help tell the story for a child that doesn't read yet. The price is reasonable considering how hard these cassette read-along are to find!

This is a sweet story with a nice flow and repetition. My 2 1/2 year old son has immediately begun pretending to be Fireman Small saving the kitty and the baby bunny. I will definitely look into other books by this author.

I picked this up thinking that it would be another good fireman book for my fireman-obsessed five-year-old. It certainly is that, but the flow and the structure also make it an excellent help-your-child-to-fall-asleep story. The basic plot is that Fireman Small is very tired and keeps trying to go to bed, but each time he does some new emergency happens that forces him to get up one more time. When he's done with the last one, everybody thanks him for all his help and he oh-so-happily drifts off to sleep. I usually read him several stories at bedtime, but I like to make sure that this is the last one; by the time we're through with it he's usually nodding off.

One small problem; Wong seems to have a unique sense of rhythm, which makes this harder to read aloud then you might expect; it took me a couple of readings before I felt that I had gotten it completely right. With practice, though, it flows beautifully.

Riding lessons are expensive, so it's important to get the most bang for the buck. This book will help. Mike Smith explains the basics of riding clearly, and offers some classic "what to do if...?" scenarios one is certain to encounter while interacting with horses. In addition, the photographs are very helpful in illustrating topics like posting the trot and dismounting properly and safely. I have found that this book helps me review specific material covered in an actual lesson, and also gives me ideas for further discussion with my teacher. Mike Smith's writing style is straightforward and enthusiastic. Highly recommended for beginning riders of all ages, and one of the best books I've seen for a riding student. This book covers English riding only.

I love this book, I have been taking lessons for about a year and a half, and I bought this book after about 6months of lessons. It clearly explains so many things, I constantly refer to it. I think that all new riders should read this book before even going to their first lesson, to give a clear explaination of horse lingo, positions and care. I think this has been the most constant resource that I have used to explain things that my instructor and I are having trouble with.

Mike taught me to ride as an adult student at Woodland Horse Center in Maryland back in the 1980's. I'll never forget his patience, humor, and innate "horse sense." I've since moved to Wellington, Florida (a major equestrian and polo center), for reasons I thought were mostly unrelated to horses. I haven't ridden in many years. So there I was in a store looking for a book to help my son Will Tedesco, who at [...] and maybe 40 pounds is just beginning to ride. Imagine my surprise to come across this book, which I hadn't known existed! At 50, I'm once again feeling that old tug to get back on a horse, and I'm sure Mike's sensible advice will again stand me in good stead. Unlike most of his readers, however, I'll be able to hear his voice inside my head reminding me to "steer!"

I've been riding for a month and this book has helped me SO MUCH! Every lesson I have a million questions but I tend to pull a "Do it and think about it later" as time is limited. This book is a wonderful compliment as it covers a lot of minute details I didn't get to ask during my lesson and stuff I didn't even realize! The diagram/pictures are very informative and it's easy to visualize what the words are trying to convey. The writing is great and witty. Every riding lesson is a new discovery and this book is a great help to further understand riding and its techniques.

I realize many techniques of English riding are transferable to Western, but, as a Western rider trying to improve my seat and aids, I found this book frustrating and unhelpful.

I am a preschool teacher for four year olds. There is nothing better than having a group of children completely engaged in a book, laughing over it and finishing my sentences. This book was asked for again and again and is a class favorite. It is a great introduction to rhyme and poetry. I think we all have it almost memorized!

Recommended by a teacher and read by a teacher the first time to grandson. High marks and great interaction by grandson who's three.

i neice LOVES this book! a classic for me and now i can pass it on to her...aaahhhh!

"Giraffe and a Half", like all other Silverstein's books, belongs to my favorite book. Silverstein's rhymes and poems, songs and riddles work for everybody with a degree of imagination. I read it to my youngest brother so often that he began memorizing it... Another great book that I got for last Christmas is Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 2 by B. Nowiki. Nowiki is totally different then Silvestein, but she also has a great gift of teaching us the best moral values while at the same time keeping the story captivating.

Read this to my Kindergarten students and before I got halfway through the book they were "helping" me read it! They ask for it often. What better recommendation could there be?!?!?!

This book was awesome! It was purchased as a gift for my 13-year-old son who loved it. It was full of interesting pictures, facts, and stories about the great white shark. He considers it one of the best books in his "shark library".

This is an excellent work about the most feared creature in the ocean. I've always had an interest in marine biology, and sharks in particular, and this book embodies both biological and cultural information about one of my favorite animals. McCosker and Ellis give the great white a fair shake, and while they acknowledge "Jaws" as an excellent film, they also debunk the fallacies of it (i.e. great whites are not 30 feet long, and only very rarely do they attack humans). I appreciated the considerable section of the book that discusses "Jaws"; I feel as though it was necessary to include this information in a book about great whites since that film is the only source of information about sharks that some individuals have been exposed to. Great book, great read...and well worth the price!

A wonderful, excellent, magnificent look at the natural history of the Great White. Written from a scientific perspective but easily accessible to everyone, this book covers biology, feeding, fishing, filming, attacks, and the exploitation of great whites. Nearly every page has superb photos and/or illustrations, and the authors do an excellent job of making the sharks an animal to be respected but neither irrationally feared nor glorified. The text covers all aspects of the shark's natural history, but never gets so in-depth as to be boring. Highly recommended.

I'm not sure why, but I'm a bit of a shark freak. I got this book for Christmas, and I read it all the way through without putting it down. Granted, a lot of this information wasn't new, but it was presented very nicely. The pictures are fantastic, and I enjoyed the extras about other sharks.

I think children as well as adults would enjoy this book. I wound up getting other people (who don't much care for the subject) interested in the pictures and short articles in this book.

Subjects treated include biology, geography, behavior, history, and interaction with man.

The book is great with its info. I could not believe the horror of the picture of the beautiful woman Shirley Anne Durdin and when they describe her being eaten alive...what it must have felt like. The people who watched the shark swim away from their boat said they could see tattered wads of her once-beautiful flesh dangling from its teeth and her arm sticking out. Worse than any scene in "Jaws."

This is a wonderful book...I just love reading it right up to the last (whispered) line to my little one.

We were given the board book edition though...I sure wish we had got this edition as the Hare looks adorable.

30 May 2005
Reflecting on this review after more than a year, I can say that my "little jumper" isn't as keen on it as he was then...maybe in a few more months he'll start liking it again. I think he finds it a bit dull right now.

This book is excellent...My 7 year old daughter recieved the book for her 3rd birthday and we still read it to this day. She absolutely loves it. It brings forth alot of emotion and still brings tears to my eyes every time we read it. I highly recommend purchasing this book for any new mommy and it makes a great shower gift too.

Guess How Much I Love You is a superb book, and an ideal keepsake for babies. I especially like the fact that Big Nutbrown Hare is quite sexless, and could represent the love of a mother or father. The toy that accompanies the book is a perfect shape, with plenty of sticky out bits for tiny hands to hold, my baby daughter thinks the world of hers. This makes a great Christening gift, or even something a bit soppy for a romantic partner (maybe a pregnant wife!).

Very rarely do the words of a story and the illustrations come together as perfectly as they do in this book. The illustrations by Jeram are timeless masterpieces that would look beautiful framed on your wall. I'm convinced her work will be regarded as lovingly in the future as we regard Beatrix Potter today. The story is also wonderfully told. There are not many words to this story so it is perfect for the younger set. The story perfectly captures the bond between parent and child. The game that they play is sweet and any parent can relate to it. Throughout the story, parent and child find new, inventive ways to express their love for each other. It is the perfect book for any parent who often find themselves looking at their child searching for the perfect words to convey their love.

This is the coolest book of this genre since "Hop on Pop". It has affected me and my entire life in more ways than any "review" could possibly try to achieve. If you have children, and you are one of the FEW parents that STILL read to them: PLEASE GET THIS BOOK! The world will be a better place because of it.
Thank You! so much Sam and Anita!!!

T.N.
Seattle, WA