Big Books

As a retired elementary teacher, I value literacy experiences for young children. I purchased this book for my grandson's third birthday. He already had "My Big Truck Book" and loves it, it is one of his favorites. He has well over 100 at the present time, but turns again and again to this one. "My Big Train Book" is fast becoming another favorite. The bright pictures are great. I would recommend either or both these books.

My son asks to have this book read to him over and over. It's a hit!

This book has gone through two of my sons. Fantastic for the 'little' train lover with clear colourful pictures.

My 3-year-old son loves this book, it's got train pictures from all over the world, and that my son realized that there are many other train styles besides Thomas, and they are very very cool.

My almost-4-year-old grandson loves trains. He loves this book. He's a "big-boy" now, by his own definition, and has outgrown wanting to be held and rocked too much, but he wants me to sit with him in the rocker and read this book together over and over. What Grammy wouldn't love that?!

Cute little story about a big dog and a little dog who like opposite things. It's pretty obvious that the Spanish was translated from English (as opposed to being originally written in Spanish), but with that said the Spanish seems well translated. Good book for the price.

I read this to my 4-year-old daughter only in Spanish the first few times and she LOVED it. The pictures and ideas convey the meaning of, (what is to her), a foreign language so well! As a barely-fluent speaker myself, the book introduced a few new fun vocabulary words. The context of the story very clearly depicted for her the meanings of the words "despacio" and "deprisa" which quickly turned into a game of running around the house in each of the two manners. Once she realized that the little words underneath were in English, she refused to hear the story in Spanish, but with patience on my part, that has changed slightly :0) The story is just plain really cute, too.

I have a non-profit corp. and took those books to the Dominican and they really enjoyed the book-I would recommend it for youngsters-6-10 Roger/Dominican Team for Dreams,Inc Florida

I know a handful of Spanish vocabulary and wanted to expose my infant son to the sounds and cadence of the language. This is a fun book although if you're a Spanish novice, some of the word tenses are a little tough to sound out. It is paperback though - I was hoping for a board book so he could turn the pages while we read. He loves it anyway.

Love it just wish it was a board book my one year old loves to flip the pages i know he's reading in his little head but the pages get crinkled so thats why i wish it was a board book.......easy and fun to read.

the book is really pretty, there are just images so you can make up stories, it is unusually large for a book, great book I do recomment

My sons loved this quiet book and asked to count the items in the lovely illustrations endlessly. Anno includes a bit of whimsy on the final page if you are thorough in your counting!

I bought this "big" book to use in my Kindergarten classroom. There are abundant activities, found on the internet in an author search, for young children about counting, sequencing and comparing that can springboard from this excellent resource.

The book Anno's Counting Book is a great book for helping children with counting and learning basic math concepts. It helps with addition and subtraction as well as grouping items. The book starts at zero, which is one of few books that start with zero. This helps children grab the concept the zero is still a number even when there is nothing to count. The book goes all the way through the number 12. Children are also able to count the objects in the picture. Each object in that picture contains that number that is on the page.
The style of the book is very simple for young children. Each page contains one number. On that page there is only that specific number of items that children are able to participate and count along. On the left side of each page are counting blocks. The blocks can help children with their addition and subtraction by seeing how many blocks are missing or how many they have to add to make a certain number. On the right side of the page there is the written form of the number which helps children visually see what the number looks like. The illustrations in the book are also very colorful and detailed, but yet simple enough for the children to count the objects in the picture. As you go throughout the book, the pictures also change through the different seasons of the year.
The book Anno's Counting Book is a great wordless book for children who are just learning how to count. It helps with addition, subtraction, grouping items, and writing numbers.

I have bought numerous copies of this book to give to the children of relatives and friends. I got my first copy of it when my son (now 27) was small, and he loved it. I have one copy that I keep at home for myself, though I have no grandchildren yet--the pictures are so lovely, simple, and comforting, and I usually have one or two more books in stock to give as gifts. Everyone I have given a book to loves it as well. I like all of the other Anno books that I have seen, but I think this is the best.

This is a great anthology on Asian American history that's well worth your time to read!

I am a proud owner of the Big Aiiiieee. It is absolutely refreshing to hear from other voices than the popular writers such as Tan, Kingston, and Hwang. Chin certainly has made many great and valid points. Tan, Kingston, and Hwang, together, represent a body of cultural sensationalism against especially 'Asian American' men. I agree with Chin on many points; however, Tan, Kingston, and Hwang are wholly to be blamed.
First of all, the term "Asian American" should be eradicated. I am not an Asian American. I am a Chinese-Vietnamese American, as specific as that. With that in mind, this anthology is mainly composed of Chinese and Japanese-American perspectives. Where are representational voices of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and South Asian people (India, Parkistan, Burma).
Secondly, I agree with Mr. Chin that Tan's and Kingston's portrayal of Chinese culture is primitive and backward. Tan's Joy Luck Club contains lot of images that promote cultural sensationalism and exoticism. For example, An Mei's mother cuts her flesh from her arm and dumps them into her grandmother's soup. The non-asian readers will subsequently thrive on this stereotype and apply it for all "Asians." This is like another form of canibalism. Another example of cultural sensationalism is the uncle eating live, jumping shrimps with his chopsticks (or Did I miss something?). As for Kingston, the Woman Warrior clearly was written with an intention as a feminist piece. Because there is no greatly equal novel to dispute its exaggerated feminism, mainstream readers take this as a true portrayal of Chinese/Asian men -- brutal rapists.
Furthermore and on a positive note, what makes this anthology fresh is the fact that it includes other fresh(not new)but neglected voices such as Louis Chu, John Okana, Monica Sone, Gish Jen, and so on, writers that are not given a fair chance in mainstream publishing.
Finally, I think this is a great anthology. Unfortunately, it does not truly represent me and my Vietnamese American community. What I got from reading this anthology is a sense of freshness as far as perspective is concerned; however, emotionally, I am more identified with Flannery O'connor, Toni Morrison, and Duong Thu Huong.
For those dire fans of Mr. Chin and harsh critics of interracial relationship: He married a caucasian woman, so are some of his colleagues.
Beware of whom you worship!

What gives people like Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, and David Henry Hwang the right to take my cultural distinctions and cater it to a white audience who want the stereotypical Chinese?! I'm glad Frank Chin exposed these sell-outs in this important book. There are Asians who are far from being these sorts of stereotypes described in the literatures of Tan, Kingston, and Hwang, and these editors prove it. Read this book and you'll find that out yourself.

and I know how much these editors helped my ethnicity in the first Aiiieeeee! These people (Chan, Chin, Inada, and Wong) know their stuff, and they're not ashamed of their cutlure. They are unassimilated, brave, talented, and strong. You would be more proud of your Asian race after reading this book.

Since the publication of this book, it has been criticized for it's "machismo, misogynist" morale. Guess who these criticisms are coming from? White feminists (or those who support them). They cannot look beyond history and textual matter, instead they force and assume their principles and try (and unforunately, they succeeded) to make this a battle of Women's rights. I have read Chin's "Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and of the Fake" and in nowhere is there any misogynistic dictum. Why? Because this isn't a matter of Women's views or MEN'S! It's about history and how it should be interpreted. People like Kingston, Hwang, and Tan want to deconstruct Asian American history. Feminists want to help Kingston's and Tan's deconstructive views by arbitrarily labeling Chin as a misogynist. If Chin or the editors of The Big Aiiieeeee! were misogynist why would they have women writers in this anthology? Just because there aren't that many women writers doesn't mean it's totally and utterly sexist. Could it be because there aren't that many authentic Asian American women writers?! If there are no authentic texts to Asia America, would it hurt to say that stereotypes (or whatever) are actually right?

I really like Jackie Shaw. She has loads of info on how to paint and I'll keep my copy.She is an artist that I have books of hers that are 20yrs plus old. You'll like her teaching.

This book has it all -- clear introductory information (materials, workspace, etc.), wonderful stroke instructions, projects, patterns, finishes, and much more. Another nice thing is that the projects are "rated" as quick and easy (beginner) to intermediate to advanced for each technique.

There are lots of color illustrations accompanied by clear, well-written text. The author is very encouraging and upbeat in her writing. This book is such an asset that I am ordering a copy to donate to our local library. It's definitely a must-have!

I have a ceramics business and got tired of plain ol painting and wanted to expand when I found this book. It has taught me so much and my sales are way up! The techniques are explained in precise detail and are easy to follow. It even has practice strokes which I found to be very helpful. There is not a more informative book about painting out there from taking care of your brushes to a beautiful array of advanced technique. This is just a plain wonderful book and I could not say enough good about it!

Jackie Shaw does an excellent job of showcasing all that is possible in decorative painting. Her examples of stroke work apply across the board for any kind of painting. But, what makes this book work is the way she breaks down each stroke into its individual parts to show how to form them properly. Along the way she imparts words of encouragment and motivation to get you going!

She also gives excellent lessons to practice by and keep you stimulated. It is part of the book's progressive learning curve so that as you advance with one part, there is more to learn in the next section as you move from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced.

I rarely write review of books, but as I pulled out this book once again today to reference, I felt compelled to give Ms. Shaw her props! Thanks Jackie!

As an artist learning something new I was looking for a basic book explaining all terms and projects showing the author to be truly talented. This is all you need for a complete first course.
There is some disagreement among the various author/artists about the term " float". Other than that they all seem to agree about basic techniques. Beautiful demos and photos.
Greatest thing: The author takes you through several projects which you can do on any paper or wood for practice, and then divides these into three levels so that you can achieve the degree of finesse you desire. So practical! Take it from there!

"Cactus Hotel" is one of those rare books that is highly educational without seeming so. At the bookstore I first tried to just thumb through it but I found myself reading the entire thing and being wowed by every page. Now the book has no humor, it has no people, it is a gentle journey through the desert life of a sole cactus and the magic of nature and fantastic purpose of all living things. The cactus is the star and I'm star struck! This is a must for any inquisitive little minds library age 3+.

I carried this book in our bookstore and it became one of our best sellers. It describes the long life of the saguaro cactus, from seed to full growth to when it collapses. Along the way, creatures use the cactus for their homes or food. This books shows children how a plant is so important to animals. Beautiful illustrations.

I picked this up at an Arizona Airport for my kids, and we've all been enchanted by it. The illustrations are gorgeous, the text simple and accessible. Cactus hotel is the story of a single saguarno cactus throughout its 200 year life-span, as it grows from a seed into a towering cactus that is home to dozens of animals, and then topples and dies, still providing shelter to small desert animals before it returns to dust. My children and I will never look at a cactus the same way again!

This is a perfect book to read during a study of deserts. In fact, I think the author and illustrator should team up and make a whole series of books about various ecosystems, just like this one, that focus on the life cycle of a marvelous plant that is specific to that ecosystem. What an educational bonanza that would be!

A++++. As a gift idea, a child might enjoy receiving a small cactus with this book.

If you like to read about different kinds of homes and what lives in them, you would like this book. It is about a cactus that lives for 150 years! In that time about 38 animals make holes and move in. After 150 years it falls over and 10 to 20 more animals move in. This is a great book.

Beautifully written. Beautifully illustrated. This is a wonderful story and the kids (ages 7 and 3) were enthralled. It is a science book that reads like the best kind of picture book. We learned so many things from this and had fun doing it. Very highly recommended.

This book is a lot of fun and the directions are easy to understand. I never made balloon animals before and I was immediately making all sorts of them with ease.

I bought a used copy of this fromn a reseller for a high price, but Captain Visual has saved the rest of you. Look around because he has republished this book, and it is a resonable price. Look around a little, it's worth it at a resonable price.

The condition of the book was exactly as reported. Very fast delivery.

ahhh, i don't know if I can praise this book as the best, but it's good enough for the 5 stars. It's a book that you can get as a beginner balloonologist and learn with through more advanced balloon sculpting stages. It has some really cute ideas that are worth using in your balloon repotoire (is that how you spell that?). I also recommend the Palloncini series.
...peace out

Easy to read & follow & a wonderful resource for beginner & advanced twisters alike. Be careful of copyright violations for several of the characters but this book is a must-have for your library!

If you ever wanted to know anything about this massive airplane you will probably find it in this awesome book. The book will take you back in time to the development and life of the greatest of bombers. The book is not just a bunch of statistics either. It is not a boring narrative, but is full of all kinds of fascinating stories and incidents that went on in the life and times of this great airplane. It is printed on fine glossy stock and has many wonderful pictures from all through the years of the Peacemakers existance. Highly recommended!!!

An extremely well written book. It tells you all about the B36.
The authers use of parts written by "Those who were there" is an object lesson to other authers.
It is A verey large and heavy book whivh should be on all aircraft lovers
bookshelves.
If you live in europe it is half price too.

that is defintitely the best book about the big stick of the SAC. tons of pictures and in-depth text! highly recommended!!!!!

Good reference on the B-36 Peacemaker. Well illustrated with black and white as well as color photographs. Many cut away drawings and diagrams. Lots of background development. Good historical as well as technical information. Lacking in material on the FICON and Parasites fighter programs

It is silly to try to fault this book.

I recall being impressed, as a kid, with the Harleyford books from England--"The Supermarine Spitfire," and "The Focke Wulf FW-190." For their time, they were very good indeed.

But they cannot begin to compare with this massive book on the B-36. It is in a class of its own.

First the sheer size of this beast. Its huge, and its all about one airplane, the B-36.
Granted, you have to be fascinated with the B-36 to buy it, but if the monster bomber fascinates you, doing better would be impossible.

There are chapters on everything. The book covers B-36 defensive armament, payload, service with SAC, service in movies, the "revolt" of the Admirals, and on and on. Incredible detail.

There are more photos than you can count. There is a section of color photos. Some are very good, and quite unusual. You have not have seen them before.

I recall the B-36 as a kid. I remember one flying over my house--and being amazed by the size, noise, and sheer presence of the aircraft. I have always loved the B-36. It takes me back to a better time. I will admit that I look to the past with great nostalgia. I often look back to the days of cars with chrome, Davy Crockett caps and rifes, Ike in the White House, and the B-36. This book will take you there.

It was fun growing up in a country which not only made, but made operational, a plane like the B-36. Wow, that was, and still is , special. And so is this book.

The big bang theory of the origin of the universe has been almost unchallenged for about half a century. Once the discovery of cosmic background in 1963 disposed of the steady-state model proposed by Fred Hoyle and Thomas Gold in the 1950s, it was essentially the only game in town. Oscillatory models never entirely went away, but the inflationary model seemed to explain nearly all the data. At the same time it had some flaws that would not go away: it left the first second after the big bang a total mystery; it left the highly homogeneous distribution of matter and energy after the violent beginning unexplained; it seemed to require absurdly precise values for the physical constants (giving apparent support to the "strong anthropic principle", allowing some physicists to claim that the universe must have been designed by an external intelligence so that it could have us living in it); it failed to explain the origin of the "dark energy" driving the expansion; and so on. Any one of these difficulties could probably be explained away in terms of incomplete knowledge and understanding, but taken together they require so many arbitrary assumptions that it becomes hard to escape the conclusion that the big bang universe has become a patchwork of arbitrary assumptions, added ad hoc to cope with a series of problems.

Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok have developed an alternative way of seeing the universe, in which the big bang was not the beginning but simply a cataclysmic moment in a history of cycles, with no beginning and no end, and in their book they explain all this in terms that are by no means too difficult for the non-physicist to understand. Their model explains everything that the inflationary model explains, but it does so on the basis of fewer and less arbitrary assumptions. It is too soon to feel confident they are right, but if they are right they provide two comforting thoughts for non-physicists: we no longer need to think of time as something that began for unexplained reasons 14 billion years ago, but can return to thinking of it as something that stretches as far back into the past and future as we like to consider, and we don't have to take the strong anthropic principle as a serious argument for an intelligent designer.

This is a book that I enjoyed enormously. If I could give it six stars I would.

Steinhardt and Turok masterfully outline and simplify their "cyclic model" of the universe in Endless Universe. This book could also serve as an introduction to M Theory, which unifies numerous string theories. Even if you don't buy their theory, you should buy this book because it addresses a number of issues that the traditional big bang theory (or the "inflationary model") fails at answering or explaining. Although the authors' own theory seems a bit far fetched (the first two stages of the model take only a few billion years while the "dark energy" stage takes a trillion), it is a needed rebuttal to the shortcomings of the inflationary model.

Great read on a great subject and a fast read!
Not only does this book contain a lot of info on the evolution of the universe, it also touches on the exciting ideas of M-theory and "branes", flurting the idea that two, higher dimensional, branes may have collided to create the beginning of our universe. But, as you'll see, it may NOT have been THE beginning as we think of it!!! Unlike some other popular reads, this book is pretty focused on the Big Bang vs. the "Big Splat"... Very interesting for anyone looking for a focused read on THE BEGINNING. Highly recommended. The tone of the book is great and easy to read.

No matter how long, deep and hard we dwell on existence of the Universe, it is impossible to avoid concept of infinity. What (or Who) is able to be eternal? If this is God, then not Universe. If Universe is such, then there is no need for God. Interestingly authors briefly muse about it in the middle of the book. Saying this and taking theology/philosophy aside I highly appreciate the huge effort taken by both scientists to present their quite stunning, and as for today, extravagant theory - theory challenging inflation. It was easier for me to comprehend Inflationary models (for example in Vilenkin's "Many Worlds in One"). Endless Cycling model is by far the most difficult one, since it is based on String Theory and assumption of extra dimensions. Part of the book evaluates supersymmetry vs. simple string theory in particle physics. Most of the time we read about advantages of Ekpyrotic (Cycling) Universe theory when compared to Inflationary models. Swinging back and forth (in a bit of chaotic and repetitive manner ) authors drill voraciously in systematic fashion all possible holes in the Guth/Linde's Inflationary as well as in Susskind's Landscape and Vilenkin's Multiverses models. And how dedicated, convinced, passionate, determined and eloquent they are!! Though certain fragments are truly exhausting (for example: how colliding branes convert one type of energy to another), numerous repetitions and attempts to emphasize how things happen, are actually often helpful. What has been planted in my head is that: extra "D" + branes + dark energy + potential energy related "spring-like" force between the branes = ekpyrosis. Be it. The final judge deciding which model represents true reality appears to be gravity. Authors list number of proposed and being in progress projects aiming at DETECTING gravitational waves. Unfortunately we will not be able to do so in the next decades, especially if it comes to very weak inflationary waves. However detection is not a single dilemma. We still cannot EXPLAIN the essence of gravity and I did not find anything related to it in this book. Physicists sometimes talk about a concept known as "Mach's Principle", but that principle has never been successfully developed and fails to explain apparent instantaneous action-at-a-distance. In the end comes the last strong punch: Cyclic Ekpyrotic model is free of Anthropic Principle dilemma!! It is very important to cosmology to have competing models and unanswered lingering questions about their validity. In general: very brave and colorful popular science book, recommended for curious and following "strange" cosmology ideas readers.

Doubtless one of cosmology's greatest mysteries concerns the origins of the universe. What happened at the Big Bang, and how? What precipitated this momentous event? What existed before it, if anything? Was time born at that same instant? Is ours the only universe? Have others existed or exist even now?

Prevailing scientific belief suggests that the universe as we know it began roughly 13 billion years ago with a "point-centered" Big Bang, followed by unimaginably rapid expansion, then enough slowing and cooling to allow the formation of atoms and molecules into planets, stars, and galaxies. In 1997, Lee Smolin's book THE LIFE OF THE COSMOS proposed an alternate theory in which multitudes of universes form at the output ends of black holes, each universe having its own characteristics and unique set of values for its controlling constants. Now, physicists Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok offer a vastly different theory in THE ENDLESS UNIVERSE.

In a book that challenges its readers' scientific capacity while remaining within a layman's grasp, Steinhardt and Turok eschew the Big Bang singularity for what they term an ekpyrotic or cyclic model. Derived from underlying principles of advanced string theory, they posit our universe as a three-dimensional brane that co-exists with another, mostly parallel brane of more or less equal size. The two branes are separated along an unseen fourth dimension, although the distance of this separation is small and alone among all known physical forces, only gravity can travel this fourth dimension and exert an attractive force between the branes. The authors use this model to posit a trillion-year process in which the branes collide and then separate to their maximum distance apart. During the collision, a birth process for both universes takes place in a manner that looks like the Big Bang. Radiation gradually gives way to matter, allowing stars and galaxies to form, until finally dark matter exerts itself and accelerates the universes' growth and spreads out the galaxies. The branes then become increasingly flat and parallel (as opposed to having been wrinkled but not intersecting as a result of their last collision), allowing the interbrane (gravitational) force between them to begin pulling them back together for another collision.

THE ENDLESS UNIVERSE is loosely divided into three sections. The first section combines a recap of the Big Bang theory and its development during the 20th Century with far less interesting or relevant information about the authors' respective backgrounds, how they met and decided to collaborate, and how their conception of the cyclic model came to pass. Apparently, they failed to see any irony in commingling discussion of the birth of the universe with a full chapter of numbingly trivial personal background and details like, "In August 1981 my wife, Nancy, and I moved with our four-month old baby, Charlie, to Wayne, Pennsylvania, about tweny miles outside of Philadelphia..." Zzzzzzz...Oh, excuse me. What was that baby's name again?

The second section of the book elaborates on the authors' cyclic model, explaining how the branes interact with each other to cause a "big bang" event and how they are influenced by the accelerating expansion of the universe, gravitational effects, and the increasing role of dark matter. Most of the last section of THE ENDLESS UNIVERSE is taken up with discussions of the various technologies being employed to test the Big Bang and cyclic theories. These chapters are some of the most interesting parts of the book, since they offer a fascinating if complicated view of the intersection between cosmological theory and astrophysical oberservation.

Excepting the authors' space-filling personal stories, the bulk of THE ENDLESS UNIVERSE presents an exciting theoretical proposition in one of Science's most exciting fields of theoretical endeavor, the question of what is the universe and where did it come from. Readers will need to make an effort to absorb this material, but they will be rewarded with a fascinating ride through current cosmological thought and experimental efforts at confirmation.

A Home For A Bunny was my son's all-time favorite book. We read it over and over again. Now my son is nearly 27, and I still have the same book and read it to his 5-year-old-daughter, whom I am raising. It was her very first book and she demanded it be read every single night. We had fun using different voices and she especially liked the happy ending. She decided that the bunnies were a "Mommy Bunny and a Daddy Bunny", and would kiss them goodnight each time.

I highly recommend this book! I buy one every chance I get, whenever I know someone is going to have a baby.

I purchased this book (my first "big" little golden book) and love the larger size and pictures. My two-year-old daughter loves this book and often picks it from her huge selection of books. A great sweet story to share. I'm now looking for more "big" little golden books to buy.

This book is such a sweet, cute book. I am 24 years old and still read it to my nieces every once in a while. I have grown up making my parents read me this book over and over again every night and day. My copy is worn out but it also shows how much I enjoyed it. I hope you decide to buy it and read it to your children they will love it!

I read this book 20+ years ago to my two children and it was their favorite and most requested Little Golden book. It is such a sweet and well illustrated book. My only regret is that I didn't keep it over the years because I now had to go on a search for another copy for my brand new grandchild. My new copy of "Home for a Bunny" will be extremely well used, I'm sure!

This is such a sweet little book! Probably not much past age 5, but the story has a bunny looking for a place to stay or a home of his own. He proceeds to ask everyone he meets if he can live with them and they all say no. However, when he meets a little white bunny, the bunny takes him in and they then live together. The last picture is just so sweet with the two bunnies snuggling together. The illustrations make you touch the page because the bunny looks so fuzzy! It is very much loved in our house and we highly recommend it!