Big Books

For those who want to know what the book is about (rather than what it evokes in a reader): Song is a little girl whose best friend is Juniper, a "Liger" (combination of lion and tiger) - and his favorite food is salmon. The book is a spare history (about a line of text per page) of what they do in one day: explore, bathe in a swimming hole, play, take a nap, etc. August Hall's illustrations are beautiful and sometimes dreamlike. Excellent for very young children (18 months and up), but older children will be fascinated by the pictures and probably want to examine them closely.

There was a time when the alarm clock didn't buzz in my ear. The daily grind of commuting, working and paying bills was the furthest thing from my mind. An entire day could be filled with my imagination alone. I spent many long summer days doing just that. Legendary battles, heroic adventures and quests around the world we're supplied with nothing but a few army men, a stuffed animal or two and an active imagination.

Song and Juniper brings me back to the simplest and happiest times of my life. Reading it to my son at bedtime has opened the door for me to share my own stories with him. He has begun to create his own little adventures and on more than one occasion I have caught him playing in the woods with Song and Juniper! Thank you SO MUCH for helping open up Danny's imagination.

P.S. - Are we ever going to see any plush toys?

As a writer myself, The illustrations are what hooked me first, but i found myself thinking of the book as i talked to kids later in the day. good sign. adorable girl, very relatable, and original images. will keep a child happy over and over.

This book reminds me of my youth...when the simple turn of a page would invoke the most vivid and lucid day dreams. A smile crept over my face as I turned page after page of the most beautiful illustrations I'd ever scene in a children's book and felt my inner-child's imagination spark back to life. Song and Juniper's rolling hills, lush jungles, and curtained waterfalls are the very places I visited while playing in my backyard as a child. I felt a tug on my heartstrings with the thought of someday reading it to my children because this miraculously delightful book takes me back to the nights my mom read "Where the Wildthings Are" before tucking me in at night. I have no doubts in my mind that the pages of Song and Juniper will be withered and worn by the time my unborn children outgrow the books of day dreams and fascination, and start reading for themselves Hardy Boys books and Stephen King novels.

Rarely is there a piece of art that touches on the human spirit quite like Song and Juniper. This book reminds us of what it is to have the heart of a child. There is a carefree, buoyant lyricism to the simple text that is perfectly accentuated by the absolutely gorgeous illustrations.

I'll admit to not being a huge sports fan. But the broadcasting side can be fascinating. Len Berman's not exactly a household name in my area. I can see why some might mistake him for Marv Albert. Still, this book might lead to some checking out his work. Who knows, maybe one day I'll join that group. There are quite a lot of big names mentioned. Others may not be familar to most people. But Mr. Berman shares the human side of sports. Players, managers, and journalists get praised and criticized. There are many photos. Scattered through these pages are various not-so great moments. Many were featured on his Spanning The World segment. His day as commish of sports would involve a lot of changes.At times he gets serious. How do you talk about sports scores after a President resigns? What about games cancelled after 9/11? Don't forget the issue of race. I wanted to give this book 4 1/2 stars. There are some occasional bad words. I caught one definite goof. Mr. Berman got criticized when he suggested having America The Beautiful at sporting events. The flak occured due to the author, Irving Berlin. Both are Jewish. However, Mr. Berlin wrote God Bless America! Who got what wrong here? Still, I highly recommend this book. Have fun.

Len Berman has been the epitome of a professional sports broadcaster in Boston and New York for many years. This is exactly the kind of book you would expect from him. Great stories about many of the personalities that he has encountered over the years including Dwight Gooden, Pete Rose, Wilt Chamberlain, Joe Torre, Don Imus and many others. Berman also writes about sports role in society and its relation to the more important and sometimes tragic events of our time like 9-11. Book ends with a bang as Berman tells us what he would do if he was commissioner of sports for the day. A great read.

I grew up watching Len Berman in the Boston area. He is my favorite sportscaster. His book will make you laugh and is suited for any sports fan. Enjoy!

Len Berman has been the epitome of a professional sports broadcaster in Boston and New York for many years. This is exactly the kind of book you would expect from him. Great stories about many of the personalities that he has encountered over the years including Dwight Gooden, Pete Rose, Wilt Chamberlain, Joe Torre, Don Imus and many others. Berman also writes about sports role in society and its relation to the more important and sometimes tragic events of our time like 9-11. Book ends with a bang as Berman tells us what he would do if he was commissioner of sports for the day. A great read.

This is the first sports book that I have read that really held my interest. I found the insight into Len Berman's life as a sportscaster fascinating and the sports stories very interesting. I passed the book on to my 86 year old mother and she loved it as well. A great book for all age groups.

Stacey has a crush on his math teacher. she tries to work harder and she is the teaher's pet. When there is a dance, she turned down Sam's offer with them.

Stacey's student math teacher is a hunk and Stacey is in luv. To impress him, she worked twice as hard in math(her favourite subject) and got perfect grades and his approval, she would help him after class with organizing the classroom and at one point he dropped her off to a BSC meeting cause she was running late and she took those as signs that he was interested in her. She was so hopeful that she had written a beautiful poem for him and gave it to him but after that he started distancing himself from her and when she confronted him saying that she liked him, she burst into tears. She even turned down Kristy's brother Sam when he asked her to the Spring Dance because she was so sure she would go with her teacher, she went with her friends and had a couple fast dances with her teacher but then when she tried asking him to have a slow dance, he told her that she's a great girl but she's a student and he's way too old for her, and that he sees her nothing more than a brilliant student and great person, but in a nice way and stacey felt heartbroken. I can completely relate to her feelings of thinking she had a chance with him although it was very unlikely to happen. The way the book was written descriptively makes you feel like you are there with Stacey and could relate to her.

this book was extremely well written! Ann M Martin really went into detail and description about the setting and about stacey's feelings of love towards her student math teacher Wes. If you're in middle school and are crushing on someone, you can truly relate to stacey.

A really good book! Keep up the good work, Ms. Martin!

The season is spring, and wedding bells ring! At least, that's the thing that's on Stacey's mind. When a student teacher arrives at Stoneybrook Middle School and is going to be Stacey's subsitute math teacher, Stacey can't pay attention in class! Wes is cute, but he's 22! But then Stacey realizes that not every romance will work. Read this book!

In this book, Stacey has a crush on her twenty two year old teacher. She worked hard in math and even gave him a beautiful poem. She turned down Kristy's brother Sam who wanted to go with her to the Spring Dance. Instead, she wanted to go with the teacher. But the teacher said he was too old for Stacey.

I can't believe I'm the first person to review this masterpiece! Maybe it's because Bennett seems so very British, English even, that he's not appealled to American readers. I'm sure you're missing something worth having.

Bennett is a masterful observer of character and the six monologues gathered in this collection all display strong characters revealled with a sharp eye and a compassionate heart. Bennett is witty and controlled in his approach, allowing his characters to reveal themselves and their foibles subtley. I find these little tales deeply moving as well as funny, despite the apparently mundane subjects he's dealing with.

I can't think of a comparison to make to illuminate his style, especially since monologue is very rarely seen these days. I can see an affinity to A. Maupin and R.Rodi in terms of waspish observations of people and their social milieu. Bennett's characters aren't blatantly queer like Maupin's or Rodi's, they're not young and tre! ndy things either, but Bennet's own sensibilites and sensitivities give queer readers pause for thought, especially about the older, isolated members of society.

He takes us right inside the heads of six very ordinary people and lays bare their lives, their self-delusions and their petty snobberies in their own words. The texts were originally written as television plays and were broadcast on the radio by the BBC too, however, they work perfectly well on the page, rather like short stories. Why not try it and see for yourselves!

I suppose I am a bit biased because I grew up in the same town as Alan Bennett (Leeds, Yorkshire) but this book is truly remarkable. The characters are a mixture of people we all know. A chip in the sugar is the man who lives down the street, A lady of Letters is always in the post office (usually in front of me !). All these people exist, what Alan Bennett does is drag them out of their lives and our heads and put them there in front of us. We may read about them and dismiss them as characters in fiction but they all exist and in most cases there's bits of them inside each of us. Thanks Alan Bennett for entertaining us and teaching us at the same time.

Alan Bennett has been called England's National Teddy Bear, so beloved is his work and person. It's a sweet moniker, but misleading to those who may not have yet read Bennett. Insightful and compassionate with a wit so sharp it effectively amputates sentimentality, this is a Teddy Bear with laser eyes and sharp claws that are only just retracted.

Bennett's character sketches in Talking Heads are devastating. The grown man whose safe little existence begins to unravel as he discovers his dear old mum has taken a lover, the vigilent, upright busybody who ends up in prison for invading her neighbor's privacy, the widow of "Soldiering On" whose emptiness of purpose is revealed through her inability to grieve--each uncomprehending character Bennett has created in these astonishing soliloquies is undone by his or her brave and steadfast unwillingness to acknowledge the bare-knuckled truth of human emotion.

Bennett is not cruel in revealing the weaknesses of his characters, but he is uncompromising in revealing those weaknesses. This is the Teddy Bear who brings to the picnic the sharp knives that cut through the bread and fat prepared and packaged by his companions.

Also recommended are Bennett's Writing Home, The Clothes They Stood Up In, and any and all of his other plays, particularly The Old Country; and, for those who just must have the soft and fuzzy version of the Teddy Bear, listen to Bennett's reading of Winnie the Pooh, or go see his stageplay of The Wind in the Willows.

Honestly I thought the story was quite dull he tells us about the dull part of their lives, I'm surprised I didn't sleep reading it. It's the worst book I've ever read. You probably won't put this on display on the computer, but you asked what I thought of it and I told you the truth, I'm sure many others agree with me that the story was boring. . Thankyou

I have been studying Alan Bennett and like many others find it highly amusing. It works remarkably well as a television series and not just on the page. The personalisation and connection to the viewer draws you in and makes it appear that each character is actually talking to you. Excellent work

This book was an easy read for my third grader, who read the book for his younger siblings. They all three enjoyed the pictures and had fun finding the hidden drawings.

Mr. Lish has done a great job on an old favorite. My 2 daughters, ages 2 and 3, love listening and getting involved with the three little puppies. They giggle and try to warn the puppies when the big bad flea comes knocking at each little puppy's door. I even spent an hour at the park one day playing the Big Bad Flea to all of the little puppies there.

This book is more than a read along, it is a wonderful act out loud story.

Great Job, I look forward to more from Mr. Lish.

Oh, and it is fun to try to find the hidden elves in the pictures!

Remember "The Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf" story, and how quickly it became one of your favorites? Well, Ted Lish's book THE THREE LITTLE PUPPIES AND THE BIG BAD FLEA is sure to become another one of your favorites, but this one has a surprise ending and hidden things to look out for.

Deciding that they are grown enough to live on their own, three little puppies leave their mama's house to seek their own futures, and soon find themselves in a heap of blown feathers and leaves caused by the big bad flea.

THE THREE LITTLE PUPPIES AND THE BIG BAD FLEA is wonderfully written and the charming illustrations by a talented illustrator, Charles Jordan, kept my children pointing and giggling throughout till the books end. It's a quality book all around, and I know children everywhere will love it. Included throughout the shiny pages are hidden Munchweiler elves. My children, including my ten-year-old-son, and me enjoyed searching for them. Reading it one time wasn't satisfactory for my little ones--we had to read it about five times in a row!
If you are looking for a children's book hidden with learning lessons, then you've found it. Children will learn to deal with adversity; they will learn that it pays to listen to their mentors/parents/guardians; and they will learn that sometimes you just can't win everything that life has to give you.
"Ted Lish teaches second grade in the Victor Elementary School District in Victorville, CA. He has long loved children's book and has written several. This is his first one to be published. Ted resides in Victorville with his wife, Vicki. Two of his four children are now school teachers as well.
"Charles Jordan is a self-taught illustrator who has illustrated numerous picture, chapter, and activity books. To his credit are The Whale Comedian, A Pile of Pigs, The Twiddle Twins' Music Box Mystery, and others. This is his first book for Munchweiler Press. Charles was born in Washington DC, raised in Maryland, and currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two children... As an author of children's books, a children's book reviewer, and a mother to three children, I highly recommend THE THREE LITTLE PUPPIES AND THE BIG BAD FLEA by Ted Lish.

--Reviewed by Jennifer LB Leese, ASTORYWEAVER'S Book Reviews...

What a great spin on the old classic! My 3 daughters aged 6-12 were completely involved in the story as I read it to them. The beautiful and colorful illustrations really compliment the story. I've read the story so many times we've almost got it memorized. Now I hear my 12 yr old reading it to my younger girls. They can't wait for a sequel ! Congrats to Mr. Lish for a job WELL DONE. A great story and hidden elves to boot.

Now in its second printing with a playful new cover design, The Three Little Puppies And The Big Bad Flea by Ted Lish is a picturebook parable with a moral about how important it is for children to listen to their parents. A wry spoof on the more commonly known tale of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, The Three Little Puppies and the Big Bad Flea features a terrible flea capable of blowing down houses - or sneaking into keyholes! The Three Little Puppies are ultimately forced to flee all the homes they have built, while the Big Bad Flea moves in and takes over. The Three Little Puppies, having learned a valuable lesson about listening to their mamma, move far away, and the Bid Bad Flea's children pester puppies everywhere to this very day. Delightfully illustrated by Charles Jordan, The Three Little Puppies And The Big Bad Flea is a lighthearted, whimsical, entertaining story, but with a more sobering message buried underneath - namely, that the "good guys" don't always win.

This book takes me back to when I was little and all the Golden Book stories with their beautiful illustrations that I was read to and then read for myself. I put a photo of the book and also the table of contents to explain better. The illustrations are superb and very colorful and cute.

I agree with the previous reviewer, that this is one book to be handed down through the family. Or, just hang on to it to enjoy for yourself. I love children's books and this is one of the ones that I will hang on to.

My parents saved this book from when I was a child as it was my favorite (printed 1967). Now I read the same book to my 2 year old and it's his favorite too!! While I agree it's somewhat dated ("daddies go to work" concepts vs. "parents") it really is a wonderful book and I read my own versions to my son - They just don't make books like this anymore.

Tibor Gergely's Great Big Book of Bedtime Stories is the greatest children's storybook I have ever seen. It is a shame that it is out of print. If you have the means to pick up a used copy in decent shape, I highly recommend it. I grew up with these wonderful little stories as a child and have been looking for this book for the past 5 years. Now that I have internet access, I've been able to recover several pieces of literature that have stopped printing. If you enjoy reading stories to your little ones at night, find this book and buy it! You won't regret it.

... This is truly the best children's book ever. The stories may seem dated in so far as the era the stories take place in ("Someday we may go to the moon") but that only adds to the book's appeal. Simply put, a story about Daddies, mail carriers and fire fighters, are more engaging and more enjoyable than ANY adventure Elmo or the teletubies will ever have. If you can find this book, get it!

Tibor Gergeley's Great Big Book of Bedtime Stories is the best children's book I have ever read. It has all of my favorite stories and has very cute and playful illustrations. I feel it is a shame that this wonderful book is out of print. The print is nice and large, and the vocabulary is perfect for small children. This is the best book written for a child's bedtime book I have found.

My son loves the author's Good Night and Christmas is Coming, so I searched a book by Claire Masurel and found this book. Although the illustrator is different on this book, the cover was intriging so I decided to purchase, and my instinct was right! This is such a delight book and my son (2yr 4m) asked for this book every night. He loves the part that Charlie and Tex go to a doctor. He says "take your medicine!" so I can use the phrase next time he has to take cold medicine too :)

This is a fun story that children 1 1/2 years and up couldenjoy, but it is the illustrations that really steal the show. Theyare the best I've seen so far in a children's book, and we have quite a few. The colors are wonderful and the style of drawing reminds me of Curious George goes to art school. Treat yourself and your child!

The lovely, stylish illustrations in the simple story fascinate my two year old daughter. She squeals with delight at the mayhem this large toy creates and she loves searching for the events mentioned in the text. The repetition of "too big!" is also a definite story time pleaser!

My 4 and 2 year olds fell in love with this book the minute they saw the cover. Each page has something special that MUST be pointed out EACH TIME I read it to them. The illustration in this book is just so warm and has that quality of "the good old times". Each page is a piece of art by itself! I feel like framing and hanging them in the kids' rooms! Just wonderful heart-warming illustrations, and oh yeah, a very cute story. I hope that this illustrator will be doing more children's books in the future! I recommend it to anybody, not just kids.

I read about this book in Publisher's Weekly, where it received a starred review, and ordered it from Amazon. It has instantly become my son's favorite book. The story is delightful and the illustrations are pure magic.

As a professional educator most of my adult life and a president of a small business, the title of this timely and well-written book caught my attention immediately. The "whale hunting" metaphor aroused my curiosity and got me into the first chapter. The people-oriented concepts put forth by the authors --and the blueprint they provide for big sales success-- sustained my interest in the practical, often profound, ideas I encountered throughout the remainder of the book. I couldn't put this remarkable book down or refrain from writing marginal notes on almost every page. However, this is more than a book about landing big sales. It's a book about the power of collaboration, teamwork, and developing an "all for one, one for all" company attitude. Kudos to Tom Searcy and Barbara Weaver Smith for landing "the big one" in the world of popular business books!

Richard T. Vacca, Profesor Emeritus and President,
Vacca Authors and Consultants, Inc.

As the owner of a small company, finding ways to educate, inspire and motivate my sales team is one of the most difficult challenges I face - especially because I am a fervant believer in a team selling approach and in involving everyone in the company in the sales process in some way. Whale Hunting provides an insightful, memorable, focused and useful method to tackle complex sales and to land large accounts.

Whale Hunting gives concrete examples that have worked for real companies and inspired me to be more creative in how my company handles certain aspects of our sales process. Also, the analogy of landing a large account to the Inuit people's whalehunts hangs the entire process on a framework that is easy to remember and creates a new language and excitement. (We are already talking about "celebrating the whale" and "searching for ambergris!") It also makes this book an interesting and quick read. Although if you are like me, you will read it several times and end up taking notes and keeping files of things you want to apply to your business right away.

I encourage all small business owners to not only read "Whale Hunting - How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company" but to make it mandatory reading for your entire management team ( And don't forget to download the useful and applicable forms).

Many times when small business leaders buy a book looking for support and specific process strategies in becoming great, they find only general, nonspecific advice and insights. Whale Hunting is a welcome relief in that it provides both a clear structure that outlines specific process steps with tools to support action, but also insight into possible pitfalls and the world of the big company that must be managed along the way. If a small company wants to change how it does business, this book not only presents clear language and processes that are necessary inside one's own company, but also the significant expectations of the big company that must be met in becoming truly competitive. This is a must read for any small business that has reached a glass ceiling and wishes to push into new market space to achieve accelerated growth and the culture change necessary to sustain such long-range growth.

First the cons...
I don't like the title, Whale Hunting. The book has this title because the authors translate the hunting methods of the Inuit people of northwest Alaska into methods and systems for gaining large client sales. What do whale hunting and business growth have in common? A precise and successful methodology, as it turns out. However, as a surfer and general admirer of dolphins and whales, I find all the whale hunting analogies to be overwhelming for my easily disturbed psyche. That said, no whales die in the book.

The Pros...
Well written, clear, concise, exceptional methods, strong actionable advice. This book really walks you through the process of selling to large clients, and there is more to it, than you might initially think.

The Review...
In Whale Hunting: How To Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company, authors Tom Searcy and Barbara Weaver Smith explain the nine phases that the Inuit people of northwest Alaska use to scout, hunt, and harvest their whales. The authors translate the Inuit methodology into processes and apply them to the business practice of landing large clients.

The book offers specific, actionable steps when it comes to making big sales. And it shows how to engage a cross-functional team of subject-matter experts throughout the process of selling and closing the deal. Once a company learns the process, it is easily repeatable from client to client. These are the basic steps:

* Pre-Scouting - Analyze your capabilities, and the field of available clients
* Scouting - How to target your best prospects, research them, and get their attention
* Planning - Plan your contacts, message and questions
* Hunting - Analyze the buyer's team and mitigate their fear
* Capture - Selectively discover information from and disclose a controlled message to your client.
* The Big Show--A step-by-step guide for meeting with the buyer's team
* Servicing - How to service the large client with capacity and velocity
* Understand the process - Refine your internal operations and systems so that they can handle more large accounts.

While these specific steps are presented clearly in easy-to-understand terms, implementing them requires an exceptional amount of work, time and the right people. But, the authors contend, the pay-off in landing a major account (one that is 10 to 20 times the size of an average account) is worth the effort.

It's not easy for little companies to land deals with big companies. It requires an understanding of how and why the big companies buy. It requires that the small company develop processes that meet the psychological and relational needs of the big company as well as having a competitive product or service. This book explains in very clear language what a small company needs to do. As I said before, it's not a simple thing--to hunt whales, but if a small company wants to grow, I know of no better strategy, and I know of no better guide to the process.

I have used some of the same stories described in Linda's book in training courses with environmental professionals from many countries as well as in introducing systems thinking into my own organization. There is a universal appeal to stories by Dr. Seuss, for example, and much wisdom hidden just behind the wild drawings and imaginative language. Linda's unique contribution lies in showing teachers and parents how they can use a wide range of enchanting stories to tap into this deeper meaning in order to improve problem solving abilities in everyday life. The book's recommendations on using stories can easily be applied to improving our parenting and teaching skills by listening more carefully to the stories children tell, asking better questions, and sharing responsibility with our children for interpreting the answers.

The mark of a great story is that it plants a deep seed in ones psyche that penetrates and grows slowly but oh so steadily. Like a koan, it imbeds itself and connects the limbic system with the neo-cortex, the emotions with the intellect. As one encounters the world, the story keeps resurfacing just when appropriate, deepening ones learning. Linda Booth Sweeney has found magical ways to plant seeds in kids (young and old), about critical messages of connectedness and life, and elegantly woven ways of learning that are ancient and current. Readers are in some ways left with a living question in their hearts and minds: What is life asking of me now?

I have used some of the same stories described in Linda's book in training courses with environmental professionals from many countries as well as in introducing systems thinking into my own organization. There is a universal appeal to stories by Dr. Seuss, for example, and much wisdom hidden just behind the wild drawings and imaginative language. Linda's unique contribution lies in showing teachers and parents how they can use a wide range of enchanting stories to tap into this deeper meaning in order to improve problem solving abilities in everyday life. The book's recommendations on using stories can easily be applied to improving our parenting and teaching skills by listening more carefully to the stories children tell, asking better questions, and sharing responsibility with our children for interpreting the answers.

"When a Butterfly Sneezes" uses stories to help introduce the basics of systems thinking. This book was written for parents and educators as a guide for helping children gain a richer and deeper understanding of the world around them through their favorite stories. This is a much needed book for parents who enjoy reading to their children and for educators, particularly those who work with students in the K-4 classroom where there is a focus on literacy. "When a Butterfly Sneezes" is a first of a kind book on this subject and at this level. It offers parents, teachers and teacher educator's a practical means for introducing systems to young minds. I will use this book in teacher education courses and recommend it highly to others.

Systems thinking provides structure to understanding our complex world. Stories, whether our own or selections from literature, offer a powerful hook to recognition of the interconnectedness within a system.

As an educator, I've been intrigued with the idea of systems thinking, but somewhat intimidated by its complexity. After reading and rereading WHEN A BUTTERFLY SNEEZES, I have a far deeper understanding of its power.

I''ve long believed in the power of story to enhance understanding. This little book affirms that belief.

Thank you, Linda Booth Sweeney, for this fine work.

This is the coolest science picture book I have found in a long time! Great sketches, quirky storyline and it's chuck full of facts that kids will grasp onto and learn from. I found myself learning stuff I never knew. Great book! RECOMMENDED

As a sixth grade science teacher, I am always amazed that my students have the misconception that dinosaurs were the first organisms to be on earth. Indeed, there is a couple of billion year history before the dinosaurs. This book does a great job of at least showing what else was around with the dinosaurs.
The cartoon format draws children in and engages them in reading the informative, upbeat, and fun text that supports the fabulous illustrations. After reviewing this book at a science museum teacher workshop, I knew I needed a copy for my classroom library. Open the book and you'll be hooked, too!
If you are looking for a well-written non-fiction children's book, this is a great one (especially if you have a child interested in dinosaurs). If you're looking for a funny and engaging book with fun cartoons and easy-to-understand text, you've found it.

This book is delightfully drawn, and accurate about the facts it covers, but it's also very funny, with amusing cartoon images as illustration.

This book was a present to my two kids, ages 6 and 8, but I've enjoyed it as much as they did. My kids love dinosaurs, and I've read dinosaur book after dinosaur book. This is the first book that showed me what was around before the dinosaurs. The author (and illustrator) do a great job of being entertaining and informative. The drawing and humor are fantastic, and there are lots of little details that show up in the second, third and fourth reading (always an advantage in favorite childrens books). I highly recommend "When Bugs Were Big" for both parents and children who want to learn more about what the world was like before.

The author does a great job explaining life before the dinosaurs. It can be difficult for kids to "get" the fact that there were big reptiles (and amphibians) before the Age of Dinosaurs, and some authors find it easier to just lump those beasts together with dinosaurs.

But not here. Ms. Bonner does a nice job detailing differences in reptiles and amphibians, and also does one of the best jobs I've seen in a children's book of explaining vegetation -- why it was different then, how it evolved, and how it turned into coal.

This book is a definite keeper for the 6 and up set -- my daughter, turning four soon, is a big dinosaur buff, and likes the cartoon pictures more than the science behind it. But when she's ready for a nice overview of the Permian period, I'll pull out "When Bugs Were Big."