Book Description

This Level 1 book is appropriate for children who are just beginning to read.

Officer Ann Young and her partner drive their police car down the street. A little boy is lost. Can they help him? This unique Level 1 series accurately portrays real-life situations that help young children identify with and learn from while helping them improve their reading skills. Presented in classic DK style, young readers will enjoy photographically illustrated information in an entertaining package. For children who are just beginning to read and who have a limited vocabulary, these 32-page Level 1 books-about everything from tadpoles to puppies-use word repetition and simple sentences to convey meaning. Picture dictionary boxes with word labels "show" the meanings of words. These books contain between 400 and 450 words each, and they are 80 percent pictures and 20 percent text.

The Dorling Kindersley Readers combine an enticing visual layout with high-interest, easy-to-read stories to captivate and delight young bookworms who are just getting started. Written by leading children's authors and compiled in consultation with literacy experts, these engaging books build reader confidence along with a lifelong appreciation for nonfiction, classic stories, and biographies. There is a DK Reader to interest every child at every level, from preschool to grade 4. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A New Favorite for an Officer's Niece
I am an officer, and was thrilled to find a book featuring a female police officer. In one week it became my niece's favorite book, having me read it over and over to her. She recognized the pictures highlighting special words, and even recognizes the same things in real life. I thought her mom would scream when my niece's favorite word became "badge", and she pointed out every emergency vehicle she saw out on the roads when they went for drives. This book helped my niece become much more verbal, and helps show her that female officers are positive role models, just like me. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A dissppointment
Our neighbor across the street has a little girl with downs syndrome and my daugther who is 4 has started to notice that she is different from her. I wanted to get her a book that showed someone with downs syndrome doing real things so that I could use it as an example. Unfortuntately the pictures are so far away that you don't really get to see Russ. It would have been better if there were some closer photographs.

I LOVE RUSS!
This is a terrific book about a little boy with DS who visits his uncle's firehouse in Chicago. The story is simple and clear. The photos are lovely. The actual story never mentions Russ' DS which I think is just the way it should be. He's just a little boy visiting a fire house, however, kids with DS will be excited to just see him in the photos and other kids will benefit from what I can only describe as his "normalcy". I purchased this book initially because my own son, who is almost 3, has DS. He really loves this book and it has become one of our regular story books. Which puts it in the ranks of classics like Brown Bear, and Goodnight Moon at our house. Russ is just a little boy who gets to help out around fire engines one day. What kid wouldn't want to do that!

Russ spends the day at a firehouse
I'm such a fan of books from Woodbine House! My kids love this series of books about a boy named Russ, especially RUSS AND THE FIREHOUSE. I think it's wonderful that Russ has Down sydnrome and the book doesn't even mention it. It just shows Russ as a regular kid, doing regular kid stuff. Any child who likes fire engines will love this tour of a real firehouse. We have the first book in the series, RUSS AND THE APPLE TREE SURPIRSE, and we hear that there is a new one coming out soon. Looking forward to it! ... Read more

Book Description

Vegetables can wait-dessert comes first.

This is the motto at Pinky's Sweet Tooth, a bakery run by hardworking Pinky and her niece Lulu. From Chocolate Yummies to Tutti-Frutti Cookies, Lulu thinks her aunt's desserts are the best in the whole universe. Unfortunately, no one else realizes it. The Sweet Tooth needs some customers.

Aunt Pinky has another saying: "Without luck on your side, you have to get up really early in the morning." And no one gets up earlier than Pinky. Soon she is at work day and night on her greatest dessert ever, one she is sure will win first prize in the county fair and make the bakery famous. With Lulu as a taste tester and plenty of extra chocolate, Pinky whips up a sensational surprise, proving that luck doesn't just happen, it's something you have to make from scratch.

Michele Malkin's bright, boisterous artwork and a gentle message about the rewards of hard work make this picture book as irresistibly sweet as any of Aunt Pinky's chocolatey confections-kids will crave reading it as much as eating their favorite tasty treat! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Tasty treat
With artwork as delicious as one of Aunt Pinky's confections, this sweet picture book about the rewards of persistence and imagination will be gobbled up by young children and their parents, who may just recognize a kindred spirit in the hard-working but playful Pinky.

Good Sweet Fun
A cute story, fun to read.Very different look and colors.My kids really enjoyed it.

It is a very enjoyable black comedy.
Gallow's Humor is a dark but amusing piece.Although it involves some issues that might be seen inappropriate, such as prostitution, it also deals with things that the everyday man can relate with.I'd love to see acompany produce this daring work. ... Read more

Book Description

Kids will have a ball taking a ride with Big Mike as he goes through a day in the life of a typical police officer. Whether it’s helping to find someone lost in the woods or tracking down a stolen ham, Big Mike makes it clear that police officers work hard to help people and keep them safe. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

A VERY Young Critic
It was a really good fire book and it has really cool fire engines in it. I like fire trucks, and I've never seen some of these fire books before, or helicopters, or the planes... I really liked this book! ... Read more

Book Description

Discovering your inner scientist.

Every person is a combination of unique interests, knowledge, talents and skills. And inside every one of us is a scientist.

It's true -- there's a scientist in absolutely everybody. Not always a trained, professional one, of course, but a natural, inborn scientist. Think about Beatrix Potter, who, as a child, followed up her natural curiosity by boiling the flesh off dead animals so she could see how their skeletons were constructed. When Charles Darwin was young, he collected anything that caught his eye -- shells, rocks, and bugs. Trumpeter Louis Armstrong was a street kid who was captivated by the rhythm of music.

When you think about it, wondering, imagining and questioning are some of the behaviors we practice every day. From a very young age we reason, explore and come to understand the world around us, using the same tools scientists employ in their pursuit of new discoveries.

This fun, upbeat book shows that scientific thinking is natural, exciting and relevant for everyone. It encourages young readers to spot the scientist within, and suggests how to turn it loose. Lively profiles of artists, athletes, inventors and scientists show how individuals achieved important improvements through scientific actions.

At the end of each chapter, there is a section called Brainplay where readers will find exciting, creative ways to keep their inborn scientist strong and fit. ... Read more

Book Description

This fun-filled series guides young readers through a multitude of career possibilities based on their specific interests and skills and links their talents to a wide variety of actual professions. Each book is filled with engaging text and playful illustrations that present a wide variety of career themes and options. Coverage begins with a set of questions designed to help kids discover who they are, what they like to do, and what they do best. Highly motivational, and just plain fun, chapters include: *Get in Gear! Kids learn how to link their interests to actual professions. *Take a Trip! Informational interviews with professionals in the field explore a diverse mix of careers. *Don't Stop Now! Leads to a world of direct exploration and opens the door to Future Destinations! *and much more

Careers profiled in this book: Actuary, Automotive Mechanic, Banker, Builder, Computer Consultant, Economist, Geographer, Machinist, Manufacturing Engineer, Market Researcher, Mathematician, Purchasing Agent, Stockbroker, Traffic Planner, and Urban Planner. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Outstanding Gift for Girl or Boy
This book is packed with useful info - including fun websites. It also is not a you-must-succeed-by-18 book. Most of us happen upon careers and have limited ideas of careers and no knowledge of how to relate our childhoodinterests to adult pursuits. This book is a thoughtful way to show children10-13 that what they now do and enjoy in school can be something theycontinue to do and to enjoy in their working years. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An Awesome Way to Expand Kids' Vocabulary and Grammar
As a school speech-language clinician, this book is the best resource I've found for teaching kids vocabulary related to occupations and -s endings for possessives. For example, you ask "Whose hat?" and the children enthusiatically answer "the fireman's hat!"

good for a music program
Try reading this book to any age kids--even preschoolers--and asking a child to play A-E-G on the xylphone every time you read "Whose hat?" The kids like it! ... Read more

Book Description

Ring-Ding-Ding! Fireman Small is called into action in this bright little board book. Short rhyming sentences of just a few words per page, coupled with vibrant illustrations, bring us along with Fireman Small as he puts out a fire and saves the day. Yee's work is filled with all the things children love - silly, likable characters; rhymes; bright colors; detail; and much more. Here he has scaled these all down to a size just right for even the youngest of listeners. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Our family favorite
My husband is a fireman, so my 5 year-old daughter has received many books about firefighters and fire trucks. This book has always been her favorite (so much so that we have had it memorized for years!) Now we have a 1 year-old son and he loves to have it read to him over and over. It's a wonderful book for new readers!

Very poor adaptation of a wonderful book
We have the "original" Fireman Small which is a GREAT book. However this adaptation into a board book makes no sense, the gentle drawings have been blown up, the colors intensified and the chopped "story" does not flow.

It is not worth purchasing. Wait until your little one is old enough to appreciate the original paperback version (our son was 2)and savour that one then.

Toddler favorite
My 20 month old son LOVES this book. I did not understand the complaints parents made about their children wanting to hear books again and again until F.S. entered our library. He loves the illustration of our little hero sliding down his fire pole to the waiting truck, and raises his arms over his head and WHOOSHES when we get to the part where the fire is extinguished. He knows all the words by heart, and practically bounces in his seat as we recite them again and again (and again...). A very simple yet satisfying story with a happy ending.

Who knows why
Who knows why this book seems to have captured my one year old's imagination so intensely. My guess is its nice rhyme, brevity and clear, colorful pictures are a part of the answer. I know it's one of my favorites because the thought of a tiny firefighter, a beaver, a pig and a crocodile interacting tickles me everytime I read it.

Enjoyable
My two and half year old and I both enjoy this book. I don't mind reading it's rhyming, fun sentences again and again, my son always enjoys it... and he's not even really into firetrucks! It's a pleasant break from construction equipment! ... Read more

Book Description

This lively, lighthearted first book about bunnies is writtenand illustrated by the famous Richard Scarry. A longtime favorite with littlereaders, the book shows lots of different kinds of bunnies -- on the run,nibbling in Farmer Brown's garden, or bringing up great big families. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

LOVE IT!
My mom used to read this book to me ALL the time, and then we would talk about what she thought HER "baby bunny" would be.I'm now 27, and she still refers to me as "the baby bunny" because of this book.I am a 1st grade teacher, and today I got a good evaluation, and mom said, "Well, it sounds like the baby bunny has grown up to be a great teacher!"

What will baby bunny be?
This book is about all the glamorous things that baby bunny could be when he grows up, but he knows what he wants to be!A daddy rabbit who loves and takes care of all his little baby bunnies! ... Read more

Book Description

Mining was one of the more difficult ways to earn a living inthe Old West. Bobbie Kalman's new book The Life of a Miner details thework and hardships of the people who searched for valuable minerals suchas gold, silver, and copper. Fascinating text reveals:

how the mining industry beganhow a hard rock mine workeda miner's toolsdifferent jobs in the mineshazardous working conditions undergroundminers' rights, homes, and familiesboomtowns and famous mines of the West ... Read more

Reviews (1)

superior mining book for kids
I loved this book!The way it explains the difference between lode mining and placer mining alone was excellent.The drawing and explainations of the stamp mill and how the gold is separated from the rock is my favorite part.There is also background on mining towns, miner lives, and areas mined.Drawings and explainations of how cradles, long toms, panning and sluice boxes work.This book is the cornerstone of my Gold Rush Unit.I have purchased 35, so my entire class can read them together.Wonderful and just right for 4th grade. ... Read more