Book Description

Illus. in full color. "Four funny easy-to-read stories all with subtly planted moral lessons."--Publishers Weekly. ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Only Dr. Seuss could teach a basic truth with so much fun!
"What was I scared of?", the last story in this book, has long been my favorite Dr. Seuss story. I read it aloud as a child. Now it is one of my son's favorites. Dr. Seuss explores scary things like the dark, people or things that aren't familiar, and the idea that it doesn't work to try and run or hide, all within a silly story of green pants with nobody inside them. The sneetches and their struggle to be elite makes any number of statements about our society in a way that is simple for young minds to understand. And the stories about the stubborn Zax and the mother who named all her sons Dave turn words into an amusement park. Definitely one of Dr. Seuss' best.

You'll wear out the book before you get tired reading it.
This is definetly one of Dr. Seuss' best. Four stories with messages so subtle and solutions so obvious that both adult and child will enjoy them again and again. Time (and repitition) has not dimmed any of their charm. The story of The Sneetches focuses on prejudice. Perhaps the most subtle of all Dr. Seuss stories, it demonstrates the silliness of stereotypes and what happens to those who subscribe to them. The story of The Zax tells the story of two stubborn and inflexible Zax. And what happens when they happen to run into each other. Too Many Daves is one mother's story of naming all twenty-three of her children Dave. But my favorite it What Was I Scared Of? It's a not very scary story of seeing a pair of "pale green pants with nobody, inside them". And what to do if you should see them.

The Sneetches
I loved this book, it relates so much to the prejudice crimes of todays society. I bet a million bucks that that is how Seuss got his inspiration to write thsi wonderful childrens book. I read in my HONORS reading class and i absolutly loved it. It is a star book.

Five Stars Upon Thars!
This is definitely one of my favorite books! It's a classic, for young and old alike. I've read it countless times, it just keeps getting better. They might be childrens' stories, but there is a lesson to be learned from each of them.

A Classic
My grandma used to read this book to my sister and I and our cousins all the time. I'm buying it for my kids. I love the lessons in this book and that it is funny and easy for kids. I great book for learning to read! ... Read more

Book Description

How many times can you jump rope? This rhyme makes the game of rope jumping even more fun. It's a counting rhyme, and there are lots of others like it. There are also red-hot pepper rhymes for jumping very fast, and rhymes for jumping in and out of the rope. There are even fortune-telling rhymes that answer questions and help you predict the future!

The rhymes in this book began as a way to keep the rhythm while jumping rope, but they also lent poetry and humor to the game. Here are over one hundred traditional rhymes that will make rope jumping challenging and, best of all, fun.

Reviews (2)

Great fun
For anyone who jumped rope a great deal (this excludes me) or swung the rope while others jumped (this includes me), this book is sure to have some favorite rhymes. As such, it is an interesting way to initiate cross-generational discussions - jump-rope rhymes are school yard folklore with astounding staying power. The book is also useful as a way to encourage young "couch potatoes" to get a bit of time outside with requiring outside to be a large space.

Of course, the best way to use the book is simply to enjoy it.

Hopping fun! It will take you back to your playground days.
What great fun to be reminded of the jump rope rhymes of my youth. And even greater fun to share them with my daughter. I hope you enjoy this collection of rhymes as much as we do. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (41)

Give your kids a high-modernist instead of Dr. Seuss!
If are a lover of cats, or have enjoyed the musical "Cats", or appreciate masterful poetry, or even a student of modernism, you will fall for "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T.S Eliot ("The Wasteland" "The Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock").

However, I especially recommend this book to parents who read to their children. Imagine an older and more conservative grand-master poet focusing his skills in rhythm, rhyme and content into a book of lyrics suitable for 5-year-olds. What you get is a book that not only has the sonority and imagination, combined with an appealing subject matter ( a diverse group of antropomorphized cats), for the children, but also is dense enough to be enjoyable repeated reading for the parent (Who of you still gets turned on by "Green Eggs and Ham"?), and challenging stimulation for the child.

If you have a son or daughter who loves cats,this book is a must buy!

A lot of fun to read..
If you've read The Wastland or any of the other, more substantial poems by T.S Eliot, you may be shocked at Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. But don't be fooled, even in the simple subject matter there is genius in Eliot's writing.

This is the only poem book of Eliot's that I own and it's a great deal of fun to read. My favorite cat is Macavity. If you've seen the musical Cats (which I haven't), here's the inspiration. This is also a great first book to get younger people interested in poetry. The language Eliot uses is flowery and catchy, and the subject matter is centered on those cute furballs. Enjoy.

Not meant as a collection
Unlike The Waste Land or Four Quartets, this book was written poem by poem to amuse friends and children of Eliot's. Put together, it is not something as marvelous as his other work, but it was not meant to be that. Instead, it is a fabulous piece of children's literature, with interesting rhyme and meter and tongue-tripping language. Definitely recommended, but not a good example of "typical" Eliot.

The exception that proves the rule?
Even though one of my degrees is in English lit and even though I've been a poetry lover for half a century or more, I've never been a great lover of TS Eliot, with this one exception. To enjoy this book you don't need to be a poetry lover. It helps if you're a cat lover, in which case you're bound to love this even if you think you hate poetry or TS Eliot style poetry.

This book's been beaten to death (in a positive way, mostly) by reviewers already, but I stumbled across it here and couldn't resist throwing in my own two cents.

what was he thinking
I'm not quite sure what Eliot was thinking when he wrote this particular set of verse, and coming from such a 'serious' poet as he was. I suppose that regardless of the quality of the poetry, it is still important to read because Eliot himself is important in the canon. But I have to wonder. It gets rather sing songy at times and there doesn't seem to be much technical mastery to the poem. And I hated the subject matter. ... Read more

Amazon.com

That behatted and bow-tied cat from Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat is back, and, not surprisingly, is up to all sorts of mischief. This time, Sally and her brother are stuck shoveling snow: "This was no time for play./ This was no time for fun./ This was no time for games./ There was work to be done." But--you guessed it--the laughing Hat Cat has other ideas, as he lets himself in to eat cake in their tub. He leaves behind "a big long pink cat ring," which he then handily cleans with "MOTHER'S WHITE DRESS!" The dress then loses its pink stain to the wall, then Dad's shoes, then the rug in the hall, until finally the Cat must call in some assistance: from inside his hat comes Little Cat A, then Littler Cats B, C, D, E, and so on, nested like dolls in ever tinier hats. With this pack of felines, Sally and her brother may get rid of those stains, but they'll likely never be rid of that rascally cat. As should be expected from the good doctor, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back provides an excellent reader (and alphabet primer) for those just learning, not to mention ample laughs for everyone else. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes ... Read more

Reviews (32)

What I thought about Dr. Seuss's The Cat In The Hat Comes Ba
The Cat in the Hat books have always been favorites of mine, so obviously I enjoyed The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. I loved all the rhymes and funny sayings in the book. Although the book is small it is full of tongue-twisting words. Another reason as to why I loved this book is the way the kids in the story handle their situation, that was funny. I enjoyed this book so much I read it twice.

THIS ONE IS MY PERSONAL FAVORITE OF SEUSS'S BOOKS
My kids gave me a copy of THE CAT IN THE HAT COMES BACK for my birthday a few years ago. I thanked them politely and that was that.

Then I started reading it again for the first time in about 30 years.

I was laughing out loud on almost every page!

I had forgotten how funny this story was. Or perhaps I just didn't get the humor when I was a kid. At any rate, this little book is now one of my all-time favorites, grown-up books included.

--George Stancliffe

Learning from Experience
Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. The Cat in the Hat Comes Back was one of her picks.

The theme of this story builds from The Cat in the Hat. In that story, two children are home alone when the cat in the hat visits, makes a horrible mess, and manages to clean it all up just as mother returns. Although the family fish warned them about the cat, the children were gullible.

In this story, the children are not gullible, but the cat takes advantage of them anyway. The children are home alone shoveling deep snow while their mother is away in town for the day. The cat in the hat goes into the house before they can stop him, and eats cake in the bath tub while bathing. They told him to get out and pulled the plug. Unfortunately, that left a long pink cat ring. A contrite, but overconfident, cat in the hat says he'll take care of everything. But he just moves the pink mess from one valuable object to another, starting with mother's white dress. He is a very foolish cat!

Soon, he needs help. In his hat are 26 little cats from A to Z who are specialists at cleaning up the messes he just made. Eventually, the outside snow is so covered in pink spots so that the whole yard is one big spot! Then he calls on Z who is too small to see, and Z finishes the job. Everything is back in order.

This beginning reader is also designed to help with the alphabet. Long before the book can be read by your child, the alphabet sequence will be helpful. The book is moe difficult to read than The Cat in the Hat, so your child will probably not attempt it unless and until that book is mastered.

There are many subtle messages here that any parent can endorse. One, you have to be careful about letting people in your house. Although the cat in the hat is not sinister, children need to understand that lesson in a nonfrightening way. Two, if you know someone is a troublemaker, you'd better keep them away from mischief. Children are very accepting of mischievous children who set bad examples. This gives you a chance to praise the good behavior of the children while questioning the appropriateness of the cat's behavior. What else could the children have done? They will have this issue with friends in years to come. Three, the smallest cat is the most powerful. That's a rare voice in favor of examining people and animals for their worth in effectiveness rather than their size. Diminutive children will like this part. Four, by being persistent in dealing with the cat, everything turns out all right. Children need to learn that persistence can overcome adversity. Five, thinking ahead can save a lot of problems. If the children had given the cat some paper towels in the beginning or knew how to wash out a bath tub themselves, the complications would have been minor. As you read the story together, you can emphasize these lessons to help your child.

When you are both done with the book, you should discuss how problems can be prevented by anticipation. This is a good way to help your child's problem-solving ability mature.

Enjoy!

guns don't belong in toddler books
We bought this book without reading it because it didn't occur to us that anything would be objectionable. We returned it the next day after stopping half way while reading it to our 2 year old. the book is dated and reflects actions that at the time it was written were probably not considered objectionable. There is a graphic 2 page spread involving the widespread use of popguns and red splotches. Hopefully, a child who is at this read-aloud level should not yet have been exposed to guns at all and if they have, every attempt should be made to limit that exposure and to make sure that guns are not presented in any validating format. Regardless of one's opinions on gun control, guns are very dangerous and should only be used under very limited circumstances and in the hands of a skilled user. They are not toys and given today's American culture and media, should not be presented as such.

first one was better
i liked the first Cat in the Hat book better than this one. This one wasn't as funny as the first one was either. ... Read more

Amazon.com

First published in 1963, the late Shel Silverstein's children's bookdebut Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back, will resonate with youngreaders much as it did 40 years ago. The affable narrator Uncle Shelby'sstory begins: "Once there was a young lion and his name was--well, Idon't really know what his name was because he lived in the jungle witha lot of other lions and if he did have a name it certainly wasn't aname like Joe or Ernie or anything like that." That all changes,however, when a circus man discovers the lion's skills as a marksman(the lion took a gun from a hunter he ate) and names him Lafcadio theGreat. When the circus man takes Lafcadio to New York City, the storytakes on a certain Crocodile Dundee quality--the lion eats themenu at a fancy restaurant, demands marshmallows (he likes the sound ofthem), and is captivated by the hotel elevator. As Lafcadio becomes morecivilized and rich and famous, however, he becomes more unhappy. In theend, to entertain the increasingly despondent star, the circus man takesLafcadio hunting in Africa where he encounters his old lion friends onthe other end of his gun. Is Lafcadio now a man or is he a lion? Hedecides he is neither and wanders alone into the valley. In typicalSilverstein style, this exuberantly-silly-yet-poignant fable,illustrated with simple, expressive line drawings, asks more questionsthan it answers. The glee the author derives from wordplay and the soundof language is positively contagious. This read-aloud classic belongs onevery child's bookshelf. (Ages 6 to 10) --Karin Snelson ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Reading this book for the 100th time
I am reading this book for the 100th time but I am reading it for the first time to my new son. My mother first read me Lafcadio in 1978. I made here reread it over and over. Now I am shareing it with my son Garrett. I hope he askes me to read it 100 times to him.

My Favorite Book
Lafcadio is a young lion who is different from the rest. One day he meets face to face with hunters and he eats them up. He took the gun along with him. Everyday he went behind the mountain and practiced shooting and he became the best shooter in the jungle. But one day, a man came to him.

This book is great!! I first read it in fourth grade and I loved is so much, I read it more often!!

I Loved This Book as a Child
I first read Lafcadio when I was in, oh, first grade I think. Now I am thirteen years old, and just two nights ago I decided to read Lafcadio again.

This book tells an interesting tale of how one lion out of many always dreams of something new. Lafcadio is a young lion who is, instead of afraid, curious, about hunters and their ways. He meets one one day and soon eats the hunter and takes the gun. Lafcadio learns how to shoot it in as many ways possible. Soon the lion is taken into the city and becomes famous.

I love the book for the creativity, humor, and description put into it. I always loved Shel Silverstein's work as a kid but this one takes the cake.(...)

Great read-a-loud book
I discovered this treasure after reading Shel's poetry books to the kids. I read it to them on a long flight across the country and had the people in the seats around me listening in discreetly. It has some great morals and gems in it. About knowing who you are inside and finding your way in this world. And about the absurdity of hunting from the lion's point of view. The kids just love the bit about every lion having their own hunter's rug.

Six Stars!!!
This is an exceptional book for all ages. Silversteins wonderful illustrations and humor are throughout this book. But the message is what makes this book so wonderful. It is a story about a lion but what this lion is dealing with child experience and grow up with this peer pressure and then the consequences we must pay for our action. This is a great book that everybody should read. Shel Silverstein has the most original way to get this message across and the humor with this book and how he describes " Uncle Shelby " is very insightful! ... Read more

Book Description

It’s Easter in Reading—a bad time for eggs—and no one can remember the last sunny day. OvoidD-class nursery celebrity Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III, minor baronet, ex-convict, andformer millionaire philanthropist, is found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area oftown. All the evidence points to his ex-wife, who has conveniently shot herself.

But Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant Mary Mary remain unconvinced, a sentimentnot shared with their superiors at the Reading Police Department, who are still smarting over theirfailure to convict the Three Pigs of murdering Mr. Wolff. Before long Jack and Mary findthemselves grappling with a sinister plot involving cross-border money laundering, bullionsmuggling, problems with beanstalks, titans seeking asylum, and the cut and thrust world ofinternational chiropody.

And on top of all that, the JellyMan is coming to town . . . ... Read more

Book Description

Dr. Seuss's youngest concept book is now available in a sturdy board book

designed especially for his youngest fans. All of the original stunning

illustrations and imaginative type designs of Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher are

here, as are the intriguing die-cut squares in the cover. A brighter, more

playful cover design makes this board book edition all the more appropriate as

a color concept book to use with babies or a feelings and moods book to discuss

with toddlers.




... Read more

Reviews (45)

Not your usual Dr. Seuss - but terrific!
My daughter is a huge fan of this book - and so am I! I won't say that about too many children's books... As cute as some of them are, I can only make so many dog noises and elephant sounds in a day (over and over). But this is a book that we both agree on.

First of all, the book is beautiful. The colors are great. I love the illustrations. They're colorful but subtle, not your normal "in your face" Seuss (of which I am a fan).

Second, the book is just the right length for a toddler. Some of the other Seuss, while funny, is long. This is just about perfect.

Mostly, however, I like the message of this book: that you can be in one mood one day and another mood another day and that's okay. I think really small children, especially toddlers, have a difficult time understanding the concepts of mad and glad and sad... We expect them to be "on" at happy all day long. But they really are just little people and they experience different feelings, too. I like that this book says that's okay.

Yeah, the message is a little "touchy feely" but the book doesn't come across that way at all. It's Seussy-y without the camp, but with the same sense of rhyme and optimism. It works.

A beautifully illustrated book and unlike any other Seuss
My Many Colored Days was written a long time ago, but Dr Seuss felt that he couldn't adequately illustrate it. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher provided paintings which add incredible dimension to the text.

The result is a wonderful visual metaphor for presenting the gamut of emotions and a clever way of talking about feelings with one's child, whether it's a grey day and we feel down; a yellow day where we're busy as a bee, or a mixed up day.

Love it!
When I read this book to my children (ages 4 & 1) I always try to emphasize the emotions & feelings behind each color & painting using my voice...I think it is an excellent book for opening up a dialogue with kids about their emotions & learning how to express them.

The paintings are inspiring but ordinary in a way that when you look at them you think "I could paint that!". Really a great, great book! It's a continuous favorite in our house, a must have for every child's book shelf!

I recommend the board book for younger kids because it IS so well loved & read. The images on the pages definately call out to be touched by little hands!

tomorrow could be different
I would highly recommend this book to anyone--young & old alike! I think it is especially good reading for those feeling like they are in a slump and finding it hard to move on. This book shows that today you might feel like it's a black, brown, or purple day, but if you hold on until tomorrow, you may have a yellow or pink day. Although this book was purchased for my two toddlers, who both love it, this is a coffee-table book at our house.

My 10 month old's favorite book
I wouldn't have expected it but this is my 10 month old son's favorite book. I think he likes the bright colors. Also the way the text is written inspires you to change your voice which he really has enjoyed. The bright colors, simple but cute graphics, short and rhyming verse all combine to make a really neat book. This is the first book that my son has really showed interest in, he actually coos and babbles and touches the pages as I read it to him. He sits through the whole book and likes it to be read to him more than once every day. I've tried "Goodnight Moon", "Guess How Much I Love You", "The Runaway Bunny", "Mother Goose", etc but no other book has fasinated him so far as much as this book. I'd highly recommend it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Eric Carle's distinctive art holds a place of honor in the world of children's books. (He is the creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and the illustrator of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?.)In this thoughtfully selected collection of poems about animals, you'll meet creatures of every sort, from an ant to a yak. You'll find selections from many cultures, penned by celebrated poets such as Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, and Jack Prelutsky. Animals, Animals is best suited for older preschoolers and children in the early elementary grades, but the beautiful illustrations will please children of any age, including babies. The oversized format lends itself well to Eric Carle's bright collages--the animals, birds, and insects seem ready to jump or fly right off the pages. (Ages 1 to 8) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Animal collection
This book contains a collection of animal poems. The sources of the poems are quite varied, from Emily Dickinson, to the Bible, to Japanese haikus. All sorts of animals are featured, from fireflies to hippopotami. There are no scary bits, and the pictures are great. At the end of the book is an index of the animals and a table of contents by first lines to help you find your favorite poems. The book has about 2900 words.

The Inimitable Eric Carle
From Ogden Nash to Shakespeare, from haiku to Hungarian proverbs, ANIMALS ANIMALS has it all--and it all is illustrated beautifully by the inimitable Eric Carle. His trademark collage-style pictures and jewel-tone colors bring to life an entire zoo in this collection of short poems and poetic sayings about animals. Ants and elephants, octopuses and walruses, and many other delightfully quirky animals tumble playfully across the pages, vividly animating the lovingly selected verses. No need to read it at one sitting, or even sequentially; just open the covers and let the pages fall where they may. This refreshing and entertaining picture book is sure to engage the most restless reader or listener of any age.

Engaging graphics and enjoyable text for all ages.
I have owned this book for several years; I originally bought it thinking the bright and engaging portraits of animals would surely delight my young child. Since then all our children have enjoyed hearing the poems and laughing at, studying, copying, and perusing the creatures that share our earth. A lyrical book, both in text and picture layout, which we won't easily part with for some time, I'm sure.

We love this book!
My kids adore this book and it's great for grown-ups too! The illustrations and poems go together beautifully and the selection of poems is wonderful. There's a great range of different styles and even young toddlers sit and listen. Eric Carle's books are always a hit but this one in particular is fantastic. This book will be one kids will read for years--even when they're adults. We love this book! ... Read more

Amazon.com

There should be a law that requires every child to sit on Grandpa's knee as he chants "Trot, trot, to Boston; trot, trot, to Lynn." Grownups who still giggle at the thought of Little Jack Horner pulling a plum out of his Christmas pie, or who make a wish on a star, murmuring "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight" know the secret. They're the ones who will be handing down those same nursery rhymes to their own children, preserving an age-old tradition. But no child should be left behind.

In world folklore authority Iona Opie's collection, these invaluable and ancient nuggets of childhood verse are bursting with new life. Quirky and sly, sweet, gentle, rollicking, silly... the range of rhymes is breathtaking. Winner of over a dozen prestigious awards, including a Parents' Choice Award and an ALA Notable Children's Book award, this wonderful book is charmingly illustrated by Rosemary Wells, best known for her Max books (Max's Bath, Max's Bedtime, Max's Ride). A solid repertoire of nursery rhymes should be de rigueur for any aunt, uncle, grandparent, or parent worth his or her salt. This book is a must, as is its companion volume, Here Comes Mother Goose. (Click to see a sample spread from My Very First Mother Goose. Illustrations & copy; 1996 by Rosemary Wells. Permission from Candlewick Press.) (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Reviews (24)

The Mother Goose to Own
As the mother of four, I think I've read Mother Goose rhymes probably tens of thousands of times over the years. We've checked many Mother Goose books out of the library, but (thanks to my mom), this is the one we own. We return to it time and time again for several reasons. First, of all, it's big, which I really like because it means that I don't have to read the same rhymes night after night after night. There's ample room in it to poke around (also its size has allowed Opie to include in it some we didn't know - but quickly learned. My favorite of these is "Wash the dishes, Wipe the dishes, Ring the bell for tea; Three good wishes, Three good kisses, I will give to thee.") I also really like Opie's selection of rhymes. She's left out some of the grimmest, which makes the book appropriate for even the smallest of readers. This is not to say, however, that this a bland book. For Opie has included many really fun pieces. And this leads me to comment on Rosemary Wells' illustrations, which are warm and funny, in the most beautiful colors. She lends her own touch to this book. Sometimes she offers a new interpretation of a rhyme (see, for example, Humpty Dumpty, which it turns out in Wells' world really concerns a small bunny not very fond of boiled eggs). In other pictures, she simply adds hilarious, unexpected, fascinating detail. My daughters Rose, 2, and Daisy, 6, and I laughed and laughed over this book today, turning a sad sick morning into a happy time. I regularly find Rose, who is generally given to activities like bouncing, sitting quietly, poring over this book. This is the one to buy.

Two masters (mistresses?) at work
Iona Opie is one of the great folklorists we have right now and all English-speakers should be grateful for her (and her late husband Peter's) tireless work to preserve and present the poetry of children at play. This book is a terrific introduction to her ear for the best of this kind of poem and to the wonder of Rosemary Wells' imagination. As others have noted, you will return to this book over and over, when other favorites have long since passed into neglect. There is a second volume of these poems, also with Wells' illustrations.

Then try and find a copy of I Saw Esau, an amazing collection of children's playground rhymes from the past 50 years or so. They are by turns witty, crude, wonderous and cruel and the Sendak drawings that accompany them are great. It's not for small children, but a nine year old would love it.

In the meantime, enjoy Mother Goose!

A very good nursery rhymes book
My son loves this book, he is 4 and have most of them memorized, we borrowed it at first at the library, he loved it so much that I had to get him his own.I like it for it's simple and easy to remember lines, we read a couple of different nursery rhymes books, that I find is a little too much to remember for his age.If you buy this book be ready to keep reading it, 'cause your little one will be asking you again and again.

This is a must-have!
What a beautiful collection of nursery rhymes-my daughter loved this book from before she could even sit up-it is also available as a set of board books which I also highly recommend. Keep in mind Iona Opie, the editor, is English and uses some English rhymes or English versions, which has some people confused. The drawings are simple and charming, classic Rosemary Wells.

A wonderful update of an old classic
This book may keep Mother Goose nursery rhymes alive for many more generations to come. I was not particularly drawn to Mother Goose books - many of the rhymes I could remember seemed irrelevant to me. But this book has changed my view. My 3 1/2 year old son and I read it together regularly - he now chants the rhymes along with me. The collection is so well done, with rhymes you'd be happy to read to any child (none of the violent or gory rhymes), and the illustrations are utterly perfect & add tremendously to the content of the rhymes. We have shelves full of children's books, but I would put this in the top 2 or 3 - this is a classic. ... Read more

Book Description

The best-selling collection of tapes and sing-along books--all the childhood favorites. (Ages 2-8) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Have a child.... Get this set! (Cassette and book)
Wonderful collection of nursery Rhymes and lullabies. Includes the old favorites as well as a few I had not even heard of. The voices used are very soothing. I enjoy it. My eight year old enjoys it. And my 9 month old enjoys it. When nothing else seems to be able to calm my infant down for sleep, this works wonders. Great for family time before bed. Times that I am sure my children will remember when they grow up and want to continue with their children. ... Read more

Book Description

Illus. in full color. "In Seuss's familiar rhymed couplets and illustrations, the Cat in the Hat shows Young Cat some wonderful stuff about reading with both eyes open."--School Library Journal. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

This book was dedicated to my father
I may have a biased opinion, because this book was dedicated to my late father, David Worthen. My father was an ophthalmologist and operated on Dr. Seuss' eyes in the late 1970s. To me, this book is about the importance of sight, which allows us to read, learn, explore, and imagine. I hope that someone will duplicate it in braille so that non-sighted people can enjoy it too.

Brilliant Encouragement for Memorization to Help Reading!
This is a fabulous book that every parent should read with their children!

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! was one of her picks.

To me, the brilliance of this book is in its title. This book encourages children to memorize this book. My four children all began to learn to read by first memorizing books. Then they could begin to match what they had memorized with words on the page. The next step was to then identify the word and be able to say it in an unmemorized book. Finally, they could read alone. Memorization is a key step, and I notice that many first-time parents don't realize that. Dr. Seuss provides the big clue here for children and parents. The choice of long words with funny sounds is particularly clever as a way to encourage memorizing. Who could decode Mississippi, Indianapolis, Hallelujah, Schenectady, and Wilkes-Barre the first time they saw them? Putting the place names on signs on a road emphasizes the child's obvious interest in becoming a driver some day. Brilliant!

Aside from the theme, the book has the great qualities of all Dr. Seuss's books for learning to read. There's lots of repetition. The adjectives can be translated into pictures, and the stories are humorously illustrated. For example, "I can read in red. I can read in blue. I can read in pickle color too." The four color words are all printed in a larger type size in the color described. The Cat in the Hat is wearing pickle color glasses that match the words "pickle color" in the sentence above. The rhyming scheme used throughout also makes it easier to memorize and progress.

The book also has wonderful conceptual material such as left and right examples, being upside down, and how the order of words in a sentence affects their meaning (mice on ice, and ice on mice).

Then lest your child get a subliminal message to ignore what is going on around you, Dr. Seuss points out the advantages of having your eyes open. "You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut."

After you have helped your child to memorize this book and begin to notice these words around her or him, I suggest that you try writing a book like this with your child on the same theme. You will probably have to do the writing down of words, but your child can certainly do the illustrations. In the process, you can begin to help your child learn about rhyming if you want to be ambitious. Afterwards, I suggest that you ask your child to tell you how he or she is learning to read, to encourage more consciousness of the role of memorization. Your enjoyment of poetry will always be enhanced by memorization. I suggest you try some for yourself as well.

Remember this advice!

What Can YOU do with your eyes shut?
What I appreciate about this book is it encourages reading and conversation between parents (or adult) and child who I think would be great to read this one together. It also stretches the imagination: "reading with eyes shut? How does the Cat in the Hat read 'Mississippi' with his eyes shut? Can YOU read with your eyes shut?"

...

Read this one WITH a child (and with creative humans of any age!) and talk about it... stretch the concept.... And see what else will open up with our eyes shut.

a great rhyming book
this book is another Dr. Seuss classic that uses rhyme in it and really catches your thoughts and eyes and makes you wanna keep on reading. It is a great starters book and i loved it

A child's laughter
This book by Dr. Seuss made my child laugh, and it caught her attention. She read it only as a child would, and she understood without question what it meant. An imagination is all you need, and she has plenty.

The words play around. The pictures grabbed at your attention. This is a great book, and I recommend it to every child and parent, as well.

Many thanks to Dr. Suess for enriching my child's imagination and sparking her love to read. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Inspiring and Entertaining
Fold Me a Poem is a wonderful example of a book being more than the sum of its parts. Inside the covers of this stunning creation, the poems and illustrations meld to create a picture book that is both inspiring and entertaining.

Each of George's short poems is exquisitely illustrated with an acrylic painting depicting a young boy among his origami creations. In "Spring," for example, we read:

At last
my tulips
arrive
wearing
paper crowns.

And thus we see-surrounding the large, black print-patterned and boldly colorful origami tulips.

While a few of the poems are about possibilities, the majority concern themselves with animals. A double-page spread shows a large yellow table festooned with rabbits at one end and foxes at the other. In between the boy has placed blocks (for the rabbits' protection). On another page, the pink ostrich receives no such protection and is attacked by the boy's cat. "Glue? Staple? Tape? Band-Aid?" The boy tries to decide how best to make repairs.

Midway through the book we find the large, green dragon on a rampage-having knocked down the other animals-and must be reigned in. Later on, we see a herd of colorful cows hungrily "eyeing the green paper. Oh. Grass!"

As the young boy prepares for bed, he hangs his own origami star against the darkening sky. Soon he hears "rustling/ soft/ papery/ whisper-thumps ./ Is someone dancing?" It appears so: the penguin and the ostrich (now sporting band-aids) move toward one another.

The book includes a list of suggested books on making origami.

Classroom Uses: We took this book into two classrooms. The first was a second-grade special-education classroom. When we finished reading the book, the students, of course, wanted to make their own origami creations. We had prepared paper so the students could create origami dogs. You will find the instructions in a wonderful downloadable teacher's guide here on the illustrator's website. The students then wrote haiku poems about their animals.

On another occassion we brought the book into a seventh-grade language arts classroom. The students were in the middle of a script writing unit. Again, taking a lesson from the teacher's guide, we had the students write a script using the origami animals they had created as characters.

Highly recommeded. Suitable for district-wide purchase.

Our only suggestions is that you have plenty of origami paper and a set of instructions ready when you read this.
... Read more

Book Description

Here is a brand new edition of the classic anthology of nursery rhymes--over 500 rhymes, songs, nonsense jingles, and lullabies traditionally handed down to young children. Included are all of your favorites, ranging from "Yankee Doodle Came to Town" and "A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go" to "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," Jack and Jill" and "Old Mother Hubbard." And complementing the rhymes are nearly a hundred illustrations, including reproductions of early art found in ballad sheets and music books, which highlight the development of children's illustrations over the last two centuries.

With each piece, Iona and Peter Opie introduced a wealth of information, noting the earliest known publications of the rhyme, describing how it originated, illustrating changes in wording over time, and indicating variations and parallels in other languages. Moreover, in the general introduction, the Opies discuss the different types of rhyme and the earliest published collections, and they address such questions as who was Mother Goose and whether or not individual rhymes originally portrayed real people. For this second edition, the notes have been updated and extended in light of recent scholarship, providing an unrivaled wealth of literary and bibliographic information.

The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes is now more than ever an indispensable reference source for scholars and book collectors as well as a volume to be treasured by parents and children alike. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Getting dated.
This is the second edition, published in 1997, of the original Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, also by Iona and Peter Opie, which appeared in 1951. The Preface to the Second Edition explains that the authors gathered many new references over the intervening four decades, and thanks several correspondents for still further additions and corrections. There is, consequently, much more information in the apparatus of the newer edition. However, the revisions are not thorough enough; I still get the sense that I am reading a book put together in the years after World War II.

For one thing, the Introduction appears to have been completely untouched; there are no references to any publication after 1951 (with the exception of references to two recent compilations by the Opies), and most date from the 1940's (for example, the reference on p. 3 to "two admirable Presidential Addresses by Lord Raglan to the Folk-Lore Society, 20 Mar. 1946, and 5 Mar. 1947"). Moreover, the discussion evinces a strange English elitism that may have seemed conventional six decades ago, but has not worn well with time. For example, the Opies seem to consider it a great fillip to the status of nursery rhymes that some of them can be shown to have been written by respected members of the English upper class; but we would consider these figures second or third-rate authors today (for example, Sir Charles Sedley). Also, there is too much blue-blooded in-group banter; for example, under "Bo Peep," one finds this assertion: "it is on record that in his early days Irving played the part of the wolf in Little Bo-Peep at Edinburgh." OK, who is Irving? If you want your book to be read by the generations that succeed you, you must not make allusions that are comprehensible only to your peers and coevals.

Finally, the book is unnecessarily difficult to use. I STILL cannot find "Pop Goes the Weasel" in here; either I am an idiot or the indices are inadequate. I think the latter.

Simply wonderfull!
It's simply wonderfull! More than 500 nursery rhymes, lullabies, riddles with intresting notices about origin. A real treasure for me and for my site: www.filastrocche.it.

A must for anyone interested in NRs and their origin
This is the seminal publication on nursery rhymes, IMO. The Opies have been collecting information about nursery rhymes for more than 50 years. The second edition of their OD of NR was published last year (1997) and is greatly updated on the first. It includes indepth analysis of over 550 nursery rhymes. I've been unable to find a NS of my knowledge that isn't included in there.

It makes a great present for a new-born, or his/her parents more like! ... Read more

Book Description

Caldecott Medal winner Paul O. Zelinsky's first moving-parts book since the best-selling Wheels on the Bus is a beauty. To the verses of "This Old Man," an ingenious visual narrative follows a young boy as he ventures outside. Along the way, children can push tabs, turn wheels, or lift flaps to see ten different old men pop out of hiding to play Knick-Knack. Children (and critics) agree that Knick-Knack Paddywhack! takes the interactive book to a new level of imagination.

€ Smithsonian magazine Notable Book for Children 2002
€ Parenting magazine Book of the Year
€ Newsweek magazine Top Pick for Kids
€ New York Times Best Illustrated Book for 2002
... Read more

Reviews (3)

Always something new
My three year old son loves this book and we read it every night. He is constantly finding new things to open, close, move, etc. After about 2 months of constant use, one of the tabs finally broke, which is much better than other lift/move books he has. Highly recommend this book!

Buy one for yourself
This is far and away the best movable I have ever seen. The attention to detail and the unbelievable quality of the book is amazing. There is a new something I see everytime I open the book. Wait until you read it through a few times and you find a new detail or creative way for the movement to happen. My daughter and I love this book so much I am buying another one to put away for her child.

not as toddler friendly as his classic wheels on the bus
This IS a beautiful book like all of his books, but while I love it, I can't let my 2 year old read and handle it with me. Now, my son CAN handle and work all of the various flaps and tabs on the Wheels on the bus book, and has been doing that since 10 months. These are just too tiny and somewhat delicate for daily handling like well loved books should have. I have to admit that I do have tape on my second copy of wheels on the bus, but that book did not attempt to fall apart at the very beginning.

ITs a gorgeous book with stunning effects and illustrations so go ahead and buy it! ... Read more

Amazon.com

We are mad for poet-painter Douglas Florian. We were buzzed by Insectlopedia, moony for Mammalabilia, and batty for hisother beautifully biological, biologically beautiful books as well. We loveFlorian for his clever, downright shameless wordplay. One of our favorite poemsin Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs is "The Wood Frog":

I am a frozen frogsicle.
I froze beneath a logsicle.
My mind is in a fogsicle
Inside this icy bogsicle.
My temperature is ten degrees.
I froze my nose, my toes, my knees.
But I don't care, I feel at ease,
For I am full of antifreeze.

We polliwoggle.
We polliwiggle.
We shake in lakes,
Make wakes,
And wriggle.
We quiver,
We shiver,
We jiggle,
We jog.
We're yearning
To turn ourselves
Into a frog.

Reviews (4)

Fabulous for reptile fans!
My two-year-old son is a *huge* reptile fan, and he loves this book. The playful language is wonderful, and it's an inspiring way to talk and think about different types of animals. It's one of those books that *I* love reading, too!

A rare find, like Loco for Lizards
This book takes an offbeat subject like lizards and makes the subject fun and entertaining, while it also informs. Very much like Jim Cherry's book, Loco for Lizards, a laugh-out-loud funny book that packs an amazing wealth of information in at the same time. Highly recommended!

Keen observations, delicate touch.
Florian delights! He's carefully observed the reptiles and amphibians in his book, and the poetry and collages are witty and subtle. This is good for kids and like great animation, terrific for herp-loving adults. --Ae Nash, Director, Colorado Reptile Rescue

Poems You Don't Want to Miss!
Douglas Florian is back with another marvelous collection of 21 poems that will charm and amuse the entire family. This time out, he tackles the world of reptiles and amphibians, from those noisy spring peepers to the transparent glass frog to the wall walking gecko. His clever poetry, full of wordplay, puns and even visual fun, is complimented by his creative and inventive artwork, that will mesmerize readers with its wit, color and detail. For all who loved Mr Florian's past collections of Mammalabilia and Insectlopedia, Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs is a terrific book you shouldn't miss. ... Read more

Book Description

In this hilarious collection of twenty-one original animal poems and paintings, the animals are out in all their finned, furry, and feathered glory. From lobsters to rheas to fireflies, kiwis to camels to chameleons, here’s a beast for everyone to love!
... Read more

Reviews (1)

Beast Feast
It is very funny. I'll give the The Walrus In His Chair a "two thumbs up." I memorized The Bat for a Poetry Reading for school. I give The Barracuda some very earth-eating competition. niknnik (Evan, 9) ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

The combo of poetry/photos will make your heart ache.
Walker Evans' photos speak volumes without any poetry alongside them but Cynthia Rylant did a superb job of complementing the photos with her gritty observations. I bought this book several years ago and have read it numerous times since. Just looking at his brutally honest snapshots of the hard times (supposedly) gone by was worth the books' price but just as you think you've absorbed all the beauty his photographs hold, you look over to read her accompanying poem and your heart aches a little more! This book is beautiful and moving - there are really no other words to describe it! It truly makes one relate to and hurt for the suffering/troubles of the people in the photos. And, one should always keep in mind, just because the photos were taken so long ago doesn't mean there aren't still people in the grip of poverty (& classism, suffering, depression, etc.) just as badly as the people whose images were captured in Evans' photos so many years ago. I've not really done that great a job explaining just how moving this book is but I guarantee you'll find it both gripping and touching and you'll laugh, cry, and get angry. Definitely a classic worth adding to your library!

Beautiful book!
Though they are simple and black and white, I found the photographs by Walker Evans to be fascinating. Cynthia Rylant's poetry adds depth to the photographs in this interesting look at the Depression era. I recommend this book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If I Ran the Circus is a grand rhyming Seussian hymn to every child's grandest and wildest plans. Behind Mr. Sneelock's ramshackle store, there's an empty lot. Little Morris McGurk is convinced that if he could just clear out the rusty cans, the dead tree, and the old cars, he would have no further obstacles to using the lot for the amazing, the world-beating, Circus McGurkus. The more elaborate Morris's dreams about the circus become, the more they depend on sleepy-looking, innocent Mr. Sneelock, who stands outside his ramshackle store sucking on a pipe, oblivious to the fate that awaits him in the depths of Morris's imagination. He doesn't yet know that he'll have to dispense 500 gallons of lemonade, be lassoed by a Wily Walloo, wrestle a Grizzly-Ghastly, and ski down a slope dotted with giant cacti. But if his performance is up to McGurkian expectations, then "why, ladies and gentlemen, youngsters and oldsters, your heads will quite likely spin right off your shouldsters!" Welcome to the big top. (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr ... Read more

Reviews (10)

for circus fans
My 6yr old daughter picked this book out at the library because she saw a poster of it being held by Jonathan Lee Iverson - the ringmaster for Ringling Bros. She fell in love with the circus at age 4 and had to read this book when she saw the poster. She was so upset when it was time to return it that I decided to buy it for her and give it to her when she completes kindergarden. She looks for it every time we're at the library. It's a tongue twister for adults (what Seuss book isnt't) but actually kind of fun as you get into it. Lengthy too but if you have a circus fan I'm sure they'll love it too.

Perhaps the most perfect Seuss!
If I Ran the Circus is a delightful cross between the tongue-twisting Fox in Sox and the classic Cat in the Hat. I read it to my children until they begged me to stop. Then I read it to my wife. It demands to be read outloud with the greatest of enthusiasm, almost child-like glee, drawing out the unique word combinations and stunning metre and rhyme. Fabuluous.

One of Seuss's finest
Absolutely topnotch Seuss--a rollicking, over-the-top display of his art, word play, imagination, and humor. The Foon, the Drum-Tummied Snumm, the Organ McOrgan McGurkus, the spouting whales--all are among Seuss's most delightful creations. This book is bursting with optimism and energy, and to read it well to a child you have to give it your all.

I'm surprised this book is not mentioned very much in the current burst of interest in Seuss (2004 is his birth centennial). It's a marvellous tale and it would be a shame for someone to go through a childhood (or parenthood) and miss it.

If I Ran The Circus
My dad bought me this book when I was quite young and to this day it is still my favorite book. I read it when i'm having a bad day and it always makes me smile. It has something for everyone. As a kid I liked the language and the amazing drawings. As an adult I like the idea of the dream of running a circus, so to speak.

From Childhood to Adulthood
This is the one book I would not let my parents put down as a child and now with my first child on the way I have a new copy to read aloud to him. The book is a fabulous adventure that never gets old. If you need a reason other than the wonderful story and its characters, try challenging yourself to read it all the way through with out getting tounge-tied. My father never could! ... Read more

Book Description

When a daisy suddenly sprouts from the top of Mayzie McGrew's head, she is

faced with her classmates' taunts, her parents' dismay, and a publicity agent's

greed. How poor Mayzie learns that love is more important than fame and fortune

makes an endearing morality tale for our time--and for all ages. Narrated by

the Cat in the Hat, Daisy-Head Mayzie is vintage Seuss!




... Read more

Reviews (10)

I love this book!!
I love this book because it is funny, and exciting. It is easy to read and it made me laugh. T.J. (4th Grader)

too hard for young children
What everyone is saying that this isn't Seuss's real work, I believe. Seuss uses language that is easy to understand for children, and they used rather big words in this. I do like this book but if I read it to a kid they would only understand some of it.

Dr. Seuss is rolling over...
Dr. Seuss left this book in a drawer when he died. He obviously didn't think enough of it himself to publish it, but now that he's dead I guess anything's fair game. The illustrations are designed to fool you into thinking he did them, but he didn't. Yet this book says "by Dr. Seuss" on the cover just like The Lorax or Cat in the Hat. Deceitful.

Not a typical Seuss, but my daughter LOVES it!
Hands down, this is my daughter's *favorite* Seuss book. At 3 & 1/2, she can practically recite it word for word. I was saddened to see the other negative reviews about the book, because I like the message in it - 1) Your family & friends will always love you, and 2) Fame isn't all it's cracked up to be. The book can be the spark for some interesting & thoughtful conversations on values.

do NOT buy this book
I love Seuss. I think I owe my relationship to language to him. I am now reading all his work to my daughter.

But know this: this book does NOT count as a "real" Dr. Seuss book. The illustrations are PURE trash, and the story may have turned into a real Seuss work, if he'd worked on it further (it sounds like scribbled notes for a story). ... Read more