Reviews (2)

Review of Richard Scarry's "Hilda"
I am the mother of a 2 1/2 year old girl who has adored this book for 6 months. Every night before bed the only thing she wants to read is "Hilda". The best thing about all Richard Scarry's books, besides his delightful sense of humor, is the multiple things happening on each page. Each night we are able to find new things and talk about different aspects of Hilda's lengthy trip (she takes a bus to a train to an oceanliner to a car to an airplane) all to reach Lowly Worm's birthday party today. To read the same story every night and keep it interesting without falling asleep oneself gets challenging at best, but Richard Scarry's story helps make reading the same story easy.

More Pop-Up than Story, but Fascinating for Your Child!
Children really adore pop-up books, especially those with little windows to open, wheels to turn to change the image, and levers to push and pull. The maximum fascination seems to come from ages 2-4, and this book is a cornucopia of pop-up fun for such a child. If your children are like mine, they will spend many hours happily interacting with the materials in this book. Each time, they will want to manipulate each item at least once!

The story is the weak part of this book. I graded the book down to reflect this weakness, although I thought the book's design and use of pop-ups are terrific.

To put all of those pop-ups together, the scenes had to change a lot. The book opens (pun intended) with Hilda Hippo reading her letter from Lowly Worm to find that she's been invited to his birthday party. To go to the party, she takes a bus to the train station. On the train, she has a fine meal. The train arrives at the dock where she boards an ocean liner. After she debarks, she drives in a Hippomobile at an airport. There, she gets a ride in Rudolf von Flugel's private plane. The last page describes what happens when Rudolf and she arrive at the party.

The travel process doesn't make much sense, so you'll just have to encourage your child to laugh at the silliness and enjoy it. The story only progresses on pages 1, 11, and 12.

Here's how the book is designed. Each time you open a page, you are looking at a giant pop-up scene that fills half the area (and blocks out the back, which you cannot see). The pop-ups are all over the page, so there are many different items. In addition, windows and other items to manipulate are everywhere, with some on the pop-ups and some not. After you have read all of the pop-ups facing one way, you turn the book upside down (from your original perspective) and read it going the other way.

In the end, Lowly Worm says, "Why, this is the best birthday ever." I suspect that you and your child will be saying that this is the best pop-up book ever.

Such a large and complicated pop-up book is undoubtedly going to get heavy use. Some parts will be torn and rendered unusable. You should plan to reinforce any parts you see starting to wear as soon as that happens. These are cardboard items, so Super Glue and transparent tape work well. If you think your child may want to have a fairly pristine copy to treasure for future generations, you could buy more than one and store one of them away for when your child is physically easier on books.

If your child likes this book, I also suggest getting other interactive books for your child. My four children all went through many copies of Pat the Bunny as their starting point for "touch and see" books.

Another good activity to use with your child is to play plenty of peek-a-boo starting before age one. Pop-up books are all about peek-a-boo, and allow you to continue the wonderful fun!

Have a ball! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great ACTION Book
This is a great book for teaching action! Full of Scarry's signature characters and detailed illustrations, this book will have your preschooler's motor running for more "Things That Go" ! Gotta run! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Classic tale, beautifully illustrated.
Just about everyone knows the story of the Gingerbread Man. Contrary to what the movie SHREK shows, The Gingerbread Man was not a kind, Tiny Tim-like creature. Instead, he's a nasty little piece of baked goods that runs away from his creators, teases everyone he meets, and pushes others in wells, and knocks over their picnic baskets. Granted the Gingerbread Man had every right to run away from the little old lady and little old man, they probably would have eaten him if they caught him. But all the teasing and dangerous pranks he does later are uncalled for. Anyway, enough rambling. This story contains ths classic fairy tale of the Gingerbread Man as told and illustrated by Richard Scarry. Like all of Scarry's works it is beautifully illustrated. A great book.

You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man!
This is such a cute book. It's about kids who make a gingerbread man and as soon as they finish decorating it, it runs away. As a kid, I loved any books involving food so this was a favorite of mine. The illustrations are beautiful. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

I agree - why out of print?
I have to agree with the prior reviewer: why is this book out of print? Although I never spent any serious time at the doctor's, my sister came down with serious pneumonia as a child and this book really helped steady her for the experiences ahead. While I'm sure there are other books out there with similar motivation, this book was special (being R. Scarry)...

This book helps to ease the fears of doctor visits.
Why was this book taken out of print?! We need a book similar to this one for our Head Start children. Many of them have not had very much experience with doctor visits, and this book would be helpful in preparing them for our doctor checkups . The pictures are colorful and the familiar animal characters are entertaining as well as informative. END ... Read more

Reviews (1)

my 2-year-old knows about gravity!
My little girl received this book as a present, and she really enjoys it. She remembers the text and talks about gravity and helium. The level of detail and the proportion of words to pictures are good for this age group. I haven't been pleased with all of the "estate of Richard Scarry" products, but we will be getting more books from this series. ... Read more

Book Description

It's a busy, busy world in Busytown. Children and parents alike will love keeping up with all of Richard Scarry's cherished characters. Each hardcover book features the colorful illustrations that have made Richard Scarry a household name for generations. Includes Sergeant Murphy's Busy Day, The Firefighters' Busy Day, Miss Honey's Busy Day, and Humperdink's Busy Day. All four books come in a handy carrying case. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

My kids LOVE these four little treasures!
I am a mother of 4 children, all 5 and under, and we have had this set for several years. As with all Richard Scarry books, the illustrations are very detailed and contain little oddities and surprises that keep kids looking for new things to see. All 4 books highlight a specific Busytown character (Sgt. Murphy, Baker Humperdink, Miss Honey, and the Firefighters), and are sure to please girls AND boys. The stories, though for children, are not boring for adults to read again and again (mostly because of the funny illustrations throughout). Be sure to look for all the TV bug reporters! ... Read more

Book Description

In this gentle Christmas story, we see Christmas through the eyesof two adorable mice. As they admire the Christmas tree and Santa's generousgifts, they even find a little something for themselves! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Soapbox Racer Fun!
This is a winner right from the frontispiece, which shows a wonderfully complex map of Busytown, author Richard Scarry's home for imagination and fun. Huckle and Lowly (looks like a cat and a turtle, I believe) are BUSY making their homemade soapbox derby style racer for the big Busytown race. Sally (another cat) offers for help are declined: "Poor Sally. Nobody wants her help." However, after the boys crash the racer, Sally, with the help of Mr. Fixit (a fox with a tow truck) repairs it with an old wheel, some wooden boards, an old hospital bed, and a trumpet! The pictures are bright and cheerful and printed on quality paper. There are usually two pictures per page, which adds to the action (especially once the race begins!). A fun book also that encourages kids to include others in their play.

A good first-time racers guide.
An excellent book aimed at the first-time racer. Richard goes through the common problems associated with putting your first race vehicle onto the road/track. Insights into some of the more esoteric tricks used by the professionals will amuse young and old alike. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR KIDS WHO ARE JUST STARTING TO GET
PAST THE "FIRST READER BOOKS"The print is a little smaller but the vast majority of the book is pictures.Really a fun book to read with your child or for them to read alone.It's not intimidating to read for kids that are on there way past picture books but not ready for"mostly word" pages. ... Read more