General Books - Page 6

Batman: The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight

Scott Beatty

List Price: $24.99 By: DK CHILDREN Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $1.69

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Orphan Bruce Wayne swore to strike fear into the hearts of the criminals ruling the streets of Gotham City -- and the mysterious legend of Batman was born. This definitive celebration of one of the world's most popular fictional heroes contains full details of the extraordinary events and bizarre and sinister characters in Batman's thrilling career.

Created by Bob Kane in the late 1930s, Batman is on the of the world's greatest fictional heroes. "The Caped Crusader," "The Dark Knight," "The Guardian of Gotham" -- each generation has coined its own favorite nickname to describe this ultimate crime fighter as he wages war on a gallery of bizarre villains.

For Batman: the Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight, DK Publishing has been permitted unparalleled access to the archives of DC Comics, shapers of the Batman legend. Spectacular artworks reveal the secret workings of key installations and equipment such as the Batcave, the Batmobile, Batman's suit, and the weaponry contained in his Utility Belt. Panoramic views of Gotham City and Arkham Asylum with its villainous inmates, allow readers to enter into Batman's world. Crucial events and characters of the Batman legend are illustrated with drawings from the original DC comic books. The result is a unique, in-depth approach to the thrilling story of Batman's crimefighting career which is sure to dazzle and delight fans of all ages.

My First 100 Words (Sign Language)

Scholastic

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cartwheel Books Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $3.15

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Book! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Book is colorful and easy to understand with pictures, words, and arrow diagrams to aid in forming correct signs. Includes a short introduction to ASL very helpful for 1st timers. The layout is a two page spread for each category with side panals on each page showing the signs. Content is broken down into small chunks. For example the "Feelings" spread has a picture of children in a classroom involved in various activities with a variety of expressions. Each child is labeled with the "feeling" and the signs are shown along the side panels (4 signs in each panel; 8 per category).

Editorial Review:

Featuring cool computer-generated illustrations and a simple kid-friendly design, this reference book for the youngest readers makes learning sign language fun and easy! Learn 100 basic signs for everyday use in helpful categories, such as Food, Colors, Animals, In the Classroom, and more! Also included are instructions on how to fingerspell the entire alphabet and numbers.

For quick reference, this book also comes with a bonus full-size poster of the ASL alphabet--perfect for home or the classroom!

Italian for Children (Book & CD) (Language for Children Series)

Catherine Bruzzone

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $16.68

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> People & Places -> Multilingual -> Italian

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Learn Italian! 5 out of 5 stars.
56 of 56 people found this review helpful.

I have been searching for an easy way to teach my daughter, age 4 who has grown up only speaking english, my native Italian. I have tried various computer programs, books and tapes, and other teaching methods. All were rather boring and unhelpful, my daughter soon lost interest. This system is wonderful! The lessons are interesting and fun. They are blended wonderfully with songs and activities that keep a child's attention. I highly recommend this program. I do recommend that someone in the family practice with the child and participate with them while they listen. This is by far the best children's language packet I've seen.

Editorial Review:

Already a proven home-study program, the Language for Children series is making noise with this updated, integrated book-plus-audio edition. Along with its charming visuals and lively activities, the series now provides in CD format the stimulating sounds of language to entice preschoolers through primary graders into learning a second language. Cute, catchy songs and the humorous, serial adventures of SuperCat are sure to captivate the imagination and foster language acquisition. Each set in the series contains an 80-page full-color activity book coordinated with two 60-minute CDs as well as a Parent/Instructor CD packed with helpful tips.

Together children and parents can master basic language skills, including making introductions, counting from 1 to 20, and describing objects. The perfect package for parents and teachers who want to familiarize three- to nine-year olds with foreign languages and cultures.

Baby's First Words in Italian

Living Language

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Living Language Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $9.44

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Proper Italian 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I was really happy with this CD. I'm 100% Italian, and speak Italian fluently. My parents are both Italian immigrants. This CD is great because it teaches the proper way to speak Italian, and everything is pronounced correctly. My 1 year old son loves listening to the songs. He loves one song especially. The song teaches you about different animals, and the sounds that they make. We always laugh together when we hear it. I am looking forward to finding out wether or not he will pick up Italian words from the CD. If so, my parents would be so proud. This CD is a good blend of vocabulary and music.

Editorial Review:

Before they focus in on their native language, babies have an amazing ability to hear and absorb sounds that adults unconsciously block out, like the subtleties of a foreign language. Baby’s First Words in Italian is an introduction to the sounds of Italian and “locks in” a child’s ability to learn these sounds.

Created by linguistic experts, Baby’s First Words in Italian is designed for newborns to toddlers up to two years old. Each package includes:

·60 minute CD of sweet and soothing songs, rhymes, words and stories
·Parents’ guide that explains how children learn languages
·Lyric sheet so that parents can sing along to the songs on the CD with their children

French for Children (Book + Audio CD) (Language for Children Series)

Catherine Bruzzone

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $15.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Cute, lots of colors, but... 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I'm a bilingual language teacher (Spanish) and am attempting to introduce French and German to our own four children (as well as Spanish). We just finished the project Flip Flop French: Ages 3-5: Level 1, so we use that daily, and I'm so pleased with it, but always like to supplement so the children are never bored with language learning.

This is great, but... it doesn't flow too well, and is a bit overwhelming - there is so much information on the page, I like to break it down into two or three days, but the kids reply, "We already did that page." So... it's cute, but not a great "curriculum" really.... just a good add-on, from my perspective.

Editorial Review:

Already a proven home-study program, the Language for Children series is making noise with this updated, integrated book-plus-audio edition. Along with its charming visuals and lively activities, the series now provides in CD format the stimulating sounds of language to entice preschoolers through primary graders into learning a second language. Cute, catchy songs and the humorous, serial adventures of SuperCat are sure to captivate the imagination and foster language acquisition. Each set in the series contains an 80-page full-color activity book coordinated with two 60-minute CDs as well as a Parent/Instructor CD packed with helpful tips.

Together children and parents can master basic language skills, including making introductions, counting from 1 to 20, and describing objects. The perfect package for parents and teachers who want to familiarize three- to nine-year olds with foreign languages and cultures.

Eric Carle's Animals Animals

Eric Carle

Amazon Price: $17.24 List Price: $22.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Philomel Amazon Marketplace: 110 new & used starting at $0.02

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Animal collection 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

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.

A favorite of my two-year-old twins 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I had this book on the top shelf of the kids' (two year old boy and girl) bookcase for safe-keeping until they got a little older and a little better at page-turning. It's far too nice a book, I thought, to be torn and wrinkled by a couple of toddlers who can't even appreciate it. It contains a wonderful variety of poems, and Eric Carle's artwork is stunning. He devotes a two-page spread to most of the animals; the whale at the beginning takes up four pages.

At one point, one of the children spotted this book and expressed an interest, so I got it down and read a few poems to them. I carefully replaced it on the top shelf. They began requesting it more and more, and soon protested when I returned it to the shelf beyond their reach. I gave in, and let them leaf through it -- under my supervision. Finally realizing that it was senseless to limit their handling of this book they so obviously enjoyed, I moved the pristine hardcover to a lower shelf.

I had no idea that two-year-olds would enjoy this poetry so much. While some of the poems are certainly at their language level, many are more advanced, and the kids request those just as often. I frequently find them looking through the book, naming the animals ("duck-billed platypus") and quoting portions of the poems ("lays eggs like a bird").

Now my son cannot even bear to part with this book at night, so it (along with a few others) goes into the crib with him. The binding is loosening and a few pages are torn, but I'll gladly spend another $22.99 to replace it, if necessary. It's a small price to pay for what may become a real love and appreciation for poetry.

Editorial Review:

In his distinctive, vibrantly colored collage style, Carle has created stunning illustrations to accompany more than 50 poems from such sources as the Bible, William Shakespeare, Pawnee Indian verse, and Ogden Nash. "Joyous. A book to be shared."--Booklist. Full-color illustrations.

German for Children (Language for Children Series) (Paperback and Audio Cd's)

Catherine Bruzzone

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 7 to 10 days By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 11 new & used starting at $19.27

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

My preschooler didn't like it, quality was average 3 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Overall I thought it was cute although not as good as I had hoped. I was hoping for more of an immersion approach with less English on the CDs. The sound quality was average and I think that for learning a foreign language the sound quality should be excellent. It sounded like it had originally been on cassette tapes and transferred to CDs without enhancing the sound quality.

My 3 year-old didn't like it, but that's simply her personaly preference. I can see how other children might love it.

There are quite a few references to witches and ghosts (but not in a scary way) and some parents may wish to know that before purchasing.

Editorial Review:

Already a proven home-study program, the Language for Children series is making noise with this updated, integrated book-plus-audio edition. Along with its charming visuals and lively activities, the series now provides in CD format the stimulating sounds of language to entice preschoolers through primary graders into learning a second language. Cute, catchy songs and the humorous, serial adventures of SuperCat are sure to captivate the imagination and foster language acquisition. Each set in the series contains an 80-page full-color activity book coordinated with two 60-minute CDs as well as a Parent/Instructor CD packed with helpful tips.

Together children and parents can master basic language skills, including making introductions, counting from 1 to 20, and describing objects. The perfect package for parents and teachers who want to familiarize three- to nine-year olds with foreign languages and cultures.

The Oxford Picture Dictionary: English-Chinese

Norma Shapiro, Jayme Adelson-Goldstein

Amazon Price: $15.25 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxford University Press, USA Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $10.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Practical - Excellent supplement for Multiple levels 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

A practical took for tutoring and teaching Chinese ESL students of multiple levels. Often, a picture really is worth a thousand words - especially if the student doesn't know a thousand words!

Oxford Picture dictionary English/Chinese 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I would rate it with 5 stars if it had an auto tape with it.

Perfect for Chinese learners of English 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This dictionary is a great compliment in an ESL class. It's intended audience is the Chinese student of English. The variety of subjects and American life in general is good. It's a great source for vocabulary and a conversation starter.

An Excellent Picture Dictionary for English Teachers in China. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am the director of studies for a private English language instruction company in a big city in the south of China. My company has great resources, but I had felt that the time had come to have an additional book resource for vocabulary building for beginner students. The Oxford Picture Dictionary in English and Chinese was highly recommended, and has become an asset to our academic department and for hundreds of students.

Illustrating meaning is a wonderful way to impart new vocabulary words to newcomers to the English language. To get reputable and accurate translation is hard to come by in China, and Oxford does it with impeccable style and accuracy.

Bravo, Oxford Picture Dictionary!

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive, flexible, and up-to-date vocabulary reference and teaching tool for English language learning. The Oxford Picture Dictionary and its components create a highly teachable programme that can be used as a complete, four-skills beginning course, or as a language development supplement and practical reference. NEW Grammar Activity Book

The broken ear (His The adventures of Tintin)

Herge

By: Little, Brown Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $19.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Amusing, if not one of the better early books 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Herge, The Broken Ear (Methuen, 1937)

The Broken Ear is, to be blunt, not one of Herge's better early efforts; the episodic nature of the adventure, which is always at odds with the larger structure of the story, often gets the upper hand here, and the minor characters are somewhat less complex than they are in most of the later volumes-- a flaw that's common to the early works, but seems more prominent here for some reason. This is another one that those new to the series will want to pass up for later work before reading. ***

To the Land of the Broken Ear 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

"The Broken Ear" is a Tintin adventure orginally completed by Herge in 1937 (featuring in the ol' "Le Petit Vingtième" from 1935-1937), and is set in a fictional part of South America. It's not my favorite, but I can definitely see how it could be. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on in this story.

A wooden "Arumbaya" statue with a broken ear is stolen from Tintin's local museum, replaced with a fake, while a man famed for his imitations of famous artifacts is killed. Tintin is compelled to investigate, and he and his dog Snowy end up tracing the mystery back to South America, the original home of the statue. Things aren't too well down there, revolutions and counter-revolutions leave things politically confusing, and even the citizens aren't really sure who they're supposed to be following. The fact that foreign companies are encouraging war for their own profit doesn't help either. Still, Tintin is determined to solve the mystery, but will he and the statue stay in one piece?

Being one of the earlier Tintin stories, the illustrations are a little more basic that in the later adventures. Not too much, but just a little. Page 54, set in the jungle, has a plain green background instead of vegetation, for instance, while the frames on the pages before and after have proper background. There's a couple of differences too (Thomson and Thompson are drawn to look a bit older here than they'd look in future stories). Still, it's all nicely drawn, and the South American location was a nice touch.

Once Tintin gets to South America, there is a fair bit of satire infused into the plot. The made-up nation of San Theodoros is in constant civil war and revolution, now led by a General who, nice as he is, would rather play chess than lead his people, and thanks to his personal promotions, has more colonels than corporals in his army. The instability is taken adventage of by western oil companies and weapons merchants, who persuade the General to go to war against his neighbour for their own gain. It's satire that's all still pretty relevant, even if the locations may change with time. Speaking of which, "The Broken Ear" is the first time the reader gets to see General Alcazar, who would go on to appear later in stories such as "Tintin and the Picaros".

It's a pretty engaging adventure, and for Tintin fans it's worth reading.

Beginner's French Reader

McGraw-Hill

Amazon Price: $12.24 List Price: $18.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $6.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

good reading 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I'm a beginner learner and the way they present the story in the book is very amusing and quite easy, with a vocabulary list on the back and questions after each two- page "story". I'm glad I got it.

moved me from beginner to the next step 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Sometimes you read a book for learning and feel that you are in the hands of a true teacher. This is one of those books. The 27 stories are short simple and engaging. I came away with a consolidated confidence of what I had learned in my beginners French class.

Aimed perhaps at teenagers, it still hit the spot for me; a middle aged man. The vocabulary is good and repeated in different contexts, the vocab glossary is complete, and the pictures are engaging and provide clues to the content. Simple optional exercises consolidate learning.

I would recommend this as a 'fun activity' for personal learning or for a class context. The author has put a considered effort in the development of this book. Well Done, I want more!

Editorial Review:

A French reader for beginning-level students

Beginner’s French Reader (Topping) is a motivating book that gives your students a successful experience reading in the first level of French study. The 27 high-interest stories are short, often humorous, and culturally and linguistically authentic. It includes flexible exercises that students can complete independently or as a class. This reader is softcover, 6” × 9”, and 64 pages in length.