General Books

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Mem Fox

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Thank you, Mem and Helen, for coming out of retirement one last time! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Dear little babies with their characteristically busy little fingers and stubby little playdough toes delight the reader with their realism. Thank you, Helen Oxenbury! A singalong rhythm that is "easy to read to" encourages the listener to join in after a couple of repeats. Thank you, Mem Fox!

Although these two gifted women had "retired", this book, and the Baby World, is as fresh and light-hearted as these babies are. Focusing on the similarities rather than the differences, their message of peace is tenderly and subtly played. I can't wait to give this as a baby gift!

Editorial Review:

As everyone knows, nothing is sweeter than tiny baby fingers and chubby baby toes. . . . And here, from two of the most gifted picture-book creators of our time, is a celebration of baby fingers, baby toes, and the joy they—and the babies they belong to—bring to everyone, everywhere, all over the world!

This is a gorgeously simple picture book for very young children, and once you finish the rhythmic, rhyming text, all you’ll want to do is go back to the beginning . . . and read it again! The luminous watercolor illustrations of these roly-poly little ones from a variety of backgrounds are adorable, quirky, and true to life, right down to the wrinkles, dimples, and pudges in their completely squishable arms, legs, and tummies.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (Baby Board Books)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Lots of "hidden" value 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

At first glance, this book appears to be simply an illustration of a kids song. Some reviewers have complained that that's all there is..so why buy it. But actually, there is a lot more there if you look.

First of all, while illustrated songs seem like an odd choice sometimes to adults, little kids LOVE them. Invariably, they are the ones my two year old brings to me again and again. They are also the first books that kids are able to memorize. This is important because they like to pull them out when they are playing independently, and model reading on their own. What a satisfying experience for a pre-reader! Plus, for parents for whom it doesn't come as naturally to bring music into their children's lives, these sorts of books are a great way to do so.

This book does an excellent job of being really clear with the pictures lining up the words and the body parts. The first line, she gives each body part it's very own page, so that they can be large and really obvious -- the little animal on the page mirroring the same body part as the baby is also very adorable.

When she gets to eyes, ears, mouth and nose, she adds another dimension by putting in item on the page that you can do with that body part -- for eyes - books, for ears - baby instruments, for mouth - baby food and sippy cup, and for nose - flowers. So there is a discussion element if you are reading this with your baby and choose to take it.

The back of the book has the last "knees and toes" echo...pretty cute, and also has the whole song written out under a staff with musical notes. My older daughter has taken to grabbing this 'baby' book and asking how to pluck it out on her little piano keyboard. So the book can have a second life for that purpose later on.

The pictures of the babies are endearing.. I love their happy little faces. It is worth noting that while the babies are definitely different "shades" -- it's hardly what I'd call multi-cultural, which is a shame because there's no reason why it couldn't have been. She did throw in a couple girls.

All and all, if the multicultural issue doesn't concern you, I'd recommend this highly for your own little on, or for a gift.

Editorial Review:

A board book for babies or toddlers and their parents, featurig a well-known nursery rhyme and interactive text.

Ten Little Fingers (Board Books for Babies)

Annie Kubler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

ten little fingers 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is ok, but if you are looking for great board books, try the touchy feely books like That's Not My Puppy, That's Not My Teddy. They excite a baby much more.

Great book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book for my 8 month old and she loves to pat the pages as I read. It's easy for moms to memorize, too, but not so monotonous that you'd get sick of it the 10th time!

My daughter loves the hand motions. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book contains the illustrated lyrics to the song, however having never heard the song, I merely speak the words to my daughter and help her with the hand motions. (There is a musical score on the back for those so-inclined.)

A wonderful rhyming bedtime story for toddlers 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My friend gave me this book as present for my daughter. I read it to her almost every night since she was 12 months old. She loves the images.

good book 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a very EARLY book to start out with for your little ones. It is good tho'and ANY books you start out with are Good ones.. just make sure you DO IT... it is never TOO early to start reading to your little ones .

Editorial Review:

Created for parents and toddlers to enjoy together, these board books feature well-known rhymes and also include musical notation.

Belly Button Book (Boynton on Board)

Sandra Boynton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Emboldened by the enthusiastic response to Belly Button (Round)—a song from her Grammy-nominated book/CD, Philadelphia Chickens—Sandra Boynton further contemplates this mesmerizing subject.

Featuring a beachful of bare-bellied hippos—including one tiny baby who can only say “Bee Bo”—the Belly Button Book is the latest quirky addition to the phenomenally successful Boynton on Board series. Every page captivates with Sandra Boynton’s inimitable illustrations and joyful rhyming text:

Soon after dark, upon the beach, we sing a hippo song, and if you’re feeling in the mood, we hope you’ll sing along: “Belly Belly Button, you’re oh so fine. Ooo, Belly Button, I’m so happy you’re mine.”

Shiny and sturdy, and featuring a great (navel-shaped, naturally) die-cut cover that offers a provocative glimpse of the merriment inside, the Belly Button Book provides enduring, giggly, read-aloud fun.

Anna Banana: 101 Jump Rope Rhymes

Joanna Cole

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

bad rating for the book not the seller!!! 1 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

The book came as described in excellent shape and arrived quickly.
I hate the book though. The rhymes are not very good. Just a few variations of words but nothing to really jump rump for a long period of time to. I was hoping for some of the playground rhymes I can't remember from childhood. It seemed like somebody just wrote down some words that sorta rhymed but had no reason.

should have left some of those old rhymes out 1 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I love the idea for the book, but the author should have been more selective in choosing rhymes that are appropriate for today's children.

I was disappointed to find rhymes such as these included: "Standing at the bar, smoking a cigar. Laughing at the donkey ha-ha-har!" "All in, a bottle of gin. All out, a bottle of stout." and "Johnny gave me apples, Johnny gave me pears, Johnny gave me fifty cents and kissed me on the stairs. I'd rather scrub the dishes, I'd rather scrub the floor, I'd rather kiss the iceman behind the kitchen door." Other rhymes include a "big fat policeman" who grabs the child and makes him pay a dollar, and a yelling teacher with a great big stick. "How many times were you fired?" the child asks the teacher.

There are so many fun and positive jump rope rhymes, it's too bad the author includes these and others that are just not appropriate even if they were popular 50 years ago.

Editorial Review:

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 jumpingin 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.

Un, Deux, Trois: First French Rhymes (Book & CD)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good, but don't expect too much 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book is primarily about rhyming, not necessarily about French language. I am surprised to see people discussing it as a way of learning to "speak" French -- as in, saying something useful or meaningful. The book's cover makes that claim, too. Shoppers should be wary of expecting too much from this book as an instructional tool.

This is an attractive, fun package. If you go through it you might pick up a smattering of French words, a few numbers and so on. But it is not organized with any kind of instructional strategy, and the contents are rather inconsistent.

What it mostly does is to lead you through a lot rhymes with cute or interesting sounds. Sure, some pages contain poems in genuine French. But many of the rhymes include nonsense words (as the authors admit) which do not mean anything in any language (like "Bourre et bourre et ratatam").

The book claims that many of these rhymes are used by French kids for picking sides in playground games, or the like. If so, that means that a lot of these pieces are the equivalent of "one potato, two potato" or "Eeny meeny miney moe" on an American playground. I can't imagine teaching the phrase "eeny meeny miney moe" to a French child as a first introduction to English.

One of the rhymes, according to the guide in the back of the book, supposedly teaches the pronunciation of the "U" sound in French. The only "teaching" involved is the child listening to the CD. If you want the child to be able to speak those words, you may have to teach them how to form the French U sound. The book doesn't do it.

Another poem playfully replaces "sept oies" with "c'est toi." Due to the use of liasons in spoken French, those phrases are homonyms. The whole rhyme builds up to that double-entendre, which is based on a uniquely French bit of phonics. So if the book were really trying to teach French, this would be a perfect opportunity to do so. But it doesn't even mention it, so non-French speakers will miss out on the pun entirely.

In another case, the authors claim that a rhyme supposedly demonstrates different ways of using the "R" sound in French. It does nothing of the kind. Over and over, I felt like the authors were attempting to claim more educational value for the material than it really has, while failing to use teaching opportunities that *were* available.

What value the material DOES have is that it is mostly fun, catchy little rhymes that kids will relate to, especially with the help of the cute illustrations in the book. I believe that the CD by itself would not be very successful at all, unlike some other products. And for parents who do not speak French, or have a French dictionary nearby, good luck. Some -- but not all -- of the material is translated into English in the back.

The accents sound authentic, and the recordings introduce each rhyme with a slow rendition first, then move up to "normal" speed, and repeat it yet another time. I think this is a good approach. The recordings mix an adult voice and some kids -- some other reviews mistakenly say it's all kids.

The child I'm using this with had already learned a few fundamentals in reading and speaking French, and that background definitely helped. So, as other reviewers have suggested, this book may ironically actually be more useful as something other than a "first" book, contrary to the suggestion of its title.

So: Fun, yes, but your child will still need to learn a lot more "real" French somewhere else.

Editorial Review:

Simple songs and rhymes are an excellent way to familiarize young children with another language. Un, Deux, Trois, a collection of 25 traditional nursery rhymes, is a delightful way to introduce French. An illustrated vocabulary features simple words and phrases that are easy to learn and that can be used in games or everyday life. Children are encouraged to repeat the phrases and sing along with the rhymes, and the included CD lets them know how both should sound. The lively illustrations and amusing rhymes make learning a new language fun. A guide for parents translates more difficult phrases.

The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud

Janet Schulman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 114 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Believe it or not, 44 complete read-aloud classics and future classics--from Goodnight Moon to Stellaluna--are packed in this remarkably svelte, positively historic anthology. Flipping through the 308 pages of The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury is like browsing a photo album of beloved friends and family. The familiar faces of Curious George and Ferdinand the Bull peer earnestly from the pages, and scenes from Madeline and Millions of Cats resonate as if you just experienced them yesterday. Think of the advantages of carrying this book on a vacation instead of a suitcase of single titles! (Your kids can always revisit their dog-eared hardcovers when they get home.)

This impressive collection of concept books, wordless books, picture books, and read-aloud stories was artfully compiled by longtime children's book editor and publisher Janet Schulman. Stories are coded red, blue, and green to designate age groupings from baby/toddler books such as Whose Mouse Are You?, through preschool books such as Where the Wild Things Are, to longer stories for ages 5 and older such as Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The reason the book isn't bigger than Babar is because many of the illustrations from each story were reduced or removed to fit the anthology's format. (Leo Lionni's Swimmy, for example, takes up 5 pages total, compared to its original 29 pages.) Brief biographical notes that are surprisingly quirky shine a little light on the 62 authors and illustrators, and an index helps, too, for the child who likes one story best. We love the idea of being within easy reach of a Star-Belly Sneetch, a William Steig donkey, and a Sendak monster at all times, and we're sure your little bookworms will, too. (Click to see a sample spread from The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury, compilation copyright © 1998 by Janet Schulman, illustrations © renewed 1997 by William Steig.) (All ages) --Karin Snelson

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Caldecott Honor Book)

Simms Taback

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

What a HOOT!! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I remember this poem in song form from my childhood. I hadn't thought of it in years, until my grandson told me his teacher had read it to him in his pre-k class. I was delighted to find this book on Amazon.com. I was thrilled to see it's large size, bright colors, crazy pictures, the old lady's stomach expanding to accomodate each new animal. I wasn't bothered (as a child) by the phrase "perhaps she'll die," but I imagine my grandson will enjoy some of the "asides" that rhyme with "die." This book will be a gift to my grandson for his fourth birthday in a few days. I am looking forward to reading it to him! Or should I say, singing it to him!!

Love it! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great book. Have always wanted it and I really enjoy reading it with my son who likes it too!

Love this book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Loved this book as a kid - so had to buy it for my baby.

Editorial Review:

Inventive die-cut artwork offers young readers of all ages a rollicking, eye-popping version of the well-loved poem about the old lady who swallowed a fly, a spider, a bird, a cat, a dog, and worse."

My Very First Mother Goose

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

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

If You're Happy and You Know It (Baby Board Books)

Annie Kubler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great Book for Babies 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My daughter who is 10 months has loved to have all the books by Annie Kubler read to her since she was 5 months old. These books by Annie Kubler are great starter books for a child's library!

Great baby book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Was looking for the right books for the very little ones in the family, for Christmas. Saw this (and others in the series) and felt I had found just what I was looking for. Lively, colorful illustrations, activities for parents and little ones to do together. I wound up ordering even more, after my original shipment. The hardest part was which ones to choose!!!

Very Cute Book :o) 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a pretty cute book! I believe it has most of the "If you're happy.." lyrics in it - I've been trying to teach him to clap his hands. It is pretty short - only a few pages, but he seems to appreciate it.

Great for little ones! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a great & very durable book for little ones in the 1 year to 2 year range & who are just learning songs.

Good baby book 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What's most important is that parents can act out the song verses to amuse and entertain their little one. The book is very average.

Editorial Review:

The words to a familiar nursery song encourage babies and their parents to have fun together.