Staff Picks Books

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Bill Martin Jr.

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 319 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Repetitive, but that's the idea. Young kiddos, remember? 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

There are days when I am just thoroughly annoyed by this book.

And yet it remains a classic, and I grudgingly agree.

How can anyone not love the awesome repetitive rhymes and varying colors and animals? And how can you not get chills at how these animals are all staring at each other?

The original of interactive books and still probably the best.

Sweet brown bear 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Never get tired of this one... love that sweet brown bear and all his friends

Brown Bear's back! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I remember reading this charming story to my own kids and also to my preschool class. Now it's been reissued in board book format, artistically illustrated, and every bit as enjoyable. This is a perfect book for teaching color and animal names, in a catchy rhyming format. Each page foretells what the animal and color will be on the next. Recommended for reading to babies and for beginning readers to tackle on their own.

Editorial Review:

Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly colored collages that are combined with Bill Martin's singsong text to create unforgettable images of endearing animals. Author: Bill Martin Jr Illustrator: Eric CarlePublisher: Holtzbrinck Publishers

Corduroy

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Viking Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 94 new & used starting at $2.09

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 102 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Have you ever dreamed of being locked in a department store at night? The endearing story of Corduroy paints a picture of the adventures that might unfold (for a teddy bear at least) in such a situation. When all the shoppers have gone home for the night, Corduroy climbs down from the shelf to look for his missing button. It's a brave new world! He accidentally gets on an elevator that he thinks must be a mountain and sees the furniture section that he thinks must be a palace. He tries to pull a button off the mattress, but he ends up falling off the bed and knocking over a lamp. The night watchman hears the crash, finds Corduroy, and puts him back on the shelf downstairs. The next morning, he finds that it's his lucky day! A little girl buys him with money she saved in her piggy bank and takes him home to her room. Corduroy decides that this must be home and that Lisa must be his friend. Youngsters will never get tired of this toy-comes-alive tale with a happy ending, so you may also want to seek out Dan Freeman's next creation, A Pocket for Corduroy. (Ages 3 to 8)

The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh

A. A. Milne

Amazon Price: $26.40 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dutton Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 99 new & used starting at $1.66

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 61 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

When Christopher Robin asks Pooh what he likes doing best in the world, Pooh says, after much thought, "What I like best in the whole world is Me and Piglet going to see You, and You saying 'What about a little something?' and Me saying, 'Well, I shouldn't mind a little something, should you, Piglet,' and it being a hummy sort of day outside, and birds singing."

Happy readers for over 70 years couldn't agree more. Pooh's status as a "Bear of Very Little Brain" belies his profoundly eternal wisdom in the ways of the world. To many, Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and the others are as familiar and important as their own family members. A.A. Milne's classics, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, are brought together in this beautiful edition, complete and unabridged, with recolored illustrations by Milne's creative counterpart, Ernest H. Shepard. Join Pooh and the gang as they meet a Heffalump, help get Pooh unstuck from Rabbit's doorway, (re)build a house for Eeyore, and try to unbounce Tigger. A childhood is simply not complete without full participation in all of Pooh's adventures. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

Berlioz the Bear

Jan Brett

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Putnam Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $1.69

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Art, Good Story 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Brett delivers another book that is richly illustrated and holds the attention of young children.

The story is a simple tale of a bear and his band on their way to a concert. The wagon gets stuck and a menagerie of creatures tries to get them out of their rut. It introduces a number of different animals, which aided our two year old in identifying about a dozen of the "must know" four legged creatures.

The illustrations accompanying Brett's story are terriffic, with vivid colors and rich detail. Each page also has sidebars that foreshadow what's coming next and what has just happened. This prooves to be an excellent technique to keep youngsters in tune with the tale.

My children like it, almost as much as Brett's other book, "The Mitten." A good purchase for the 2-6 year old set.

Editorial Review:

Berlioz and his bear orchestra are playing the gala ball in the village square at eight o'clock. But a strange buzzing sound coming from inside Berlioz's double bass causes him to steer the mule-driven bandwagon of musicians into a hole in the road. Who will rescue the wagon? Readers will be surprised at the answer. "Quintessential Brett and a pleasure to behold."--Booklist. Full color.

Blueberries for Sal

Robert McCloskey

List Price: $16.99 By: Viking Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $21.31

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 87 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

My niece loves this book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

She has hundreds of books and everytime I visit she would ask me to read her this book. She loves the illustrations... especially the seal!

blueberries for sal-- 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

sweet book for little kids. It is an excellent book to read aloud to your children and grandchildren. It is about a girl out picking berries for her mom and it shows a baby bear doing the same for his mom.

Editorial Review:

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk go the blueberries into the pail of a little girl named Sal who--try as she might--just can't seem to pick as fast as she eats. Robert McCloskey's classic is a magical tale of the irrepressible curiosity--not to mention appetite--of youth. Sal and her mother set off in search of blueberries for the winter at the same time as a mother bear and her cub. A quiet comedy of errors ensues when the young ones wander off and absentmindedly trail the wrong mothers.

Blueberries for Sal--with its gentle animals, funny noises, and youthful spirit of adventure--is perfect for reading aloud. The endearing illustrations, rendered in dark, blueberry-stain blue, will leave you craving a fresh pail of your own. (Picture book)

Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear!

Hans de Beer

Amazon Price: $6.95 List Price: $6.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: North-South Books Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $0.01

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

Sorry, But the Truth is, They Didn`t Like it Much 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

We still love LITTLE POLAR BEAR, the first book, but this just does not compare! Maybe at five and seven, cute is just not enough for my sons. The environmental message with the garbage strewn port is a point well taken, but LITTLE POLAR BEAR with all the different animals from a warmer climate he meets for the first time was far more interesting. According to my two, "this only had Lars, cats, and dead fish." The illustrations are cute, but the story was a little too simple and unexceptional-- no drama.

Editorial Review:

In Hans de Beer's Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear (now in a sturdy board-book format), Lars jumps in the sea to catch a fish, but it is he himself who gets caught in a giant net! Dumped into the hold of a ship with piles of slimy fish, he is taken away from his icy home in the North Pole. Up on the ship's deck, he meets the ship's cat Nemo, whom he asks to help him get home. They both creep ashore at the next port, to a town where Lars's white fur gets very dirty, and another cat arranges for him to hop aboard a ship heading back to the North Pole. Soon enough, the young cub is reunited with his loving parents. "Lars was happy to be home again, but often he sat and stared out to sea looking for ships--and ship's cats." While the story line is simple, de Beer's illustrations are quite endearing. Young children will be taken in by Lars's harmless adventuring and safe return home. (Baby to preschool)

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Jan Brett

Amazon Price: $13.25 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Putnam Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $3.92

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Children find the story of Goldilocks delightful for so many reasons. There's a trespassing little girl, for starters, who barges into the bears' house uninvited and not only snoops around, but eats the bears' food! The suspense of wondering whether she'll get caught only adds to the thrill of the trespassing itself, and the repeated lines about the three bears with their three distinct voices, bowls, chairs, and beds further endear this tale to the preschool set. In Jan Brett's Goldilocks, the bears and the slightly audacious flaxen-haired heroine all sport traditional (Black Forest?) costumes with detailed embroidery, and the wooden furniture is carved with bears, birds, and flowers. (Intricate borders--carved wooden panels in this book--are Jan Brett's special signature.) Brett is the illustrator of many well-known folk tales, fairy tales, and poems, such as The Mitten and Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat. Of her exquisite interpretation of this beloved story, Booklist writes, "This is perfection." (Ages 3 to 6)

The Three Bears Rhyme Book

Jane Yolen

List Price: $14.95 By: Harcourt Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $1.09

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A beautiful storybook of poems 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The more my daughter and I read this book, the more we liked it! Jane Dyer's illustrations are beautifully detailed--who would have imagined the bears living in such an ornate little house! Apparently Goldi and the bears have become friends because they share photographs, go to each other's parties, and compare gardens. Children can relate to baby bear's feelings that he is "Too Old for Naps," his fears "In the Night," and his opinion that Daddy's lap makes the best chair at all. This is a wonderful book to read aloud to your child at bedtime--or anytime.

Editorial Review:

Young children have long loved "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," the irresistible story of a little girl who audaciously trespasses on the property of a family of bears. In The Three Bears Rhyme Book, Jane Yolen takes a closer look at the bears, from their breakfast porridge (with Goldilocks peeking in the window) to a garden visit, a walk in the rain, naptime, and other adventures that lead to bath, books, and bedtime. Preschoolers just might notice the similarities between Baby Bear's life and their own! Jane Dyer's engaging full-page illustrations in colored pencil and watercolor make The Three Bears Rhyme Book a delightful read-aloud experience. Don't be surprised if you share this book with your child and hear "Read it again!" as you turn the last page. (Ages 2 to 6)

The Candlewick Book of Bear Stories

Various

List Price: $19.99 By: Candlewick Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $0.01

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Editorial Review:

A collection of nineteen beloved illustrated stories and poems specially designed for any true bear lover includes such favorites as This Is The Bear, We're Going On A Bear Hunt, and Let's Go Home, Little Bear.

It's the Bear!

List Price: $15.95 By: Candlewick Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $15.18

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

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

"It's the Bear" is a fun book to read aloud to young children. It's simply written, in near-rhyme, with lots of opportunity for the reader to whimper, yell, growl, and sniff. My son loves to holler some of the lines along with me. The drawings are great, with an absolutely oversized bear grasping a huge teddy bear of his own, and eating a bite-sized picnic that he stumbles upon.

Very enjoyable, a great bedtime read. I'll be getting more by this author.

A wonderfully poetic story 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It's the bear is a frequent read in my home. All my children, ages 7 to 2, love the bear who is just as afraid of little Eddie as Eddie is of him. Infact, my (almost) 4 year old chose a teddy bear picnic theme for his birthday based on this book. A copy for each child attending made a wonderful gift.

A delightful bedtime story 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Our 2.5 year old adores this and other books by Jez Alborough. "It's the Bear" has lovely rhyming language, great illustrations and is a sure winner at bedtime.

The story itself provides opportunities for little ones to participate in punch lines and share their thoughts on what is going on in the pictures.

Editorial Review:

The hilarious sequel to Where's My Teddy? features little Eddie, his teddy, Freddie, and the amazingly oversized bear he had discovered the last time he went into the woods--and this time, the bear is hungry.