Fiction Books

Magic Tree House #40: Eve of the Emperor Penguin (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))

Mary Pope Osborne

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

Excellent New Addition to the Series or Standalone Children's Book 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I have read many of the Magic Treehouse books while recently "studying" for my 6-year old's Magic Treehouse Birthday Party. She really loves this series, reads them ravenously, and plays "Jack and Annie" constantly with her friends. I read around 15 of them, up until now the first part of the series (this is my first of the Merlin Missions), and have found the books to be cute, quick and entertaining.

I have never found anything in them that concerns me for my daughter to be reading, which is more than I can say for many of the series out there for young children, whose main characters are often wisecracking, sibling-hating and constantly in trouble. I love the way Jack and Annie play together and protect one another, even while they don't always agree and have different styles and strengths.

In any case, regarding this specific book, I think it is a wonderful addition to the Magic Tree House Series, or if you child is new to the series, an excellent introduction. My daughter just got it for her birthday.. and I gave it a quick read because now that I've read so many, I wanted to see what the Merlin Missions were all about.

I was quite impressed. This book seemed a little bit more developed and engrossing than some of the early stories. Not in a way that is too difficult for kids, but just more substantial. It was a good mix of fantasy and fact, like usual, with easily digestible facts and lessons, in this case on penguins and the Antarctic. This book was doubly interesting in that it was a culmination of a 4-book set (the magic treehouse books have 4 book sets that circle around a particular theme or type of mission -- in this one they are trying to find 4 secrets of happiness for Merlin who is exceedingly sad and have been asked by Morgan le Fay, the owner of the treehouse, to help). The secrets they share -- nature, curiosity, compassion and taking care of others -- provide just lovely messages for kids.

There are a few scary parts, when they fall down a cliff, or when a predatory bird is attacking a penguin, but Osborne has a gift for having adventure in her stories without the "scary" aspect being too much for kids. My daughter will hardly watch anything these days because of mean or scary characters, and that extends to some books -- but these stories always engage her without frightening her.

If your kids already like the Magic Tree House series, definitely add this one to their collection. If MTH is new for your children, this is a great one to start with. It stands alone nicely (she has a short prologue which explains things well up to this point), and may get your child interested in reading the earlier books. What's so great about Magic Tree House is that it is wonderful for boys and for girls. And it really creates a gentle exposure to history and character often natural science, but in a fun way. And for those kids that love the topic of the book, there are non-fiction research guides, very easily accessible for 5-6 years and up with lots more information on those topic (for this book, the companion research guide is Penguins and Antarctica (Magic Tree House Rsrch Gdes(R)).

This book makes a wonderful gift for any early to mid-level reader. If your child is an early reader, it would be great to read with them. For a mid-level reader, they can spread it out a chapter at a time, or like my daughter, tear through it in an afternoon. Great job, Mary Pope Osborne. Please keep them coming!!!

Editorial Review:

JACK AND ANNIE continue their quest for the secrets of happiness—secrets they need to save Merlin. This time, the Magic Tree House takes them to the one continent they haven’t visited before: Antarctica! What can they hope to learn about happiness in such a barren place? Only the penguins know for sure . . . Jack and Annie are about to find out!

Guess How Much I Love You

Sam Mcbratney

Amazon Price: $7.99 List Price: $7.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Candlewick Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $4.49

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 293 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Children's Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The book was a good price and was delivered promptly. Great service and experience as always.

Not for my two year old 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My son who is two had no interest in this book and he loves all types of books from Dr Seuss to the Byron Barton vehicle series. This book was too wordy and slow moving. I also thought it was confusing that the character in the book is a "hare" which is a tough word for a toddler that is already figuring out why sometimes they're called rabbits and other times bunnies! Anyway, we'll save this one for later.

Editorial Review:

Little Nutbrown Hare wants very much to impress Big Nutbrown Hare with the enormous scale of his devotion, but ends up being the one who's impressed. Subtitled "a pop-up edition," this sturdy square edition of Sam McBratney's ever-popular Guess How Much I Love You is probably better described as a "slide-along edition." Some pages do include pop-ups, but they aren't the best ones; instead, most involve pull-tabs which animate the two rabbits and their surroundings. One of the most appealing scenes simply shows Little Nutbrown Hare hopping up and down. In a purely technical sense this exercise in interactive cardboard technology is well behind some of the competition, but the tale has a timeless charm and the very simplicity of the movements makes it easy for small fingers to waggle the tabs and take control of the story. (Ages 2 to 4) --Richard Farr

Love You Forever

Robert N. Munsch

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 792 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Love You, Forever 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is a classic and a must have for all home libraries. It is a great gift for the new mom, parents of toddlers, or even a gift for your own mom or grandmom. Robert N. Munsch goes full circle with this book. Try it, you'll like it.

Lovely for Parents, Fine for Children ca. 4 and Up 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Like others, I choke up with tears every single time I read this, but I also don't think it's truly appropriate for very young children who still don't understand death or have a developed sense of time. I would think this would be appropriate for ages 4-5 and up.

That said, I think some of the complaints are misguided: they are missing the story's innocence and the veiled humor in the persistence of the mother. I also think that at some point even children have to learn about death, and what better way than through the story of a mother that loves her child no matter what?

However, I want to add another angle: the repetition of the main "chorus" "I'll love you forever, I'll love you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." As musicians, my wife and I sing these lines to our son, and the repetition of these lines is heightened when sung. You don't have to be an opera diva or even sing in tune, but if you're musically inclined even a little bit, try softly singing it to these pitches (transposed up or down, one note per syllable):

I'll love you forever, I'll love you for aways, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.
G-C-D-E-E-D, A-D-E-F-F-D, B-B-C-D-D-B, B-C-D-E-C.

Crazy idea? Maybe, but it makes singing these repeated lines touching rather than boring.

All in all, I absolutely love this book and think it's innocence and presentation of the continuity of life through the love parents have for their children transcends any strange implications others are reading into it.

Editorial Review:

The mother sings to her sleeping baby: "I'll love you forever / I'll love you for always / As long as I'm living / My baby you'll be." She still sings the same song when her baby has turned into a fractious 2-year-old, a slovenly 9-year-old, and then a raucous teen. So far so ordinary--but this is one persistent lady. When her son grows up and leaves home, she takes to driving across town with a ladder on the car roof, climbing through her grown son's window, and rocking the sleeping man in the same way. Then, inevitably, the day comes when she's too old and sick to hold him, and the roles are at last reversed. Each stage is illustrated by one of Sheila McGraw's comic and yet poignant pastels. (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr

The Giving Tree

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( S ) -> Silverstein, Shel

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 610 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

To say that this particular apple tree is a "giving tree" is an understatement. In Shel Silverstein's popular tale of few words and simple line drawings, a tree starts out as a leafy playground, shade provider, and apple bearer for a rambunctious little boy. Making the boy happy makes the tree happy, but with time it becomes more challenging for the generous tree to meet his needs. When he asks for money, she suggests that he sell her apples. When he asks for a house, she offers her branches for lumber. When the boy is old, too old and sad to play in the tree, he asks the tree for a boat. She suggests that he cut her down to a stump so he can craft a boat out of her trunk. He unthinkingly does it. At this point in the story, the double-page spread shows a pathetic solitary stump, poignantly cut down to the heart the boy once carved into the tree as a child that said "M.E. + T." "And then the tree was happy... but not really." When there's nothing left of her, the boy returns again as an old man, needing a quiet place to sit and rest. The stump offers up her services, and he sits on it. "And the tree was happy." While the message of this book is unclear (Take and take and take? Give and give and give? Complete self-sacrifice is good? Complete self-sacrifice is infinitely sad?), Silverstein has perhaps deliberately left the book open to interpretation. (All ages) --Karin Snelson

Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day

Jamie Lee Curtis

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Features:

• CHILDRENS BOOKS & MUSIC
• Childrens Books
• Language Arts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 82 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Love it! 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I gave this to my daughter when she turned 5. It is a fun book, but helped my daughter express how she is feeling. There is a face in the back of the book that they can change to show different feelings. I recently bought two more of these books as gifts for little girls turning 5.

Feelings are oh-so important 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Recognizing our feelings and being able to name and claim them is so important to our emotional health. A meaningful book that travels through the variety of feelings a child may encounter in any day - from angry to joyful to confused to lonely to.... A wide range of feelings are included in this charming rhyme. This is a fun book which can start discussions about how we are feeling while emphazing to children that all feelings are valid. Ben Keckler, author of Incredibly Lonely, That's Me

Children's Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The Grandkids love this book! It's fun toread and they think the pictures are funny.

Editorial Review:

Here's another inspired picture book from the best-selling author-illustrator team of Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born and When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth.

The Little Yellow Leaf

Carin Berger

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> People & Places -> Social Situations -> Emotions & Feelings -> Fiction

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

a stunning picture book 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

There is something about this book which brings tears to my eyes every time I read it to my daughter. It just works on so many levels: stunning art, poetic text, a gentle, philosophical message about transformation and trust. As for my daughter, she loves tracing the little yellow (and scarlet) leaves' journeys once they finally let go and jump into the wind. Highly recommended.

The Little Yellow Leaf 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

The Little Yellow Leaf is a book to be read over and over again. As an ex east coaster and visual artist, I am immediately swept into the beauty and desolation of fall which is exquisitly rendered by Carin Berger from the simplicity of the story to the complexity of understanding of her medium. Not having a young child in the house, I enjoy the book from the point of view of an adult and an artist and am so happy that it arrived in the fall.

Editorial Review:

As all the other leaves float off and fly past, Little Yellow Leaf thinks, I'm not ready yet.

As the seasons change all around, Little Yellow Leaf holds on to the tree. Still not ready.

Will Little Yellow Leaf ever be ready?

This is a story for anyone who has ever been afraid of facing the unknown—and a celebration of the friends who help us take the leap.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids

Carol McCloud

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Guess what? Kids are not naturally kind! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was sucked into the whole bucket thing because the corresponding program is what my elementary school is doing this year. We have the posters throughout the school, the assemblies, and the books.

Sure, the cynical part of me was perfectly willing to mock this (and yes, we did have a little "don't shoot holes in Mike's bucket!" banter during faculty meeting).

But, when it gets down to it, this simple little book packs a message that every kid needs to know. Because, despite what we think, too many kids need lessons in how to be kind.

The book is not preachy or moralizing. It is what it is, a quick explanation on what happens if we fill or dip someone's bucket.

Editorial Review:

Through simple prose and vivid illustrations, this heartwarming book encourages positive behavior as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation, and love. Bucket filling and dipping are effective metaphors for understanding the effects of our actions and words on the well being of others and ourselves.

Llama, Llama Red Pajama

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 124 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fun and relatable 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This story is a quick and easy read with fun rhyming passages. I have a three year old and a two year old that love this book. They fight over who gets to read it in bed (So I bought them Llama Llama Mad at Momma so each could have one). The story goes through a typical night-time routine of just about every mom. Not only is it a cute read but it also has some really good passages that teach kids, like "Momma Llama's always near, even if she's not right here." It is one of those things that the kids like to hear. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book to read young children. Reading it over and over again is not a chore, it is fun.

Editorial Review:

Llama, Llama red pajama waiting, waiting for his mama. Mama isn’t coming yet. Baby Llama starts to fret. In this infectious rhyming read-aloud, Baby Llama turns bedtime into an all-out llama drama! Tucked into bed by his mama, Baby Llama immediately starts worrying when she goes downstairs, and his soft whimpers turn to hollers when she doesn’t come right back. But just in time, Mama returns to set things right. Children will relate to Baby Llama’s need for comfort, as much as parents will appreciate Mama Llama’s reassuring message.

Corduroy

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Animals -> Bears -> Fiction

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)

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 197 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

More Trouble For That Pigeon 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Pigeon has enamored both my three year old daughter and me since we discovered this series earlier in the year. Author Mo Willems is a true genius; he manages to connect with toddlers and preschoolers every time, in every new book. Because the Pigeon sounds and reacts just like they do, the Pigeon series attracts and then keeps a child's attention through many, many readings. These books quickly become permanent favorites.

In DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS!, the Pigeon wants (you guessed it) to drive a bus. However, the bus driver has already left the scene and warned the young reader that they should not let the Pigeon drive. The Pigeon then weedles, rants, cajoles, and stomps, trying to convince the reader to let him do what he wants. My youngest loves that the Pigeon speaks directly to her, and she loves answering him right back. Believe me, with my daughter in charge, that Pigeon is not going to drive the bus.

DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! also teaches the lesson that you can't always have what you want. If my child is asking for something she can't have, I just reminder of this story, and she understands. She doesn't like it, but she understands.

Books that get kids to interact with the story are pure gold and give children a life long love of reading. I personally thank Mo Willems for this series; it has made a lasting impression on my daughter and on me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Editorial Review:

When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place-a pigeon! But you've never met one like this before. As he pleads, wheedles, and begs his way through the book, children will love being able to answer back and decide his fate. In his hilarious picture book debut, popular cartoonist Mo Willems perfectly captures a preschooler's temper tantrum.