Country Life Books

Bear's First Christmas

Robert Kinerk

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A sickly sweet Christmas lesson 4 out of 5 stars.
9 of 13 people found this review helpful.

Christmas is about sharing, and that's the lesson this book is trying to teach. A young bear is woken from his hibernation by the sound of Christmas songs, and on his way to find the source of the music, he runs into animals who are in need of help. As he helps them, both he and they learn the real meaning of Christmas: Sharing and giving selflessly is the source of Christmas happiness.

The art is very nice. When the story describes the bear listening for the music, the artist was able to recreate the scene perfectly. The children in the house singing carols are portrayed in rapturous joy and the tenderness of the bear is lovingly painted.

Despite the author's portrayal of bears as playful, happy, and helpful animals, I think this book is very enjoyable and appropriate for kids 2 and up. I don't think it's a good idea to portray bears like that since they are actually strong, wild animals which should not be approached, but so many other kids books portray them as cuddly, so I can't be too hard on Kinerk here.

What I can be hard on is the choice of font. The skinny, broken, scraggly font is hard to read. It is difficult to read ahead while reading aloud since the font needs deciphering. It took a couple readings before I could effectively read this aloud to my son.

One other problem for some parents is the omission of Christ and/or any other religious significance for the holiday. The Christmas tree is given an unnecessary significance, and the book has a heavy dose of naturalism. This may be a turn off for those parents who wish to teach their kids "the reason for the season".

All in all, the book is entertaining, well drawn, and has enough plot to be read over and over again. Naturally, the book only has a shelf-life of a month or two before the Christmas season is over, but the book's physical binding and size make it a keeper. 4 stars for an excellent book, but a point off for the font.

Editorial Review:

In the dark of winter, deep in the woods, a lone bear is awakened from his winter sleep by a soft and mysterious sound. Under the stars the bear finds his way step by step through the snowy forest, making friends along his route. Then the bear discovers a place in the woods that glows magically with something he and his friends could never have imagined -- their first Christmas.

Robert Kinerk's inspired story and Jim LaMarche's glimmering illustrations combine in a picture book that captures the joy and spirit of Christmas. Come along with bear and his friends and see the magical light of Bear's First Christmas.

Christmas In The Country (Scholastic Bookshelf)

Cynthia Rylant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Archetype Christmas 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Deep in the heart of most people who celebrate Christmas lurks the archetypal
holiday, the one depicted nostalgically in Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory," and
Dylan Thomas's "A Child's Christmas in Wales."
In the archetype, ritual is important, family and friends are important, snow is
good, and a tangerine in a stocking is enough to inspire oohs and ahs of delight.
"Christmas in the Country" is a worthy addition to the genre.
In it, our pony-tailed heroine lives in the country with Grandma and Grandpa in a
house that is "small and white. It had an old coal stove to keep us warm and a tiny little
kitchen for supper and a nice back porch for the dogs."
In the country, spring is for walks, summer for tomatoes, and fall for apples. In
winter, "The snow slows everything down. Birds are silent and serious. Dogs stay in their
warm houses. Children want cocoa and blankets. Everyone is ready for something really
special."
And - hooray - the something special has nothing to do with the mall or even
Wal-mart. Instead Grandpa will cut the tree in the forest, and the narrator and Grandma
will take the precious old ornaments from the closet that "smells like wool and mothballs."
Diane Goode's illustrations are just right - simple and energetic. Everyone's hair is
windblown at all times, as if country folk have better things to do than spray, mousse or
pin.

Editorial Review:

This loving celebration of Christmas is as fresh as the season's first snowfall, and as warm as a steaming mug of eggnog. A young girl growing up in the country enjoys a simple but enchanting Christmas with her family. Boxes of treasured homemade ornaments are brought out; an evergreen wreath brightens the front door; and relatives gather for a delicious meal. Captured here are the memorable holiday moments we cherish and remember-always.

Wave Hello to Thomas! (Lift-and-Peek-a-Brd Books(TM))

W. Rev Awdry

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Simple book with nice pictures 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Thomas is our 2-yr old son's favorite thing right now so we got him a new Thomas book. "Wave Hello to Thomas" is a very simple book with nice pictures and fun flaps. After just a few weeks he has memorized the book and will sit happily "reading" and lifting the flaps. He even takes the book to bed with him.

Great flap board book for little train lovers! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The illustrations are interesting and lend themselve to questions and answers. The flaps are large and sturdy, and opening one actually changes the action in the picture.

Grandson's Favorite 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My two year old grandson is totally in love with trains, especially Thomas and friends. He loves anything with trains. This was a perfect fit for him.

Editorial Review:

Illustrated in full color. All aboard! Kids can tour with Thomas the Tank

Engine as he travels through the countryside. They'll open the station door

and wave to Sir Topham Hatt, swing open the barn door and visit the animals,

lift the drawbridge and say "ahoy" to the bargeman, and more, in this

lift-the-flaps rail adventure.

Because of Winn-Dixie (Movie Tie-In)

Kate DiCamillo

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

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 750 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Because of Winn-Dixie, a big, ugly, happy dog, 10-year-old Opal learns 10 things about her long-gone mother from her preacher father. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal makes new friends among the somewhat unusual residents of her new hometown, Naomi, Florida. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal begins to find her place in the world and let go of some of the sadness left by her mother's abandonment seven years earlier.

With her newly adopted, goofy pooch at her side, Opal explores her bittersweet world and learns to listen to other people's lives. This warm and winning book hosts an unforgettable cast of characters, including a librarian who fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace, an ex-con pet-store clerk who plays sweet music to his animal charges, and the neighborhood "witch," a nearly blind woman who sees with her heart. Part Frankie (The Member of the Wedding), part Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), Opal brings her own unique and wonderful voice to a story of friendship, loneliness, and acceptance. Opal's down-home charm and dead-on honesty will earn her friends and fans far beyond the confines of Naomi, Florida. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

All the Places to Love

Patricia Maclachlan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Two other reasons to love this 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The other reviews did a great job describing this book. I agree with what they said about the beauty, emotion, and love in this book. Here are my top two reasons why this is an important book:

1. Richness of language. Developmentally, if children are exposed to language rich in vocabulary, structure, and grammar, it helps in so many ways. If you read a sentence each out of stack of random Disney, Sesame Street and other character books they all sound the same. If that is all children hear they miss the richness of our language, and actually their ability to think in complex ways is affected. If you read a sentence each of books like this, you hear the difference.

2. Exposure to experience. If you read Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods, you are familiar with the theory that children today have much less real contact with the natural world, and it is affecting them. Even in my own experience, I got to poke in creeks and catch crawdads, hike in woods by myself, eat warm tomatos and corn right out of the garden, and ride my bike all day and stop by the side of the road to eat the lunch I packed. My kids won't have those experiences, and even a school trip to Sunnydale Farm so the kids can line up and pet a cow won't make up for not having the experience of being alone and self-directed in a natural environment. This book doesn't, of course, replace a first hand experience, but I believe can give children some sense of an important experience in our cultural history that most children will not get any other way.

Editorial Review:

Within the sanctuary of a loving family, baby Eli is born and, as he grows, "learns to cherish the people and places around him, eventualy passing on what he has discovered to his new baby sister, Sylvie: 'All the places to love are here . . . no matter where you may live.' This loving book will be something to treasure."'BL. "The quiet narrative is so intensely felt it commands attention. . . . a lyrical celebration."'K.

1995 Teachers' Choices (IRA)
1995 Notable Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
Notable 1995 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)

When I Was Young in the Mountains (Reading Rainbow Books)

Cynthia Rylant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

LOVE THIS LITTLE BOOK. 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This work is rather realistic. For anyone who grew up in similiar surroundings, it brings on waves of nostalgia. Growing up in the Ozark Mountains was quite similar to the setting of this story. These were simpler times, for good and bad, and it is good that we have something like this to pass on to our children. The illustrations in this book are soft and wonderful. The text is quite to the point and quite readable and understandable. The book leaves much room for open discussion, although it helps a lot if you actually grew up in these conditions, when discussing it with the young ones. I find that the simple fact there there was no electricity, no T.V., no radios, no running water, etc. quite difficult for children to understand and grasp. This book helps a lot. Recommend this one highly.

Editorial Review:

"An evocative remembrance of the simple pleasures in country living; splashing in the swimming hole, taking baths in the kitchen, sharing family times, each is eloquently portrayed here in both the misty-hued scenes and in the poetic text."--Association for Childhood Education International. Caldecott Honor Book. Full-color illustrations.

Secret Fairy Homes (Disney Fairies)

RH Disney

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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

This book is so detailed. All little girls, ages 5-10, that love fairies will love this book! Is is an insider's look into how the fairies live and it sparks a fairy lover's imagination. My daughter loves to draw fairies and their houses and this book is a big inspiration!

Detailed 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This wasn't exactly what I had in mine when I ordered this book. It doesn't fit my needs for creating fairy homes for my fairys. But, it won't go to waste, I will pass it on to my 2 year old grand-daughter.

great book...makes you imagine even more 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

this book is great, my two girls who are 5 and 7 love all these books and this one just adds more fun to it all. you really get a feel for each fairies personality when you see inside their home. my kids could relate to how their rooms are and loved finding the objects on each page. very nice book.

Editorial Review:

Welcome to the Home Tree! This is where Tinker Bell and all the Disney Fairies live in their own beautifully- and personally-decorated bedrooms. Girls can lift the large gatefolds on each spread of this unique and interactive book and peek inside each of the fairies' rooms. The intricate metalwork on Tink's bed, the seaweed curtains on Rani's windows, and even the saddle Beck uses when riding frogs are just a few of the delightful fairy treasures to be discovered!

Little House in the Big Woods Book and Charm (Charming Classics)

Laura Ingalls Wilder

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Returning back... to simple family values 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

My six year old daughter and I are reading this book together. Building her attention was easier than I thought, with this book. After the first five pages she wanted to keep reading. Eighteen pages later she was dying to draw a picture of what had happened. This book really reminds me of what the purpose of families are all about. Every page describes what "Ma" or "Pa" was doing to take care of the family. The daughters found joy in every simple, hard or enduring task that had to be undertaken to produce a family of early American prairie days. This book uses simple words and descriptions to help build my 6 year olds attention. As well as, random sketched pictures throughout to excite the children's imagination. This has been more than a school assignment, but an excuse to spend real time with my daughter.

Editorial Review:

America's Original Pioneer Girl

Meet Laura Ingalls, the little girl who would grow up to write the Little House books.

Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.

Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the Laura Years series.

A Year Down Yonder

Richard Peck

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Features:

• CHILDRENS BOOKS & MUSIC
• Early Childhood
• Books

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 153 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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

My daughter had to read A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck for her 8th grade English class. We both read the book and both enjoyed it. We loved the characters, especially the grandmother. This is a wonderful book for young readers!

Very Nice 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best books I have ever read, and cried at the end.

A Year Down Yonder 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

While this is a sequel to A Long Way from Chicago, it can easily be read and enjoyed on its own. Richard Peck writes the adventures of Mary Alice, spending a year away from her home in depression-era Chicago at her grandmother's house in the country. While grandma Dowdel is gruff and no-nonsense, she soon enlists Mary Alice in her schemes to influence neighbors - some who are friends, some who are enemies. This hilarious book is great to read aloud, and it will leave both adults and kids in stitches.

Editorial Review:

It was within the pages of Richard Peck's Newbery Honor-winning A Long Way from Chicago that Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel first made their captivating debut. Now they're back for more astonishing, laugh-out-loud adventures when fifteen-year-old Mary Alice moves in with her spicy grandmother for the year. Expect moonlit schemes, romances both foiled and founded, and a whole parade of fools made to suffer in unusual (and always hilarious) ways. Ages 9-12. Hardcover - 130 pages

Town Mouse, Country Mouse

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

ONE OF THE BETTER VERSIONS OF THIS OLD, OLD STORY! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

As near as we can tell, Aesop's Fables date back to at least the 6th Century B.C. I personally feel that many of these tales are even older and Aesop had probably recorded quite a number of old folk tales from the past. Be-that-as-it-may, this is a rewrite of one of my favorite of Aesop's Fables. This story has been told and retold in countless languages, in countless countries and it would be almost impossible to find and read them all. I will say though, that with this offering, Jan Brett has done the tradition proud and pretty well proved that what was good in the 6th Century B.C. is good today!

In this story, we have the Town Mouse and his wife and the Country Mouse and his wife that, after a chance meeting, decide to trade places. You all know the story, and if you don't, I don't want any spoilers here, so I will not give a blow by blow rundown on the adventures of these four in their new environment.

What sets this particular version apart from so many others though, is the art work. I cannot remember a children's book that was so well illustrated and to be frank, so interesting. The author alternates, page by page from Town Mouse back to Country Mouse. At the side of each illustration we have a sort of preview of what is going to happen next. This is not a "copy" of an upcoming page, but rather a general view of what might be. Once the child (and parent or grandparent catches on, this can be quite fun). But back to the art. The only way I can describe it would be Victorian. It is vivid, detailed, colorful and just down right interesting. The way the author has humanized the various critters does not come across as phony at all, and actually looks quite natural is a stage sort of way. I could safely say that most people could read and look at this book twenty or more times and each time find some detail they have never seen before with previous readings. Each page is a visual adventure; each page is an absolute delight. Now this does not mean this work does not have a strong and well written text. Far from it! The story flows well, is easy on the eye and the story is quite understandable to the targeted age group which would probably be kindergarten through third or fourth grade.

The obvious lesson learned from the story is to be happy with where you are, stop complaining and count yourself lucky you have what you have. What is nice about this work though, is that the adult reader can get much more mileage out of this than just the moral of the story. This is an ideal book to help children learn to really observe and look for details. It will be obvious after several readings, even to the little ones, that there is more to see if you just take the time to look. Absolute hours of discussion can be had just talking with the child about the different things seen on each and ever page.

This particular publication dates back to 1994. Let's hope it is with us many, many more years.

Editorial Review:

A story filled with suspense and humor, this classic tale of a town mouse and a country mouse takes a new twist in the imaginative and talented hands of Jan Brett. She introduces two engaging mouse couples eager to get away from their everyday lives. But when they agree to swap homes, they find unexpected adventures around every corner. Lush green scenes alternate with the elegant details of a fine Victorian townhouse to make a sumptuous and stunning picture book.