Baby Books

My children always loved to look at colorful tropical fish in aquariums. They could spend hours spell-bound by the glittering glamour of these exotic creatures.

Hooray for Fish! takes that fascination and effectively channels it into teaching concepts and counting in friendly, funny rhymes. You'll have as much fun as your youngsters with this happy book.

Here are a few of my favorite fish: Little Fish (the colorful narrator), yellow fish, gripy fish, ele-fish, eye fish, sky fish, thin fish, twin fin-fin fish, and twisty twirly.

At the end of the story, Little Fish picks a favorite fish. Will it be yours, too?

The illustrations are bright, happy, interesting, colorful, and fun to contemplate. There's much food for thought. It's almost like a fish school!

Take your children to see some real fish after enjoying this book. They'll be ready to learn names and details.

Enjoy!

My 2-year-old son loves this book. He counts with it, does color recognition and pattern reccognition (spots, stripes, etc.), and the part I especially like--he gives kisses on cue when we come to that page. The illustrations are bright, bold, and charming, and the text is simple enough for him to memorize (aided by the rhyming, of course). I highly recommend it.

My son had already read this through the library and enjoyed it very much. I had to buy it as a thank you gesture to the author and publisher.

My 18 month old loves the pictures and I enjoy reading it over and over and over and over.

Like another reviewer said, it's a shame it doesn't come in a board book version. My 2 year old daughter adores this book and carries it around with her everywhere. Our copy is dog-eared and taped to death, but she still loves it! Still, a smaller, sturdier version would be very welcome.

My son is three years old and he was starting preschool so I wanted a book that would show him how to behave with friends.At the same time, he loves dinosaurs so he gets to learn their names.

My daughter's daycare reads these books to her, so I bought one for home. She loves it! I think the book teaches good lessons in a fun way.

This is a great addition to the series. It takes kids through what not to do and then teaches them in the How Do Dinosaurs sing song story about what to do to play well with friends.

My grandson loves the entire series of the How Do Dinosaur by Jane Yolen . We read them everyday.

My son is an only child who recently started day care. This book has really helped to teach him how to behave with the other children at daycare.

I loved this book -

I am a first time mom and started using this book with my baby girl when she was 4 weeks old. At first she did not like the massage - but I found that if I plugged in my space heater nearby and started slowly she really learned to relax. I especially liked the stomach massage techniques to help relieve gas - I really could hear those gas bubbles moving down and it was great to feel like I could do something to help her besides giving mylecon. No need to be a massage therapist - I just used the illustrations as a guide and created my own daily "routine" massage - it really does help them learn how to relax. Best tip - just use what works for you and your baby - this is just a guide to help you learn how to touch your baby in a soothing way that both of you can enjoy - also - I love the tip at the end of the book that suggests teaching older children massage techniques so that they also can start to participate in the care and soothing of their younger siblings - I will definately use this book for a log time.

I ordered this book to accompany personal instruction I received on infant massage, after my son was born and we realized he was colicky. Infant massage immediately did several things:
- it helped sooth him through his discomfort
- it gave him a pleasant association with bath time (we massaged after bath)
- it gave me a wonderful opportunity to bond with my son (as Daddies can't breast feed )

I heartily recommend the book and the technique to any parent.

when I ve first seen this book on amazon I thought it is only about how to massage your baby, I thought it is just strokes and no more, and I wasn't 100% content about it. Now after reading it I found every thing about infant massage; the benefit of massage with scientific proof, the strokes, which strok is first and which is last, what about babies who doesn't like massage(like my own boys when they were infants), the effect of it on colicky baby, how massage reshape hte relation with mother and baby. Last but not least, I also like how this book helps big sister/brother to set a strong relation with his/her new sibling.

This is a fundamentally a good teaching tool, especially when there is no one to teach you in person.

Purchased this book for my sister, who is a first time mom. She had great difficulty in following it. The set up is confusing. The illustrations lack any directional guidance. You need some massage background to follow the written instructions. There is an overwhelming amount of initial instructions that can be a bit intimidating. If you're a massage therapist, this book will be a great addition. If you're a first time parent, with very little time, find another book. Furthermore, the paperback will not stay open while you try the massage moves, so you need someone to hold the book.

My 8 week old granddaughter loved it. She would get antimated when looking at it. Sometimes she would coo and smile. Great book.

Grandma.

Look, Look, Look is ideal on many levels. It offers visual interest to young infants through the black and white images with a splash of red. There are items in the books that will relate to the child's world as they grow into toddlers providing stimulating conversation topics. I give this as a great baby gift. This book is different than the other black and white infant books in the use of negative space,adult interest and is very artistic.

I have been horrified by the world of ugly that is the child industrial complex. Loud tinny sounds, plasticy quality, colors that don't work together...

So it was a real pleasure to get this book, which is so simple and beautiful. The illustrations have a simple but elegant balance. If only the author would hire himself out as a child's product designer.

(Of course, more importantly, my son started loving this book at 2-3 weeks, it was the only toy he'd play with. and now at six months, he has other favorites too, but this has remained a tried and true enjoyment for him. we've taken it on a couple of trips for when he gets fussy, as, especially in the 3-5 month range, it was almost guaranteed to calm him for a surprisingly long spell.)

Bought a few black and white books and have been showing them periodically since our baby has been only a few days old. He will stare at the book and study things. I've only gotten through the cover and one page but I can see the images really capture the babies attention. Will be using it for months to come. Very nice illustrations. Highly recommended.

This book is great for young developing eyes! It has the pictures in black and white and then red words. My son loved this book, we would read it to him and he would just stare at the colors. There is one page in particular that he loved and we kept the book open to that page on his changing table for him to look at. I think everyone needs to get this book, its great!!

Quality hard cover book, absolutely the best Dr Seuss story of all time, IMPOSSIBLE to get in Australia. Order this book, it is truly the best thing you will ever do for your child, full of wonderful pictures.

This is a classic Dr. Suess book from my childhood. I have read it over and over again to my kids, and now I am reading it to my grandchildren. This book ranks right up there with The Cat in the Hat for entertainment value, for some reason it was a Dr. Suess book that wasn't as well known. Thank goodness my grandmother was a librarian and sent it to me for my 5th birthday. Your kids will LOVE this book, and adults actually enjoy reading it, too!

I thought I knew all the Dr. Seuss books, but this one came to my attention recently and I had never heard of it before. I bought it immediately in order to read it to my youngest daughter before she outgrows children's books. She loved the story and I had one more wonderful message to give her from Dr. Seuss, "Keep thinking of all the wonderful things that are possible!"

This is my favorite Seuss book (yes, I say that about all of them). Year after year I buy this for my friends' kids, but I think it's a great book for an adult library, too.

All you have to say is Dr Seuss. All of his books are excellent!

I don't want to write about each of the books in the series. However the crazy McCaskey family held me from the first book to the last. They are a bunch of strange people but I knew them well & cared about all of them by the time I finished the 5th book. All but one of Michael McDowell's books are great & well worth reading if you want like books that are actually spellbinding as well as a bit strange.

I first read these books when they were originally published in 1983, I believe. I remember the frustration of waiting for each new installment to come out. Then I would devour the book in about a day, and begin the equally frustrating wait for the next issue. Imagine my delight to finally find copies of the entire series again! These books are a treasure! Of course, everything Michael McDowell wrote was special, and it is our great loss that he is no longer with us. I plan to buy several copies of ALL of his books, to make sure I always have a replacement when one wears out from being read over and over and over again. These are quite a find!!!

I had to reiterate what the others who reviewed this series have stated. This is one of the best, if not the best, serial novels I've ever read. It's well written, scary, and fascinating. Well worth the time and you'll read it quickly. In regards to the person who asked about the 6 books being published as one, it was already done. I found the book in hard cover (2 volumes) at a yard sale and of course bought it immediately. I've never seen it in hardcover since, but am glad that I have it. My whole family passes around this story every year for a re-reading. If you want a good read, then pick up the Blackwater series. You won't be disappointed. If anyone finds it on audiobook, let me know. Michael McDowell has definitely left behind a story that will live on through those of us who love it and will recommend it to anyone who will listen. Thanks.

Is this series flawed? Sure. You can't crank 'em out like MM did and not miss some problems. Still, there is much here to enjoy. McDowell's creation is very evocative of the part of Alabama he writes about (I used to live there), and his characters avoid for the most part becoming the one-dimensional "types" so typical of popular fiction.

The characters are all engagingly drawn, quite distinctly individual without clunky self-conscious quirks nailed to them and dragged around the room like you will often find in precious contemporary literary fiction. The characters sometime come off as movie characters, but no more than, say, a John Updike character does, or a Bellow character. They are graceful, cruel, funny, ambiguous, dramatic. We finish the series not know quite how to regard Elinor Caskey, the amphibious Lovecraftian creature that crawls out of the floodwaters and insinuates herself into the Caskey clan. At best, she amoral.

McDowell's prose is a treat to read. He is precise and elegant, a far better craftsman than most if not all of his better-known contemporaries.

In short, this series is a real treat. I read it when it first came out in the early 80's, 25 years ago. I remembered very little, except for a single image, really--the image that occurs near the beginning of the first volume when the preacher woman stumbles upon Elinor soaking in a pool of water--in her froglike state. I loved rediscovering this series.

'The Flood', the first installment of Michael McDowell's Blackwater series, introduces us to 1919 Perdido, Alabama. Yes, a flood wipes out the town. But in its aftermath a mysterious woman appears who befriends the town's most prosperous family. As the narrative unfolds it becomes clear 'The Flood' is actually a southern gothic novel, along the lines of Anne Rice novels.

The best thing about 'The Flood' is how it captures the feel of early twentieth century Alabama. Not sentimental but rather balanced. I also think the author does an excellent job with the characterizations. However in truth the story itself is, well, slow. Never boring, just a slow yet deliberate meandering.


Bottom line: a short novel which begs the reader to buy the next installment in the series, which I did. Recommended.

Fantastic bit of fun that is bright, colourful, clever, simple and appeals to all age groups! A true classic in the making!

My kids fight to be the one holding this book. They love the search as the pages turn to the next challenge.

This is such a beautiful book. I recommend everyone to add a copy of this book to their library. I picked up this book in the classroom I work in to engage a 3 year old child with autism. She didn't take her eyes off this book and wanted to play with it again and again. I am now getting one for my three year old son. Every child and adult will love this book. It is truly amazing. Never have I seen such wonderful pop up art done.

For 3 years now, I've been a David A. Carter fan. Why 3 years? You put two and two together. He's the author of these three *very* cool pop-up books that are unlike any pop-up books I've ever seen. They are like individual works of art only they're purchasable at any generic bookstore. It's "Pop" art. Get the double entendre? Well, if not, take a look at the pics above.

My first introduction to his work was with the book: "One Red Dot." Since then he's created "600 Black Spots" and "Blue 2." I purchased these in "new" condition for half of their purchase price on Amazon. However, if you're the type of parent who lets their child run amok with their baby books (not a bad thing) this may have to take a backseat for a year or two. I had to be very careful with my daughter when reading this book. Like any one-year-old her first instinct was to grab then ensuingly tear off the colorful fluttering paper. But I did manage to keep the book "relatively" unscathed and usable for my second daughter.

He's written a couple more "traditional" pop up books about bugs but these were the ones that hooked me. Oh and one more thing, one of the pages makes a great sawing noise when the blades scrape against the paper as you open the page. Clever.
'Kathleen Dougherty
http://the-tum-tum-tree.blogspot.com/

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R34SQ3IXMD8XCL

When I was a little kid, I looked for this book every time I went to the library. Eventhough I didn't know the author's name at the time or how to look up books, I would scour the shelves for purple books (the hardcover version back then was purple). Several years ago, my mom surprised me by buying me the paperback version. I am so excited that now, at 36, with my first baby on the way, I will be able to share this beloved book with my children. The piggy is just so darn cute that I'm pretty sure it started my lifelong obsession with piggies!

My almost three year old friend Harrison just loves this book. He waits on the edge of his seat for the NOPE! from the littlest piggie. He fell asleep cuddling this book two naps in a row. This is a child that could not be torn away from books about trucks, especiallly trash trucks. The rhyming rythms of Charlotte Pomerantz saved Auntie Dawn from the rumble and roar of another front end loader!

This is a great book! I initially borrowed it from our local library. Our kids loved it. It's a great oratory book. I read it for a PreSchool class, in a Kindergarten Class, and for First Graders the book was loved by all who heard it. It has great rhythms, it's funny, it's cute, and the kids enjoy being a part of the story. When the smallest piggy mocks her parents and her brother by saying, "Nope!" in all of the circumstances there has been great participation by the children. It has quickly become one our favorite stories.

Crackling with lipsmackingly silly rhyme and hilarious James Marshall illustrations, this book is like read aloud popcorn -- I bet you can't stop after just one page.

This is my favorite book for storytime reading. Mainly preschool - but I've also had adults keep asking me to read one more page, too.

Charlotte Pomerantz has created a work of art - the ending and internal rhymes, the way she plays and puts words together, the right amount of repetition. This is why people think it's So Easy to write a children's book. This is a deceptively simple title, but if it were easy there would be more books out there like this one. This one of the few books I truly look forward to and love reading aloud - the words taste delicious!!

If you like this one check out "How many trucks can a tow truck tow" also by her.

This is the cutest story in a mini paperback to read aloud and even simple enough to be read by a 1st grader. Will fit right in an envelope to mail also.

My mother used to read this book to me when I was little and now I buy it for others to read. It does not matter how old or young you are this book is a great story!

I love the story lines and the illustrations of Frank Asch's books, so well written, understated, but also bright and cheerful, they make such wonderful read alouds too. This one stands out as one of his best to me. A classy Halloween story.

my 4 year old loves this book. it's a quick read. very cute and funny, especially if you like popcorn!

I loved this book when I was little and seeing the cover now brings back many memories. I still have this book in my collection to share with my future children and I'm sure they'll enjoy it as well.

Great illustrations and a fun story. I always loved the house full of popcorn!

This book has been taped and retaped over the past couple of years because my kids (now 5 and 3) have loved it so much. The rhythm allows for a sing-songy kind of reading that is delightful for me and for my kids -- unlike other stories that they want to have repeated over and over again, I never hesitate to read this one to them. The reveal/flap lift with the rhyming word is also especially fun!

This book is fantastic. I first heard it at a library "lapsit", and bought it for my daughter, when she was only 7 months old. She is 1 now, and still adores it. I get it for all the baby showers I go to. Highly recommended!

This book is truly wonderful. We had borrowed this book from the library and even extended the renewal time frame twice (the max!) When we finally had to return the book, we decided that we had to purchase this book, so we did - we even bought a copy for a good friend of ours! This book has a very catchy rhyme - very cute and our little girl loves the pictures (as well as the rhyme). We started reading her this book when she was about 4 months old and she is almost 8 months old today and still loves the book. i highly recommend this book to anyone with infants!

My 15-month old has loved this book since she was about 6 months old! I reccomend for every child! I'm so tired of reading this book.... ;)

I'm a children's librarian, so I come across a lot of books and very few stand up to many readings. This book is one of them. It's fun for the parents to read aloud, with a rolicking beat and humorous story. We've owned this book since my son's first birthday. He loved it then and at eighteen months, it is still one of his favorites. The illustrations are simple and pleasing with enough detail to invite a closer examination. I highly recommend it!