Baby Books

This book from my childhood is one that lingers in my memory. I recently came across my old dog-eared copy, and hoped to find another one used. Instead, I find that it is (rightly) hard to obtain because it is (wrongly) out-of-print. At least I now know I am not alone in my affection for this volume and series. _The Cat Club_ explores that place between our sense of self-worth and our social status, in ways that still delight me (even at forty-something)

A wonderful story. My six year old loves the Cat Club, but we're having a hard time tracking them down, with 12 of the 13 titles out of print. If any publishers are listening, please bring back Jenny Linsky! All kids seem to love "The Cat Club" and it should always be available.

I also read these books when I was a child, and they were wonderful!!! I used to go to the library and get them over and over and over. I remember my mother would try to get me to get other books and I would read these again and again. I was also looking for them for my daughter - I also wish they would bring these books back into print. I have not been able to find at our library.

I loved this book and a child and wanted to get it for my children, to my dismay i found it to be out of print. I found it in the public library, though, and my kids also fell in love with it and wanted to keep it and read it over and over. They were sure sad the day it had to return to the library. This is a wonderful book about a shy little cat and her adventures with the cat club. A must for any child who loves cats and grownups as well.

It's been at least 25 year since I've read any but I still remember the members of the Cat Club: Jenny Linsky the shy black kitty who always wore a scarf, her adopted brothers Checkers and Edward, Concertina the club secretary, who scratched notes into the bark of a tree...

Why oh why are these books out of print? My favorite was Jenny Goes to Sea, where she visits exotic locales like Zanzibar and Siam.

Beautifully illustrated tale of good vs. bad. Shows Witches in a positive light. Great for little pagans and fantasy lovers.

This is one of my most favourite books from my childhood. The story of Jules the cat is compelling and magical, and the illustrations are breath taking. At the age of 10, only 4 years after the book was published i discovered this book at my local library and after 12 years of wishing for a copy i found one.
I would not hesitate for one minute on recommending this book to anyone. It has the ability to capture the hearts of anyone of any age, once read it can't be put put down.

A couple of years ago this book was being sold for over a [...] dollars. I really thought it was worth it, but held off and am so glad that it's available through resellers at such a reasonable price! This is a classically good book, but perhaps wait to read it to your child until 2nd or 3rd grade. Especially since the story is a little scary as I unwittingly found out the hard way reading a couple pages to my soon to be four year old son. It's truly a great book- take it from someone who spent most of her life looking to buy it.

Catwitch is the best book ever written. It may look like a children's book with its pictures of talking cats and horses and faeries, but it is a book that can enjoyed by adults and children alike. I started reading this as a library copy when I was very young, probably five or six, but I'm twenty one now, and it was out of print by the time I found it. Luckily, a few weeks agao, I managed to buy a used copy here on Amazon. The book was absolutely everything I remembered, and now, being older, I can appreciate it on a different level.

The book follows the adventures of Jules, a small kitten in search of life, who becomes apprenticed to a witch, Eva Eden. Eva is a former actress, who needs to perform the great spell in order to restore herself to her former glory. The problem is that she needs alicorn and can't remember what it is. Jules finds out, but it's too late, the alicorn has been stolen by a rival warlock, and Eva's landlord, Alexander Wylie. The ending of the book is beautiful and hopeful, the illustrations are gorgeous and the story is just wonderful. I really don't have the words to say enough good things about this book!

...I've had it as long as I can remember, and have always loved it.
The art is gorgeous, and the story is fun.
It's nice to see a story with a witch in it who isn't that sterriotypical evil old hag. Plus, the small details about witches, mostly true!
I cannot highly recomend this book enough! It will defanetly entice the imagination.

Great story time book for children - especially for children whose parents/Grandparents have sheep! Even for those who don't, it helps to teach them that sheep can provide clothing, too.

I love this book. I bought it for my kids to give me for Mother's Day. I'm a handspinner and just love this story about Charlie the shepherd who needs a new cloak. He goes through all the steps from shearing his sheep to sewing the finished fabric together into a new cloak. It has great humor and is a fun read.

Tomie dePaola always writes such good books, that I don't worry if it will be good, I know it will be. I will be using this book to help with a yarn/fiber art unit in class. I have enjoyed reading it and I know my students will like it too.

I enjoy dePaola's books very much, but this one I am extra enthusiastic about. I work in a classroom of 3,4 and 5 year olds, and I am responsible for selecting literature for, and reading to, the younger children in the class. Sometimes when I am reading a dePaola book I have to cut some of the narrative to keep their attention. I don't have to do that at all with this book. This is a book that will keep the 3 year old's attention and still offer something to the older children as well. A lot of the charm of this story is the pictures which feature the action outlined in the text as to what Charlie is doing and also clearly represents the agendas of a spunky sheep and craftly mouse. YOung children love to discover these little "surprises" within the illustrations.

While I am a pre-service teacher, the second grade classroom that I am observing is currently working with _Charlie Needs a Cloak_and sequencing. The students are given the prompt of each of Charlie's actions on 'wool' pieces and then the students write 2-3 complete sentences using various punctuation. Also, there is a story within a story, which students (at least these 12 second graders) showed enthusiasm with prediction and sequencing. The story within a story format is one big reason why I am a fan of this book!

This book is packed full of useful information and it's presented in a clear, readable and very comforting way. I found Cooper and Glazer wise, compassionate and very informed. I read the book from cover to cover and then started all over again.

My husband and I have been struggling with infertility for six years and have read several books on the subject. Choosing Assisted Reproduction is the most comprehensive, informative and challenging book that we have come across. We were both relieved to see that the authors raise some of the ethical questions that we are struggling with. They do so in a very sensitive way, always respecting the difficult choices that infertility patients face in this new world of baby making. I recommend this book to anyone going through infertility, as well as to their families and friends.

As an infertility specialist, I'd heartily recommend this book to all infertile couples - and their doctors as well. The forte of this book is the superb way in which emotional issues have been discussed.

This compassionately written book has provided a constant reference and framework within which to think during the hugely emotional period of infertility. It has managed to normalise to some extent the weird world in which readers of this book dwell. It has contributed largely to my change of views on the right of the child to know its biological history. I would recommend it as essential reading for anyone going into third party parenting.

I can't believe that anyone let me start the process of infertility treatment (beyond the clomid stage) without telling me to read this. I found it on my own when having to decide whether my only chance to have a child, egg donation, was right for my husband and myself. I only WISH someone had told me about it sooner. It would have helped me think about all of "this" in a not so crazy way. It's technical, but, those of us who go through infertility procedures know more about the getting pregnant process than most books and online souces give us credit for. These authors treat us like intelligent human beings.

My daughter fell in love with the Clarence and Smokey books a few years ago, and now that she's 7 she still loves to read them regularly. The three books in the series are hard to find, but they are some of the funnest children's books around!

Clarence really has it all. He's a "wee" pig with a nice apartment in the city. And he is fortunate enough to take a vacation. He's excitedly boarding a bus for a ranch out west. Clarence is even excited about the bus ride.

Things look pretty gloomy when Clarence arrives at the ranch. He's too late for dinner, he's forgotten his favorite pillow, and there isn't a familiar face in sight.

Life is brighter when the next morning Clarence meets Smoky, a large purple horse. They become fast friends and partake in simple adventures together. But when Smoky is no longer needed at the ranch, Clarence fears he'll never see his friend again. Clarence must figure out a way to keep his friend with him. Will he?

Clarence has pluck! And his sense of adventure is wonderfully refreshing. The delightful illustrations add so much to this lovely story of friendship and "going the extra mile" to stay together.

I found myself chuckling numerous times when I looked at the pictures of Clarence packing, having snacks on the bus and line dancing with Smoky. But my favorite is the last illustration in the book as it represents love and friendship.

Armchair Interviews says: Children will enjoy Clarence and Smoky's adventures and we suspect their parents and grandparents will also.

One of our teaching assistants came to me and begged for this title to be added to the library collection. After checking the book out online, I ordered it. To my delight, it arrived in my book order, and I immediately read it to my 2nd graders in library. We all fell in love with Clarence and Smoky. Both characters are well written and delighfully drawn. The simplistic storyline can easily be read by beginning readers. This is a must for every personal collection!

Not only does my daughter thoroughly enjoy Clarence & Smoky & the colorful illustrations, but I like the idea that she's getting fun lessons on compassion, friendship & priorities. Having lived in the big city & now finding myself in "the West," I truly enjoy this book myself. (Or perhaps it's my similar tendencies to pack my favorite snacks & not enough clothes when I travel...)This is one of the few books I don't mind reading 4 times before bed!

Clarence, a city dwelling little pig, sets out on his first big vacation to a dude ranch, out west. After a long and interesting bus ride, he arrives and meets Smoky, a very large and friendly purple horse who introduces him to all the pleasures of western ways. Smoky takes him on long rides through the mountains and canyons, teaches Clarence to play cards with the boys, line dance, and perform on the washtub in a cowboy band. They eat, nap, and even read stories together. It's a wonderful week. But as his vacation comes to an end, Smoky tells Clarence he's getting too old to work on the ranch anymore, and is going to be sold. Best friends are hard to come by, and Clarence can't stand the thought of never seeing his favorite horse again. So he uses all his bus money to buy Smoky, and together they begin the long ride back to the city. It may take years, but as long as they're together, they have all the time in the world..... Jean Ekman Adams has written a delightful story with a gentle message about loyalty, compassion, and friendship, that won't be lost on young readers. Her simple and engaging text, with its satisfying, happily ever after ending, is beautifully enhanced by her charming, bold, and vibrant illustrations, full of endearing ranch characters, and subtle, humorous detail. Perfect for youngsters 3-7, Clarence Goes Out West And Meets A Purple Horse, is a sweet and entertaining, feel good story, that is sure to put a smile on everyone's face. This soon-to-be classic, is a picture book youngsters will beg to read again and again.

My sister gave us this book for Christmas after her two young girls went crazy over it. Now my son is hooked! He squirms and wiggles during almost every other book but sits perfectly still for Cowboy Baby. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone!

Every night. And before every nap. Yeah, I'm starting to get sick of it, but not my 2 year old...he still requests it. The only negative is that my 7 year old heard the Kid Rock song "Cowboy" on the radio (I'm gonna be a cowboy, baby) and wonders if Kid Rock has read this book. I think I'm going to have to switch radio stations, at least while the kids are in the car.

I stumbled upon this book by chance. After the first read ~(with attempted Texan accent) I read this book every night for 6 weeks. A wonderful book which captivated my girls like no other.

My kids fell hard for this cowboy baby and his adventures with his pals Texas Ted and Denver Dog, even though they're probably -- at 5 and 6 -- officially "too old" for it.

Sure, it's hokey. Sure, it's a British writer's caricature of what life in the West must be like. But the illustrations are so irresistably cheerful, and the story so beguilingly cute that this is definitely one worth lassoing for your own little cowpokes.

I am a Mom of 5 girls, and a former teacher, and I don't know WHY, but Cowboy Baby is my 3 and 4 year olds' favorite book. The pictures are great, the theme of "finding your lost stuffed animals" is familiar, a book with Dad gets my husband to read it more, and the way the book lends itself to be read in silly voices must be the reasons it is a hit!! I am actually buying a second copy because our first is wearing out!! (Our original one was a garage sale gem. :))

My 3 yr. old son LOVES the Lois Lenski books, this being one of his (and my) favorites. We started reading it when he was just 2, and we have also read all the other cowboy books we can find. In my opinion, this is the one to get for a toddler. My son loves to ride around the house on his stick horse playing Cowboy Small. Timeless.

I bought this for my "almost" grandson's first birthday. I remember it from my farm and ranch childhood and now it will enchant another generation. It is somewhat "Dick and Jane"--very easy to memorize. Also it is nice to now have the board book for the really little ones.

My 14-month-old loves this book. We read it over and over again! We live in a fairly rural area and we walk every day to see horses. The book's simple drawings of horses (and cowboys) working and going about their day capitvates my daughter. It's suggested for kids around four, but it's a real hit with our toddler. I wish they had a Cowgirl Small, but that's just me.

You can't go wrong with Cowboy Small. Even if your child isn't into being a cowboy, they will like this story. My 2 girls (now ages 22 and nearly 13) both LOVED Cowboy Small! I read it over and over and over and over...we had it on permanent checkout from the library it seems!! Then the library gave it to us when they were clearing out worn books...we were thrilled and treasured this book! I read this book so much I can still recite most of it. My son is 7 and he likes to play cowboy and he likes his reissue copy of Cowboy Small, but it is interesting that my girls asked for it to be read to them much more often. Our children's bouncy horse even got named Cactus in honor of Cowboy Small's horse. I recently gave this book to a 60+ yr. old friend who has horses and dresses in cowboy clothes, and he loved it! He has it displayed on a shelf in his livingroom and reads it to his grandchildren when they visit. I repeat: you just cannot go wrong with Cowboy Small. It has a simple but great story, nice pictures, and is a whole lot of fun. So glad it is available for today's children.

This is a great book, very light hearted and catchy. Be prepared to keep it handy, it's one of those books you will read to your child, niece, nephew.... over and over again.

Title: Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent
Author: Bill Peet
Favorite Characters: Cyrus, Caption

Cyrus is board and wants to find something to do. A shark told him to go wreck a ship and when Cyrus follows a ship out to see, he ends up saving it! First, he blew the ship out of the doldrums. Than he kept it floating trough a storm and after that, he saved the ship from pirates!
Cyrus than noticed that the ships sails were torn off because of the pirates. The people would be stranded at sea for ever if he didn't do something. He was clever enough to figure out what to do. You should figure out what he did your self by reading this book.
...

Title: Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent
Author: Bill Peet
Favorite Characters: Cyrus, Caption

Cyrus is board and wants to find something to do. A shark told him to go wreck a ship and when Cyrus follows a ship out to see, he ends up saving it! First, he blew the ship out of the doldrums. Than he kept it floating trough a storm and after that, he saved the ship from pirates!
Cyrus than noticed that the ships sails were torn off because of the pirates. The people would be stranded at sea for ever if he didn�t do something. He was clever enough to figure out what to do. You should figure out what he did your self by reading this book.

Once again, Bill Peet has captivated his audience with yet another unique and imaginative tale! As with every one of his books, Cyrus the Sea Serpeant is a delight to read and presents a lesson in creature kindness, no matter what shape or size. Through adversity and prejudice, a determined Cyrus proves to be an unlikely hero. Certain to bring a smile to all faces and a pure joy to read!

I've read elsewhere that this book is about resisting peer pressure. That sub-story is over in the first few pages and really does little but set the scene. What this story is really about is courage, self-sacrifice, and the protection of innocent life against a world that often is far too dangerous. Many adults could benefit from giving this a read and taking it to heart, and yet it's not preachy or over the heads of the children it is targetted towards. Add to this the absolutely gorgeous colored-pencil artwork (Bill Peet worked for Disney for a while; his character designs give the original 101 Dalmations and the Sword in the Stone much of their charm) and some truly memorable characters, and you have my favorite children's book, ever.

This charming story is certain to bring a smile to your face. I love it even more than my son does. The drawings are delightfully done. Bill Peet is one of the very rare children's book authors who are able to produce both an excellent story and great pictures. All of his books are good, but some are better than others; Cyrus is one of his best.

This is one of the best kid's picture books ever - my children loved all of Joyce's books - but Bob, Santa Calls and Meet the Robinsons are their favorites - even now at ages 18 and 22, they both agree that Bob Rocks! We have now bought William Joyce's books for the next generation of kids in our family.

The book Dinosaur Bob is a great book for many reasons. It is a great book because it is funny. I think it is funny because it is about a family on vacation and they stumble upon a dinosaur and the parents actually say the family can keep the dinosaur as a pet. They name the dinosaur Bob. When the family gets back home everything is going well until Bob becomes too wild and the police are going to send them back to the Safari where he came from. Then their dad has an idea to get him back and everyone is happy again. Dinosaur Bob is great book to read because you might like dinosaurs and wish you had one of your own. I would recommend this book to any age because I am a fifth grader and I love this book and you will too.

I can't say enough good about WIlliam Joyce. He's one of my two or three favorite illustraters. His drawings are so detailed that you can almost see individual leaves in his plants and bushes. Besides, his unbelievable technical ability, he also is extremely inventive. On one page in this book, the dinosaur and his friends aren't shown except in their shadows and like in all his books, the colors seem almost too bright to be real.

Both story and illustrations are absolutely first-rate. My children had borrowed the original edition from the library several times so when I found this edition I bought it immediately. It's been a family favorite for several years now. Buy it and you too can go through your days humming "The Ballad of Dinosaur Bob."

...Dinosaur Bob is one of those children's books you just read over and over to your kids. It is funny from start to finish, with Bob the Dino and his family the Lazardos. My boys loved it as kids and will pass it down to theirs.

We received Don't Wake the Baby when my daughter was 2 and we immediately bought Wake Up Sleeping Beauty as well. My daughter still loves these books -- she is now 5 -- and my now 2 year old daughter asks to read them over and over again. The books are so charming, that my husband and I don't mind!

This is a book with tabs on each page which causes the characters to move and accompanying sounds to occur. The storylines are funny, the movements are imaginative, and the sounds are terrific. The only problem is that it's easy for little fingers to tear the tabs and pages with their enthusiasm or, in our case, sheer repetition, even though the pages are heavy stock.

My daughters loved this book and we read it until the batteries wore out. It's really cute and unusual with great sound effects.

My 18 month old daughter received this as a Christmas gift from her Grandparents and absolutely loves reading it with Dad and Mom or on her own. She loves to pull the tabs and surprisingly enough after several months of abuse, it still works. I'm purchasing another copy so her brother has a chance to read this great book!

This book is great! I first got one for my daughter when she was about 2 (and a real Daddy's girl!). She loved it so much she'd go to sleep with it! The pull-tabs are pretty easy to move, even for her, but most of the time I have to do it for her and help her resist the temptation of tearing away at the parts that stand out. Well, having been somewhat unsuccessful in doing that, we now have to get a second copy for her little brother! But not until after we wore out the battary in the book first!

My baby boy Emre, loved this book since he was 12 months old. Now he is 16 months old and he is still crazy about it. When I take this book out, he gets involved in it for at least half an hour. Nothing else can do that. He imitates the sounds and loves to pull the tabs. Of course the figures got pretty damaged with such pulling and tearing but still it works. And the book is quite good in making the mother role an independent one, and making the father the care taker at home, at least for one night.
I deinitely recommend it.