Baby Books

I don't what it is about the Best Behavior series... but they WORK on my son. We're amazed but the desired behavior change is almost immediate. Somehow, he 'gets it' after once or twice through the book. He also asks for these books to be read to him multiple times and goes back to them after time has passed. It gives us a common vocabulary to use with our son. We've used the kicking, hitting and biting prevention books very successfully.

Our 3 year old grandson did kick others. After reading this book, which he practically has memorized, he stopped kicking. I like the board books as children read the same book over and over, and these hold up well. Great pictures and also examples of when it is OK to kick.

This book helped me talk to my 5 year old about why kicking is not a good thing to do. It had some great tips in the back as well.

I love these books. It is really helping my toddler to understand what not to do.

My 28 month old loves the books in this series, and we have unfortunately needed them. He related to the pictures of the injured and offended, and it has really helped his behavior. This one focuses a lot more on what feet should do, more so than the Teeth Are Not For Biting does with the teeth, which is good and bad.

This is a very fun, colorful book for the holidays but the number of flaps and the smaller size of some of the flaps may be a bit too much for littler fingers. But overall, a good holiday book.

Across the board, I recommend all of the Fischer Price Lift The Flap books. My son really enjoys these.

I just love Fisher Price. They have so many fun things to pick from. One of my favorite things is the 'lift the flap' books. My grandchildren and I have so much fun reading them. We put the Christmas Time book with all of my other special Christmas books and I think it was used more than any of the others. We have put them away now and will get it back out next Christmas and once again it will be a favorite to be shared by all.

I bought this book for my daughter who is almost 3. She has all of the other Fisher Price flap books and adores them all, so when I spotted this one I knew we had to get it. She loves this one also. I recommend all of the "Little People" flap books for boys and girls alike.

I bought this for my two year old granddaughter after she enjoyed other books with flaps. She loved this one too and wanted to read it at least 2 or 3 times a visit. Not much of a plot but she loved looking at and talking about the pictures.

My son loves this book. I started reading it to him when he was about 6 months old. Now that is he one, he will bring the book to me so I can read it too him. And he will pull the tabs covering the animals. He gets so excited.

Not too much to say. I am a Rainforest collector (well FP stuff that is). The book is colorful and a cute story. My kids love it and so do I. :)

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
on 09/20/2008

This little book is very colorful with a bit of a puzzle feel. Children are asked to find an animal in the jungle, which is drawn in bright greens, oranges, yellows, and reds. The animals hide behind flaps. When they're found, the child sees an uncluttered picture, with a labeled, smaller picture on the reverse of the flap.

The flaps in this board book seem sturdier than average, but I am still concerned about small kids pulling them off. For flap books, I tend to recommend them for preschoolers rather than babies--although flaps often don't survive three years olds either!

Cute and educational, this is a nice little book for your child's library.

4.5 Books

Our baby hasn't arrived yet and our theme is Fisher Price's Rainforest, so this is a great book! It contains all the characters from the rainforest theme and will be great to read to the baby as he or she gets older. A definate plus in the line of Rainforest!!

What a cute little book to match all the neat nursery items in the Fisher Price Rainforest collection. When baby starts to look around his Rainforest environment and ask questions about all the jungle animals, this book is the perfect answer to those questions. Its durable and sturdy, colorful and beautiful to look at. A good value for the price as well!

I ordered this book on Amazon.com for my grandson. With shipping it cost me a little over $10.00. He never recieved it. I ended up buying the book locally and shipping it out myself!!! No more amazon for me!

I was a kindergarten teacher and this rhyme was a staple during the month of October. When I saw it had been made into a book, I got it for my 2 year old daughter. It is perfect for this age. Short, rhyming text and vibrant pumpkin pictures. My 4 year old twins like it too because they are so familiar with the rhyme they feel like they are reading it themselves. Definitely a favorite for Halloween in this house.

The rhyme of Five Little Pumpkins is SO easy to read and memorize, the board book holds up very well, and the illustrations are very endearing--the jack-o-lantern faces are expressive and the colors are beautiful. This book made my 20-month-old son a jack-o-lantern fan, and I haven't gotten tired of reading it to him yet!

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "Oh, my it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!"
The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun?"

Then Woooooo went the wind
And OUT went the lights.
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

My 2 1/2 year old just loves Halloween. It's only June as I write this and he's already asking if Halloween is coming soon almost on a daily basis. So when I saw this book at a yard sale I just had to pick it up. This delightful verse that has been around so long is accompanied by cute and spooky illustrations of pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and black cats. Just a delightful and sturdy little board book. Perfect for your little goblin.

Dan Yaccarino captures the essence of Halloween with simple, yet expressive pictures of pumpkins, ghosts and a black cat. My one year old son Ryan loves it when i read the story of the Five Little Pumpkins. He points to all the different pumpkin faces and loves their orange glow. The book wipes clean and withstands being dragged all over the house! I am a big fan of Dan Yaccarino's work, love his cartoon Oswald, so this book is a big Halloween fun delight!

THE FORGETFUL BEARS is a wonderful and entertaining story for young children. We have used the book in here classes at Seton School with great success, our young students always entranced with the stirring plot (and the concomitant moral values). Kudos to the authors!

My little girl simply loves The Forgetful Bears story. And as all us parents know, five-year olds are never wrong--about anything. It's a bed time favorite around our house.

The situations and the characters are very charming. Theillustrations are lovely. My nephew loooooved it.

The book is a real delight. My child loves it and wants it read constantly. For me, that's the true test.

I read the book to my kids and they absolutely loved it. I am sure that I will be reading it to them many more times.

I loved this song book and the CD - a record when I was growing up- so much. Now when my friends started having children I knew that I had to give their children the same experience but I couldn't find it anywhere until I found amazon.com! I think it made me realize as a little girl that I could be anything I wanted to be. Now I am a lawyer and happily married and continue to feel free to be me!

I first heard of FTBY&M in 5th grade(1979) the whole school watched it in assembly. I loved it-all the stories and most of all the music. It touched me like nothing I had seen or heard before. The title song had our whole school singing for days! Years later i just happened to come across the book in our library, and WOW! all those memories came rushing back!! THEN, two years ago, i was given the soundtrack to FTBY&M, and I have not stopped singing since. The music and stories got me thru a serious illness and a horrible breakup= and when I one day have kids of my own, I will pass the legacy on!!!!!

This book brings back fond memories of when I first heard these songs/stories back in grade school. I really think they are wonderful, motivating stories and songs that truly inspire children. I had to get it for my first baby so he can also experience the magic.

I love Free to Be...You and Me probably because I am currently in the play. I actually have a preformance tonight! I love this book and its a Great Show!!! I actually never heard of it until I started the show. The great songs like "Glad to have a friend like you", "Something For Everyone", "Brothers and sisters", 'Free To be you and me" and "Free to be a family" are all spectacular!!!!!!!! Of course every song is great !!!!!!! The stories like "Boy meets Girl", "ladies First", "The Kingdom with no rules or Laws" are all such good stories especially "The Kingdom with no Rules or laws" thats my favortie because in the show i play the mother in that story. I love this book and play b/c its about kids and I'm a kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I grew up in the late '70s playing the record of "Free to Be you and Me" over and over. My mom actually had to buy me a second copy because I lost the song book and couldn't live without it. I still sing "When We Grow Up" and "It's Allright To Cry" in the shower and to my nephews. Now I share the wisdom of Atalanta and William's Doll with the teenage mothers I teach. While it doesn't take a genius to figure out the songs on the record were recorded in the '70s, they are timeless treasures for all of our children. Buy this book and the CD for the important children in your life. You'll never be sorry!

I recently purchased this book for a baby shower that had requested in lieu of wrapping paper to buy the baby a book. I used to work as a library reference assistant and came across this book while shelving childrens' books. It is delightful with a good message about tolerance. The illustrations are beautiful! Highly recommended. I will purchase again and again along with The Story of Ping and Make Way for Ducklings.

Thanks for sending out the book so promptly. I got it and love it! Thanks

This is a darling story and you don't know how things will turn out, so its a real page turner for the little child! The drawings are lovely! It was great fun, and a nice book to read over and over.

Three good friends, a rooster, a mouse, and a pig, spend all day together having fun. They sail a boat, pick cherries, and go fishing. At night they try to stay together in each other's homes, but soon discover that each one has a home that is only suited for itself. So the friends realize they have to part for the night after all. But they still dream about each other. The book has no scary bits- -it might be a good place to start when discussing the plusses and minuses of sleepovers with young children. The book has about 500 words.

This absolutely charming tale is told simply, yet carries such a potent message about friendship -- such as thoughtfulness and consideration, teamwork and the art of compromise... and accepting differences. The illustrations are delightful and made my children and I laugh out loud. We can't wait to read "Friends Go Adventuring!" We're going to investigate all of Helme Heine's books.

Frog Goes to Dinner is a hilarious story that will engage language learners of all levels. The interesting plot line allows for practice of vocabulary and sentence structures used in the context of "going to a restaurant". This topic is of course useful at the beginning stages of language learning. A fun resource for use by teachers and students both.

Mercer Mayer's series of books are not only great for Children who are beginning to speak, they are also fantastic tools for language learning. Wordless books allow a language learner and their language helper to learn vocabulary and construct stories together in the target language. It is great for vocabulary consolidation, grammar development, and the development of storytelling skills.

I use this well-"written" book in speech and language intervention--assessment and treatment. The monochromatic illustrations are excellent, bringing to life the very funny story. Wordless books in general are great for language therapy, because the child is able to practice generating a narrative, with visual support. This one in particular is useful, because the story is tight and unambiguous. I highly recommend all of the Boy/Dog/Frog series, especially this one and "A Boy, a Dog, a Frog, and a Friend."

This wordless picture book is great fun, especially the frog's expressions. Even though there are no words, you can still follow the plot easily and even pay more attention to the characters' expressions. I definitely recommend this book!

Frog Goes to Dinner was a big hit in my class. The book has no text so it leaves a lot to the child's imagination. The pictures tell it all. The children made up their own names and were able to retell the story with ease. I would like to have a big book version in my class.

As a mom of two emerging readers (one 3, one 5) I have done alot of research into how children learn to read and this summer I am in hot pursuit of books that will help them practice.

One of the key skills that appears over and over in the literature is the ability to get 'clues' as to what is going on in the story from the pictures that accompany the text. This is one of the reasons I like this book. Without words, it allows my youngsters to practice their pre-reading skills of analyzing and interpreting what pictures mean.

The other reason, of course, is that this book is simply delightful. The drawings are detailed and funny and they keep my children coming back for more. A cute addition for a family's bookshelves.

[Don't forget to check out Tomie dePaola's wordless books as well.]

Good Reading reference books: "Reading Magic" by Mem Fox; " Raising Lifelong Learners" by Lucy McCormick; and the comprehensive if more cumbersome, "Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print" by Marilyn Jager Adams.

Pam T~
mom and reviewer for www.BooksForKids.com

This book came to me with high recommendation and it is covers the topic of workplace relationships much more in depth than I expected.

It has helped me better understand the communication dynamics that I encounter in the workplace. It certainly clears up some of the difficulties I experienced in dealing with Bloggers.

When it comes right down to it, many of our workplace frustrations come from unclear communication. This books should be used in colleges to educate the new workforce. It would be great to see businesses using it as a topic for training.

In fact I will be training the principles highlighted in this book.

A very valuable resource for everyone.

I highly recommend Misti Burmeister's new book "From Boomers to Bloggers:
Success Strategies Across Generations." Ms. Burmeister explains the puzzling
but very real conflicts that often occur in today's work place between seasoned
and entering professionals. She then provides practical communication techniques
for bridging this generation gap that will improve productivity, efficiency, and personal
satisfaction. Arguing persuasively for mentoring relationships that benefit
all parties, Burmeister offers many examples based on her own experiences
and those of colleagues in readable and entertaining prose enlivened by a
variety of inspiring and memorable quotations on leadership and the "good
life."

This book is a nice introduction to life in the working world. It's more than just making money for the weekends... working can be a lot of fun if you take it seriously and understand teamwork is needed to be successful. I am sending this to my nephew (in college) to give him a competitive edge since this is material not even discussed in college. It is written with two perspectives, for the young professional and for the seasoned pro. I feel college grads would be better prepared and more mature after reading this one book.

Misti Burmeister has a wonderful ability to teach through experience. Her knowledge of generational differences and how to bring them together is terrific. I recommend this book to anyone struggling with "How do I reach the upcoming generation?"

I have found the biggest challenge in business to be the ability to communicate with the people around you, and there is no question that cross-generational communication presents the biggest challenge of all. Misti Burmeister has changed that with one of the most important publications of our time on the subject.

from Boomers to Bloggers should be required reading for baby boomers and the young professionals to whom they will pass the baton. Misti has done us all a service with specific advice on ways to communicate effectively, to break down artificial barriers and to celebrate relationships that would otherwise have been lost in the translation.

Thanks Misti! Awesome work!

Goblin Market, a verse fairy tale that was first published in 1862, is a rather fascinating piece of masterful poetry. It tells a wonderfully sensuous tale that has inspired a myriad of interpretations. I've spent more time reading about Goblin Market than I did actually reading it - savoring it, rather, for it really calls for a much more personal treatment than a mere reading. This pre-Raphaelite work harbors latent eroticism that echoes with both renunciation and desire. Thus, some term it a work of repressed Victorian eroticism and grin knowingly (and leeringly) as they recount the fact that Goblin Market was quite a popular children's fairy tale in its day. Christine Rossetti was herself a recluse along the lines of Emily Dickinson, allowing her heart to sing freely even as she kept herself separated from any possible objects of her latent desires.

In the poem, one sister gives in to the temptation of the forbidden fruit offered by the dark goblins forever lurking in the twilight to seduce their victims to a first taste of their exotic wares. The desire to obtain more of the passion fruit overtakes her young life, yet the goblins appear to her no more; as a result, she begins to waste away near to death. At this point, her sister, who sensibly avoided temptation, willingly seeks to bargain with the goblins, only to have them force their juicy wares upon her. The fruity residue is enough, however, to revive her sister. The act of salvation is obviously the juiciest part of the story on a number of levels - such a sensual act between sisters, with lines such as "Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices" and "Eat me, drink me, love me," cries out for interpretation of all kinds - and those quick to criticize the hypocritical prudishness of Victorian society have a veritable field day with it.

Some say this is not a poem for children's ears? Balderdash. Like any masterful work of poetry, Goblin Market can be read and interpreted on many levels. Children will delight in its lyrical rhyming patterns, its allusions to wee goblins hawking the most delicious of fruits, and interpret the salvation of the tempted sister in comparatively innocent terms. I say leave the interpretations to the adults. And what interpretations there are of this lengthy poem. Some see in it a recreation of the genesis story, a story of sacrifice and redemption, a tale of lesbian yearning, a declaration of the power of sisterhood, a commentary on women as commodities in market society, evidence of sexual molestation by Rossetti's father, etc. There's no limit to the interpretations put forth about what is, on the surface, an engaging fairy tale set to verse.

This is a fascinating work of lyrical poetry that can be read fairly quickly yet will sustain your interest through multiple readings, all sorts of fascinating research into analysis and interpretation, and just plain wonderment. As sensual as it is beautiful, Goblin Market is probably one of the most fascinating and insightful products of Victorian literature.

I wonder if the good folk at the end of the 19th century when this poem was originally published were just too obtuse to understand the gist of Rossetti's work; if so, we have an innocent artifact that has evolved into something erotic because of our twentieth century sensibilities (we have dirtier minds than our compatriots from the past).

Don't let the word "erotica" scare you away. This is not a blatantly sexual work in its language; it is not a "dirty" book. Just understand that despite what anyone else says or writes, this is about as unambiguously EROTIC as you can get. With phrasing like "Eat me, drink me, love me; Laura, make much of me; For your sake I have braved the glen; And had to do with goblin merchant men."

Since the original work is now in the public domain, if you want to read the full text online just do a search using most standard search engines with the terms "Christina Rossetti Goblin Market" and you should turn up a number of links to the actual poems, go read it, and decide for yourself about it.

This makes a wonderful gift for people you are very close too. However, it is also a very personal poem, and if given inappropriately could actually scare someone away!

Noted Italian/English poetess of the 1800's Christina Rossetti's imagination catching poetry has stood the test of time, being still loved and studied today. Because of its title, Goblin Market sometimes gets put into a juvenile category, but this is a poem for mature readers. This moral tale depicts the epic struggle between bad and good. The goblin's onslaught on virtue immediately engages the reader's inner ear and heart. This poem is really gripping reading. Goblin Market is often considered Christina Rossetti's best poem. This re-issue, replete with noted illustrator Arthor Rackham's beautifully eerie drawings, is a book worth owning.

A children tale for adults. It's a light and thoughtful reading. The story of two sisters and lewd goblin men. Innocence, temptation and emotions all together. This inspiring story has wonderful work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

This tale is not about sexuality but about redemption and the need to help others. Read deep into the story to find the meaning that Rossetti intended.