I read this book to my 14 month old son every day and he loves it! When he sees the book he gets so excited and will say "mooo" and "baaa". While we are reading the books he will open the flaps to see the animals and then touches the amimal. We love it and will be buying more books like it.

In Hank's 20th hilarious adventure, he finds himself threatened by a phantom dog from the other side of the mirror. It seems that this dog and his companion, the "Handsome Prince", have nothing better to do than threaten to take over Hank and Drover's ranch by imitating their every move from the other side of the glass. Don't miss this great book!

This beautifully illustrated story book is more than just an funny tale. Outline drawings of the key words are replaced with colored stickers and the word to help children learn to read. This book is just as suitable for children learning to talk as those learning to read. Each page has a hidden duck which helps little ones with their powers of obsevation. My 18 month daughter just giggled with delight each time she found the duck and received her "I found the Duck" reward sticker, and she learned quite a few new words as we worked through the stickers. Now, six weeks later she still enjoys reading the story book. I liked it so well I'll probably buy all the books in this series.

Walt Coburn was my grandfather's cousin, and he wrote what he knew - cowboy stories and wild west happenings. This book is my favorite of everything he's done except for "Stirrup High" as it describes in detail what it was like to live on a cattle ranch in the late 1800's. He also details an encounter with Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce tribe en route to Canada. The items given to my family by Chief Joseph remain in the family. Walt's gift of "spinning yarns" as he would say, was mostly put to fiction, it's wonderful to see this historical item in his list of books written. Bravo cousin!

This story may not follow the TV series canon precisely, but it's very nicely written and hard to put down. I found myself totally caught up in Ben Cartwright's early life, experiencing all the joy and sadness along with him. I would highly recommend this book and all of Calder's Bonanza books for any fans of the TV series.

I am the mother of a two year old daughter and was delighted to find the magic of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books captured in a format that is perfect for small children. As a child, I became fascinated with the adventures of Laura, Mary and their baby sister Carrie. Prairie Day is a synopsis of the Little House on the Prairie book. With vivid drawings that have been inspired by the artwork on the original covers by Garth Williams, Renee Graef manages to convey the story in pictures that have captured the imagination of my daughter. I look forward to sharing with her the original books in the future, but meanwhile we will continue to enjoy the series of books that Prairie Day is a part of.

In this day when children are often burdened with the demands of a materialistic culture, Rachel Maendel reminds us of the lost simple joys of yesteryear's childhood. She shares true stories of her youth, having grown up on a communal farm of the Hutterite sect in Western Canada. Children are seen as a gift from God. Extended family life is the norm. The natural rhythm of farm life unfolds.

The richness and vitality of their life together seemingly leaps off the page. The reader delights in one fun happening after another - sleeping all cozy and snug with her sister in their Schlofbonk feather bed, visiting Uncle Jacob's shoe shop, sitting in a hayloft laughing with her cousin, searching for eggs among the rushes and gathering them in her apron, being disobedient and coming face to face with a bull, the fun adventure of the mother hen hatching geese, just to name a few. The wonderful surprise ending adds the last laugh. The illustrator, Hannah Marsden, does a powerful job making the appealing word images come into vivid and beautiful color.

If you want your child to experience a time when life did not revolve around the internet and endless "leisure" activites, this book is a must read. Our family could not recommend it more strongly. A real treasure.

Jane Yolen has written a substantial number of picturebooks. She touches fantasy, the ghoulish, the comic, and also thecultural in her many titles. Some of her titles have struck me as too dark or gory for young children, and some have struck me as a little too political, but most of her work I have found quite enjoyable. Of all her books that I have read, however, Raising Yoder's Barn is the best.

It is an exploration of the Amish community way of life. The story is told from the point of view of a young boy, Yoder's son. He tells of a lightning strike that burns his family's barn to the ground, and the resulting "barn raising" that their Amish community holds to help the family recover from the loss. The text is beautiful, almost poetic, and Bernie Fuchs's paintings offer an emotional enhancement to the story. He uses slight blurring and an emphasis on light to make emotional statements with each one. It's lovely.

The story nicely conveys the religious faith of the Amish, with Yoder encouraging his family at the end of the barn raising to give thanks to God for His wonderful provision.

A poignant way to introduce children to the Amish lifestyle.

Michael Light is a magnificent American artist whose photos are very thought provoking. His images portray mans attempt to conquer and control the space around him yet show the beauty of this landscape as well. Full Moon is another wonderful book by this wonderful artist.

The Saddle Club has been invited to go out West and help Eli and Jeannie run a summer riding camp for kids. All of them want to go, after all, they have not seen Kate for a while and what's better than spending three weeks out West working with horses? Lisa gets bad news when her parents plan a surprise trip during the summer...to Europe! While Carole, Stevie and Kate battle three brats out west, Lisa runs into someone very familiar at a horse show...