My two-and-a-half-year-old son loves this book! The text is refreshing--simple, yet joyful and instructional--a rare feat. The paintings of Teddy Bear's first day at preschool are colorful but not cartoonish, detailed but not pretentious. I highly recommend this book.

Our two year old son will be starting preschool in September and this book was a perfect introduction to what happens at school. It covered making new friends, building blocks, snack time and story time. It's been our bedtime story every night this week!

At the Hotel Larry is just hilarious. Larry is a polar bear who has drifted from the polar regions to New Jersey. Pinkwater's trademark humor is in full effect. A great picture book for ages 3-103 !

The narrator of this story is a girl who lives in a hotel with her father and mother. Larry, a polar bear, once saved her father's life, and as a reward, Larry wanted to live in a hotel with a swimming pool. So her father bought an old hotel, and Larry is the lifeguard. Every now and again, the girl disguises Larry in a very large coat, hat, and sunglasses, and they go to the Pancake Palace to eat blueberry pancakes. One day they go to the zoo, and I won't spoil the story by telling any more! The humor is wacky and sophisticated but will appeal to all ages.The style is simple and the book is fun to read because Larry is so clever and droll. I have read this book aloud countless of times to my 3-year-old. Larry has really captured the imagination of my son. Highly recommended for its humor and great illustrations.

Precious storybook, with wonderful easy to carry handle for those little hands! This story also includes such worthwhile comments like "buckle up" while Basil is in the car... a comment that bears repeating as much as possible for child's safety!

The book discusses all types of modes of transportation (bus, boat, bike, helicopter, car, train, airplane, and even space travel). Each page stimulated additional conversation from my two daughters, which made it even more valuable to our family's reading list!

This book is delightful, full of beautiful pictures with a touching story line.

I enjoyed reading this book to the 1st graders at my daughter's school. The children at this age are searching for friendship but are still hesitant to embrace it when they find it. The book gave me many opportunities to talk about how Moira and Marina had problems to work out in their friendship but when they worked on it, spoke honestly to one another about how they felt, they were able to have fun and enjoy being together. The disabilities of Marina and Moira also gave the children even more to discuss about differences - not just disabilities but it let to discussions on race, color, weight, family composition, religion and other perceived obstacles to friendship.
In all, the many photos of the girls made the book interesting for the children and the flow of the story made it a great tool for discussion and learning.

Illustrated with the black and white photography of Laura Dwight, Kirsten DeBear's Be Quiet, Marina! is an engaging picture book for very young children with a different look, as it tells the story of the noisy four-year-old girl Marina and the much quieter four-year-old girl Moira. Marina has cerebral palsy, and Moira has Down syndrome. At first Marina and Moira could not play because Moira was frightened of Marina's noise. But eventually Marina and Moira become best friends, in a story to be treasured. The text consists of simple sentences printed in big, bold black letters, making Be Quiet, Marina! the perfect book on a sensitive social subject for young people just beginning to learn how to read.

"Beady Bear" was one of my favorite books when I was a little girl. Now that I am an auntie I have re-discovered it and purchased copies as gifts for my nephews and the children of my friends. I need Beady! Corduroy, too. This is a charming book, and with its easy-to-memorize verse employing "small" words it is great for beginning (or aspiring!) readers.

At 2 my daughter knows whats coming next. She fills in any rhyming word, or phrase. We love the story. It's a great bed time book. It's a nightly request! "I need Beady"

I just got my copy of Beanie Baby Stories, and couldn't put it down. Many of the stories are touching, humorous, and even insightful. The book also includes children's illustrations of their favorite beanies. This is a perfect gift for families who are Beanie Baby collectors, or as a "get-well" or birthday gift. BEANIE BABY STORIES measures approximately 5"x6" to fit comfortably in anyone's hands, with a glossy cover and nice interior layouts. I contributed much of the trivia that appears in this book, and am very pleased to have been a part of this project. Congratulations to Susan Titus Osborn and Sandra Jensen for a job well-done! ~Kim

This is the perfect addition to any Beanie collection. It's filled with wonderful heartwarming stories any beanie lover will enjoy greatly.

Briggs has a knack for illustration that is simply awe inspiring. The bear in this book is just so big. Kids love to see such a big bear get into the house. He makes a mess of the bed and the bathroom, he dirties the floor which has to be cleaned up (good introduction to pets for children) and all the while the adults keep missing him. They just cannot manage to catch a glimpse of this huge bear wandering around their house.

This is a magical and imaginative book which my kids love. It takes a bit of reading at first, but once you get the gist of the story it is easy to lead the children from picture to picture, and it is very well illustrated. It reads almost like a TV programme.

Highly recommended by me. Suits from 2 year olds up to six or seven.

My daughter is three and she loves this book. She loves the wonderful pictures, as well as the imaginative story

My 3 year old adopted daughter from Korea checked this book out from our church library. I had no idea it was about adoption. It appeared to be just another story about Christmas.

When I read it aloud to her, I cried. First the little girl has a special doll named Amy, the same name as my daughter's special doll. Then 8 year old Robin gives away Amy to a less fortunate girl whom she visited on Christmas Eve(tears). The empty doll bed that night brings a mixture of sorrow and joy(more tears). On Christmas morning, Robin receives the toy bear that she wanted and names him Song to remind her of the song of joy in her heart when she gave away Amy(tears again).

Lastly when Robin grows up and finds that she cannot have children of her own, she applies the lesson she learned long ago: When you give away something valuable, you get something precious in return. Robin and her husband turn to adoption to find their something precious. They find it in Kimberly, the little girl who is the author of this book(many tears now). Truly a wonderful book with many emotions and a great way to tell children about adoption.

A Bear Named Song--The Gift of a Lifetime is one of, if not the best book for children on the sub- ject of adoption that I have ever read. The first part of the book, in which a girl sacrifices a favorite doll so that a less advantaged girl can have it puts us in touch with the birth mother's perspective. In my own experience with open adopt ion, my daughter's birth mother had the exact same feelings described in the book. The second half of the book is from the perspective of the adoptive parent and the adoptee, and it is a very accurate account of the feelings of all concerned. It is all very touching and I must admit that no matter how many times I read it, I always cry.

This quiet gem of a book has illustrations which transcend the merely beautiful - they evoke a kind of deeply-felt otherworldliness, in the same way that dreams can. I had this book as a child, and it left a special, magical, imprint unlike any other book I remember. It's a nice story as well. It's a pity that it seems to be out of print. Grab it if you have the chance. I have only seen (& own) the hardcover edition, so I don't know how thw softcover measures up.

The bears of Koala Park in Australia all become angry and stop speaking to each other. This bothers the wise old bear so he decides to throw a costume ball, where they can become friendly again not knowing who they are talking to. Beautifully illustrated by the author, this was a 1951 Caldecott Honor book.

Jon Cleary is one of the most prolific mystery novelists in the world, and it wouldn't be a surprise to find you've never heard of him. He's probably best known in the States for having written the adventure novel High Road to China, which was made into a Tom Selleck movie. In his native Australia, though, he's best known for a long series of police procedurals featuring Scobie Malone, a Sydney homicide inspector. According to the by the same author section of the front of this book, this is the 17th Scobie Malone mystery, and they're all good, and suspenseful. This one is especially intriguing and enigmatic.

Aussie politics are apparently somewhat dirty, but down under there are lines you don't cross, and political assasination is one of them. When a major Australian politician is gunned down eight months before the Olympics visit Sydney, everyone in politics is a suspect, and there are opportunities galore. Things are complicated for Malone by the involvement of two of his daughters, and his wife, in the Olympic preparations or the coverage of the assassination. Only his son is unentangled. When Scobie and his partner Russ Clements unravel things and begin to zero in on the shooter, this only intensifies the mystery, because no one is clear who hired him.

I enjoy Jon Cleary a great deal. The one thing that may be jarring is his habit of jumping to different points of view, which some may find jarring. I don't, personally, and I enjoy it. I would highly recommend this book.

Australian fiction is the best you will ever find (and I've read everything from King to Koontz) but 99% of books from Down Under are not released here in the United States. Why? I don't know. But I DO know what I've discovered. Jon Cleary's The Bear Pit : A Scobie Malone Mystery is fantastic! I've hunted down more Scobie Malone Mysteries over the internet and they're all great.

Other must reads by Australian authors are:

Any book written by Robert G. Barrett! (The Stephen King of Australia)
Peter Corris' Cliff Hardy stories! (As good as anything written by Nelson DeMille)
Blood Junction by Caroline Carver (As good as anything written by Dean Koontz)
Every book written by Peter Doyle! (Move over John Grisham)

My fellow Americans, fight to read the books the US publishers won't let you see! You will be glad you did.