This book was bought for my daughter when she was a year old, book never left her side. Now my son is 2 years old and "DITTO" loves the book. It is an excellent learning book and the children use their imagination by looking at the bubbles, very easy for a child to learn to read and they understand it. Would really like to see it republished so I can purchase a new one - old one is on its last leg.

I just love this book. My kids really enjoy it, too, because it tells the story with pictures and they can sometimes "read" it themselves. It's one of my favorites and we've gone through 2 copies--they need to reprint it. My last copy's dying!

This book was quicker than the blink of an eye. It started and then it ended so rapidly. It had no real story line. Nothing to really fall back on. It was just about this little boy blowing bubbles. How many times have we seen people blowing bubbles. Mercer Mayer always seems to have a goofy childish story. If only he could write stories that people could follow.

John Dennis Fitzgerald intended to chronicle his youth in Utah for adults, not children. His publisher thought otherwise and the result are these gems. I don't even call them children's lit gems because I find them just as enjoyable as an adult. Before I go on, you should know that Fitzgerald wrote one book about his youth that is for adults, called "Papa Married a Mormon". It is one of the most amazing books on the American west that I have ever read. Sadly, it is out of print, and you may, like me, have to pay an exorbitant sum to get a copy. Trust me, save up and do it. Now back to this book. Every single Great Brain book in the series is pure gold, and the entire set can be had cheaply, so I say buy them all at once. I "put my money where my mouth is" as Tom the Great Brain would say, and bought the lot.

The Great Brain #7 was, at the time, a great way to end a series, with Tom not doing any big swindles, but instead going out rather quietly; he had grown up by that point. Of course, I say "at the time", because John Fitzgerald had decided a decade later to start work on what was to be the last of the series. Number 7 wasn't as humorous or adventurous as the other six, but it still makes for a good read.

I think this a great book. It is about a boy named Tom that everyone called the great brain. He was very smart and liked to outsmart other people, but only if he got money for doing it. He could outsmart every kid in town and most adults. The Great Brain wasn't very likable--he took people's things, especially money, and he made fools of people. But what he did was entertaining. He put his great brain to work on how to swindle someone to get what he wanted. What motivated him to do this was his money loving heart. In this book he is involved in the buried treasure swindle, the horse race, and the chute the chute (a thrill ride). In all of those he gets money. I really think you should read his book because the characters each have an interesting, believable personality, The swindles he pulls off are fun to read about, and it is a really funny book.

Justin Flowers and the Orb of Time is captivating to all audiences. Not only did my 9 year old son enjoyed it-so have I and my co-workers. Justin Flowers entertains us through adventure and history. I can't wait until the sequel!

Justin Flowers and the Orb of Time has become required reading at my children's school for the 2004-2004 school year. I, of course, wanted to read this book before my children do. This book will become as welcomed addition to our home library.
The author, G.A. Mercer, does an excellent job of sparking the reader's imagination. The book takes you from the plains of Montana to ancient Italy and ancient Egypt. Justin Flowers, the thirteen year old, with the ability to time travel must defend history against the evil time traveler the Raveler. This book is another example of how good really does triumph over evil.
Justin Flowers and the Orb of Time is an excellent choice for readers both young and old alike. I would highly recommend this novel to everyone.

"Justin Flowers and the Orb of Time" is an intriguing fantasy for children ages 8 - 12 years. Justin Flowers thinks he's just a regular kid until he finds out that he can time travel into the past. Not only can he time travel, but he is actually a Defender of History. As a Defender of History, Justin must retrieve the Orb of Time before the evil Raveler finds it. "Justin Flowers and the Orb of Time" has a classic good versus evil storyline with the intrigue of time travel and plenty of twists and turns to keep it exciting.

I purchased "Justin Flowers and the Orb of Time" for my 9-year-old son, but I wanted to read it first to make sure it was appropriate. I was pleasantly surprised...Not only did I enjoy it, but I found it difficult to put down once I started it! When I finished the book I was actually disappointed that the story ended. I haven't enjoyed a kid's book like this since the Harry Potter series!

My son read it in one day and was completely enthralled. His first question was, "When is the next one coming out?" His second question was, "Do you think they'll make a movie out of this?" We are both looking forward to the next in G.A. Mercer's "Justin Flowers" series!

When my little boy wanted to 'read' and still didn't know how, we went looking for wordless books. This was a great find. Even now that he's starting to read, this is one of his favorite books to 'read'. It is creative and the pictures are adorable. They are funny and they tell a story. But you can tell the story from several points of view and find new things to talk about every time. Very good.
Enjoy.

I remember way back when I was in the 2nd grade, I saw the book, "A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog", in my school's library. We (the students) were all searching for a book to check out for that week just like we did every week of class. As I was skimming through "A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog", I saw that it wasn't like all the other books. The book has about 20 pages, and on each page is an illustrated picture, but no words.

I liked looking at the pictures and coming up with my own story from what I was looking at. That's what makes this book stand out. I was one of those kids that didn't like checking out real long books cause I didn't like to read a whole lot at the time, so "A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog" was perfect to check out for the week.

The pictures are all illustrated very well; it's easy to see and to make out the different emotions that the three characters (see title) have on their faces. While you're 'reading' the book, it will make you laugh, frown, and smile with the events that take place.

If you know of any kids that like to use their imagination to its fullest, "A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog" would be a great book to get for them. I enjoyed the book when I was a kid, my little brother and sister enjoyed it at one time, and I'm sure almost any young'en would like it right away.

This is a delightful little picture book. It has no narraration and needs none. Through its pictures, it tells the story of a boy and a dog and a frog they try unsuccessfully to catch. The boy and the dog then go home to get cleaned up in the bath tub. The frog, who had enjoyed the little game of chase and is now a bit lonely, follows them and joins them in the tub. This is a great book to have your pre-schooler read to you

This is an excellent book on rewards and compensation. I keep this book on my shelf and refer to it constantly. And, I require all my managers to keep a copy too. The coverage is complete, the writing is clear, and the book is "must have" for anyone who needs information on executive compensation.

With executive pay under more extensive scrutiny than ever, I found this book an excellent way to resolve the dilemma about how to pay for performance. While my company's circumstances mean that there are no clear cut solutions, this was the only book I could find that laid out all the alternatives clearly and concisely. Overall, this is the best book on reward I have ever read, and I am sure I will be coming back to it again and again as my standard reference guide.

This is an awesome text. In a subject area as dynamic as executive and other compensation, this book hands it to you on a "golden" platter. A must on every human resource executives bookshelf. A must for the compensation student. This book has it all and is worth the price.

This is a very cute book about how a young critter is trying to help his parents do things but really just messes them up. The vritter is trying to do all kinds of christmas chores all by himself just to prove that he is a big boy. He even put the star on his cristmas tree all by HIMSELF, but his dad had him. This is a very good book and it will get you in the mood for christmas and put a smile on your face!

I find this story very cute and funny, I think it is adorable how the little boy tries to do all good things for his parents and he just has the hardest time doing them. I think all children could relate to this story because when Christmas time comes around they want to do all they can because they know Santa is watching and they have to especially good. I would reccomend this book to all ages because I think they would find it cute just as I did.

This book simply makes me smile. You can't help but fall in love with Little Critter and his attempt to make Christmas a success. He tries to bake cookies, but he eats them himself. He tries his hardest to go right to sleep on Christmas Eve, but he is too excited. Thinking he is doing his parents a favor, Little Critter wakes up at 6 AM and brings his new toys upstairs instead of having his parents get out of bed. Mayer's illustrations and fun and colorful. One or two sentences of text are a perfect addition to the pictures. Children will not lose interest in this book because of the short text and appealing color. Mayer's choice to add a special critter (spider, grasshopper, etc.) on each page makes it fun to search for them with children. This is an excellent book to read to young children around the holidays. After reading it, you will want to buy more in the series.

John Dennis Fitzgerald intended to chronicle his youth in Utah for adults, not children. His publisher thought otherwise and the result are these gems. I don't even call them children's lit gems because I find them just as enjoyable as an adult. Before I go on, you should know that Fitzgerald wrote one book about his youth that is for adults, called "Papa Married a Mormon". It is one of the most amazing books on the American west that I have ever read. Sadly, it is out of print, and you may, like me, have to pay an exorbitant sum to get a copy. Trust me, save up and do it. Now back to this book. Every single Great Brain book in the series is pure gold, and the entire set can be had cheaply, so I say buy them all at once. I "put my money where my mouth is" as Tom the Great Brain would say, and bought the lot.

Growing up, this series was my absolute favorite. The western themes, the sibling plots and the historical aspect of it kept me interested and kept me reading. The books stood on their own, but the characters developed from novel to novel. I read them in fourth grade, vigorously, and can not recommend them strongly enough.

It was the first real page-turned I ever came across.

This book was an adventurous, and exciting book. It always kept me off my seat, and always kept me wondering.

I highly recommend this book to any fan of Mercer Mayer's work or to a fan of Japanese culture. Although Mayer admits in the note in the book that this story is not based on any known Japanese folklore, it reads just like a folktale should and has enough of a Japanese flavor to make it acceptable to at least Western readers. (I wonder what a Japanese reader would think.) However, the real star of the book is the illustrating. Mayer is excellent at capturing moments from the story in a single illustration, incorporating many elements into a composite that is itself a story. I would recommend his rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" as a further example of this. The style is rich with color and texture, and each illustration has balance and dynamic symmetry. He pays as much attention to the background and the borders as he does the foreground and the main action. You can delight in a small detail like the pattern of the emperor's kimono, or how each of the many kites flying at the end of the book is different.

Mayer also dared to do all the illustrations for this book on a computer, using Adobe Illustrator and a variety of other software. I am impressed with the result, although a few minor things bug me about some of the illustrations. For instance, in a few spots, objects in the distance appear to be sharper, more in focus, then objects in the foreground. It seems to me that this should have been addressed before publishing the book as it goes against our normal way of seeing. But that aside, I commend Mayer for trying his illustration skills in a new medium, and admit that Mayer on a bad day is still wonderful to look at.

The minor glitches with the illustrations, and the fact that the story could have been a bit more poetic, keep this book from getting five stars. Still, it is worth buying. It is a beautiful book.

My 8 year old and I read it together and it was a moving experience for both of us. She is reading chapter books now and we both miss the kind of picture book stories that we had enjoyed so much. At any age, it's nice to sit down with a good story. The combination of the gorgeous illustrations and the thoughts about family and devotion in this story was magic.

As a bonus, Mercer Mayer talks about his childhood growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii and how he learned about race and "melting pots" as a child. Congratulations on a wonderful book, Mr. Mayer!

Get the book and read it with a child.

Even though I love the Little Critter series, my favorite book of Mercer Mayer's has always been East of the Sun, West of the Moon with it's colorful and detialed illustrations. With this new book, Mercer Mayer worked with a Mac computer and I am AMAZED with the rich textures and warm realistic quality. No cool technical stuff here...this story too is from the heart and magical!

Just Grandma and me was a great book I liked reading when I was growing up. It wasn't to hard and it wasn't to easy. Most kids in first grade could most likely read it. They will love it if they like spending time with there grandma. It reminded me in some ways because I know I love spending time with my grandma. In the story Critter and his grandma spend time together at the beach. They do stuff together like me and my grandma do. It is a good book for beginners.

My first grade daughter really enjoyed reading this book. There were many words that were repeated which really helps out first time readers. In addition, there were enough new words to keep it challenging for her. The book was just long enough, not too short and not too long. I highly recommend this book for beginning readers. A plus for us, this book was on her AR list.

This book is about a little boy who was spending time with his grandma down at the beach. They went snorkeling, swimming, and played in the sand.
I like this book because it reminds me of stuff I used to do with my Grandma when I was younger. I also liked this book because it shows little kids that hanging out with your grandma isn't bad and its fun. I think all little kids should read this book, and all the books by Mercer Mayer. Especially this one, with your grandma.