Board-of Books

My daughter loved this book for months. We started reading it to her when she was about 6 months old (or younger) and by 12 months she was identifying many of the animals and colors along with us. At 19-months its not her favorite book, but she still asks us to read it from time to time.

Simple, engaging, beautiful illustrations, genuis rhyming pattern that makes sense, and gets child excited to turn the page to see what's next. A teacher's and parent's dream. Just a wonderful book that is engaging and teaches words/sounds. Doesn't get better than this.

I love the bright colors that catches my daughter's attention, and the pages are thick enough that she can turn the pages herself. This is a family favorite.

Wonderful addition to my classroom collection. Students love to read along and act out this story.

We've used this for learning colors, rhyme and animals. It's predictable so even the youngest can figure out what comes next. We often sing a song with it and use a flannel story as well.

Every young child should have this book read to them over and over again.

*taken from my review at goodreads

Want to learn chess? If you are an absolute beginner or someone who has mastered the very basic skills then look no further! CHESS FOR JUNIORS will do the job for you. Yes, I am into advertising, but not as a profession for this book (if you know "Mr. Clean", "Hey, Mikie likes it" or "Where's the Beef" I was the person who made this possible on national TV". OK, you have got it! I am an old timer writing about a book with the "Youth Market" in mind. But then why has it been since it publication date of 1991 the #1 best selling chess book? It is GOOD, VERY GOOD!

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WHY:

1. VERY CLEAR (Mr. Clean can see everything)
2. VERY UNDERSTANDABLE (an 8-year-old or older name Mikie will like it)
3. LOTS OF MATERIAL (you will not be left saying, "where is the beef!")
4. WELL ORGANIZED (just like a "box of chocolate" - I was involved in that too!)
5. BEST SELLER (couldn't be all that bad! - it is ranked as #1)

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SOME THINGS I LIKE:

1. If you are using this book to teach someone who doesn't know a thing about chess (maybe you or your kid or your student?) then it starts off assuming no knowledge (everyone was once a beginner)
2. Once you finish you can go back and find almost every important term or concept in the index (doesn't require a college education to find something - Gommer Pyle would find what he wants!)
3. Written in a mature manner that an old guy will appreciate, yet the humor that kids will like in the book offers a perfect balance to make this a book for anyone who can read. (must only be beyond the reading level of - see spot run, run spot run)

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HOW:

1. You have ordered here before (go for it you button pusher!)
2. New, Used, or a Collectible Autographed Copy (like I have - I try and get whatever I can autographed just click on the right button of your choice)

Now I absolutely love this book. My grandkids, parents and I all have a copy and so should you. Next time you are watching TV and see a commercial, or see the author's students "Will Smith" or "Nicolas Cage", then you will be reminded of this particular book!

I run two after school chess programs at elementary schools and use "Chess for Juniors" as the text book. At first I was disapointed to see that this book has become difficult to get (if you can get a used copy grab it!). However, I found out is is going through a complete revision and will be a second edition when released later this year (as well as the entire "Chess for Juniors" series of books, including some new ones to be released).
"Chess for Juniors" is the perfect text book for teachers who are running a class for elementary age students on up (yes, it is suitable for a class for adults) beginning with an introduction to the basic rules and leading into a lot of basic material on strategy found in all aspects of the game.
What I found that sets "Chess for Juniors" (and the entire series) in a class by itself is the readability (ease of understanding the material) and comprehensiveness of the book.
Whereas, a 3rd grade reader of average reading skill can understand it, it is not going to insult an adult who wants to learn from it. It is is structured so any teacher conducting a class can easily follow the building lessons (it provides the perfect format for a ready-made class outline!).
Please hurry with the second edition!!!

I got this book a couple of years ago and now am chess club presendent at my school chess club in 7th grade. I loaned it out so many times it is getting worn out.

When I went to get a copy now I found out it is temporarily not in print because it is going to be made a new edition. I plan to get the new edition for the chess club.

What I liked about this book is that it isn't a silly little kids picture book. It teaches serious material using an easy to understand method by making the language basic enough and organizing it in an order to make it learning friendly. It would be good for anyone who can read as well as an average third grader right on up to adults. The index in the back makes it easy to find things and relook things up like terms, openings and rules.

Everyone in the school chess club likes it and uses it for continued reference even after having read it. I think this is the best first book for kids and adults.

I wanted to let people know that this top-selling chess book is now available under the title "Chess for Everyone: A Complete Guide for the Beginner". It has been updated and improved. The improvements include adding opening information, more detailed explanations at critical points and a less cramped, easier to read format. It is extremely complete in covering everything that a beginner needs to know to take him/her to the next level. It is a great book for students in grade 4 on up to adult. It is well organized and very suitable for textbook use by chess teachers. It uses a building format where lessons expand on material thorughout the twenty graduated lessons. It is one of only a few "beginner" books that are part of a comprehensive series that allows for direct follow-up material that is consistant. There are currently 5 books in print. In 2009, "Basic Chess Tactics: A Tactical Pattern Recognition Workbook for the Classroom" is scheduled for release. The "Chess for Everyone Teacher's Textbook Guide" is unlike any other teacher guide in that it provides lesson plans and information on how to teach chess to be used in conjunction with "Chess for Everyone".

"Chess for Juniors" is obviously the work of superb teacher whose mind and heart have fully committed themselves to the playing and teaching of chess over a number of years. It's perfectly organized and will turn any prospective or current player who carefully studies and absorbs its twenty lessons into a 1200-1300 player at least. I'm looking forward to diving into Snyder's "unbeatable Lessons" books if they're as valuable as this one.

Since I already knew the basics of chess before I bought this book, I was most interested in the approach Snyder took once he directed his readers on to the next step, since this is where introductory books on chess really show their true colors.
Snyder covers the pins/forks/skewers tactics as well as anyone, but the best part is the in-depth attention he gives to openings, defenses, and what he calls "Tactical Motifs." What this entails are insightful, detailed looks at the Ruy Lopez (the "Spanish") and Giuoco Piano (the "Italian") openings, and a group of the best-known gambits (From's, King's accepted and declined, Bishop sacrifices, Petroff's Defense). He also looks at those three to four-move checkmates like the Fool's and Scholar's--how they can be sprung on novice/unsuspecting opponents and how they can be avoided so easily if you develop the sound opening principles Snyder sets forth. If you play over and completely absorb all these openings and the basic variations as Snyder sets them down here, you'll develop a strong sense of space and begin to understand the tactical and strategic consequences of the moves you make.

Snyder also gives great explanations of some defensive responses, especially the Sicilian, the King's Indian and the Nimzo-Indian if you're playing black. The depth of Snyder's explanations is perfect, so that you learn what to do and why to do it without getting bogged down in needless details and variations. His lessons on King-Pawn, Queen and Rook endings are also perfectly set out. End games are essential of course but they are a bit dull to have to study. Again, I feel Snyder gives you just what you need to know so that you won't blow an end game with a loss, draw or stalemate when the use of a few core techniques could have made the game yours. Finally, there are a couple of instructive games which look especially at attacks on the weak f7/f2 squares and their outcomes, around which many wins or losses can revolve.

All in all, this is a superb beginner's book, either for youths or adults. I would say that there are other good ones out there too which can be fruitfully studied in conjunction with Snyder--the beginner's books by Yasser Seirawan (Play Winning Chess), John Nunn (Learn Chess), and I. A. Horowitz (Chess for Beginners). I do think it's shameful that many advocates of Snyder's fine work try to undermine these other works by pumping "Chess for Juniors" and pushing down all positive reviews of his competitors by marking these reviews "unhelpful." There seems to be some kind of strategy at work, since they always put Snyder's title in upper case letters, recommending it after they have put down the other work. Sometimes they won't even review the other work, but will just mention Snyder's. It all seems orchestrated. I'm sure an author and lover of chess such as Snyder must be too classy a man to advocate this kind of lowball campaign. Apparently his students are not.

this book has very nice illustrations, but there is hardly any text. my daughter likes to be read to, so this really doesn't work. i don't think it is that funny or clever.

This is one of my 18 month olds favorites - great illustrations. My husband loves it too (he is not a big reader) - he doesn't have to read it, but just describe what is going on in the pictures.

My 2 year old grandson laughed out loud when the book was read in an animated way. Delightful for me too.

From the balloon that gradually floats off toward the moon to the clock in the zookeeper's bedroom that marks the time it takes to get the animals all back into bed, there is a lot of subtle humor and fun in this book. My 2-year old can't get to sleep without it. She has learned the word "inconspicuous" in connection with the way the elephant looks before he's discovered in the bedroom. This is a special book - right up there with _Good Night Moon_.

All right, I'm giving this two stars because my kids seem to like it, but it is, in my opinion, a thoroughly one-star-or-less book.

It is incredibly lame. The pictures are simplistic and not very well-drawn, and the story is nonsensical bordering on retarded-and-troubling.

And I can handle nonsensical, in fact I think some of the best kids books recognize the sort of bizarre dream state that childhood is and use that to tell engaging narratives that dance happily past logic and convention to make kids laugh and wonder. See for instance most of the gently hallucinogenic tightrope walk over the Gulf of Madness that is the collective canon of Margaret Wise Brown. That stuff makes NO sense--COLOR KITTENS, LITTLE FUR FAMILY, and that one about the talking island--but it's all lyrical to the point of being beautiful, and it's fun.

GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA, on the other hand...ugh...man...I really, really hate this book. Seriously. I have two young kids, and as I said, they like this for some reason and ask me to read it to them all the time.

AND IT SUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS. Oh wow does it suck.

First of all there are almost no words, so you can't just shift into autopilot and read the wretched thing without thinking. You've got to narrate the damn thing, and since its story is mindless and its pictures are unexciting, well, here ya go, have fun.

GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA tells the story of a zookeeper named Joe who goes around checking on the zoo animals in their cages and saying good night to them, while unbeknownst to his apparently deaf and blind or at least unbelievably distracted self, the gorilla has stolen his keys and is quietly unlocking all the other animals' cages: the elephant, the lion, the giraffe, the armadillo, whatever. Then, because animals all apparently live in bad existential faith and don't know what to do with their own freedom once they have it, they docilely and quietly follow the zookeeper into his house to fall asleep in the zookeeper's tiny bedroom.

There, the zookeeper and his wife--who is apparently also deaf and blind and in fact not even able to feel the vibrations of a full-grown elephant stomping in through their narrow door and into their bedroom--turn out the lights and say good night to one another.

Then, all the animals say "Good Night!" as well, one at a time, showing a really freaky dark side to the whole story. THEY'RE KEPT LOCKED IN CAGES, BUT THEY CAN TALK! They're as sentient and intellectual as humans--in fact far more so than the staggeringly ignorant humans in this story--and they're being kept in cages! This is...slavery!

This is not charming--this is demented.

Anyway, this alerts the zookeeper's wife who leads all the talking animals back to their cages as if this happens all the time, but the gorilla grabs the keys again and sneaks back into the house where they climb into bed between the zookeeper and his wife and fall asleep. Because that's all animals want, to be with people. Oh, if only all wild animals could be kept in cages and/or beds, how happy they would be! What the zookeeper and his wife will say when they find the giant sleeping gorilla between them in the morning, I don't know. Probably something along the lines of, "Oh, our lives are so terrible and we are so stupid, someone should write a book about us and illustrate it with mundane, unexciting, uninspired drawings."

In conclusion: do not order this book for your kids unless you have a nanny robot that is raising them for you, because if you're the one who reads to them, this book will do nothing but make you hate life and the act of reading aloud to your children. Your children will continually ask you to read this book to them because something in it may appeal to their young minds that don't know any better, you will read it, they will sense your reluctance, they will perceive that you think reading is unexciting, they will no doubt inherit that belief, will grow up illiterate (or just as bad, aliterate), will not be able to hold a good job as a result, will find themselves homeless during a low point in the economy, and will probably die of exposure beneath a bridge somewhere. That's how bad this book is.

And really, there are so many actually GOOD kids books out there, just don't take that chance. This book is a horrific chore, and if you can avoid it, do. There is no joy to be found here, no joy at all.

Having read this book previously I bought it so I could display it proudly on my bookshelf.
It is now sitting in the front row position looking marvelous!

The story is magnificent, the presentation is breath taking, and the book keeps popping up in conversations all over the place.
I just keep recommending this book as a great read what ever age!

Definitely worth a look!

This book teaches us to celebrate our uniqueness! Great for teachers who deal with bullies or low self esteem issues with their students. I also love the illustrations.

I bought this book first for a friend's daughter, a second-grader who was having some trouble feeling like she "fit in" with the other girls in her class. Worried that she might be "too big" for a picture book, but she LOVED the story and was able to relate to it and find the deeper meaning, with her mom's guidance. Now I have bought more to give away to other friends and family!!!!

It's just a great book with beautiful illustrations and a beautiful, important message. I ordered the hard cover/paper book for my son's first birthday. He received the board book from his aunt/uncle/cousins for the same birthday. He loves it! Flips the pages and just stares at the pictures.

I first heard about this book at a Women's Retreat in 2008. Even though this was written for children, a woman's husband bought it for his wife, who seemed very insecure. I absolutely loved it and before going home, bought it for my 17 year old daughter. Since then I have written a Play along with music to match for our women to do in raising money for the next Womens Retreat. I totally, 100% recommend this book! Hats off to Max Lucado on a well written book!

When a student in my pre-K class brought this book i remembered how much i liked it as a child. So i had the children sit down and I read it to them. Normally my class, 16 five year olds, wwould not sit still while i am reading a book, but this one they were hooked. After i finished they had me read it 2 more times, I would recommend this book to anyone with children, its great

Normally I steer clear of books about TV characters because of their low story quality. This story, however, is a hilarious page-by-page running joke, in which Grover, after reading the title, begs the reader not to turn the pages because he is afraid of meeting the monster. He erects barriers to page-turning which are destroyed as pages are turned, and when the last page is turned he discovers that he is the monster referred to in the title.

The humor turns on the fact that the author draws attention to the book context of interaction by having Grover directly address the reader, and by depicting physical objects ostensibly intended to block the pages from turning. Children will tremendously enjoy the feeling of knowing something Grover doesn't know, and will savor the situation comedy of Grover's failed attempts to resist their overwhelming page-turning force. The story ends with a moment of delicious irony in which Grover claims "I told you and told you there was nothing to be afraid of," but then his thought bubble appears: "Oh, I am so embarrassed."

This book does come in a board book format, but by the time a child is ready for this level of humor they will have outgrown board books, so I recommend the paper version.

This book is one of those classic books. My husband had it as a kid and loved it so he had me purchase it. My 7 and 2 year olds absolutely love it. The Monster at the End of the Book has become a bedtime ritual. Great book to add to any kid's collection.

This is the favorite book of my 3 kids, I have a grandson now, and ordered it for him. It arrived promptly and in excellent condition.

This is a short and sweet book perfect for bedtime unless your little one actually listens to Grover's please to not turn the page! Lots of opportunities for sound effects - huffing and puffing, pounding with a hammer, crashing down a brick wall, simply fun.

Nice size for toddlers and very sturdy.
Good book to introduce kids to farm animals.

Everything great about this book has already been mentioned. I just wanted to add another 5-star rating to this title.

At 10 months of age this is our daughter's favorite Boynton book. It has a great, memorable rhythm and puts a smile on her face when she hears "Stomp your feet! Clap your hands! Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!" and starts clapping everytime she hears these lines.

This was my first boynton book. I am purchasing books on amazon for my new baby and I am very pleased! This book is fun and it rhymes very well.

All of my kids love her books. We read them daily and own almost all of them. Our three and five year olds practice their 'reading' by reciting them over and over again to the baby. They are cute, happy and well done. As a parent, I never grow tired of reading them as with some other authors. Two thumbs up!

One of our very favorites. Such a cute story guaranteed to always bring a smile to my 18month olds face!

I purchased this book when my son was just a few months old but it did not seem to hold his attention. Once he turned 7 months and began learning the verious differant animal noises this book quickly became one of his few favorites. We read it every night before bedtime. This is a must-have.

Another funny Boynton book, this one is about the noises different animals make. Introducing humor for very young children, she surprises the reader by having singing pigs say "La la la" instead of "oink." On the following page she suggests that the reader correct those pigs. This is a nice book for young toddlers, but the joke is simple enough that it won't last long into toddlerhood, and won't interest older siblings. Better to enjoy it once, then return it to the library.

This is a book we take with us places to give our daughter something to do. Its very short and can be read quietly and she likes the pictures. On the last page, we point to the animals and ask her to make the animal sounds-- she loves that.

All of my kids love her books. We read them daily and own almost all of them. Our three and five year olds practice their 'reading' by reciting them over and over again to the baby. They are cute, happy and well done. As a parent, I never grow tired of reading them as with some other authors. Two thumbs up!

I've been reading this to my daughter since she was ~1 yr. I now know it by heart, and my almost 2 year old can say the animal parts on cue. A great book for babies and toddlers.

This book has become a favorite. It is short, sweet, simple, and has a great cadence...

I purchased this book in store and therefore had no reviews to read beforehand. I had never heard of this book and quite honestly didn't think much by the cover other than the fact that is was a book about bedtime - which I didn't have yet. When I opened the book and started reading each page, I was instantly sold! The little rhymes for each different animal mom (or dad!) and baby is so incredibly sweet it just melted my heart on the spot. This book became a nightime ritual for me and my son for several months. He loved to see the animals and make each animal sound. He even liked to point out the stars and moon on some of the pages. Finally, the last two pages show a mommy tucking her little baby into bed (at which point I say, "see, how the baby is going to bed"), then followed by a page with the baby fast asleep. For those who have little ones with sleep issues, it is a good illustration to show another baby peacefully going to sleep. Like clockwork, my son would start rubbing his eyes. I have switched to Guess How Much I Love You right now but I plan to return to this poetically sweet and simple little bedtime treasure!

This is a sweet book and my three year-old grandson loves it. On most pages it calls the baby animal by the correct name: a foal, a calf, a pup...but on the other pages the baby is a sheep instead of a lamb, a cat instead of a kitten, a goose instead of a gosling. This inconsistency bugs me everytime I read it. I would suggest that you read it before you buy it.

This book is the perfect lap size. The illustrations are just beautiful. Both of my children (under 3 years old) love this book. This is the perfect addition to any collection...

We recently bought this book for our 15-month old and he loves it. The illustrations are lovely, the narrative is sweet and melodic, and it is short enough to be a book that holds his attention start to finish even when he is tired. A lovely find!

My toddler loves the Jane Yolen's dinosaur books. This one is our favorite. Was a staple for quite sometime as bedtime reading. Good for a child who doesn't want to go to bed, as he hears about appropriate vs. inappropriate behavior at bedtime in a fun way. He knows the book by heart and makes appropriate noises at certain spots (roaring, etc.). It's fun for both of us.

Our girls (2 & 3 years) love this book! We've had it for at least 6 months, and they still request this one before bedtime. We make motions & sounds for every page, and they just grin & giggle. I'm anxious to try some of the other "How Do Dino..." books.

My almost 3 year old grand daughter came for a visit last month and I bought her this book. After reading it to her one time, it became her favorite book. The illustrations were excellent, as was the text. She quickly called it her "silly scary" book. After a few nights of reading, she had the book memorized. I would highly recommend this book.

This book was purchased for my nephew for Christmas. He loves this book as does my niece. I can't wait to add to their collection with more dino books from this series.

I purchased this based on reviews and was glad I did.

I think this is one of the best toddler books ever written. My son loves this book so much and wants it read to him several times a day. It has a nice rhyming rhythm that makes it easy for young children to get into.

Magnificent book, and Michael Card is a reasonably good reader; However, the MP3 tags and file names do not reveal the date of the page being read. The MP3 files are merely named 0001.mp3 to 0371.mp3, which means that 0001 to 0005 are the introduction and preface. To be useful, you have to organize the files and rename them all. The MP3 tags are also not helpful.

i hate this book! it unerringly shines the light of God's expectations in to the areas of my life that are dark and dusty.

This is a wonderful book that speaks to something I need for each day. It's amazing how a book that has been around for so long is still so relevant.

meaty devotional, not for the surface skimmer. you have to devote time to absorbing the messages. it has really changed the way i read the bible.

The book was received in a very timely fashion. I was considering having it shipped priority because I needed it soon, as it was a gift. I took the risk and had it shipped regular mail, and I received it within a few days. Thank you!