concepts Books

Eric Jackson has put together the most concise and well thought-out book in modern kayak technique to have come out in years. An experienced class V+ kayaker myself, I found improvements I could apply to my every paddlestroke from this book. Even expert boaters will benefit on key points regarding modern school techniques from catching eddies and snapping sprayskirts to finding the optimal pressurization for floatbags. A must read for all serious paddlers.

This book places a strong emphasis on technical perfection. Which is rarely found in todays rodeo-centric paddling community.

Eric, for the most part, focuses on pure paddling technique and skips any superfluous information.

Using the exercises Eric recommends here will certainly improve your river running.

If you can't take an EJ clinic, this is the next best thing. This book discards much of the "old school" of kayaking which was appropriate for older, longer boats, and replaces it with newer, smarter techniques appropriate for today's fast-turning playboats. Eric clearly understands the physics of kayaking, and communicates this to his readers in a concise, easily understandable style. This book is a wealth of information in a small package.

This is one of those dramatic black-and-white board books that stimulate neurological development in infants. My granddaughter is no exception - she's always fascinated by this book, which we look at several times a week, along with others.

My son was completely fascinated with this book from about 1-4 months. He's 10 months now and still flips through it (I think because he loves animal books) occasionally.

Babies generally like two kinds of books: ones with photos of other babies and animals, and ones with solid black on white illustrations. I experienced my own frustrations in trying to get my infant daughter interested in books with bright colorful illustrations, and she just didn't perceive them as something worth looking at. But then I remembered what I had been told years before in a children's bookstore, and when I switched to the two categories above, she got very excited. This is a sweet little collection of black animal shapes on white backgrounds, with no text at all. It's a good book for a few months, but as soon as your child gets past this stage, it quickly will get put in storage (until the next one comes along, or for the next baby shower gift).

Who Ordered the Jumbo Shrimp? is a hilarious book. When I first opened it, it didn't look to funny. But as i got into it, I began laughing out loud at the ones like, "Poor Little Rich Girl," where the rich girl "hasn't had decent caviar in two days, please help. $50, $100, $200 donations. VISA and EMAX excepted." All in all, this a great book to read if you want some good laughs, and if you are looking for a book to stick your nose in. (I gaurantee that once you start, you won't put it down untill you have read the back cover)

Jon Agee's Who Ordered The Jumbo Shrimp? And Other Oxymorons is a delightfully humorous book that brings classic contradictory phrases like "freezer burn", "concrete jungle," "inherited debt" and more to life with the simple, stylistic black-and white cartoons of the wryly talented Jon Agee. A laugh-out-loud funny selection of visual and verbal gags and an ideal giftbook for anyone who enjoys a quick read and a good chuckle.

Oxymorons are, of course, words or phrases that are inherently contradictory: "jumbo shrimp", for example. Jon Agee has taken everyday phrases that so easily fall from all our lips and made us realize how delightfully ridiculous they really are. A scorched and burned man stands at his refrigerator while fire shoots from the top compartment. Why, it's FREEZER BURN, of course!! How about a group of drivers pulling their racecars?? Yup, you got it: that's DRAG RACE for you.

Mr. Agee is perhaps better known for his children's books, "Dmitri the Astronaut" and "If Snow Comes", but he's also a master of wordplay, with three other books of palindromes (words or phrases that are spelled the same way forward as backwards) and a book of anagrams (words that can be spelled with the same letters: "Elvis Lives"). These books of oddities of English would be as at home in a classroom as on the living room shelf. Indeed, as a teacher, I often pull one or two of his works into class to get the creative juices flowing with my students as they try to compose their own anagrams, palindromes and oxymorons.

While the book is by no means complete--there are hundreds of oxymorons--it is one of the few published books of contradictory phrases and certainly the only one I know that is illustrated! While I would have liked to see some of the more "controversial" ones (you know, the one's that might--GASP!!-- offend someone, like "military intelligence", "friendly fire" or "athletic scholarship"), the book is definitely recommended to add to your collection, whether you're a wordsmith or not.

"Who Said Meow" is my all time favorite book! The pictures were great and the story is adorable! :-)

"Who Said Meow" is my all time favorite book! The pictures were great and the story is adorable! :-)

I am ordering this book at my husband's request because of the hundreds of books we read our four children when they were babies it is the one he remembers most fondly

I'm surprised this book does not have more reviews. I think if it was published as a board book that it might.

My 13-month old son loves this book because it rhymes, it is about colors, it doesn't have a lot of words and he can point to things he knows like a school bus, a truck, a bird. Also he loves anything with a firetruck in it and this book has a big red firetruck on the second page.

I saw this at my mother in law's house and I'm buying it now!

The pictures depict a little boy looking for his red kite. As he looks he sees all the colors in the rainbow in the world around him.

The illustrations are lovely. The text is a sing songy type of text that makes this book easy to read and enjoy. The text is also very charming. For example: "A blue sky blue, a blue eye blue," on the page showing a blue sky adn siamese cats with dark blue eyes. "Well hello yellow bright and mellow..." and more.

Very enjoyable. A great review of the colors. A great way to introduce your child to the wide range of colors within a color.
Enjoy! I expect to for many years.

Beautiful, soft illustrations and gentle text make this book a gem. A boy is looking for something, not green, not blue etc.

I am a pre-school teacher and my kids love to hear this book at circle time. I recommend this book for small children. It helps them learn the various animals as well as the sounds that they make. Great buy.

Another one of our daughter's favorites. The illustrations are just wonderful and she practically reads the book herself now. All of John Butler's books are great for teaching animal identification and sounds.

My son and I love this book. The pictures are so cute and he loves for me to make the animal noises. He is nine months old and he sits and listens to this book sometimes two or three times in a row. It's short and sweet! Also check out If You See a Kitten, also by John Butler.

We have an Australian edition of this book, the author is a friend of a member of my family. My 3 year old son absolutely loves this book and finishes every sentence for me! See my review www.seansmum.blogspot.com

'Why can't we play all the time? Why can't I drive your car?' These and other queries kids ask parents assume a fun, zany new twist when addressed by a dog to her child owner. Gwyn Perkins' drawings are simple yet fun and capture the zany humor and underlying puzzles of responsibility. A different, fun find picturebook libraries will want.

We were fortunate enough to obtain an Australian printing of this delightful book, which my now seven-year-old daughter still adores.

She loves the book's "trick" ending, which I won't spoil here, and refers often to lovable Murphy, who has become a sort of "virtual pet" around these parts.

Your child -- or any special small person -- will love this book!

The book Where The Wild Things Are is an interesting book, because it has alot of imaginary thought put into it. And i also like how the author goes into the story like, the boy traveling through the sea and finding all the imaginary animals.

This book is about a chicken crossing a road which leads to many events. When the chicken crossed the road it lead to cows moving in a bridge. Then, the cows fall down a train. A robber escapes out of the train. Many more events follow after that. This is really a great book for the young reader to read.

This book is a knee-slapping take off of the classic "Why did the chicken cross the road?" kids joke. David Macaulay's hilarious book gives a behind -the-scenes look at the chain of events leading up to, or occurring as a result of that chicken crossing the road. Although the plot seems to go off on a tangent, the end has a twist that ties the story together. But some how he leaves you thinking,"Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

It is simple. It is cute. And still manages to show a range of feelings kids can relate to: happy, hungry, sad, needs a hug. A great first book.

This was the first book to really catch my active toddler's attention. I don't know if it was the cute, colorful drawings of Wibbly Pig or the inclusion of a dog in the story or Wibbly playing in the sand. My son will sit still on my lap long enough to let me read it, the only draw back- pronouncing "Wibbly Pig". The other Wibbly books are just as cute.

This book tells a very simple story about Wibbly Pig. Wibbly pig happily builds a sand castle then eats an ice cream. He is surprised by a wave and loses his ice cream. This leads Wibbly to be upset, but he is soon cheered up by a dog and is happy once more! The text is very basic (i.e. "Wibbly Pig is busy"). However, this book promotes conversation between parent and child because the parent can discuss what is happening in the picture. The illustrations are sweet and Wibbly is adorable! This board book is larger than most which make it easy for little hands to explore. I think this book is probably best for infants up to 3 years. This book is fun to read and my baby loves it!

We received this book as a last remanant of a picked over reject list of someone's retired books. No one wanted it based on the old pictures and type font.

What we found was a truly beautiful little story of a boy and his vehicles that so closely matches the style of play of my little boy that I'm sure the author must have been very close to a little fellow to write it so well.

This is a special little book that my 7 year old daughter likes to read to her 5 year old brother when he needs cheering up.

I sincerely wish I could find more stories by the author.

This charming little book was originally published in 1987 in a hardbound edition. It was written by Laura P. Newton and illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers. It was published in UK under the title William, King of the Road. It was republished in 1993 as a Houghton Mifflin edition as part of The Literature Experience for kindergarten aged readers in their "My Favorite Things" read aloud version.

Okay -- it's a wonderful, short children's book. It's on several Listmania lists, and it's cited in multiple books recommending reading for children. But it's out of print and "acceptable" used copies are selling as collectible, some as high as $96. It's a read-aloud book about a preschooler who loves playing with cars. At the end of his day, his living room is filled with imaginary bridges and blocks and every car he can push. In today's video world, it's so GREAT to engage a child with real 'push it yourself' cars that don't make noise or do anything but fuel imagination. After reading the book to one of the children I babysit for, I tried to buy it to share with other children and while I was able to buy a few used copies, it seems it's time to champion this book for republication. Parents today need resources to support and encourage hands-on play. Bring Back William! Laura Newton, where are you? Twenty years is not long enough for such a lovely book to have to be collectible to be available as a gift!

This is such an amazing book and I wish I could get a new copy of it. My school director thought my son would enjoy this book and lent us her copy since he LOVES cars and collects the little die cast cars everywhere we go. The story is about a little boy who plays with cars and creates different scenarios...a car crash, then emergency vehicles need to come help, then building roads with construction trucks, etc. My 2 1/2 year old son is hooked on this book and could read it every night.