Baby Preschool Books

i love nara's spirit and art and it is wonderful to have all his gifts close at hand. a magical and inviting book to inhabit--alone or with others who have been alone.

Yoshitomo Nara's first children's book is fascinating for young children. Somehow the idea that a dog can be too big for anyone to see captures their imagination. And then, climbing up a paw and discovering a whole new world -- fun for a kid and for the kid in the adult doing the reading aloud.

Yoshitomo Nara has become known world wide for his neo-pop style paintings and sculptures that featuring big-eyed children, sometimes sad, sometimes mischievous, sometimes a little dangerous. Nara denies that the weapons held by his kids are dangerous. "Look at them, they are so small, like toys. Do you think they could fight with those? I don't think so. Rather, I kind of see the children among other, bigger, bad people all around them, who are holding bigger knives...." [His thought reminds me of the closing scene in Lord of the Flies, where murderous children are stopped by well dressed naval officers, themselves engaged in murderous activities.] However you interpret the kids, however, as one critic wrote: "his tender and friendly dogs offer absolution and tranquility."

Nara's art is clearly autobiographical. He was a "latch-key kid" who spent time out of school with virtually alone, with only pets for company. "My art represents my childhood experiences. It is not influenced by Japanese pop culture. I played with sheep, cats and dogs when I came home from school."

I first encountered Nara's art in Philadelphia and learned more from the catalog, Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens. The book is a wonderful description of Nara's work and its influences.

At the end of the analysis, however, this puppy is adorable, and the kid within all of us will love it. Mine sure did.

This was the first favorite book of both my son and daughter, and it doesn't get annoying for parents even after countless readings. We regularly give the board book edition as a shower/baby gift. Highest recommendation!

What a beautiful book! This will certainly become one of our new favorites! Flowing, rhythmic text matches the adorable pictures of babies everywhere.

Of all of the books that my son owns, this one is my favorite. The pictures are so cute and detailed. We notice something new everytime we read it. For the first few months of reading this book, I couldn't read the last 3 pages without choking up because it is so sweet. I find it interesting that people are offended by the same-sex couples. I didn't even notice them until we had owned the book for a year, and even then, it just made me like the book even more. My son is growing up in a diverse world, and I think it's good for him to be exposed to this diversity from the start. That way, when he encounters such diversity, it might not seem different to him at all. Besides, babies are born completely open-minded; it's their parents who close their minds for them!

We love this book and we especially like the way all kinds of families are portrayed in it. Loving families come in all configurations and the beautiful illustrations show that so well. We like to give this book to new adoptive parents but it is a nice choice for any family with a toddler! Charming!

I discovered this book when a friend of mine had a new baby. Since that time, I have given this book as a baby shower gift and/or a new baby gift. It's great to also read to a toddler who might have become a big sister or big brother.

This book too came in excellent condition and in record time. Thank you, my children enjoy reading this book over and over.

All of Karen Katz's books are great and this is one of the best ones. Grandma and daughter love to read this book, over and over!!! Just a great book for over 1 children. Pretty durable too! Would recommend for any grandma and grandchild combo!

My 3 year old granddaughter first introduced this book to me while I was at her house for a visit awaiting the birth of her new little sister. My first thought was, "well it's a board book so it'll be too simple for it to be good"... I read it the first night at bedtime, then the second night, then the third night and it continued on for the entire month I was there! LOL....sure we both knew it by heart very quickly and would read it out loud together, but that was half the fun. I'd do funny voices when I read it and sometimes changed a few of the words to kind of mix it up...But she enjoyed it so very much EVERY time. When I got back to the state where I live, I bought my own copy (just because I'm a kid at heart and I wanted to have something tangible of those beautiful reading memories with her.) I was further rewarded one day when she was having a hard time taking her afternoon nap. When my daughter called, I asked if I could talk to my little "Peanut"...I told her to go get her book and I would read it to her and she had to follow along and open all the little flaps. She did of course and she giggled the whole way through as if it were the first time she was hearing it. It was another priceless moment for this grandma...and she didn't have any trouble going down for her nap after that either. It's amazing what will capture a little ones attention. Sometimes we adults make things too complicated. As for me, I love to see things through the eyes of a child.

My granddaughter loves leafing thru this book with me. Lot of look under the tabs for 'surprises'. Well illustrated. Highly recommend.

She bores easily, but she loves this little book. she has had it for a couple of months, and she's still interested in it. She's 19 months and change now.

What a super cute gift... even more fun for mom than for baby! terribly witty.

I love this book. I bought this one and Eco Babies Wear Green. I read it to my two-year old son and he loves it. For him the pictures are nice, for me I love the tongue-in-cheek humor. That baby is sooo cool (and his mommy must be too). These are definitely activities I want my son to be interested in. Granted, I do take my son to yoga and I jog with him in the stroller, but I want him to be interested in the other things the baby does in this book such as going to a galleries and eating at nice restaurants (without throwing stuff).

As soon as I saw this book (before my daughter was born), I knew I had to have it! The concept alone sold it on me, and the clever copy and cute illustrations are fabulous! It's unique and refreshing--a breath of fresh air. I love it! A perfect gift for contemporary couples ... for city-dwelling playmates ... or for yourself! Very cool!

I love this series! The artist has a style that is adorable. Finding a board book that is worth buying isn't easy, and this is one that I would recommend for little ones. Moms and Dad won't mind the humor either. When I gave this book to a friend, she had a fit over it - loved it!! I went on to buy several of the others.

I need to talk to the head librarian, and inquire why unbelievably shallow tripe like this is being stocked in our library. "Urban babies wear black" - what sortof narrow thinking spawned something so petty and worthless? It's one thing to teach babies about colors and animals, but to teach children to be shallow?
Awful.

Thomas and the Freight Train is an excellant little board book for little toddlers who just love the Thomas series. It is a small, short book but worth it due to its wonderful illustrations.
Perfect for my son!

This book is good, but very small in size. I thought for some reason it was going to be a normal size book.

I thought the book was larger for some reason. It was only about 2 or 3 inches in width and length. It was a xmas present for my nephew so I was a little disappointed it was so small.

This is a nice small book to take along in the car but I don't think the pictures are animated enough. My 19 month old son doesn't seem too interested in the book.

I didn't introduce Thomas to my son until he is about 2.5 year old. I bought this board book thinking it will be good for him to read by himself. I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the description of the book. It was smaller than I expected. My son liked it okay but it is not his favorite Thomas book. I think it is a bit too easy for him. I will think this book is probably more suitable for readers a little bit younger.

This is a wonderful book with great rhythm and rhyme. My 3 month old already smiles when I start reading it, and I know as he gets older it will be one of his favorites, as he doesn't react this way to any other book. I also think it is a great story... VERY cute pictures!

My daughter loves this book (22 months old) and my husband and I enjoy the sing-song rhyme as well. It has a nice rhythm for reading aloud. We don't mind reading it over and over! The illustrations are great also.

My 11 month old son loves this book and has since he was little. He loves the cadence of my voice as I read the clever rhyming story and he loves the pictures. However for younger children like him this book is also available in a board book format. Just search amazon for bear snores on board book.

This book was given to us when our boy was born and it's been a favorite for his two years of life. We've given this as a gift now many times.

This book is one of our favorites. Great, original verse, lots of cute animals, and a repeating phrase make our 2-year-old pay attention. The other "Bear" books don't seem as original to me. We give this book as gifts, and everyone loves it!

My 2 & 1/2 year old daughter loves this thing! It's a cross between a pacifier and security blanket for her. She sucks on the tags which is a little gross but we have 2 of these books and wash & rotate them constantly. She sleeps with her taggies book, and if we are going on a long car ride we let her take the book and she is out like a light in 5 minutes! I would recommend these books to any infant or toddler!

I thought this would be a great book but was disapointed. The tags don't have any texture on them so my sone doesn't really care about it.

When my son first got the book, he was absolutely fascinated with the tags. He also loves to feel the velvety pictures. And it's also one of the first books I began reading to him.

This is a wonderful book that my nine-month-old has enjoyed since we received it as a gift when he was 2 months old. I don't understand the other reviews that say "it isn't much of a story". "Sweet Dreams", as the title implies, is a bedtime book. And it is perfect for that. Short, simple, engaging but not exciting, it is oh-so-soft and very comforting. My son loves it. He touches each animal ("kitty", "bunny", & "puppy") as we read, and I even stroke his face with the book once at the end as a final soother. It is the second of the two books we read at bedtime, the first being Baby Animals, which is a more active "Tough & Feel" book, but a good transition from active to night-night. I highly recommend Sweet Dreams for anyone looking for a comforting quiet book for bedtime reading with their baby. At nine-months, he seems far from outgrowing it; we will enjoy this book for some time to come.

An update at 13 months: still a wonderful way to go to bed. He can be teething or excited or anything other than sleepy. But when we start this book, he settles right down and gets snuggly and sleepy. After all, kitty, bunny and puppy are asleep in their beds, so it must be a good idea!

My six-month-old loves her Taggies Book. (She received it when she was four months old.) Now, she likes to hold it and rub the tags. It is perfect size to lay across her lap while she is in her car seat. Very nice.

My daughter loves this book. I love all the Sears' books. I would recommend all of their books.

This book is well presented and has a lot of information for parents at the beginning and some suggestions throughout the book. Most of the illustrations are of boys and I would have preferred some of girls because I bought this for my daughter but it is fine because it is a good way to start the conversation about the difference when she is ready.

My son loved this book from the time we got it. In fact he is now 3 1/2 and had been using the potty for quite some time and he still asks to read it. Loved it's pro-breastfeeding slant. Also really appreciated its talk about diapers as we used cloth and always dropped the poopy in the toilet when they were dirtied. (Packages of disposables also tell you to do that actually as it is considered bio-hazardess waste) However, if you are not pro-breastfeeding and are uncomfortable speaking frankly about body functions, then this wouldn't be the book for you and there are probably many other books out there that would suit you better. Highly recommend this book!

Unlike most books, this book pictures a mother nuring her baby and a co-sleeper. I am not fond of the cartoon illustrations, but they are not terrible (I usually prefer photos instead). My 19 mo. old daughter loves this book.

This book has lots of great info for parents as well as nice pictures, but it's written for older kids who can already speak well and ask complicated questions. It seems like it's aimed toward children over 2 1/2, most of whom are already in the process or done learning to use the potty. I do think the notes for parents will be useful for me.

This book will always be in demand. I feel the publisher should not take advantage of that fact by issuing the book only in hardbound.

My 2 year old loves this book because she can "read" it. You can surmize the story based on the illustrations. The book does not have any words, but that's the beauty of it. My daughter can look at the pictures and tell the story on her own. It makes her feel like she's really reading.

Great for my work with children that have language deficits or delays.

I buy the book for linguistic purposes, but as a reader I enjoyed it very much, it is not colored as Mercer Mayer's new series on Little Critters however it warms your heart and make you smile. An excellent example of story telling without any words.

I love this book, as does my daughter. When I first picked it up, I thought the language was odd, but it really grew on me. This book actually chokes me up when I read it; it is so warm and sweet and beautiful. My daughter loved it as a baby, and still likes it now and then at age 3. The illustrations are wonderful too.

This book is not only charming, it is also illustrated with pictures of loving families which may not be biologically related to each other-- and not a word is said about it! As an adoptive famiily, we have lots of adoption-related picture books, but it is nice to just have a fun comforting book which shows that loving families come in all colors and they don't need to "match"!

This has been a favorite gift book for me--I give this book to all kinds of families with babies and toddlers and everyone loves it!

A timeless book about love, this book is for every reader. It should be read and reread by all children(that's all of us) and parents(no matter the age of your children). The book is great poetry,too. The illustration is bright and sunny.It will cheer you up and catch you up.

Great illustrations, good multicultural representation, and a fun, sing-songy text. My daughter likes to say and do the sign for "more" everytime we come to the word.

The story of loving families is wonderful. My kids love it. The print color is odd and the wording is unusual, but after you read it through once its not a problem.