Baby Preschool Books

I use this book almost everyday with kiddos who have a communication delay. They absolutely love turning the pages, touching the pictures, trying to imitate the words I say, etc. This is a must have book for toddlers!

My 17 month old daughter likes this book, but I would wish for better. I do not feel as if I got my money's worth from this book. I don't like the check the touch and feel books out of the library because of the germs on them so I look around and bought this one for her as an Easter gift and she has looked at it a few times but it doesn't hold her attention at all. I would suggest "Good morning, Good Night" by Melanie Mitchell. We own that book as well and have been very pleased with it.

Children will be intrigued by the furry bear teddy bear tummy and then open the book to find pictures of objects they will easily recognize. They will find objects from around the house like a pillow, comb or lamp. Those are just visual and children can go find the objects or just learn to recognize the words.

Other touch and feel objects include: Bath sponge, velvet dress, fleecy jacket, orange peel, crinkly chips, tractor tires, woolly sheep, a silky swimsuit and a rough sandcastle which made me instantly wish I was really building a sandcastle at the beach.

One of the best touch and feel books
I have seen so far!

~The Rebecca Review

My twelve month old daughter loves this book and also the My First Farm Touch and Feel book. She will go to the bookcase and pull them out and sit and look at them by herself. These are the only books she will do this with at her young age. I love the bright photographs which make it easy for a baby to recognize familiar items. It was actually my older daughter's book when she was a baby and she too loved to sit and feel the textures. At three, she still enjoyes looking at the book with my twelve month old. There is lots to talk about in the pictures. Also, if you enjoy teaching your child baby signs, the photographs are good references for pointing and signing. So in summary, bright, engaging, with lots of fun textures. And it's survived in very good shape from my three year old down to my twelve month old so the cardboard pages are also very sturdy. Worth the ten bucks!

My Daughter has loved this book since she was 31/2 months old. She loves touching the objects, especially fluffy teddy and the red velvet dress, but hates the feel of the sandcastle. She cringes when we get to that one. The objects are grouped together with similar things like items you wear. It is a truly interactive book that encourages child participation. There is one object you can feel on every page which delights my daughter and frustrates her at the same time. She tries to touch the other objects on the page and seems disappointed that they are only made of the cardboard the pages are made of. I would have given this book 5 stars except I feel a few more items should be made to touch.

My baby loves to explain the pictures to me. I think this helps them to learn better/faster.

Cute book!

Once again, Carl and baby are off on an adventure, this time doing all the things that you know your toddler would love to do if let loose in a department store. It's a lot of fun to "read" and the Carl books are great for being stories that even a young child can enjoy by themself because there are so few words. The dress-up scene is especially good.

I think the controversy over whether it is bad role-modeling is just silly. These books explore a child's desire to get to do fun exciting things without her parents' watchful eyes in a safe way. The only thing that bothered me at all was that I think Carl steals a box of dog treats for himself, but it is unclear (they may have been free samples).

The images in this book seem somewhat less polished in places, there are a couple where the baby's face looks positively ugly in comparison with other Carl books. Unfortunately, we got this as a board book instead of full-size. Maybe the full-size version doesn't have those problems. The images are really the whole story, so be sure to buy it at a large enough size to appreciate!

My almost 2-year old daughter loves the Carl books. I don't really like these smaller board books as much as the large hardcover books that we have, but she doesn't seem to mind the difference and carries the board books around with her.

Great book. My three-year-olds have loved it for at least a year, especially enjoying that the store has an elevator and pet and toy sections as well. Seems to appeal to a wide developmental range.

I always got the feeling that the "Carl" series was a feeble attempt at obliquely lavishing Satanism onto the minds of young children. Carl's ominous stance and focused, yet glaring control over the toddler seems like a veiled and shadowy attempt at mind control and looks like a deleted scene from one of the Omen films.

Many people have spoken out about this series of books over time and have been shouted down in the process by the militant and frothing fans that associate themselves with this very strange and very suspect material.

Historically, Rottweiler's have been associated as Hell hounds, Demoniacally possessed, guardians of souls, in both film and literature throughout the ages. When the parents relinquish control of their toddlers to "Carl", it comes across, subtly, like it's a passive reference to giving up your child as a sacrifice to Satan, himself.

Drowning your baby and throwing them down into a dark abyss are close to the top of situations that occur in Satanic Ritual Abuse cases nationwide and finding them as dramatic and comical situations in a children's book series leads one to raise an eyebrow and question the true motivations of Alexandra Day. Drowning, burying a child alive and immolation are the three most common occurrences with SRA crimes in America today, pawning them off as children's educational fare is suspect. All of these instances, and more, show up in all of the Alexandra Day books that are currently published.

I first became familiar with "Carl" when I was admiring the artwork while passing a large display conveniently placed in a large walkway at Nordstrom's. The artwork is really fine quality and rivals that of many children's books. But the stories themselves though lead one to only grimace and feel confronted with downright concern. Here are just a sampling of themes and situations that occur throughout the "Carl" series:

1. "Carl" rides away with child on its back, which is reminiscent of illustrations from Dante's Inferno.
2. Toddler falls into a large fish tank, symbolizing a dark baptism.
3. Infant is abandoned in a park and left under the auspicious control of "Carl" to vagabond and live hedonistically.
4. "Carl" locks adults out of a classroom, separating the child from adult supervision.
5. "Carl" leads the unsuspecting child into a burning building to save its offspring and a likely death.
6. "Carl" leads the child to a druggist for an all-to-obvious rendezvous.
7. "Carl" leads child into explicit adult situations with photographic equipment and double-entendre's to bear witness to lascivious deeds.
8. "Carl" takes control of the child during Christ's birthday, avoiding church and leading the baby into a freezing white blizzard, painting a sarcastic analogy of Heaven.
9. "Carl" leads the baby into a dark cellar on his birthday and disappears with the child for an inordinate period of time, only to return looking oddly disheveled.
10. "Carl" attacks three children and mauls a young female toddler on her hindquarters in "Follow Carl". Obvious punishment when you don't "Follow Carl".

The problem with the series is that while the goal might have been to make a cute story out of a Rottweiler and a child, it left more people than not, the dour feeling that something else was going on below the surface of the story and the parallels are all too remarkable.

Okay, I would be lying if I didn't say that food was important in our family. It is the centering of every family gathering. This book (along with a few others from this series) was a nice introduction for my niece on the different types of food, how to say them, and fun illustrations. It also has made the idea of trying some new foods a little more interesting for her.

So let me start by saying, as a dad it is very difficult for me to find both entertaining and witty baby books.. This one kept me laughing for months after i first read it at our public library. In fact i use some of the lines at work to annoy both my co-workers and my boss's. It still brings a smile to my face every time i have to change a diaper to say hey baby, your cheese is melting out your end!
Ok so i like stupid humor, but so will you... a must have for any father!

We live in Texas so we see and eat a lot of this food. I really like the pronunciation key on the back. It really made me giggle (especially the first line, Hola! Jalapeno. I said Hello! my chile friend). The pictures are bright and festive, my son enjoyed that. I give it to him to look at when I change his diaper and he has a good old time.

we love the sing-song metric to the rhyme in this book. It's not my baby's favorite book, though. She actually prefers "my first sushi book" to this one. Still, we're learning about important foods that we eat in our half-mexican household.

My one year old son loves this board book! We actually have the entire series. It's fun and creative, and I don't have to worry about him ripping the pages. We are hooked!

Our daughter was a fan of Oswald due to the TV series. She received this book at age three and enjoyed it as much as the TV show. She was "done" with it after about a year. Our son became interested in it about the same age (three). Of course our daughter has some interest in it again. It's a short book, but it's cheery, colorful, and teaches. I would recommend it to a friend.

Every page or two page spread has a number of photographs of animals, in various categories - giant ones, colorful ones, farm animals, that sort of thing.

Each animal is identified by one word.

Just right for this age group, especially any baby or toddler who is really into animals. I recommend this book, and, really, the whole series.

We got this for our 1.5 year old and think its worth every penny. The animals are large and well illustrated and she can now look around and immediately relate to animals she sees in real or on TV. She has learnt almost all animals and we find that it is a great way to spend time weaving stories around these animals.

This was both our boys' favorite book from about 16 months to 3 years. While there are probably too many pictures on a page for younger babies, and I don't recommend reading every word every time through, it introduces a lot of great animals in interesting categories ("spiky", "armored", and "colorful").

I purchased this book for my 14 month old granddaughter and a day does not go by that we do not read this book together! She comprehends but has decided not to use her language skills to date (she is now 16 months old) and therefore this book has become her tool to communicate about animals. She sees an animal in a magazine, another book or on television and will run to retrieve this book, thumbs through to the exact page where the animal is located, and literally uses it as a "show and tell" tool! The pictures are absolutely amazing! Hopefully she will speak soon but this book has reassured ME that she is no dummy! -

A loving Grandmother!

My daughter loves this book. She has lots and lots of books, but this is one of her favorites! It has a really wide vaiety of animals. We love it!

This is a great book. I have a newborn and am hoping to expose him to different forms of art and science. This whole series is brilliant.

My 2 year old loves this entire series. True, most children like pictures that are realistic because they are learning their first words and want to know what real things are, but Picasso is also wonderful. I find my son opening the pages over and over again exploring, wondering, and enjoying the art.

This book includes several of his earlier works as well as some later works appropriate for young ones. Don't worry, no Guernica here. A great book. My 6 month old loves it.

The paintings they chose to use in this book are wide ranging in terms of style. The good thing is the paintings are not at all like the super abstract "Demoiselles d'Avignon." They include very realistic works of a boy on a donkey and a boy on a chair. There is even a self portrait at the end.
I don't really care for the writing in this one. There really is no story and many of the paintings' descriptions are just boring. It seemed randomly put together and as if the author didn't know what to say. Even a couple of the paintings themselves are boring, which is not a word that usually comes to mind when I think of Picasso.
Overall, I think it's a good book but it's not going to be for every kid. I think it's a great intro to Picasso, even if they just leaf through it and look at the pictures.

My daughter owns all 8 of Julie Merberg's mini masters and I find this one a little too abstract for my 2 year old daughter. She enjoys the more realistic pictures but tends to look away and ask for another book when it comes to the pages with Picasso's abstract pictures.

This book is so cute. I bought it for my son for his birthday. He likes the book and I read it to him along with all the other Leslie Patricelli books that I have bought. Definitely recommended.

My 2 year old LOVES all the Leslie Patricelli board books. He has almost all of them. However, I didn't like that this book wasn't a board book. So this means he can't sit and read/look at it by himself. The board books are perfect for little toddlers such as my son. He LOVES to read and be read to. The story is great and so are the illistrations. I just think it should have been a board book like the others. Leslie is a GREAT writer!!

I took this book out from the library based on the great pictures and I am so glad I did. My 2-year loves it (and so does my 8-year old)! It is magical in it's simplicity and really captures the sweet imagination and tenderness of early childhood.

Ms. Patricelli does a wonderful job of capturing the thoughts of toddlers and preschool age children. Her stories are adorable, and the artwork is well done. My daughter loves her books, and I don't mind reading them over and over again. This one is the first of her larger format books, as the rest are board books. I love when he climbs into the box! So cute!

I purchased this for my 2-year old niece for her birthday. She loves "Yummy Yucky," "Blankie" and "Binkie" books by the same author so this was a perfect birthday present. She calls it the "big Yummy Yucky." Like the previous books, this one is very charming and funny. I definitely recommend it for the younger set!

This book takes me back to Sundays with my parents. Every parent will remember those times when their parents spent real, quality time with them. My kids really enjoy the story also, and while we're reading, we're getting in some real, quality time ourselves. Great Message!

I love this story and the pictures. I gave it to my husband for Father's Day. He really loves it too. Great message.

This book is a throwback to gentler times. My son thinks that the boy is him and the father is his own. It even looks like the two of them, and they have, indeed, gone to a diner together on occasion. Just a sweet story of a son anticipating the time he has with Daddy.

I checked this book out of the local library and my 3 year old daughter absolutely loves it. The story follows a weekly ritual between a father and his young son - they go to a neighborhood diner every Friday for breakfast, just the two of them [mommy and baby stay home] and along the way they pass by people in the neighborhood and observe the various activities that go on around them.

The illustrations are charming, and to me, nostalgic, as it brought me back to my own childhood when my mother used to take me to the weekly fresh market. The sights, sounds and smells of those weekly visits have remained with me to this day.

In its own sweet, simple way, this book reminds us of the importance of making time for our child/children in this constantly humming, busy world. Highly recommended!

Our 20 month loves this book. He asks for "Friday" every night. He likes to name the things happening on each page.

This is a fantastic book. I have always felt a little inadequate as a writing teacher. I can write, but I don't know where to begin on the road to teaching children to write. This is a step-by-step plan and it is fantastic!

I have reviewed many books about how to teach children to write stories, and this one is by far the best! To begin with Mariconda is the only author I've read who distinguishes between character-problem-solution stories and what she calls "personal narratives." Personal narratives are more about an experience than a character, are usually heavily descriptive, and there is no "problem." The character-problem-solution mantra had always bothered me, because we all know that there are wonderful stories that are more "mood pieces" than solutions problems.
More importantly, the book consists of specific lessons on teaching the elements of story writing, in isolation. It can be done! Look at the Table of Contents to see exactly what is covered. These lessons are explained so well explained that you feel fully equipped to teach them, now!
Additionally, the author herself writes with "voice," unlike the usual dry, anonymous style of textbooks. When I leafed through the book and saw an entry that said something like, "getting students to elaborate with detail is the bane of most English teachers' existence," I bought it then and there. What we all need is to hear about teachers' experiences, not just "programs" that seem to spring from nowhere.
Lastly, her approach works! When this program was implemented at the school she taught at, the percentage of students passing the state writing assessment rose from 47% to 92% in four years. That is amazing! I am planning on using this book for my high school students as well as elementary and middle school!

I used this book to teach 3rd and 4th graders in Watts how to write. This book has lesson plans that teach step by step. All kids have wonderful ideas but sometimes do not know how to express these ideas on paper. This book shows you how to teach them. It was incredible to read the stories my students wrote after learning the techniques in this book! All my students became amazing authors! They were so proud of their stories and I was so proud of them! Thank you for writing this amazing book!

I have used this book with 3 schools in two states to help teachers teach writing and to help students prepare for state writing tests. This book shows you many simple ways to help kids understand narrative writing. The diamond graphic organizes the students's thinking and writing. The mini-lessons are great, and the test prep advice, the paced prompt, works. why should anyone take a test they aren't prepared for? the paced prompt shows the students how to organize their time and thougths, and the scores showed it. If you or your teachers are using Write Traits this will fit beautifully, but the book also stands alone. I've bought copies for all my teachers!

A book that, incredibly, lives up to its title! This is my 13th year of teaching elementary school and this book does what no other book has been able to do: it works! I found myself reading the entire thing in the teacher's store where I first found it. I suggested to my entire 3rd grade team that we implement it and they whole-heartedly agreed. If you want to teach kids to write narrative that A. makes sense, and B. is interesting, you cannot go wrong. Haven't you tried the formula of character, setting, problem, solution, one too many times and not been satisfied with the results? I know I have. This approach is much better, and shows you how to teach beginnings, elaboration, suspense (the best part), main event, resolution, and satisfying ending. The beauty is you teach it by parts using real literature examples, modeling, and then students practice. You will find yourself nodding your head as the author relates the same kinds of frustrations you have when reading elementary school writing and shows you how to change them. This book is the best I've ever seen to help you teach writing. There is no fluff and many great insights. Your students will write amazing stories and you'll never teach writing the same way again!

I'm normally for the classics; but this variation to the original rhyme is sooo much better - doesn't focus on buying something to please a child, but focuses on sharing experiences related to those things. Highly recommend.

My wife and I have purchased six of these books with the bunny doll. The reason we have bought six is my little girl has literally hugged them to death. This is her favorite doll, bar none. No other one competes. She takes it to bed, to the store, to the doctor.

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This is a must give present for any baby shower. I learned of this book from a pre school teacher. The familiar tune with all the consumerism taken out. In its place instead are lessons about teaching your child about the awe in nature and quiet moments bonding with Mommy. I love this book and at 3 years old, my son still insists that I "sing me the song book" to him before he goes to bed. We sing it together before he goes to bed. What a wonderful lullaby to sing your child. Illustrations are a little too "vintage" for me but the lesson is wonderful. My son seems to love the pictures though.

Good concept, but still very old-fashioned---I don't know anyone, let alone a mom, who plays a banjo!

"If that lighning bug won't glow, Mama's going to play on her old banjo."

I thought it was going to be more up-to-date. One the plus-side, the board book seems good and sturdy...

Really well drawn and written - nice updated version of the nursery rhyme. Its a wonderful story to sing and definitely a favourite bedtime book.