Birthdays Books

This book should be called "This is the Best Children's Party Book Ever!" It has great ideas, but unlike most party books it tells you how to accomplish everything and make it a learning experience for your child and his or her friends. I loved it and would reccomend this book to anyone.

This book is organized by age, and then by theme -- as an early childhood educator, her observations on what a one, two, three, four or five year old will like and put up with are absolutely right on! Wish I'd had this book to plan my childs first three birthday parties. She has great age appropriate activities, as well as organizing checklists.

The President of our Mother's Club recommended this book and it is wonderful! The author, Sharon Krull, speaks at Mother's Clubs throughout Northern California and is an incredibly dynamic speaker.

My daughter and I love this book. The pull out figures give her a way to contribute to our quiet time. I took the figures to an office supply store and had them laminated so they'll remain in good condition...and they have! A wonderful contribution to any child's library!

The perfect just-before-tucking-in book! My daughter loves it and asks for it every night. She carefully tucks each animal into the appropriate bed--and even chides Tiger for having too much cake at the birthday party. The only problem is keeping track of all the little paper cut-outs! I even thought of making a back up set on the color copier and having them laminated...but I'm not Martha Stewart.

This is a very nice story about friends falling asleep and tucking them into bed. My child enjoys tuckng each of the sleepy friends into the beds provided on each page and wishing each one a "Goodnight". When the story is over each of her friends are tucked in, and she is ready mentally to join them in going Goodnight! Each page ends with the same text "Let's tuck them into bed. Goodnight, [animal]." So the child begins to read along with you. I have a two year old, and she obviously does not read, but she expects that each animal will be tucked in and bid goodnight. Then it's her turn--and she goes without fuss!

I like this pleasant book because it's a book about friendship and companionship. My favorite part is when puddle the pig goes all around town for a present for his buddy Toot when he could be doing something else instead. Soon through friendship he finds the right gift. This book is filled with loving, touching pages. That's what makes it the best!

It would be hard to top the reviews of this book, so in leiu of one-upping them, I'll simply lay my $.02 on the table.

Toot & Puddle: A Present for Toot is an amazingly well done book. Reminescent of other famous pals-- Bert & Ernie, Oscar & Felix-- it's clear that the two have a very strong friendship tempered by the occasional bout of frustration.

It's going to be Toot's birthday, and what CAN you get for the Pig Who Has Everything?? Puddle, in his travels about town and windowshopping, finds WONDERFUL things that HE would like, but isn't sure that it would please TOOT. Time and time again he finds things that HE would like to have, but realizes that he's searching for a present for his friend, not himself (a wonderful watercolor illustration is of Toot eating breakfast while Puddle slings on his backpack to head out the door for another round of shopping).

The message is simple: it's the giving, not the gift, it's the thought that counts, and when present shopping, you should get goodies for the person you're BUYING FOR, not for yourself, no matter how many things fly up at you yelling, "BUY ME! BUY ME!"

The watercolors are some of the most vivid, detailed and comfortable ones I've seen in a career of reading children's books. This comes highly recommended.

The best children's books manage to delight your children and keep you amused -- even on the 55th reading. The Toot and Puddle series does this time and time again, with beautiful illustrations full of mood, detail, and humor, and prose that never panders to its young audience. They give the reader the feeling of peeking into a fully imagined world -- and the wonderful anticipation of the stories to come!

This is a delightful book for children to build character.My 7 year old loved it and so does my 3 year old.Since my 7 year old is now getting invited to parties from classmates,he understands that sometimes you may not be invited and this book helped him to learn about disappointment and to learn that mistakes happen .This is a great book for this age group.

Reviewed by Brianne Plach (age 10) for Reader Views (8/07)

Everyone else is invited, why not me? Maybe you've been asked "Are you going to the party?" You haven't even heard about any party. Why did everyone else get asked but not me? What's wrong with me? It just seems like no one likes me.

Oliver is a clownfish with a problem. He cannot understand why he didn't get invited to Sally's party. He thought they were good friends. Oliver asks all his other school friends why Sally didn't invite him. Surely there is a good explanation. An explanation is just what Oliver is seeking.

I loved this book! The illustrations are so cute. The many different kinds of fish are so adorable and so colorful. I think this book will help little children discover that maybe they didn't get the invitation when others did, but it's not really a reflection of them. I would love to read another book about the adventures of Oliver the clownfish. I hope Stephanie Guzman writes more books about Oliver's adventures and the trials that are facing children today.

Note from Brianne's mother: "The Adventures of Oliver the Clownfish" is an excellent book for children who are feeling left out of the fun at parties. It is also a splendid book for beginning readers with its less than 50 words on each two-page spread.

I did like this work. Wonderful, bright, clear and concise photography make this a delight for children and make it a fun read for the adult reading with the child. Of course I like dogs and anything about them. The photos in this work quite capture the animals personality. Recommend this one for your preschooler.

I purchased this book for a preschooler's birthday present anddecided to keep it for my own 16 month old son and myself! Althoughthe content is too advanced for him, he is fascinated by the collages of tinted photos. The colors used for the photos are bright, but not obnoxiously so...nice change from typical kids' books AND appealing to those who are into "retro". Both of us like the silly photos of the dogs at the party, too. I think that my son will really enjoy this book in a few years when he can pick out the items in the photo puzzles, but in the meantime, we are content to read about silly dogs (and one cat) at a birthday party. Happy Birthday, Alfred!

Alice's Birthday Pig is a chapter book for young readers ages 7-10 about a girl who longs for a pet of her very own, and who gets frustrated over her inability to properly pronounce the world "animal". Her brother teases her by comparing the way she talks to that of their baby sister Rosie, which is completely unfair since Rosie is only three! Alice's dream of having a pet pig eventually comes to pass in a surprising way - when she becomes the proud owner and responsible caretaker of a guinea pig! A handful of charming black-and-white illustrations enhance this upbeat, easy-to-read story.

What a sweet little beginning reader! I'd put this at a challenging 2nd grade, easy 3rd grade level. Alice's family is so wonderful, so warm and charming. She's teased by older brother Oliver for mispronouncing "aminal" After a class field trip to a small farm, Alice wishes more than anything for a real pet pig on her birthday. Her family has a delightful tradition of making an elaborate shaped cake every year to commemorate an important event of that year. A penguin, an airplane, a chutes and ladders cake, a train, a stegasorus, Big Bird, even a plain "cake, cake" for the year her brother complains about his cake not being grand enough. This year her parents make her a pig cake... and then surprise her with a pet guinea pig. Her little sister Rosie gets into Alice's gifts including a paint set and inadvertently covers Oliver with glitter but none of that matters. Alice names her new guinea pig "Aminal", much to Oliver's dismay. This story is a real winner.

Alicia's Happy Day/El Dia Mas Feliz De Alicia is a softcover, bilingual English/Spanish picturebook featuring enthusiastic color illustrations, a dash of Latino culture, and a spirit of all-around mirth. A young girl is have one of the happiest days of her life, and wishes to share that happiness. The reason for her joy is revealed on the last page - it's her birthday! "May you have a day that's twirly-swirly. / May you hear salsa and start to dance. / May the flags all fly for you. / Taxicabs all stop for you." The gushing joyful sentiment is quite contagious in this delightful read-aloud story.

We use this book in the classroom to celebrate our kids' birthdays. The illustrations are fun, and it's nice to have a book with a cultural twist, alot of my students relate to it, and the others get to ask questions about the others cultures and the words they used. A lot of FUN!

Alison's Puppy by Marion Dane Bauer is a beginning chapter book appropriate for children ages six through eight. In the book, Alison's birthday is coming up and she really wants a puppy. Her family members do not want a puppy because puppies are messy and noisy. Alison's grandfather comes up with a very creative way to help her birthday wish come true and still respect the opinions of the other members of her family. Alison's Puppy focuses on family and pets, themes that children will find very familiar. The storyline progresses quickly and holds the reader's interest and the surprise ending is funny and clever. The author does not describe the characters in great detail but readers learn about them through their dialogue and actions. The illustrations in the book as well as the layout, with small sections of text rather than large blocks of text, make this book a nice transition from picture books.

Alison's Puppy by Marion Dane Bauer is a beginning chapter book appropriate for children ages six through eight. In the book, Alison's birthday is coming up and she really wants a puppy. Her family members do not want a puppy because puppies are messy and noisy. Alison's grandfather comes up with a very creative way to help her birthday wish come true and still respect the opinions of the other members of her family. Alison's Puppy focuses on family and pets, themes that children will find very familiar. The storyline progresses quickly and holds the reader's interest and the surprise ending is funny and clever. The author does not describe the characters in great detail but readers learn about them through their dialogue and actions. The illustrations in the book as well as the layout, with small sections of text rather than large blocks of text, make this book a nice transition from picture books.

I borrowed this from the local library to read to my son and it soon became his favourite book. I love it! The illustrations are excellent and detailed, and the story just flows. The kids know what's coming next even before you've read the words! A great book for the young ones!

My son (3 years old) loves planes, trains and automobiles. This story has so many of them (a car, train, boat, plane, dump truck, bicycle, race car, and even a whale!) as it takes you on an adventure whereby when you shout "ALL CHANGE" your mode of transportation changes. The short rhymes are catchy, the graphics are really nice. It's an action-packed adventure to enjoy.

I am a US American living in Spain. My 4 year old loves having this read to her in English or in Spanish. It's been great for our vocabulary. She enjoys pointing out the "d"s or listening for all the words with the sound [d]. During the day, she pores over the childrens' illustrations discovering delightful details such as the Dalmation car's tail!
At night, I usually read it in English only and it works well as a bedtime story.

This is a really cute book about animals (A-Y) being invited and preparing to go to Zelda the zebra's party. Even the Spanish translation is decent (unlike alot of bilingual books), although a couple of words are forced. It's great for building vocabulary.