Birthdays Books

Our language delayed 3 year old loves the handtalk series. In this birthday story with a magical touch, the photos tell the story (there is text) and the characters sign along with the action portrayed. It's easiest to sign if you already know the signs as the photos don't always capture the exact motions.

Handtalk Birthday is a conceptual picture book that uses printed text and photographs of people speaking American Sign Language to tell the story of Mary Beth's birthday. They surprise her in her pajamas, give her gifts which she tries to guess, and they all have a party. All of her guests sign various numbers to guess her age. This is a book about language and counting in American Sign Language. Sometimes the signs are hard to interpret because they require motion to convey in reality, and this motion is photographed so the pictures are blurry. Also, the pages are too crowded with photographs and this makes the composition of each page seem messy and crowded. The facial expressions of the photographed characters are overdone and make the book seem ridiculous and garish. The book was published in 1987, and this is obvious in the photographs- the characters have not dated well and have become cartoonish. The concept is a great one but this book doesn't pull it off very well. Perhaps it would be valuable in a collection of children's books that incorporate American Sign Language for elementary school students.

Biscuit is a perfectly adorable puppy and this is him and his little owner girl celebrating his birthday with a pack of his friends from his other adventures. Unfortunately the story seems a bit short, since they included some "activity" pages in the back instead of making a larger book. Such once-offs as activity pages should be kept to disposable mediums as coloring books and not included in a keepsake item like this. Once the kids take the markers and crayons to it to do the "activities" the rest of the book is only asking to get colored on as well, and it made the book shorter as well.

My daughter likes the title but it seems too short in comparision with others, and the price. There's just not enough to it. A Biscuit birthday should be a bit more exciting than this.

I am so used to the "I Can Read" Biscuit stories that I was surprised by this one which features more words and longer sentences. In fact, it wasn't until I checked and rechecked the cover that I realized it was a read-aloud book (lol).

That said, it could be used for a practice reader for advanced kindergarteners or first graders. Three pages of text follow so you can judge for yourself:

"Now it's time for birthday treats," said the
little girl. "Make a wish, Biscuit."

Woof!

"Funny puppy! You want to open your birthday presents!"

Four Stars. Nice Read-aloud that should appeal to older babies and toddlers. I wouldn't purchase it for kindergarteners or older children unless I was going to use it as a practice reader. In general, the "Booklist" review does a very good job in summarizing the book.

Sometimes kids say the the most
charming things, but this isn't
one of those times--too many
unfunny selections.

I would like an address where letter's written by children can be sent to be published.

The book had 25 theme parties,ranging from "Old McDonald's Farm" to "Bon Appetit". Each had low cost ideas for invitations, activities and refreshments. Many of the activities were a little contrived and a lot were reworkings of familiar games like "Pin the Bow on the Teddy".

The cakes suggested were shapes related to the theme. Most were cute and fairly simple, but a top hat was made from 4 layers of cake. Not very practical for most children's appetites.

This book was a good place to start planning a party. It had good genral party giving tips and the themes will be fun. Readers can add their own ideas to make a party their children will love.

This book is organized according to different party themes that children will like, such as Wizard of Oz, Mother Goose and All Aboard. Within each party, the author gives you multiple creative ideas for creating your own invitations, decorations, activites and games, refreshments, cake decorating and party favors. The author also tells you how to draw the children into the party theme and keep them busy and interested. This book is great for someone who wants to make an old fashioned at-home party for their child. The author's ideas are easy to put to use. I made a Globe Trotting party for my 9 year old son...it was a big hit! This book will serve as a handy reference for many years of birthdays.

It's a 17-minute tape, but it felt like two hours. My two-year old daughter enjoyed it at first, but quickly lost interest, even with us reading along in the book. There's too much chaos and too many annoying voices. Maybe she'd enjoy it if she were older, but I still think it'll be too chaotic to enjoy. Winnie the Pooh, Franklin, Brown Bear, Arthur and Brambly Hedge, are so much sweeter and low-key, yet interesting, enjoyable and educational.

I know it was quite sexist of me to think of Hello Kitty as a "girls' character", but I did. My mother-in-law gave this book and tape to my oldest son for his 4th birthday. I couldn't possibly have predicted it, but it was to become the most favored of our book/tape sets. Both of my little boys just love Hello Kitty and her friends and especially this particular caper.

I thought this was a great book! In my 30+ years, I have had some birthdays and birthday parties that haven't gone exactly to plan. This book shows kids that they aren't the only ones that are disappointed in their special day - but just because things don't go the way you want them to doesn't mean you won't have a great birthday. Henry's birthday is wonderful, just not exactly how he envisioned it.

Henry's mother told him he could have a chocolate cake for his birthday, then without consulting her son, decided to make a vanilla one instead. She miscounted the candy baskets and instead of running to the store to buy an extra, she pressures Henry into giving his up, then doesn't allow him to wear his favorite outfit to his party. By the time the guests arrive, Henry is certain that his party will be a failure. During pin the tail on the donkey, one guest sticks a tail on Henry while his cousin calls him a donkey, and Henry loses at musical chairs when a rough guest pushes him off a chair. When the candles are lit, Henry wishes it was someone else's birthday. Still, the cake is good, the presents better than anticipated, and the day doesn't wind up being a completely miserable one, but this reader was unsatisfied with the artificially happy ending. Why would Henry's mother promise him one cake, then bake another without warning him first? Why couldn't she serve all of the children candy in paper cups instead of taking away Henry's basket? Why force her son into wearing an outfit he despises? Why don't the parents intervene when the guests tease Henry or the game of musical chairs gets rough? Who is this party for, anyway? While Henry's resilience is admirable, those around him are never held accountable for their thoughtless behavior. No one ever apologizes to Henry, so this is a pretty unsatisfying little book.

It is more the stories of a guy with virgos in his life, I really didn't like it that much...

this is good stuff for someone living with a virgo, I had some good laughs and I'm sure you will too. You really do need a guide some times, trust me it helps lol.

Karen's Half Birthday is good, but Karen's idea of a half birthday is juvenile. Even for a seven year old. I recommend #7- Karen's Birthday much more than this one

The part about Karen's party was good, but when she returnes to school, I couldn't tell if the kids that were not invited to Karen's party happy or not. I wouldn't say not to read this book, but I wouldn't exactly reccomend it either.

My granddaughter adores anything about Madeline. This is a great activity book if your child enjoys Madeline books. It is well-crafted and reasonably priced.

This is an adorable book. Kids will love it.

The idea of this book is great for teaching/reinforcing math skills for beginning counters. I did enjoy the text. One monster has a birthday party and more and more monsters show up and then leave. Your child is supposed to count the monsters. The book takes them up slowly from 1-10 and then jumps from 10 to 20 to 30 to 40 to 50 and back down quickly from 50 to 10 to 5, 4, 3, 2 to 1 (the birthday girl).

Love the idea of this book; however, there is a major flaw in it surrounding the illustrations. While they are interesting and cute, they do not make for "easy" counting for little ones. For example, one of the monsters has two heads - does that count for one monster or two then? (counts for two) and some of the monsters, you can only see an arm, leg, or part of a head (like a horn), so it was confusing for the little kids who were actually trying to count them all. My children even mistook the pinata for a monster on one page. Also, the birthday girl's mother (who is a monster) is in some of the pages, but you are not supposed to count her as one of them - see what I mean? The rules, logic, and order are missing in the illustrations and that is the foundation of math. The pattern of 30 or 40 or 50 monsters on a page to count is so random that even I couldn't remember if I had counted "that one" yet or not. So this might be better suited for an older counter if you are just beginning with a younger child. I think when the kids are young, it is especially important to build their confidence and skills with consistency, simplicity and when they succeed by counting the right number, that positive success makes it more fun for them and they want to keep learning. This book made my 4 yr old twins frustrated. They kept counting and winding up with the wrong number and they are actually one year ahead in math, so I know it's simply the illustrations. Me having to explain that "technically" there are 41 monsters on that page, but you're not supposed to count the mother as a monster. And they retort, "But isn't she a monster, mom?" - well yes, she is. It ended up being more of a frustration than the great counting book it could have been. I hope someday they reillustrate the book and keep these things in mind.

I'd recommend "Math for All Seasons" by Greg Tang for young children. In his book, the illustrations are clearly laid out and organized and make it fun for the kids to count and succeed.

Check it out from your library before you spend the money on it. I'm glad I did.

This is an excellent teaching tool for beginning counters! I gave this book to a group of toddlers and they absolutely loved it! I have read this book over and over again. With the great rhyming words and great pictures, this book will surely help your child enjoy counting. This book tells a cute little story (while counting by ones, then tens, and then back down again) about a monster having a party that gets out of control in which the mother monster shoes them all away! It is a great book!