This is a very sweet book with the right amount of repetition for our 17 month old boys - they bring me this book along with Each Peach Pear Plum (another Ahlberg creation) to read to them....over and over and over.

This is a book I often send as a gift for new babies. My son is two and a half and has loved to have this book read to him since he was a few months old. The concept is what a baby can see. The story is told in a catchy rhyme which is fun to read (a plus for the parent who reads a lot of books to their child!) and easy to listen to. The board book has the added attraction of cut out round holes to give us the baby's view of the world - 'Peepo!'. For the baby or toddler listening to the story this is a bonus as they can put their hands through the hole and add a new sensation to the experience. The illustrations themselves give a nostalgic view of working class family life in post-war Britain. They are crammed with detail and give the child plenty to look at and for while listening to the story. The best kind of story reading experience for the very young child.

I'm a graduate student in Boise Idaho. I'm in an Advanced Children's Literature class and I've been asked to write a review of a newer children's book for this website. I chose The Snail House by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Gillian Tyler. This is a story about a Grandmother telling a fantasy to her grandchildren. All of my grandparents are deceased, but as a child my grandmother used to tell us stories. This is much of the reason that I chose this story. It sort of brought me back to my childhood. The book starts out with Michael, Hannah, and the baby. They all climb onto Grandmother's lap to hear the story of a boy and his sister and their baby brother who suddenly become so tiny that nobody can see them. They decide to leave their home to live for a little while in a home that fit their new size. This home was a snail house. They have everything they could possible need; a door, windows, a kitchen, tables and chairs-everything. In this house which is also a moving house they have a number of adventures; an earthquake, the baby disappearing, and the thrush who would like to eat their house. Along with this wonderful story told by Grandmother are enchanting illustrations that draw the reader further into the story. This is a great read for the ages of 4 to 10, however I'm 27 and I enjoyed it immensely.

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"The Snail House" will take everybody back to that safe warm world, where you sat on Grandma's knee and had stories told to you.

It is both a fantasy and a reality for children to see the world around them at different size scales. This might have something to do with little person's low-eyelevel perspective. Most young children play in a miniaturised world, Little boys with the toy cars and trains, or little girls with their baby dolls. Playing on the floor or out in the garden, small things look large, and big things look huge.

In this story, Grandma transports the children to a world where they live in a snail's shell house. They have three adventures. The great earthquake when the apple fell; baby gets lost when she climbs the dandelion; and the day the thrush almost got their snail but was scared away by a cat.

One of the charms of the book, is the way the children interrupt their Grandma as she tells the story, and ask questions and make suggestions. Does that sound familiar?

We are never that far from the real world. On each page, outside the frames that contain Grandma's story we see the children with their grandmother or shown scenes close by her house. We are reminded that traffic is humming on the distant road and "headlights are gleaming in the gathering dark".

This is one of those rare picturebooks where the story and illustrations mesh perfectly. The story within the story is a neat device, perfectly matched and supported by the illustrations, which show both the "real world" at Grandma's house and the "story book" micro-world of the adventures with the snail.

Gillian Tyler's portrayal of the miniature scenes in the garden is superb. The details and activities going on beyond the written story will intrigue and capture the attention of all youngsters.

There is just a hint of mystery in the story. In the last scene, we see young Hannah out on the verandah "standing yet, gazing into the muffled blackness of the garden".

"The Snail House" shows us that gentle, lyrical writing, and charming and soft but detailed pictorials still have an important part to play in making a children's picture book work successfully. It is a refreshing change from a lot of the garishly, overly styled, supposedly smart and sometimes very cynical children's books that we often see.

Ten in a Bed is an excellent bedtime storybook. Each chapter contains a slightly twisted version of a classic fairy tale. The book is ingeniously written to make the stories sound more concrete than your average fairy tale. Too many people are convinced that childrens books are only for children, but most adults will enjoy reading this book, if they have the time. Most American children may not understand some of the British terms used in this book, but adults will definitely appreciate its dry humor. The book does not have many illustrations, but the authors implemented great descriptions and word imagery to create a rather interesting and modern setting for fairy tales. Every kid should have this book read to them at least once, and every adult should read this book to at least one child.

This book is a guaranteed favorite for young preschool children! The repetition of the text makes this book a winner! I read this book several times each day. I teach Pre-kindergarten and my children beg for more!!!!!! This book has been an asset in my classroom for teaching counting skills and number sequencing. I highly recommend it for any parent or teacher of young children. Also you can incorporate singing to the text. It's a GREAT book

This charming picture book is loads of fun for both toddlers and their parents. It teaches category concepts (foods, pets, toys, accidents, etc.) by following five very different families through a day any parent of a two year old won't have trouble imagining. The many imbedded sight gags keep the older generation on their toes without detracting from the books' value for the little ones.

I started reading this book to my first child eight years ago. The anticipation grew after the first few times reading it, and he would happily join in the conversation with the cat, the teddy, the wind-up hen, and the Old Uncle; until finally YES! he found a Mommy. How joyful! Then he found a Daddy and his family was complete. Now my three year old daughter joins in on the fun. I've loved this book from the first read, and never tire of the little boy's sad story with a happy ending. Janet and Allen Ahlberg are masterful, in their artistry and their storytelling. Worth reading to all our children for many generations!

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Don't count your chickens until you've got them in your sack Fast Fox.

Fox counts to six, but there's more. He's going to need a bigger sack.

There are 10 little chicks sitting around the table loaded up with tasty party treats. Mother Hen is in the kitchen icing the cake. Good old Slow Dog is helping with the party games.

Let's play hide and seek, then its blind man's bluff. Now it's time for big bouncy castle.

Fox sees a perfect way to catch the chickens. One by one, they bounce into his sack as they tumble off the castle. The tenth little chicken was too scared to go bouncing. Slow Dog showed her how.

Slow dog bounces right on top of Fast Fox and all the chickens escapes.

We think the story is over. The party is definitely over and Fast Fox has gone home to his house.

But ! There is the Fox counting chickens again. He's up to 99.

Ah! It's in his dreams.

Young children will love the "Fast Fox, Slow Dog" books. There's is quite a set of stories in this series now.

The stories are fun. There is nothing too scary here, despite the Fox's sharp teeth and his insatiable appetite for chickens. Good old Slow Dog always comes to the rescue.

The drawings are bright and cheerful with clever layouts of text and pictures. Allan Ahlberg's kid's books have a broad appeal. Look for more of his books. You'll love them and so will the young ones.

The Ha Ha Bonk Book is a hilarious combination of jokes, riddles, and funny rhymes. I was laughing 99% of the time I was reading this book. There are also funny introductions to each section of jokes.

Antonio's story evolves entertainingly as he plays off the behavior of his captors. His growing confidence builds the energy of the story. When our family read this together, we could just imagine it being great fun to stage the action for children. The interruptions of the brigands make the story lively, but a little confusing at times. It helps to use different voices for the primary characters (Antonio and the Chief) and the narration.

This book was published in the mid-70's and my daughter and I spent many hours of pleasure reading this together. As recently as last week we mentioned the book because something sparked a memory. This is a combination of many many characters from nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and children's classics. It is delightful to read, especially the first time, because you just do not know who and what you are going to run into next. I am looking for this book now to share with my grandchildren to get their imaginations kick-started too.

Meet the Gaskitt family. First there's Mr Gaskitt, a slim, loving father who gets up one winter morning and puts on all his clothes, layers and layers of underwear, shirts, pants, sweaters, jackets, coats, scarves, gloves, hats, and his plastic raincoat. Then there's Mrs Gaskitt, an attractive mother who also drives a taxi. There's the twins, nine year old Gus and Gloria, and Horace, the cat. On the same morning that Mr Gaskitt put on all his clothes, Mrs Gaskitt got a call to pick up a gentleman at the bank, "In half an hour - on the dot", the twins had a substitute teacher who piled them all into a school bus for a field trip, and Horace curled up in his favorite armchair to watch TV. And as they all hit the road, to begin their day, the entire family's raucous, madcap adventure begins..... Allan Ahlberg has written a delightful short chapter book that will have early readers laughing out loud and rolling in the aisles, as they watch this action-packed story unfold. His easy to read, hilarious text is full of entertaining details, and asides from the cat, car radio, and even the refrigerator, and is complemented by Katharine McEwen's charming watercolor and crayon illustrations. Together this dynamic duo have authored an engaging little tale that's full of twists, turns, and more than a few surprises. Perfect for youngsters 7-10, The Man Who Wore All His Clothes is a silly, fun-filled, manic romp kids will love.