My 2 1/2-year-old loves this book and was soon "reading" it back to me! Its simple rhymes relate a story of generosity and thoughtfulness. We read it every day for weeks, and return to it frequently after 4 months. Paperback version is not sturdy, though--pages fell out after repeated reading.

This is one of my favorite books. It is so simple and beautifully told, gently imparting an important message of selflessness. It is a modern fable. Each page is an amusing "chapter" to an adventure with a gratifying surprise ending. I love how the author respects kids' ability to be kind and creative without the prodding of adults. The illustrations, painstakingly, gorgeously rendered in cut paper, are facinating. Like the story, the pictures are a celebration of a conscientious approach to life.

what a wonderful book. I love the illustrations and the rhyming text. My 2 1/2 year old son (also named Benny!) loves to hear this book over and over. He has many parts memorized, too. It is nice to read a book in which the main character, who could easily spend the money on himself, finds something for his mother, brother, sister, cat, and dog, spending one of his five new shiny pennies on each of them. He gets nothing for himself, except many "thank you"s and that great feeling of giving!

I picked up this book for almost three year old daughter because we loved Bob Barner's Fish Wish. My daughter learned so much about the ocean from that book and I thought Dem Bones would give her an introduction to the body. The book follows an old African folk song called Dem Bones. "The ankle bone is conneced to the foot bone, the foot bone is connected to the leg bone" and so on. Since my daughter is so young I just sing the song to her and point out the bones on her body as we see the corresponding ones on the skeletons in the book. If you have an older child there is much more in depth information about the bones provided on each page. That is why I love Bob barner's books so much. My daughter can follow along the simple to read stories now and when she gets older I can go over the more informative parts with her later. She has already learned a great deal from this book and she really loves it. Bob Barner really makes learning fun.

As an elementary school librarian, I used this book with my classes. We sang the song as we turned the pages. Then, at the end we laughed about the names of the bones and practiced ways of using the "real" names. 1) Go to the nurse after you skinned your knee on the playground and ask for a bandaid to put on your patella; 2) You stub your toe and grab it and moan, "Oh, I stubbed my phlanges", etc.

Kids from K through 5th grade enjoyed this! Lots of fun.

This book offers a wonderful introduction to the bone structure of the human body, even for very young children (my 3 year old daughter and niece just love this book). The use of fun, bright skeletons appeals to the reader and balances the use of scientific language in the text. Even mom and dad will learn a thing or two while reading it! You'll have your kids singing Dem Bones (the foot bone connected to the ankle bone, etc.) before you know it.

We started reading this book to our son at 3 months and he's now a year old and he still likes reading it. It's bright colors
and clown fish make him very happy. Bab Barner's illustrations are set apart from many other childrens books. We love it at our house.

My daughter is 2 and a half and she asks me to read this book to her every day. She loves finding the orange fishy on each page as well as identifying all of his friends. How many 2 years old know what a sea anemone is? Well thanks to this book she does. I am sure that this book will be the foundation of a life long love of the ocean. I just hope that when she is grown there will be some coral reefs left for her to explore. On a quick side note, if your child likes this book try I Saw the Sea and the Sea Saw Me by Megan Montague Cash. The two books are great when read together and will give your child a real appreciation for the creatures that inhabit our oceans.

Colorful collages made from cloth, paper, buttons, seed beadsand tin foil decorate the pages of this simple story about a boys wishto be a fish. The book starts with, "If I were a fish..." and travels through the coral reef to show dolphins, jellyfish and sea anemone. The back of the book highlights and gives a brief background about each of the animals pictured. A beautiful book and a great learning tool.

This is the favorite book of my 4-month old infant, and one of the only books for she will sit still! She loves the bright colors and contrasts of this book, and the repetitive, sing-songy words. I highly recommend this book for readers of all ages!

The book basically sums up everything there is to life. It takes a very simple, important message and portrays it in vivid images. It's great!

I bought this book for my 16 month old son because he loves dogs, but to my surprise he learned to do all the actitives the dogs are doing, and he has so much fun doing them. He scratches his head, sniffs the pages, growls and barks when the dogs do. These actitives might not get him into an Ivy League college, but he has so much fun showing off is new skills to us and visitors that we think this book is great purchase! My son is now 18 months and we still read this book about 4 times a day!

This is the type of book that would appeal to children and dog lovers of all ages. The colorful pictures of many different breeds of dogs capture and hold your attention. It is the type of book where children could have so much fun looking at it that they might learn without realizing it. Check to see if your dog is among those included and see what he/she looks like in illustration form.

I bought this book for my just-turned-three year old daughter. She likes it a lot and requests it by name. I'm sure that it would be just as suitable for younger children. It is a nice introduction to the solar system, and the universe around us.

My daughter likes the simple illustrations and the rhyming text.

What I had not realized when I first reviewed this book is how much this book really teaches. Imagine my surprise when my daughter rattled off the names of the planets, in order from the sun, one day. I was also surprised that she saw a poster of stars and told me "look constellations!" (Well it was a three year old's approximation of the word "constellations" but I knew what she meant.) I would never have pushed her to learn about the solar system, but I'm pleased that this book gave her a way to follow a natural interes.

If you are a parent of a younger child looking for an educational book on bugs you should check out "Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!" by Bob Barner. When finding a book for very young children there are many things to look at, such as the use of bright colors to catch their attention, thick pages that won't tear easily, and large, easy-to-read typeface. "Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!" accomplishes all of these.
When it comes to the pictures, he has the bright colors and uses collages to add texture and realism to the illustrations. He uses pictures that are more like cartoons than reality so the kids will not be afraid of the featured insects. He puts these pictures on thick paper that will not tear easily so the kids don't destroy the book too quickly. At the end of the book there is a "Bug-O-Meter" that can help kids identify bugs and possibly help them learn to use tables and graphs. He also tells the reader little things about the different bugs to help kids learn the differences between the featured "bugs".
The way the author uses words is engrossing, with the words scrolling across the pages, leading the reader through the illustrations. The sparse wording may help children learn to spell. The wording is also contrasting to the colors of the illustrations and creates a dimension of words that can be taken apart from the illustrations. We reccommend it to parents of young toddlers.

My daughter is 14 months old and she absolutely loves this book. She pages through it over and over again. We have a pile of about 20 books for her to "read" and this is always the first book she grabs. She points to the bugs and we say the name and then she'll turn the page and continue. She loves the bright color pages. I just wish it came in board book version, because she's wearing out the pages. She is just one, so she's a little rough on paper pages. ;) I love the page in the back that teaches you about the insects.

My daughter is 2 and 2 months and she loves this book because
of the great colors, simple but meaningful language, and because she can associate the words and pictures with real bugs she sees in our garden. Each time she wants to read it, she asks to have it read to her at least 4 times in a row. A great introduction to reading book.