I used this book to introduce my private-school, sixth grade students to some Jewish holidays. The stories are clear, entertaining, and accurate, explaining the history and religious reasons for each holiday without being educationally or spiritually overwhelming. They are written with love and care; even my non-Jewish students remembered and referred to the stories throughout the year. This book is a treasure!

Good books on Jewish traditions and heritage are very hard, if not almost impossible, to find. This book is easy to read and understand - for adults and children alike.

This has proven to be the perfect book to help our own (Catholic) children learn about the holidays our Jewish friends and neighbors celebrate throughout the year. Thank you, Gilda Berger and Peter Catalanotto!

This was a wonderful book about not giving up on the things you enjoy because of what someone else thinks! Emily learns that one persons rock is the next mans diamond. What makes us different makes us special!
Our favorite book = Matthew A.B.C. - same author

EMILY'S ART is the story about Emily, a first-grade girl who loves to paint. There is a colorful aura of joy around Emily as she paints with her heart, and she radiates a soft, pink glow when she paints a watercolor picture of her friend, Kelly. When Emily's class participates in a school-wide art contest, Emily chooses to enter a picture of her dog, Thor, with great big ears, "Because Thor hears everything." When all the first-grade pictures are judged in the art contest, Emily is heart-broken to see her beloved picture of Thor passed over because the judge hates dogs. Fortunately, Emily's friend, Kelly, and her teacher, Ms. Fair, show Emily how much they care about her, and the story ends with a class party to celebrate all the beautiful pictures the children made.

What makes this picture book so very special is the way that every illustration of Emily shows how she feels in body posture, facial expression, and her human energy field. When Emily is happy, soft colors of light shine around her head and shoulders. When Emily is sad, her head droops forward and she becomes transparent as her aura disappears. Every picture of her aura is delightfully different -- my favorite is the one where she is showing her friend, Kelly, how to draw a dinosaur and lots of bright colors surround her head, back, and arm!

This is a gorgeous watercolor picture book that shows how feelings look in the human energy field. I give it my highest recommendation!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, the talent illustrator's best work to date, with an outstanding story. Faced with an art competition, Emily learns how seeing the world through your own eyes is better than any prize. My pick for the Caldecott award!!! Get it while it's still in first printing!

This is a story about a teacher with 25 Matthews in her class. Some of our favorites are Matthew C. who has cowlicks(look for the words his cowlicks form throughout the book),Matthew H. appears to be headless (ever know a boy who pulls his shirt over his head), and Matthew K. is unusually fond of ketchup (He dresses like a ketchup bottle). Matthew Z. (dressed in zippers) transfers into her class at the end of the book. I puchased this book after reading a rave review in the chicago trib. I looked in every bookstore I could find before finding it cheeper at amazon. This is a wonderful book for any child preschool thru 1st grade. My 5 year old has it memorized! I sent it to school with him and the teacher just loved it, we are going to order an extra one to donate to his class.

"Mrs. Tuttle has 25 children in her class. They are all named Matthew. Principal Nozzet wonders how Mrs. Tuttle tells them apart. She finds it quite simple..." Starting with the letter A, meet each Matthew, and find out what's special about him. For example, Matthew A is extremely affectionate, Matthew B loves Band-Aids, Matthew C has cowlicks, and so on, letter by letter, through the alphabet. Peter Catalanotto's easy to read, spare text is complemented with clever, bold and bright illustrations, filled with eye-catching detail and humor. Matthew G has trouble with glue, and Mr Catalanotto shows him stuck to his chair and covered with school supplies. Matthew I is incognito, wearing a fedora and fake glasses, nose, and mustache. And Matthew R, my personal favorite, is freckled with a rhinoceros, and if kids look closely they'll see the outline of a freckle-made rhino, horn and all, on Matthew R's face. Perfect for youngsters 3-7, Matthew A.B.C. is a creative and imaginative learning tool that both engages and entertains. As classmate number 25, Matthew Y, yodels, Principal Nozzet brings a new student in to join the class. Can you guess his name? Here's a hint, he's covered in zippers!

i read this book on the recommendation from a friend, because I have an 18 month old named Matthew. This is the cutest book i have read in a long time. The author did a great job of writing the story, and Kudos to the artist for their portrayal of the spoken word. Even my 18 month old understands the difference between the Matthews and their coorelation with the alphabet. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who has a Matthew (no matter what the age). I am personally purchasing two more to donate to my children's school library.

This gorgeous book is unlike any other children's book I have ever seen. It is richer, more varied in its offerings and in its fundmental concept, which is a celebration of books. I can imagine enjoying this book with children of any age from newborn all the way through early teens. It expresses a tender love of both language and image that I find deeply evocative. Imagine a book that offers a myriad of possibilities on every page, in a beautiful, nonlinear way, as different from Richard Scarry as possible. This is a wondrous book about books.

This book is fantastic for teaching the power and purpose for reading. Students of all ages can see how virtual reality is not only on a computer monitor but also between the pages of a book! The words are few, but the paintings are outstanding provoking imagination and conversation about the power of thought and the written word. It is a powerful teaching tool for teaching students of all ages, k-post college.

This entertaining story is a delight for kids, adults, or anyone who is compelled to live with and (despite themselves) love a dalmatian. Sparsely worded and heavy on illustration, Dylan's Day Out -- appropriately -- leaves much to the imagination. The title dog's color scheme carries over into the book's other inhabitants -- penguins, skunks, nuns, dominos, soccer balls, and other checkered items abound. The clever interplay between color and black-and-white engages children's imaginations and adds an extra level of entertainment and interaction for readers. My son's long outgrown it, but I still love looking at this book.

The author's sparse use of words and cleverly thought-out illustrations allow children (and their parents) to become creative storytellers!

Warmly written, based on fact, beautiful art, great for girls

This remarkable book tells the story of Helen Martini, founder of the Bronx Zoo's animal nursery in 1944 and its first woman zookeeper. Helen and her husband, Fred really wanted children. They lost their first child and Helen couldn't have any more. They began to fill their lives with pets. Fred found a job in the Bronx Zoo. He often took home some baby tigers and Helen cared for them just like she would care for a human baby. This lead to her setting up a nursery at the zoo to care for lots of baby animals. This story will be adored by both children and adults.

I read this book to my second grade class during the Thanksgiving holiday. They loved it! The text flows wonderfully for a read aloud and the illustrations are simply stunning. Alaskan kids could relate easily to this story of the circle of life with a holiday theme. A definate must have for teachers in colder climates!

This is the kind of book that kids love to imitate. I have seen school classes take off on its two word rhymes and make books of their own. The images are very natural to kids used to computer screens; it's the grown-ups who lag in their visual skills. While Damp Camp is definitely about summer camp, it is also about having fun with words and about connecting words with experience. Buy and try!

This is a beautiful book and will be especially valued by those who have visted Mesa Verde in person. What struck me most about it (in addition to the beautiful illustrations) was that the text, while evoking a child's imagination, is also sophisticated poetry that appeals to an adult sensibility.

This was a good book about a man who grew up in Indiana. He moved to New York. He hated his home in New York. But then he finds a place that reminds him of his old home in Indiana. I recommend this book for all people because it had a lot of interesting topics and good describing words.

Slomen Singer dreamed for things he could not have. During the 1900's he lived in a mens hotel in New York City,and longed for a fireplace, cat, and love. Slomen Singer had no time and the hotel would not alow a cat or fireplace. One day he goes to a diner named West Way Cafe and meets someone named Angel. I recemmend this book to people who long for something but can only get it only in dreams and wishes.

Solomon Singer lives in a men's shelter in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Very little is known about Solomon's background other than he is an Indiana native. This, however, proves to be a very effective tool in the telling of this story.

Lonely, longing for the natural joys of birds and countryside as he knew in Indiana and a friendly person to talk to, Solomon takes to going for walks during the day. A creative man, he dreams of being able to paint the dingy walls at the men's shelter purple; he years for freedom of decision making that he does not have at the shelter.

Luckily for Solomon, he finds the Westaway Cafe, a friendly and fun place. A man aptly named Angel works at the Westaway and the two become instant friends. Angel listens to Solomon and genuinely cares about him. The question is, is Angel really an angel. Yes, he is!

This is a heartwarming, very moving story that will find a permanent place in the hearts of all who read and hear it. One of these days it will become a classic.