What Do You Know! is fun and entertaining for any age, but especially preschool and kindergarteners. Using rhyming text and beautiful illustrations, Lorinda Bryan Caulley has created an enjoyable book that will keep the youngest of readers searching for everything from pairs to pears, wrongs that don't belong and hidden objects (I still have not found the mitten!). For those who love I Spy, this is a great version for the very youngest of readers. Works best as a one-on-one sharing book.

I bought this book for my 4 year old daughter and she absolutely loves it. The book has simple puzzles and games that kids really get a kick out of. Since I bought it, my daughter asks me to read it to her nightly.

My two and a half year old son loves this book. I think I read it to him seven times just today. He has always been a dinosaur fan, but this book really brings the characters to life for him. He loves pointing out each dinosaur in each illustration and telling me their names. When we are not reading the book, he asks us to act out the roles of the dinos in the story. For some reason, I always get to be Tyrannosaurus Rex! I'm thrilled with the book because it is a fun story that also happens to offer factual information about the dinosaurs in it. It's been a great help to our discussion about which dinosaurs were herbivores and which were carnivores. Finally, the vocabulary is amazing, when I hear my son using words like "tantalize" and "serene" I know that the magic of reading aloud is working its wonders! Great book!

This is a really fun book! We bought this for my daughter when she was about 1 1/2 yrs. old and it became her absolute favorite! She actually got one as a gift and the pages became ripped and warped so I ordered her the little 'travel size' as I call it, with the hard pages and we took it everywhere. It's just a neat book with lots of actions your little one can do. Highly recommend.

This book really gets the children going. It helps the shy ones get more involved. My daughter is 3 years old, and sometime shy around other children, but when this book is read, all the kids really have fun.

I received this book free from my local library. What a wonderful book! My daughter, who is only 1, will always grab this book first to read. We love to act out the pages of ryhmes together while I'm reading it to her. She laughs and giggles and is now starting to point things out to me! You will not be disappointed in this book if you purchase it.

I've adored this series since grade school and I reread it periodically, but until the last few times I never understood the allegory in the book. I bought the companion just because I collect books that go along and I just finished reading it. I was not disappointed....it answered so many questions that I had about characters and themes and the maps/timeline were excellent in helping to understand the geography and time of Narnia vs Earth. I plan on using it as a reference the next time I read the series despite having already read it straight through. This is a must have for any Narnia enthusiast.

corpus-callosum's [Amazon.com] review mentions "At the end of the articles, Ford has placed in parentheses an abbreviated reference to the specific book and page number that coincides with the topic being discussed. "

There are two numbers separated by a comma- the first is the tradepaperback/hardback HaperCollins or Harper Trophy page number, the second (after the comma) is for the Harper Trophy rack sized (mass market) paperback editions.

Examples from the Companion book listings to check pagination of the Narnia editions you have to see if they match up on the correct page:

Lion Witch Wardrobe: Hosea 11:10 "at the sound of his roar" 79,85
Prince Caspian:Isaiah 9:1"the people that lived in hiding" 72,75
Dawn Treader: Isaiah 6:6 "a little live coal" 207,224
Silver Chair: Psalms103:9 "I will not always be scolding" 236,250
Horse & His Boy: Daniel 4:24 "not a donkey!" 219,235
Magician's Nephew: Job 38:7 "stars themselves singing" 107,117
Last Battle: Deut.33:27 "between the paws of the true Aslan" 121, 134

I have the trade paperback Harper Trophy "full-color collector's edition of Narnia, boxed set ISBN: 0064409392 and the first number of the two (the one before the comma) matches perfectly in all the Narnia books.

I received Companion to Narnia, as well as a boxed set of the Chronicles themselves, as a birthday gift. I must say it was one of the best gifts I have ever received.

I initially read the Chronicles as a young child, then again in Jr. High. I'm afraid I let my passion for the stories slip through my high school years, just when I needed them most, but now, after my third year of college, I have renewed my interest in the works of Mr. Lewis.

The Companion is easy to use, extremely informative, and actually fun to read straight through, even without using it as a reference. The entries are encyclopedia-style, alphabetically listed, with the page numbers the entry appears on in the Chronicles, related entries, and often very extensive footnotes referring the reader to books and articles by Mr. Lewis and other renowned Fanstasy and Religious authors, as well as background into what specific uses could have meant to the author, or his inspirations for them.

There are annexes at the end on everything to how old the Pevensie children and others are in the books, Narnia time vs Earth time, the age of Lewis during the writing of the Chronicles, maps of Narnia and more. Wonderful illustrations are distributed throughout the book, just waiting to surprise you when you turn the page.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any lover of Narnia, whether it's your first time around or your fortieth. A lot of questions I remember having when I was younger are answered, and you gain a deeper meaning of what it "behind everyone's story".

The audio tape for this book is magical. I grew up listening to it at my grandparents house and it was wonderful to listen to while going to bed. I listened to it almost every night and not once did I grow sick of it. The background music is so soothing and the book really comes alive with voice of the narrator. In short I LOVE it and I would strongly recommend it to everyone, no matter what their age!

Kipling's language is almost poetic. It's meant to be read aloud. When read aloud to a child, say, a beloved girl of six, at bedtime, she stops fidgeting, she listens carefully, she asks questions about what this word means or why the family members are all so mean and have to spank the little elephant with the "'satiable curtiosity." Most of all, she's not bored and she wants to hear it again. And again. And she gets very excited when she finds out that her daddy got the whole series of "Just-So Stories."
I don't know how other children experience this. We're starting to teach our daughter about evolution of species; she asks a lot of questions about what elephants used to look like, and did they really once not have the really long noses they have today? I think she's starting to understand that this is a tall tale, but it's a great springboard for talking about the real-life origin of species (I think this statement is true even if you're trying to raise a creationist child).
Yes, there is a lot of spanking. It didn't seem to upset my daughter, and she's pretty high-strung.
All in all, a nicely rollicking story, and a good introduction to another classic in English-language children's literature.

Right after "The Cat who Walked Alone" This has always been my favorite "Just So Story." It is good to see it in an individual book, as it is a little unwieldy as part of a group. This is the story of a curious elephant and how the elephant go its trunk. I can not say much more as the reader needs to experience the story as it unfolds. The pictures add a dimension and do not distract from the words. Rudyard Kipling is a master at this telling. "In the High and Far-Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no trunk."

In the story of Puss In Boots, a miller dies and leaves one of his sons nothing but the cat. This cat turns out to be quite clever and earns the favor of the King for his master. The cat also obtains land and a castle for his master and gives him the title of the Marquis of Carabas. The King becomes so impressed by the Marquis that he offers his daughter's hand in marriage, and the simple miller's son becomes a prince. The use of clever illustration makes this book an effective piece of folk lore. "Narrative Expectations: The Folklore Connection" discusses the basic pattern of a folktale. The article states that every folktale begins with the main character of the story being no different from or more special than any other character. Then, out of nowhere, the character is boosted into a "supernatural world" and all of a sudden he is moved up to higher society and viewed as a hero (67). This resembles the plot pattern of Puss In Boots, with the Marquis being the average character who becomes a hero. This jump to a higher level of society out of luck is strangely enough realistic in the twenty-first century. With things like inheritance, lotteries, and the stock market, a person of today could easily go from the poor miller's son to a "prince." However, this is not a common occurrence. The article also states that folklore "functions in part as an informal system for learning the daily logic and worldview of the people around us (71)." The author chooses not to use human characters to represent Master Slyboots and the rich ogre. He could have done this easily with illustration by making Master Slyboots a servant boy and the ogre a Marquis. Instead, he uses an informal style, placing animal characters in the book. This represents a higher level: Using animals in contrast to humans in order to show the differences in people as a whole.

This new translation of the "fairy" story first presented by Charles Perrault (1628-1703) in his Tales of Mother Goose in 1697 was illustrated by Fred Marcellino and translated by Malcolm Arthur. It was a 1991 Caldecott Honor book (that is, a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children. The youngest son of a recently deceased miller receives a cat as his inheritance. He feels that he will soon die of starvation (after he has eaten the cat) since he has no other possessions. But, the cat convinces him to get him boots. The cat proceeds to find a fortune and a position for his young master.

I regularly visit school classrooms and read aloud to children from Kindergarten through eighth grade. Finding books that appeal to more than one grade level is a challenge.

I have found that the pictures in this version of 'Puss' appeal immensely to kindergartners through third graders. (Fourth and Fifth grade children also like it, but are often embarassed to say so in a classroom setting!). Children who often have a hard time sitting still for a story have sat transfixed as I read this book, holding the pictures in front of them all the time and giving them lots of opportunities to check out the wonderful use of light and color. The illustrator uses a lot of wonderful yellow that is very appealing to young children and seems to draw them into the book. I love reading this book out loud both to see children's reaction and also because I love the detail and color in the pictures.

Reading this book aloud has also sparked some beautiful art work from young children.

Beginning of the Armadillos was a good book, and it held good description. It captures a young child's imagination and is very informative. I enjoyed it.

This book is hilarious. Shirley and Claude decide to leave Colorado and go to Texas. They have heard that Texas is great. The book has four chapters, and each one represents a different region of Texas. The chapter describes the physical characteristics of each region along with the animals commanly found there. This book is great for a Texas unit or just for a good laugh! Kids love it!

The pictures were very nice, but my daughter was very upset by the part in which two geese are shot and killed by hunters. The illustration shows the two dead geese lying in the water with holes in them and blood flowing out of the holes into the water. I really think this little section could have been left out. I wish I had purchased a different version of the story.

We liked the story of The Ugly Duckling. He turned into a beautiful swan. We loved the detail and colors of the pictures in this version of The Ugly Duckling. We would encourage others to read this version because we have been reading this book in our 2nd grade class.