My 4 year old and 18 month old daughters absolutely love this book. The images simply jump off the page and there is so much visually to take in that they are captivated. Each night before we go to bed, all three of us pick a book. My 4 year old never tires of the book and picks it each and every time. Her favorite part is when Toby's mother says she looks like a mermaid with all the crawdads, turtles and such in her hair. I'm here looking for more of Kim Fernandez's illustrated books and thought I'd offer my opinion.

Little Toby and the Big Hair is a delightful picture book about the hazards, adventures, and surprises of a girl with very long hair.

The story describes in rhyme how Toby, who wants to grow the longest hair in the world, deals with very real problems encountered by someone with long hair in a world of short haired people.

My favorite part of the book is the wonderful illustrations, which were made out of fimo and then photographed. The illustrations are masterpieces of art, capturing nuances of texture, patterns, and light, in a simple, but elegant style.

Sleeping Dragons All Around is a delightful, rhyming tongue-twister that absoutely enchanted my young children! It is humorously yet beautifully illustrated which enhances its attractiveness to children of all ages. It also helped my 2 year old son to overcome nighttime fears of the dark and of monsters. I highly recommend it.

This book has been my son's favorite since he was two. It's use of the English language is fun. The words just roll off of your tongue. The names of the dragons are simply wonderful -- Beelzebub, Ching-Chung, Jebediah Jones, Pythagorus. I would recommend this book for bright pre-schoolers and for all kids who demand more than picture books! It's a great read for child and for parent. It's definitely worth the wait (out of print)!

The subtitle of this book is "a book about children's rights". I think it's a marvellous idea for a book, and Fitch is just the right poet to write it. The copy I have is a large format hardcover, big but light, and has colourful watercolour illustrations. Each poem explains one of the rights in the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child, with anthropomorphized elephants and chimpanzees and beavers and so on, in language that's easy for kids to understand, and then at the end of the book there's a list of the rights and which poems go with which right.

Perfect for the preschooler, to help develop language skills and rhythm. Great if you can get it with the audio tape where the author reads her own work....makes it easier on Moms and Dads to get the tongue twisters right.

Sheree Fitch is one of my favorite children's authors, and this book is a marvelous collection of her poetry. She writes whimsical, rhyming poems that're great fun to chant. An example: "I wonder if thunder's/ The burp of the sun/ When she's had a big meal/ And her supper is done." Best read to children in a group, but be prepared for them to chant the best lines for the whole rest of the day.

A hilarious romp when monkeys invade our heroine's home. GET THAT PUBLISHER TO PRINT MORE COPIES! A good book for beginning readers (grade 1-2, not K). Younger children love the rhyming, catchy phrases and funny illustrations. Good addition to the family library.

This is an absolutely delightful book. I enjoy reading it aloud to my son and he enjoys listening to it. The character is very convincing and the different monkeys are very amusing. I would strongly recommend this book for children 4-10.

One morning Willa Wellowby pads into her kitchen in nubby bathrobe and fuzzy slippers to find the place infiltrated by monkeys. And not just your everyday ordinary monkeys but all manner of apes -- baboons, gorillas and chimpanzees are dancing, shooting basketballs and eating breakfast cereal as if they owned the place! While Willa was tucked in bed asleep, the monkeys made themselves at home. Willa moves from the kitchen to find them playing croquet in the backyard, using the clothesline as a high wire and mowing the lawn (with gold shoes on!) Further investigation reveals gorillas in tutus practicing pirouettes, monkeys playing bagpipes on her bed, and the charming go-go ape Deborah Louise (with her punky monkey hair and red leather boots) listening to Willa's record albums. Willa fains distress but lets down her guard in the bathroom, where she joins some chimps in a bubble bath. Then, back to business. Willa is determined to take action against the intruders, and pleads with the 911 operator for help. Finally, the RCMP arrive on horseback and chewing bubble gum, led by the intimidating Inspector Lea-Ann Jane. But now where are the monkeys? Willa looks about sheepishly and shrugs her shoulders. My two-and-a-half-year-old son loves to mimic Willa, who cries out in despair at the monkeys: "this place is chaos! A complete catastrophe!" All children will be enchanted by the catchy rhymes and crazy monkey antics, expertly illustrated by Marc Mongeau. Ms. Fitch's story begins with the premise that children love to imagine silly things happening in everyday places. Crisp rhymes and clever word choices make the story race along merrily to its amusing conclusion. Highly recommended for kids of all ages, and the adults who read to them.

This book gives me shivers. The prose flows easily without rhyming and perfectly imitates the naive wonderings and wise insights of a thoughtful child. The narration wanders liltingly from one aspect of the girl's life to the next, covering huge philisophical issues ("But if I were not inside my body, who would be me?") as well as perfect descriptions of small details ("I love the smell of my skin just after a bath When the bumps on my fingers and toes have wrinkled up Soft like an elephant's skin"). The illustrations are simple but effective.

This book will make great bedtime reading as the ending has a dreamy sailing away big-picture quality that gives you the soothing feeling that all is well.