Jataka tales are similar but not identical in structure to the animal fables of the West. One difference is that the characters are less "black and white" - the crocodile is clever, the monkey is cleverer. Neither is foolish.

Jataka tales are stories of previous births of the Buddha i.e. similar to the more complex avadanas that are translated from the Sanskrit or Tibetan traditions. While the children's books of them are fun and well worth reading, at some point reading a more comprehensive selection should be on the agenda. This book is just a fun introduction for a young child.

That clever monkey has done it again. This book has pleasant illustrations and is a favorite of mine and my children.

It's about a monkey who tries to get away from a very hungry crocodile and the monkey who lives in a mango tree. Read it! Christian, 8 years old

Miss Pickerell's worries are few: keeping her cow happy and finding enough new rocks for her award-winning rock collection. Yes, her worries are few...until she finds herself on a rocket ship to Mars.

This children's book, first published in 1951, does indeed show its age, but it also retains its charm. Miss Pickerell's light adventure is a delightful way to introduce children to some very basic scientific concepts: gravity, space travel, magnetism, and more. Sure, the science is quite dated, but Miss Pickerell is a treasure.

Still waiting for the next Harry Potter book to come out? Miss Pickerell might be just what you're looking for.

94 fun pages

One in a series of charming science adventures for youngsters. Miss Pickerell goes to visit her pet cow one morning and finds a rocketship in the pasture! It's a mission to Mars, and a curious Miss Pickerell finds herself accidentally locked inside! The science is a tad bit dated, being written in the 1950's, but the adventure and fun will introduce scientific concepts to children and may even awake an interest in science. There are many other Miss Pickerell books, in which she visits the Arctic, space stations, lunar colonies, and goes diving in an atomic submarine! Charming fun and adventure with a science backdrop is all too rare. Though a bit out of date science-wise, Miss Pickerell's adventures are sure to be treasured by youngsters. Also an interesting read for nostalgic adults, believe it or not.

Title: The Monkey and the Crocodile
Author: Paul Galdone
Favorite Characters: the Crocodiles

This story shows which is smarter of the two, the Monkey or the Crocodile. One of the crocodiles decided that he wanted to eat a monkey. The other crocodiles said that it could not be done, but the crocodile would not listen to them. The crocodile choose one of the monkeys and trick him into coming into the water. It worked, but the monkey tricked him back and got safely to shore. The story goes on like this with the crocodile luring the monkey into a trap and the monkey getting out safely.
Near the end, the monkey gets trapped on an island because the crocodile is in the way of the path. You'll never guess how the monkey solves his problem. Figure it out by reading this book...

I've repeatedly read this book to my three-year-old granddaughter since she was two. When she visits us, it's one of the first two books that she asks for. (The other is the Goblin Story from Else Holmelund Minarik's "Little Bear's Visit.")

When she was two, she mainly liked the excitement of the "scary" crocodile. Now she enjoys the tricks that the crocodile and monkey play on each other. Also, this is a fun book to read aloud. You can easily add even more interest for your little one.

This book helps with counting numbers in a unique way - by using animals. The book goes from turtles (one) to beavers (ten) in a very rhythmic way. It also explains what the animals are doing all day and tells us where they're doing it. At the end of the book, they reinforce the numbers once again by highlighting them on the final page.

I enjoyed the rhyming pattern that the author used. I also liked the choice of animals and the words that he used to describe the animals.

This book could be used for a counting lesson. It also could be used as a literature lesson if you were teaching your children about poems. It could also just be a book that you read to your children for the sheer fun of it. A really nice selection!

This is my son's favorite book right now. We have the book on tape, and they do a great job of reading it.

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.

I think that the book was sorta boring and definetly not great. I mean the theme is pretty good, but I've read books that were a lot better.

great book. it is really interesting. i've had this book since 5th grade and i haven't read it till now (10th grade) i'm sorry i didn't. it was great- duh george.

I read the book The Perilous Road by William O. Steele. If you like exciting books you should read this one. I really don't like to read but this book I really enjoyed reading. The story takes place during the Civil War. Chris Brabson hates the union troops for many reasons. He tries ro get them back for stealing their food through a variety of ways.

When my older son became fascinated with the Three Little Pigs after seeing a version of it on Sesame Street, I did some research on this site to decide the best version to buy him in book form, and decided on this one. I was glad I did---as he really enjoyed many readings of this version until he moved onto new interests! It's not for the faint hearted, as the first two pigs do get eaten, and the pictures of the houses falling show sticks all over and pigs flying away, but that's life in fairy tales! The text is straightforward, the pictures are clear and well done. Consider this version!

My 2.5 year old loves this book. Now he asks everyone what their house is made of.

This is a wonderful presentation of the original story without the moralisms of Disney's adaptation. There is bad and good luck, cunning, bravery and dealing with tough situations without whining. This leaves room for children to respond to the story and interpret it. My two year old grandson loved it, even if he didn't know what a churn was. The drawings are stylish. I recommend it as an addition to your basic library of classic children's tales.

Its wellwritten and funny.my favorite part of the book was when kerby got his chemistry set.Also when kerby hit bumpson the head with his sword.Kerby bent bump hat.

Ah yes, those were much simpler times, when you could write a book that involved making magic potions with a chemistry set and drinking them or placing them in a lemonade vat... and not worry about getting sued. I'm curious - does the book come with a warning now? Or has the story been edited to reflect safer lab practices? Of course, to this end, few chemistry sets include anything that'll kill you anymore, either (justifiably so, I guess).

All cynical humor aside, this is a terrific children's book. The rest of the series is well worth tracking down, also.

Oh happy day! For years I've been trying to remember enough about these books to track them down, and now a search engine has done it for me. I read this series of "Trick" books probably in their first printing and adored them. Now that I have children of my own, I've been trying to figure out how to describe them to a librarian in order to track them down. Now with a few clicks, here they are! I only hope they all come out in an affordable format soon. Kerby may not be the original Harry Potter, but I can't wait to re-read all of these. Yippee!

I read this when I was 13, in the eighth grade. It wasn't a very enjoyable or riveting story, although I did not reach a point where I simply wanted to drop it. It's about a young teen guy with an eccentric friend named Homer Fink, and they meet a girl their age. The plot involves which one she will choose as her boyfriend. Though Homer was a relatively odd guy, I don't recall any real humor from the story. It was the first work I read that examined romance at a contemporary (my own age) level, and was valuable from that perspective. It made the point that, at that age, one does not genuinely know what love means, regardless of how much a crush you have on someone. To appreciate this book, it has to hit you at the right time in life. It might be constructive for junior high school teachers to read it, and broach the subject of real romance -- affection between two young people -- with their students.

It feals as if Homer Fink is everybody you know and more. (He might also teach some of the greek gods)

I bought this version of the popular fairy tale as a gift for my niece. After I received it, I was horrified to read in detail about how the huntsman cut open the wolf's stomach to look for the grandmother. It then goes on to read, ". . . after a few more slashes a little girl jumped out.." This was not at all what I had envisioned as a gift for a young girl. I wish I had been warned to buy the story from a different author.

this book was very scary and ummmm... i-i didn't like it, it scared me!

The illustrations in this book are very similar to those of Jan Brett but darker tones used. There is always something hidden w/in the pictures for children to look for and the illustrations help enhance the tale.

I also recommend Lon Po Po.