These Little Board Books are the perfect size for babies and toddlers. The pages are glossy smooth and very colorful. The pictures are large and clear, and not too many words. My baby loves most of these Spot books.

My 18mth old loves all the SPOT books, but especially the tiny board books. They easily pack for trips in the car and help teach word associations in an uncluttered manner

My 6-month old son LOVES this book, and so do I! The bright illustrations and simple story really capture and hold his attention. I take Spot with us wherever we go. Whenever my son gets fussy, I pull out the book and start reading, and he is instantly soothed. It is also the perfect size for him to easily hold in his hands. We will definitely buy more Spot books.

This is a wonderful book for the toddler/pre-schooler who want to develop their bilingual skills. Not only does it have my son's favorite character Spot, he learning to read in both english and spanish simultaneously. The only drawback is that since this book has english and spanish words on the same page, it is visually very cluttered. Otherwise it is very good.

JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me

Eric Hamburg

Public Affairs

reviewed by Brent Simon

A deliciously, amazingly illuminating account of Tinseltown excess, Eric Hamburg's JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me recounts an idealist's journey from Capitol Hill to Hollywood hell. A terrifically entertaining read disguised with a memoir's overcoat, Hamburg's book details his occupational pilgrimage from legislative assistant under influential House of Representatives member Lee Hamilton to his position at director Stone's Ixtlan Films, where he handled legal and business affairs while also initiating the ideas that would in time come to take shape as the films Nixon and Any Given Sunday.

It's a very personal book, and draws almost exclusively from the author's remembrances and journal entries of the time covered. This means first there is some overlap, both thematically and in detail; Hamburg sometimes repeats himself even closely within the text in a manner unacceptable for top-shelf reportage. He even blatantly misidentifies Reese Witherspoon as Brooke Shields at point. Still, these occasional faux pas (was the book even edited?) do not blunt the tome's power or change its bottom line.

For those interested in the ins and outs of high-end cinematic wheeling and dealing, Hamburg's book is chock full of tasty firsthand details about Oliver Stone's peccadilloes and a myriad of ever-rotating but always kooky projects he pursued in bits and pieces. Of the latter, most intriguing were planned biopics on J. Edgar Hoover and Manuel Noreiga (Al Pacino graciously refused $10 million from a pay-or-play deal when it fell apart), plus movies on Afghanistan, Stone's obsessive hatred of columnist Maureen Dowd (known in various iterations as Media and Power) and even a possible sequel to JFK, which was the project Stone was working on when Hamburg first met him. The details of the director's disastrous personal life are even more vivid and revelatory: Stone's ceaseless drug abuse, irrational flare-ups, legendary cheapness, interpersonal abrasiveness and possible shaping youthful sexual encounter(s) with his mother' yikes!

Most unnerving, though, are Hamburg's stories of his dealings and interactions with Danny Halsted, a former Disney exec who wormed his way into Stone's production company and whom Hamburg refers to here almost exclusively as "Danny the Weasel." To recount the many jaw-dropping instances of Halsted's idiocy, conniving, theft and general disreputable behavior would take too much space here, but suffice to say that it both represents and confirms all the worst you've ever heard or suspected about Hollywood suits masquerading as creative executives. This isn't a horror novel, but at times JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me ranks right up there with the most unsettling of Stephen King's works.

JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone Dec. 24, 2002 By Michael Farkash Eric Hamburg Public Affairs,464 pages As the song goes, "Paranoia strikes deep." That's one of the central experiences of a savvy political aide and speechwriter who went to work for writer-director-producer Oliver Stone. Eric Hamburg's "JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me: An Idealist's Journey From Capitol Hill to Hollywood Hell" is a sharp, well-written book that tunes into some familiar territory, notably the bad, mad geography of film production politics and the decades-old mysteries surrounding the death of John F. Kennedy and the Cuban connection. The book is very accessible, very readable and filled with admiration for professionals like Anthony Hopkins and mixed, mostly angry assessments of Stone and the people surrounding the filmmaker. The dark byways of the film biz should have been no surprise for the bright, politically astute Hamburg, who worked for years on Capitol Hill -- but then, hearing about the nasty, difficult parts of the film production process and living them are two quite different things. Serving as a producer and development executive at Stone's production company, Ixtlan, the author originated and won co-producing credits on the films "Nixon" and "Any Given Sunday." He explores the paranoid, vain, greedy, sometimes drug-fueled aspects of Stone's world of film development, where solid ground can often give way to a quicksand of uncertainty. Using his Washington connections, Stone's name and persistence, Hamburg was able to get key figures from the JFK and Nixon years to meet with him and Stone and persuade them to contribute stories and background to Stone's films. He also shares with us his research trips to places like Cuba and a brief meeting with Fidel Castro. But Hamburg became quickly disenchanted with what he calls the "Oliver Zone" -- suspicions, dark rages, drug use and a habit of playing staff people against one another. It's like royal court intrigue. Writes Hamburg: "Oliver was moody and unpredictable, often irrational and absolutely insane when it came to money. This was a very dangerous subject with him. "However, Hamburg received some good advice -- those three little words that mean everything in negotiations: "Hire a lawyer." In case the reader wonders if film development is a habit-forming occupation -- Hamburg continues working as a producer and writer in Los Angeles.

This book is a riveting, entertaining and insightful look into the parallel universes of Washington and Hollywood, and the love/hate relationship that exists between them. Eric Hamburg has moved between both worlds and seen them from the inside in a way that few have. Hamburg, who started as a speechwriter for current Presidential candidate John Kerry in the Senate, provides fascinating glimpses into the power struggles that go on in Washington and especially on Capitol Hill. He also provides an up close look at the man who may be our next President.

Hamburg also presents a fair and balanced portrait of Oliver Stone as filmmaker and human being, calling him both a genius and a madman at times. The author obviously knows his way around the JFK assassination as well as Watergate, and delves deeply into both. He presents new information about the murder of JFK which he researched in Cuba on Stone's behalf. He presents the most plausible scenario yet of what really happened in Dallas. For this alone, the book is worth buying.

For Hollywood fans, the book also gives an inside look at the making of the movie Nixon, and at the human side of stars such as Anthony Hopkins and James Woods. It follows the process of making a film from start to finish in a way that few books have. Probably the best comparisons would be Jane Hamsher's Killer Instinct, or Julie Salamon's The Devil's Candy. The book is candid, funny and well written. If you're interested in movies, politics or both, read it!

My children like it, but it is a silly and short movie.

OH, I hate this video. Hate it with a passion. I'd like to take every copy in existence and pound them to dust. If there's one thing I hate more it's the book by Eric Hill of the same title (with the same story.) Only problem is my daughter would never speak to me again.

My daughter was given this video over five years ago. Every December it gets dragged off the shelf and played - and played, and played, and played. Then most nights she wants me to read her the book.

This simple tale of Spot helping two reindeer to find Santa's lost sleigh (lost during the annual pre-Christmas test drive) and his voyage to Santa's workshop has it all for the little ones - dramatic tension, colour, excitement, in jokes (I still laugh over my daughter surrounded by an acre of torn wrapping paper on Xmas morning saying "Daddy, the presents got all excited") and to top it all off a little bit of the jolly old man in red.

Of all the Spot videos this is the one that has stayed her favourite, indeed at eight last December she watched it and enjoyed it still.

A wonderful, magic tale for small children. Believe me, buy it for your pre-schooler and you will end up knowing every word.

This is the best video in the Spot series! My three year old loves it and so does Mom and Dad! The animation and story are delightful. I look forward to bringing it out again at Christmas time. Yeah Spot!

I was disappointed with "Spot's Birthday Party" because the format was totally inappropriate for the Baby/Preschool age-group I searched/purchased under. The inside pages are paper (which, believe it or not, isn't an issue even tho I have 2-year-old twins). The problem isn't the paper, per se, but that it's paper pages WITH FLAPS for the kids to open and close. My kids are gonna want to open those flaps, and since the pages/flaps are flimsy paper instead of cardboard, those flaps are going to stay on for only two or three readings--max. [Suggestion: the only lift-the-flap books that you recommend for this age-group should be cardboard books with cardboard pages.]

Our names are Jacob Kwoka and Javeon Tomlinson. We LOVE all the Spot lift-the-flap books! Our Favorite books is Spot's Birthday Party. We like when Spot and his friends play hide-and-go-seek. We hope Eric Hill writes lots and lots of Spot lift-the-flap books!!!!!

when your toddler is in the stage where they are making three word sentences, Spot is perfect for them. like Maisey, the graphics are bold and simple. The plot line, if we may call it a plot, is also simple. This happened, this happened, this happened, and then everything was all right.

Spot's First Walk is a creative book cause its really gets the kids intersed. In the book cause it would say things like no Spot is not in the piano. Spot books are kind of like Whinne the pooh books just like how they tell the story.
My opinion of Spot books are that its a fun way to teach kids how to read. Cause the kids can understand and read the words that the writer has written. In the book its hard to think what will happen next in the book cause you want to know what will happen in the end of the book.

A good story for my Spot loving son. It teaches counting as Spot & Helen search for eggs that the Easter Bunny has hidden. My only complaint is that the flaps on the lift-a-flaps are flimsy and are easily ripped off by little hands. The larger spot lift-a-flap books are much stronger.

This book is great for young children. It can help them begin learning to read. They can either guess what the word is under the flap or can read it. It helps with the recognition of letters and words.