If you and your child (or even if you don't have a child) love the song and story of the Teddy Bear's picnic, then you will adore this book.

The text is pretty straight forward - as well all expect it to be. But the illustrations are just delightful - full colour on every page, teddies everywhere you look and getting into all manner of interesting things. This is what is so charming about this book - the sheer delight of finding a bear and seeing what it is doing - is it eating cake? Climbing a tree? Falling asleep? Avoiding the children in disguise?

It may be a difficult book to find, but it is just lovely, and well worth the effort.

Good book with good illustrations to accompany familiar song.

"If you go down in the woods today You're sure of a big surprise If you go down in the woods today You'd better go in disguise For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic."

This is such a fun book to read to my kids! The rhyming verse has a nice rythem to it, but its the pictures we enjoy the most. They make you feel like you are peeking through the trees at this wonderful picnic! This book is a treasure!

This is a marvelous peek inside Robert Kennedy's efforts against corrupt labor unions. I had long been intrigued with the whole RFK-Jimmy Hoffa "feud," so this was a treat for me. Robert Kennedy's writing style is at once humorous and pragmatic. He provides a detailed account of the inner workings of the McClellan Committee. Moreover, he meticulously describes the corruption within the labor organizations, with particular emphasis on Jimmy Hoffa. A word of warning: When I use words like "detailed" and "meticulously," I'm being serious. The book is a must for anyone interested in RFK, Jimmy Hoffa, the McClellan Committee, or American labor history; but someone who wants an action movie packaged as a book, will probably be disillusioned. Having said that, I loved the book. I highly recommend it.

Clearly a simpleton's view of the world that caters to the simpleton audience of victimized men. If you've failed at most the meaningful things in your life, and tend to blame others, you will love this book. Underlying sentiments are jaundiced as it attempts to preach on and aggrandize all that would seem painfully obvious to even the mildly secure and marginally successful man. These guys sound as if their world is dominated by women as they appear to yearn for an all-male utopia. Skip this book entirely...or better yet, go hang out with Jimmy in his bar with a bunch of "guys" while you get drunk and bad advice as the world passes by. What else would you expect from a bartender? PS: Jimmy's Bar is not on the Upper West Side.

If you read Jimmy's column in Men's Health magazine, you'll enjoy this book. It was well-spent [money], I must say. Humorous, clever advice from Jimmy made for entertaining, if less than profound, reading. Definitely worth purchasing.

This guy has good common sense when it comes to giving the right answers to men who have problems with women, the job, money etc. I first heard of him through Men's Health magazine, where he has his monthly column. Just about all of his answers to the men's questions on everyday problems will have you shaking your head in agreement. A great, entertaining book. I wish this guy was my bartender.

This is the first cokbook I have read cover-to-cover...recipes, philosophy, little stories of the town and the people who live in Plainfield, Vermont. I loved it all. But the best thing about the book is the recipes. We have made the barbeque sauce and dry rub, barbeque chicken and soup, the Really Big biscuits (twice!), shaken potatoes, granola, the blueberry pancakes, summer salad and Russian tea. (Nashvillians call this elixir "Tea Punch.") Catfish Jambalaya is simmering on the stove at this very moment. Every thing we have made has been wonderful. A couple of things separate this cookbook from others: 1. The portions are enormous, allowing for ample leftovers, even with our family of two adults and two teenagers. 2. Many of the recipes use the leftovers. (BBQ chicken becomes the basis for BBQ chicken and rice soup, for instance.) 3. The story of Plainfield and its townspeople--from the artists to the aging hippies to the gas company guys to the cops--is woven in to the book. The authors treat the readers as if they are stopping in for a meal and might like to be a little up to date on the other folks who are eating with them. 4. The food is plain, easy-to-make and serve. It is flavorful, not pretentious, quite a bit like receiving a beloved family recipe as a gift. So, if you are hankering for some hush puppies, Coca-Cola cake or some pulled pork (and who isn't?), this will become a special cookbook in your collection.

Interesting concept. Surround down home Southern recipes with photos and snippets from far northern daily life. Studs Turkel in a deep south kitchen. It works. While you're shelling crawfish or cleaning catfish you're oddly receiving a debriefing on the Plainfield, Vermont road foreman's 4AM struggle with last night's snowstorm. It kind of adds a northern spice to the catfish souffle. My cooking fool sister in New Jersey, to whom I sent this cookbook as partial thanks for helping our parents get through their deep end game, tells me that the five or so recipes she's whipped up have all worked spectacularly. She and her family of five REALLY like the catfish massaged into their breakfast. So do I. But I just have to drive ten miles to get it served up for me. Location! Location!

.... Why would you want to buy this book? Because it is southern hospitality at its best; never mind that the restaurant is in Vermont. As a Yankee who migrated to the south over 30 years ago, I enjoyed reading this cookbook, trying many of the recipes (everything seems accurate so far), and vicariously participating in the social pleasantries that are an everyday part of southern life. You do feel as though you know both the proprietors and the customers of this wonderful eating establishment...they are real people. I see that as a plus. And despite it's social orientation, it is first and foremost a cookbook. One word of warning: the recipes are full of buttermilk, sugar, crawfish, soup beans, and red meat. If you're wanting to lower your cholesterol, this probably will not meet your needs. However, if you like great comfort food and don't like to eat alone, this cookbook might be just what you're looking for.

The Teddy Bear's Picnic was a fairly good book. I needed to read it two times to really understand it. It would be confusing for kids under 8 years old. The way the author and illustrator showed the humans dressed in teddy bear costumes was a clever contrast to the teddy bears wearing human masks. It kept this reader guessing as to who the real teddy bears were. The illustrations were vibrant in color and followed with the authors text. Overall it was a fun and playfyul book beautifully illustrated, but hard to follow.