I purchased this book, a beautifully illustrated treasure, as a souvenir on one of my trips to San Francisco. The illustrations are so incredible--bright, cheerful, detailed and full of life. Each illustration (i.e. Golden Gate Bridge, The Cable Cars and Lombard Street) is accompanied by a brief history and interesting facts. Other sections include an Overview of the city's history, "Fun Facts" about San Francisco and an "Explorer's Guide". The book is both absolutely beautiful and filled with relevant information about exploring San Francisco including telephone numbers for various attractions. I highly recommend this book both for children and adults.

This book gave me and my kids a lot of laughs! A fresh, clever twist on the timeless theme of sibling rivalry. We loved the fabulous artwork too, with its intriguing use of collage materials. A wonderful new find from this terrific and talented author/illustrator. A reader in Denver, CO

I think it's the flying. It took us by surprise when, after checking it out from the library, it was suddenly his new favorite book. He was into the typical boy stuff: trucks, trains, front-loaders, rocket ships. Then all of a sudden, all he wants us to read is Abuela. It's a nice blending of fantasy and reality, with strong family relationships, and lots of fun, colorful pictures. He's moved on to other favorite stories now, but he always seems to enjoy this one. The sequel (Isla) is also good. A nice way to learn a few new Spanish words. There's even a glossary in the back with a guide to correct pronunciation. Just make sure you get the English with Spanish phrases, if that's what you're looking for. There is also a version that is completely in Spanish.

Our class of 20 latino students appreciates having books with characters that are like them. We liked to read this story on our own and in groups.

This book provides a wonderful introduction to a Hispanic-American child's way of life. Rosalba portrays the typical immigrant child without stereotyping. The author uses the Spanish language to lend authenticity to his story, and really gives the readers a chance to experience the fantasies of a child living in New York City.

I read this book and the author's other children's book (Abuela) with my daughters (ages 2 and 4) who both enjoyed them immensely. Dorros does a great job of mixing the Spanish phrases in and repeating words in both English and Spanish that the story flows nicely and children can pick up some Spanish very naturally along the way. The pictures are very fun as well. I highly recommend it, in fact I came here to look for more books by the same author but unfortunately, didn't find any. I hope he has more in the works, we love them!

This book is wonderful. As I read this book to my second graders. They feel like they are flying and actually doing what the characters are doing. They really get into the book

I wanted to read easy-to-understand payers and verses to my 6-year old son, so I searched Amazon and reviewed many books on this subject. I was sold on this book's illustrations and was not disappointed on that score: The Illustrations are wonderful. However the "take a closer look" guide did not offer an opportunity to review the text or prayers themselves. The pictures alone piqued my son's interest and we bought the book. Unfortunately, many of the prayers are long and tedius, losing a younger child's interest within the first six lines. The text content is incongruent with the illustration's message of young, light-hearted, age-appropriate prayer. The attempt at multiculturalism and non-demonitionalism misses the point of delivering short, sweet, enjoyable verse suited for children; prayers that will encourage children to want to pray instead of associating prayer with tedium and boredom. The book review should have indicated an age-appropriate range. My son is a smart and attentive kid who loves to listen, but he grew quickly disappointed with and disintersted in the prose.

A wonderful book, and not just for children! Charming illustrations by several artists and 70 beautiful prayers from around the world. Anyone interested in spirituality should love this book.

This is a fabulous book that shares spiritual words from many worldwide religions and uses beautiful illustrations to accompany them! As a person who embraces different aspects of many religions, I found this to be a valuable resource for teaching my child. And after reading the book, you get a sense of how all religions are very similar and striving for the same things - peace and harmony with all that is around us and with our Higher Power.

I am sad to say that this book made no sense to me. I hope that the plot isn't time sensitive because at this reading, I am totally in the dark. But maybe that was the author's intention.

This wonderful book is perfect for spring when the birds and bees make this city so much more wonderful and magical! The bus stops in the city are especially nice!

The great thing about this book, which is nice to have, is that even without reading it, you already have everything you need. There's tons to find out about dates and times and places. Enjoy!

Ernst is the story of a young crocodile who lives with his mom and dad and grandma in a comfortable home where daydreaming is an artform. Ernst starts many of his sentences with "What if..." and Kleven has captured, in both words and images, the passing fancies of many a four or five year old. Her illustrations are small in scale but envelop the reader with a sense that the intricacies of the universe are worth paying attention to. Ernst is endearing and Kleven's fans know him also as the protagonist of the later-published The Puddle Pail. As a second grade teacher doing a class author study of Elisa Kleven's works, I have delighted in watching my students delight in Ernst! We all need permission at times to nurture the dreamer within ourselves and Ernst does that and more; Ernst is a celebration of the small and the grand, in daily life and in our dreams.

As a Spanish teacher at the high school and university level, I find that most of the songs are a bit juvenile for my students, but still, some songs can be very useful. The pictures are exciting, and the songs are arranged seasonaly. In addition, the music for the songs is included (the melody, at least), which puts this book a step above the rest!

My 4-year-old daughter and I both loved this story. Theillustrations are colorful and lively and the dialogue is easy for ayoung child to follow. Hooray A Pinata is a great book to read when you're planning a child's birthday party. The story is about a little girl who chooses a little dog pinata to be used as a game for her birthday party. She ends up becoming friends with it and decides that she doesn't want to stuff it with candy and break it open. Her friend is disspointed because he loves playing pinata so he buys her a new huge pinata that they can use instead. A note of interest: the book explains that pinatas orginated in Italy. I didn't know that!