My five-year old adores this book. It has great illustrations and an engaging story line about a monster hiding in the cave that turned out to be a tiny caterpillar. It is hillarious and involves child attention. After the first reading my son knows who is hiding in the cave and tries to reasure all the scared animals every time we read it. This book is a joy to read for both a parent and a child and has a great message that what we fear often turns out to be small issue.

This book holds the attention of its intended audience beyond belief. The repetitious phrase, spoken by the would be monster, enables young readers to stay involved as they anticipate each animals incounter. Older readers can't wait to find out the monster's true identity. Best of all the illustrations don't give the monster's identity away until the appropriate time. All during the story it is evident the children's imaginations are whirling wildly. A must have for any teacher or reading volunter.

This book is so beautifully illustrated and written. The story line of saving money for a desired purchase (a red and blue bike), took me back to my own childhood. Readers can feel the child's disappointment over not having enough money. As a wonderful addition, the child wants to save for a bike in order to help his mother carry her heavy loads. This was a truly enjoyable read.

Orphan Boy combines the values of character and responsibility. The Orphan Boy must make several critical decisions throughout the story.The pictures are absolutely stunning. The ending is a complete surprise but still plausible. A great book for grades three and up.

Tololwa Mollel has shared the inner growth of a child through her story and the art of Linda Saport. This story is one way to share with children that they can do anything if they have a willingness to learn from their experiences. Subira Subira is a book that needs to be read many times by both adults and children. Thank you for a book that can only inspire self-growth.

This story is very good for people ages 6-8, or in the 1-3 grades. It is about a tortoise who loves to play tricks and eat. He hears of a feast in the sky, and wants to go, so he tells the birds that are going that he once had a friend there. The birds believe him, and give him feathers to make wings and fly with. Then Mbeke tells them that the people giving the feast love fancy names, so Mbeke chooses King Aaaaalllll-Of-You. When they go up to the island in the sky, Mbeke coyly asks who the feast is for, and the hosts tell them that t is for "Aaaaalllll of you!" So Mbeke eats the whole feast, leaving none for the birds. The birds furiously rip his wings off, and leave him there. But he cries, and promises never to play another trick. SO the nrds go down and tell Mbeke's lizard friend, Ngwele, to make a pile of very soft things. Mbeke, up in the sky, laughs and exclaims about how he fooled the birds. Swallow, who was preening behind a bush, heard him and went down to tell his flock his plan. When Mbeke jumps to land in his pile, it is all bones and rocks, instead of grass and moss and stuff. So Mbeke's shell is ruined, and he asks Ngwele to sew it up. Ngwele agrees, and spends the whole rainy season patching it up. It looks old and dull now, instead of glowing and new, and Mbeke is embarassed to be seen in it. When he finally goes outside, he pulls his head in his shell so he will not be noticed, a habit to this very day.

This is a nicely illustrated and well-written retelling of a Cameroonian folktale. Young children will enjoy it and learn a little of Cameroon storytelling in the process. It is a nice window on the whole genre of west African stories about Tortoise, the eternal trickster. The ending may seem a little unusual to Americans and Europeans, but that is part of its charm and educational value. Highly recommended to anyone who wants their children to appreciate the spirit of west African stories.

This book is really good in that it helps to explain how weather can effect different things. It also is a great teacher for kindness to others even the small and different. As a mother with a child that has aloepica this book was not really a lot of help in that matter. My 12 year old did lit the book though and love the illstrations in it. They are so righ in color. I also used this in my Jr. High class as we were studying Africa and we thought it would be a neat way to introduce the idea of a drought to the students. The story of the princess not showing kindness to the bird and the results to her was a good lesson. The way the books ends shows that kindness given will be returned. Really all in all it's a good feel good book for all ages.