This is one that I ran across at the public library. The teacher in me loves that it has number words, color words, and rhyming words. My kids (boys- ages 4 and nearly 6)love the story, the illustrations, and the humor. From "One giant monster wears a dress, eats the couch, and makes a mess" to "Twenty hungry monsters with nothing left to chew. Better close this book up tight...Before they chew on YOU!" A really cute book!

My kids love this book, and when I read it to my 4 year old's preschool class, they went nuts! They ALL loved it! I'm buying it for his preschool teacher for xmas.

This is a FUN and cute monster book. Excellent for beginning readers but fun to read to younger children. I have a three year old who has memorized the book and loves to 'read' it to me! He loves his MONSTER MUNCHIES!!

The set was given to us as a gift a few years ago and our kids have enjoyed it so much that we have worn out a couple of the pages! With favorite recipes like M&M cookies included in this book, be sure to keep it on hand for easy access. The mouse cookie cutter is cute but even cuter is the little story done in pictures throughout the book and it's recipes. Kids will revisit the mouse and the boy from the original "If you give a mouse a cookie" book, in another story about baking cookies. This will grow to be a favorite book, not just a recipe book...we "read" it for our bedtime story tons of times!

This book (in English) was one of the favorites of my best friend's little girl for years, and the simple premise of "be careful what you get yourself into" amuses even my grown friends. The story of the mouse who wants a cookie (which requires a glass of milk, which calls for ...) and can't stop there, is a familiar plot presented in a fresh way with fun illustrations. The Spanish translation has a very natural feel.

Este libro (en su versión en inglés) era uno de los favoritos de la hijita de una amiga durante unos años, y su base sencillo de "cuidado de en que te metes" divierte aún a mis amigos ya grandes. El cuento del ratón que quiere galletita (que entonces requirirá un vaso de leche, y por eso un ...) y no se puede quedar con esa, es un argumento conocido, presentado de manera refrescante con dibujos divertidos. La traducción al español tiene gracia igual a la versión inglés, con lenguaje natural.

I'm not sure if my 2 1/2 year old or I liked this fun book the best. This is a rhyming book (hence the title) with a fun story line. Nice cadence and nifty pictures. Got it from the library, thrilled to find it in paperback.

We've finally grown out of this book at our house - but it took a long time. My soon-to-be 9 year old will occasionally (in secret)read this book now, but from age 3 to 6, it was a bed time favorite!

The story is funny, as are the illustrations of the little mouse, making a mess and asking for more things - and it all started by just giving the little fellow a cookie.

The hardcover book alone is a great gift item, but it's better yet as a mini book with the cute little stuffed mouse. If you add a small package of chocolate chip cookies, this would make an exceptional gift. Or, if not cookies, a crayon set with some paper is ideal (you have to read the story to understand why!)

For kids who want to read and listen, the audio tape will be listened to again and again. This is also one of those books that adults enjoy reading to their children!

The whole If you series is a fun set to read. The little mouse is adorable and the story can be told to any age. It is a great bedtime book. The mouse and his energy and enthusiasm allows for the child to get into the story. I love this book

.....you will have hours of fun ahead of you.
My favorite time of the day is when I take my kids to bed and read for them. We read different kinds of books, but each child always gets some special favorites. If you give a Mouse a Cookie is among 5 year old Marta's all time favorites. We can read the book over and over again, and the story is just as cute as when we first discovered it.
The story starts with a little boy eating cookies outside his house, he sees a mouse and wants to share his cookies with it. The mouse eats the cookie, then asks for a glass of milk, of course the boy gives him some milk, and the story goes on and on. The little mouse asking for more and more, the boy having a wonderful time following his new companion. From a napkin, to scissors to trim his hair, a broom to sweep up, and so on. And the wonderful, funny last page when the mouse asks for a glass of milk, but of course, if you give him a glass of milk the chances are that he will want a cookie to go with it, and we are right back to the start of the book. The most perfect story for a child who always wants repetitions, over and over again.
The book is beautifully written by Laure Joffe Numeroff, and the cute drawings to illustrate the story are made by Felicia Bond.
Lucky parents and children with books like this to share.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

This is a cute story that my daughter enjoys reading. The illustrations are very nice. For adults, it may seem odd that the the characters are intolerant of the wolf's past (he is now old and harmless) and run him out of town, but this will be lost on kids. It is a humorous story, our 2 year old understands some of the humor, while other parts are geared toward the adult funny bone.

We have several great books of Laura Numeroff's in our library, yet I must say this is THE favorite of our 3 yr old boy, our 8 yr old girl and myself! These sisters are nutty - but darn smart - you will fall in love with them at your first reading. And believe me - you will be pulling this book out again and again to read. The illustrations are darling too. A true gem of a book for all!!

After reading the quirky synopsis of this book I bought it for my daughter and have been reading it to her since her birth 11 months ago. She loves it! The illustrations are colorful and lush, the animals depicted are realistic without being scary. The story is perfect, not too long and kind to sleep-deprived parents (no tongue twisters!). It is cute, whimsical and snappy. This is a book you won't mind reading again and again and again...

We have several of the If you Give.... books by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond. And they are all such favorite reading.

In this book we meet the cutest little pig, and the girl that owns the pig. She starts with giving the pig a pancake (a great way of playing with words with the kids), and when he gets the pancake he wants syrup, you find the syrup and he wants...... you are on the run untill you are back again on the last pages where pig's sticky hands reminds him of your favorite syrup, and of course no syrup without a pancake. Any child loves this way of playing with words, and playing with - what will happen next :-)

We live in Norway, and my youngest one understands only a little English yet, so I translate for her while reading. My dream is to have these books translated into Norwegian - what a treasure to give the small kids of Norway.

By the way, the book is also fun reading for older kids, and for grown ups. Why should the small kids have all the good picture books :-)

Britt Arnhild Lindland

This book makes me laugh-out-loud; it is so adorable and cute!

"If You Give A Pig A Pancake" helps the child see what we as adults go through running after her giving in to her little whims and idiosyncrasies! Let's hope as she gets older she will understand what this book is trying to say:

1) Appreciate and be thankful for your parent(s).

2) Don't take life too seriously.

3) Live life to the fullest and have fun!

4) Be your own person.

5) You never have to grow up.

6) Don't worry about trivial matters; just say "oh, go have a pancake!"

7) Help others; what you give has a way of coming back to you-- DOUBLE.

This is a great book for all ages; it is the female version of "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie." I highly recommend both books; great illustrations and short easy-to-read stories.

Your child will be reading in no time if you read fun books like this to her, and simultaneously you'll be laughing as well!

GO BUY THIS BOOK!

This is the best childrens book. It's a very cute story that has my kids laughing every time. The pictures are cute and colorful. We love all of Laura Joffe Numeroff's books.

I think this book is terrific for little people! My whole family loves it, especially my 20 month old sister! She is tickled to death by the cute illustrations and the funny things the boy and moose do. We love the other titles (Pig a Pancake and Mouse a Cookie) just as much. Great job!*****

If you give a moose a muffin...one thing can lead to another and you just never know what you're in for! This a wonderful book with bright, colorful illustrations filled with humorous situations that stem from that first kind act of hospitality between a little boy and a visiting moose. Kids will love the momentum that keeps building as the friendly moose goes from muffin to mayhem while the boy's unsuspecting mom is outside quietly working in the yard. Laura Joffe Numeroff has written other books of this type that are very entertaining, too, but this one is my favorite, by far. It encourages generosity and co-operation in a mad-cap way. The big, gangly moose is so funny that the kids are sure to love him and you will be glad to read this book over and over again.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. If You Give a Moose a Muffin was one of her picks.

This humorous book has to be one of the most imaginative ever written and illustrated!

The premise starts with a child spotting a moose out the window in the back yard. The child beckons to the moose, gives the moose a muffin, opens the kitchen door, and lets the moose in. Holding the muffin in his teeth, the moose obviously seems to need some jam. The child opens the refrigerator and gets out the mother's homemade blackberry jam. The moose quickly starts eating the muffin, now that it has jam on it. Then another, and another . . . and another until they are all gone. He seems to want you to make some more.

One thing connects to another, and before the book ends the moose will get a sweater, make puppets, create the scenery, put on a puppet show, make a mess, clean up the mess, want some more jam, and still wants some more muffins.

The book works at several levels. First, the idea is simply to be a good hostess or host. That's something that all children need to learn. You should try to please your guest. Even if it is a moose!

Second, there is also an analogy to being a parent, helping a child. So your child can begin to see what it's like to be the caregiver.

Third, how do you accomplish things? Some you buy, some you make, and almost all have consequences. The book helps your child learn to connect the dots.

Fourth, the child and the moose make a terrible mess. No one gets excited, but they do take responsibility to clean up after themselves. Amen!

Fifth, one thing does lead to another. It is easy to get distracted. The circularity of the story helps your child remember what the purpose originally was, and not to get sidetracked.

Sixth, the book introduces ideas of activities you can do with your child. In fact, it's all right to put the book down and start doing those activities . . . or pick a time to do so.

All in all, you get a lot for your time and money.

The illustrations are wonderful in making the moose very human and humorous. The figures are vivid and clear, and are filled with warm, rich colors.

You can take the concept of the book and make up your own stories with your child. Then you could draw illustrations together and do the activities that you pick for the story. You could start with your child's favorite animal and food. If you give your dolphin a cookie, etc. In that way you can stimulate even more bonding and creativity. Have a ball!

Be sure to overcome your stalled thinking that only authors can come up with great stories that you'll both love. I'll bet your child and you can do a wonderful job!

Enjoy!

'If You Take A Mouse To The Movies' by Laura Numeroff, with Illustrations by Felicia Bond, A Laura Geringer Book, 2000.

This is an excellent continuation of the collaboration of Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond on children's books based upon fanciful 'IF/THEN' statements. If you take a Mouse to the movies, then he will want popcorn; THEN, this results in his stringing the popcorn to decorate the Christmas Tree (which is the central theme of this beautiful book), and then, and so on. Each improbable 'THEN' is the joy of this book. For example, the little Mouse is given just the right clothes for the wintry weather, including a cute red woolen cap, with holes for his large ears. Finally, after making snowmen, decorating a Christmas Tree, you will come full circle, and, after giving the Mouse another batch of popcorn, again, ''he'll want you to take him to the moves'.

I enjoyed reading this book to my grandchildren. The younger boys (twins) were captivated by the richness of details in Felicia. Bond's illustrations, while the older grandchildren (especially the girl) rolled their eyes at the 'silliness' of each new IF/THEN situation 'for example, a Mouse making a 'snowman' and (!) with snowy white mouse ears! The Christmas theme makes this an ideal gift for the impending holidays.

The mouse is back! Once again, a sweet little boy becomes exhausted meeting the constant demands of a tiny tyrannical rodent in this, the fourth of the Numeroff-Bond books.

Written for the Christmas season, the action begins with our protagonists preparing for an outing to see a Christmas film -- but it doesn't stop there! Not by a long shot. One thing leads to another -- somehow logical, somehow outrageous -- until the circle is complete, and our duo are again wandering off to the movies.

The illustrations are absolutely priceless, filled with humorous details that will keep the book fresh even after the hundredth reading. And, if your child is like mine, there will be hundreds of readings. You will never forget the image of a mouse singing karaoke in candy cane-decorated boxer shorts, and do not neglect the sweet pictures on the credit pages.

"If You Take A Mouse To The Movies" by Laura Numeroff, with Illustrations by Felicia Bond, A Laura Geringer Book, 2000.

This is an excellent continuation of the collaboration of Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond on children's books based upon fanciful "IF/THEN" statements. If you take a Mouse to the movies, then he will want popcorn; THEN, this results in his stringing the popcorn to decorate the Christmas Tree (which is the central theme of this beautiful book), and then, and so on. Each improbable "THEN" is the joy of this book. For example, the little Mouse is given just the right clothes for the wintry weather, including a cute red woolen cap, with holes for his large ears. Finally, after making snowmen, decorating a Christmas Tree, you will come full circle, and, after giving the Mouse another batch of popcorn, again, "...he'll want you to take him to the moves".

I enjoyed reading this book to my grandchildren. The younger boys (twins) were captivated by the richness of details in Felicia Bond's illustrations, while the older grandchildren (especially the girl) rolled their eyes and smiled at the "silliness" of each new IF/THEN situation ...for example, a Mouse making a "snowman" and (!) with snowy white mouse ears! The Christmas theme makes this an ideal gift for the impending holidays.

This book helps kids use their imaginations. It talks about animals doing wacky things like reindeer square dancing. They'll love the funny pictures of animals in weird situations. They can imagine their own funny stories. It's definetley a good beginner book.

My son received this as a gift and adores it. While we don't read it every day anymore, it is still a favorite. I'd recommend this book for the 2-4 age range. The book goes through silly scenarios starting with chimps and going on to all kinds of different animals in other silly situations. The illustrations are excellent!