"Little Whistle's Dinner Party" is charmingly told by author Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Tim Bowers. Rylant relates the tale of Little Whistle--a guinea pig happily ensconced in a toy store--and the dinner party he throws for all his toy friends.

Rylant takes the secret wish of every child (that toys really do come alive when we're not looking) and turns it into a vivacious party, complete with detailed party preparations. Although the story ends on a rather abrupt note--to the point that I wondered if perhaps the last page had inadvertently been torn out of our copy--the story itself is so dear that children will hardly notice.

Tim Bowers does a super job of upping the adorability factor in this sweet book. Recommended especially for children who own guinea pigs!

Rylant and Bowers have found new fans in my daughter and me. This delightful little book captured my 3 1/2 year old's imagination with its story of a guinea pig that lives in a toy store where the toys come alive after the store closes for the night. Little Whistle invites his toy friends to a dinner party. Pushing a little toy shopping cart, he shops for an oven, a tea pot, and china cups and plates. Then he busily prepares for dinner the treats he has been saving in the corner of his cage. He arrives at the party in a helicopter bearing Lion's favorite food - vanilla cookies!

The pictures are absolutely fantastic. Tim Bowers is one of the best children's books artists I've seen. You can't help but love the main character and want to find more stories about him.

The book isn't perfect. A few lines in this simple story are redundant with the first book in the series ("Little Whistle"), such as Soldier reading stories to the babies and Lion loving vanilla cookies. These qualities of the characters could have been expressed more vividly. The author relegates them to parentheticals, intimating that they are references to the earlier story. Little Whistle wears a pea coat that was given to him in the first book. Without reading the first book, one would wonder what a guinea pig is doing wearing a pea coat. The end of the story could have had a bit more punch, but my reaction may just be the result of regional differences in the use of a term "grocery" for "grocery store." However, my daughter and I enjoyed this book so much that I am seeking out other books in the series and other books by this author and the illustrator. I certainly hope that Rylant and Bowers bring us many more adventures of Little Whistle.

This is definitely a book to get for the pictures. Warm and whimsical drawings make up the bulk of this oversized picture book. Kids can follow a brother and sister through the different rooms of a rather busy household--there are different times of day, different seasons of the year, different family members present, and definitely a lot of THINGS (some of them quite wacky) scattered everywhere. Among them are a couple of stuffed animals that follow the kids everywhere they go (one is a winged donkey?!!?). It's almost like a "Where's Waldo?" as you search for them each time you turn the page. The illustrations definitely portray a well-lived-in house that is a ton of fun to explore.

On the down side, the text is nothing to go crazy over. To me it sounds like someone talking off the top of their head--not well-crafted prose, but momentary thoughts. It's almost as if the book was not meant to have words--the adult is just supposed to make up their own story as the kid looks at the pictures--but they included words just in case the adult couldn't think of anything to say. Sometimes the words don't even match the pictures--for the life of me I can't find the dinosaur-shaped sponge anywhere in the bathroom!

That aside, this is a really fun picture book on a unique subject --perfect for some quiet one-on-one exploration with your child.

"There are many kinds of houses in the world, from little cottages to big mansions, from farmhouses to bungalows. But no matter the kind of house, it is the living inside that makes it wonderful, what happens in each room that makes it marvelous. It is what the house means to those who live there. Let's walk through. Let's see the wonderful things about a house." And with an invitation like that, who could resist. Join author, Cynthia Rylant, and illustrator, Wendy Anderson Halperin, as they take the reader on a room by room tour of their house. From the front porch to the attic, and all the rooms in between, this dynamic duo investigates each room, detailing all the special things that belong there, and all the wonderful things you might do. Ms Rylant's gentle, lyrical prose is rich in imagery and magic. But it's Ms Halperin's colorful, busy, and expressive artwork that really makes this picture book stand out and sparkle, and she spares no detail in each fun-filled, joyous, cluttered picture. Young and old, alike, will linger over each two page spread, always finding something new and clever every time they open the book and explore a room. Perfect for preschoolers, Let's Go Home is a cozy and engaging read-aloud that's sure to open interesting discussions about your own home and what makes it unique and special. "Happy living."

I liked this book because it's a good and funny book. The way Mr. Putter keeps on saying, "Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you very, very, sure? " is funny. It's it a little easy to read. It reminded me of Poppleton. Most kids would like this book. (age 8)

In this book, Mr. Putter and Mrs. Teaberry try to bring their pets, Tabby (the cat) and Zeke (the dog) on the train. When they find out that they can't, Mr. Putter comes up with a scheme to bring the pets on the ride.

This story helps kids realize that Mr. Putter can come up with a good plan and can be kind of "naughty" in a good way.

I bought this title for Grandma to read to her Grandkids and decided to keep it for our home. This is an excellent portrait of what life really is like in the country: the blackness, the soft sounds, the swooping owl. A great find for parents to read to kids to follow up on a visit to a relative in the country.

As in her book, "When I Was Young in the Mountains," Cynthia Rylant's "Night in the Country" paints a picturesque landscape of Appalachia. Warm country nights, cool breezes, fireflies and other common sights highlight this book. The art is beautifully calming.

Cynthia Rylant is a talented and versatile writer who has written for a wide audience ranging from kindergarten to high school. I enjoyed this book immensely, but recommend it for older children (grade 6 and above) especially if used in the classroom. The images, subject matter, and humor, can be appreciated by a more mature audience. Younger children might have a difficult time relating to topics of unrequited love, death of a parent, and coming of age topics in general.(The inside bookflap recommends this book for ages 11 and up and I can see why.) This is not to say that younger children cannot appreciate this book, but as a teacher and a parent, I would recommend this book for middle school and up.

Several years ago I taught third graders, and we read much of Cynthia Rylant's work together. I stumbled across this book, and it turned out to be the most useful resource for my teaching and the most intriguing book for the children. Through the poems we had a glimpse into childhood in small town Appalachia, and the light that this shed on the other books Cynthia Rylant read was talked abut for many months. The poems are specific in their imagery, often funny, and accessible.

This is Case Number 001 for the High-Rise Private Eyes, brainy Bunny Brown and Jack Jones the snoopy raccoon. When they go to their favorite diner, The Grill Next Door, they find that Mac, the owner, is upset because his glass monkey is missing. It was next to the cash register at 8:00 a.m. and by 9:00 a.m. it was gone. Bunny and Jack figure it had to be somewhat who was eating breakfast at the time so they return the next day to check out the suspects.

"The Case of the Missing Monkey" is a Level 2 (Grades 1-3) reader and while I do not think that young readers will be able to figure out the solution from the clues provided, I do think they will understand how Bunny and Jack figure it out. At the very least, this book will introduce them to the idea of deductive reasoning. Consequently, this little book will prepare young readers for bigger and better mysteries.

I give it a rating of three stars because it reminded me ofwhen I went to a baseball game and I saw a dog that looked just likeMudge. I like it a lot because it has good word choice and at the endyou don't know what is going to happen next. And what I didn't like was it didn't have action. I recommend this book to any age.