This is one of those children's stories that not only was enjoyed by my children, but also touched me deeply. Both the story and the illustrations are beautiful. I highly recommend it!

My four year old was apprehensive at first glance at a "Halloween" book, but quickly took to the amusing counting rhymes and friendly family pictures. Each number rhyme is based on a parent and the teaching of their children. The drawings are amusing and offer plenty to challenge small curiosities. My daughter and I especially enjoy reading the parent and child roles in character. I just love it when she says "We Hoooowl". A seasonal favorite at our house!

Great book for early readers, or to read aloud. Illustrations are wonderful. It is very entertaining, but teaches the importance of friendship and that winning is not everything.

This book is so much fun and such a treasure. It captures the spirit of a child's need for competition, has drama and celebrates the gift of friendship and courage. All this is told in a wonderful language and with delightful illustrations. "Don't fidget a feather" is a Must-Have and a real Keeper.

My 3-year old loved this book. The pictures are fantastic, and the story of one-upmanship is one that any young child could relate to. This is a clever story with characters that totally draw you in. You'll find yourself telling your child "don't fidget a feather" again and again.

I read this book to my daughter last October when she was just a little over two. She's just turned three and we're using it as our pre-Halloween reading again. What I like best about the book is that the characters, a witch, ghost, vampire, mummy and bat, aren't at all scary. They all have the same sole interest, eating pumpkin pie. There's no witchcraft, no haunting, no nasty mischief. They're basically silly characters, offering parents a good way to introduce young children to them in a way that might later neutralize potentially scarier meetings. This book will not give my three year old nightmares - she may, however dream of pumpkin pie.

In Erica Silverman's _Big Pumpkin_, a witch tries to get her big pumpkin off the vine, so she can make pumpkin pie. A mummy, a vampire, a ghost and a bat each stop by and try to pull the pumpkin from the vine. They succeed when they all pull together. Later they share the pumpkin pie.

Schindler's illustrations are hilarious. The image of the mummy trying to pull the pumpkin from the vine is one i will never forget... the image of the bat eating pumpkin pie is another one. Both I and my (3 year old) son find this book very funny. The story is simple and repetitive...nothing really scary or morbid here at all.

In my opinion, this is an ideal Halloween picture book for 3- and 4-year olds.

ken32

This is my favorite Halloween book I know it so well that I will often just tell the story. It is really funny, it has the typical cast of Halloween monsters with out being scary and its great for reading out loud the kids always love to join in on the "Drat" and the pulling. I would also encourage you to purchase the audio version as it is a wonderful performance that children will listen to anytime of the year.

Raisel is a Jewish girl that is orphaned and seeks work in a Rabbi's household. She attends a Purim dance, meets the Rabbi's son, and asks him a riddle. He seeks her, after the dance, to marry because of her intelligence. This is an adaptation of the story Cinderella. It is told about the Jewish holiday, Purim, which celebrates Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia. It preserves the essential qualities of a Cinderella story by having the girl orphaned, poor, kind, and marrying the "prince" of the story. It contains several references to Jewish words/phrases, such as Zaydeh, synagogue, rabbi, and Talmud. The illustrations match the text well by depicting what is written. The illustrations depict the characters in traditional dress of Jewish people for the date, when not wearing costumes for Purim .

There are so many different cultural adaptations of Cinderella, that I think it would be interesting to teach a unit with Cinderella as the theme. This could be a way to introduce the children to different cultures, while maintaining something that they are familiar with, Cinderella.

Raisel's Riddle is outstanding because this Cinderella is not concerned with her appearance, nor is the rabbi's son. It is a wonderful twist to have knowledge be the commodity most valued!

This is a Jewish version of the Cinderella story. Far better than the original in my opinion, because instead of something as random as shoe size, the key to discovering the heart-stealer is her riddle and her wisdom. This book stresses the importance of learning and is a wonderful romance at the same time. Beautiful!

We borrowed this from the library and came to Amazon.com to buy it. My daughter (4) loved this book! She is in the early stages of learning to read, and has memorized the series of rhyme, puts words to the pictures and loves the story. The pictures are great and it is a fun book for parents to share with their children. I love this book almost as much as she does and I don't tire of reading it over and over.

This was a delightful Mayday romp, with bright pictures and a lilting add-on story-rhyme. After I was done, I wanted Mayday to be today!

This book is a joy to read. The text is light and airy and has a melodic sing-song quality. The pictures are so silly and fun, yet very detailed and beautiful. I love how the little girl wakes up and I love all the animals and people who join her on her impromptu May Day parade. This is a great spring-time or any-time book and I recommend it highly!

I thought this was a wonderful book for the classroom, especially since I am studying to be a teacher. Now that I'm a parent though, I think it shows the aspects of a relationship with grandparents, and some of the things that the girl did with her grandmother remind me of my childhood. It is a great way to foster a nostalgic feeling both at home and at school. A must have for teachers and parents alike!