This highly entertaining tale describes how a town's inhabitants react when Rex the dinosaur arrives. Everyone has a unique way of reacting to the great big dinosaur with huge teeth. But the author's description of HOW the town reacts is what makes this story a true delight. Children will be delighted with the detailed and action-packed illustrations. Adults, however, may be surprised to find the pun-filled story line is as entertaining for them as for the intended 4 to 8-year-old reading audience. A true masterpiece of plays on language, parents will find themselves wanting to read this story again and again to their children -- and themselves!

I have a growing collection of works that are variations of classic folk and fairytales. This is one of the cleverest reworkings of the 3 Little Pigs I've seen. In the literacy program I am working on in Chicago Public Schools, we are using this book in several intermediate grade classrooms as an engaging way to teaching a point of grammar (comparative and superlative forms) and as one of a series of 3 Little Pig stories we are comparing--the end goal is to turn the kids into authors of their own "fractured fairy tale."

As a first grader teacher, this is the BEST book to really drive home the comparison of big, bigger, and biggest (and similar ideas). The students really enjoyed predicting what the next -er and -est would be once they heard "cheap sheep", "tall wall", "squeak", "cat", "witch", "huff and puff", etc. The story line was even OK for a children's book, but it's definitely worth it just for learning the skill of adding -er and -est to words!!

Things aren't what they seem in this rollicking comic picture book about a gentle watchdog who, quite literally, is only the size of a watch. With tongue-in-cheek humor and zingy dialogue, author Rick Walton and illustrator Arthur Robins chuckle broadly about the night this tiny do-gooder comes face-to-face with a big, loud-mouthed burglar who taunts, teases and hoists insults at the little would-be-hero. The wickedly ironic tale is a wonderful testament to brains over brawn, and a funny ode to little guys everywhere.

This book deserves six stars - it's just so funny and well-made. The story of little Bertie, who outwits a great big horrible burglar, will keep your kids chuckling for days. The pictures are gorgeous and cartoony as well.

Great concept for a book. My 2 year old daughter loves to finish the second half of the words, and she's so pleased with herself for remembering what each thing turns out to be. I was attracted to the book by its wonderful illustrations and it's western, kind of twangy, look. Excellent book for girls and boys both.

Hedgehogs, ladybugs, and cowboys cross the path of a bullfrog searching for his lost hop in this colorful journey through the Old West, where nothing appears as it seems. The creatively designed tale integrates illustrations and text placement to continuously keep the reader expecting the unexpected. Walton crafts an interactive picture book that encourages readers to guess what will appear on the following page. For instance, he separates the final word in each sentence, such as "He looked under a hedge..." and designs an illustration to accompany the image like a representation of a hedge; yet, a turn of the page reveals a hedgehog sitting in the desert--a surprising completion to the image and compound word! The full-color illustrations use pirmay color shading rather than detail to expound on and compliment the easy flow of the text. The storybook paces itself with a single action per page supported by the clever artisitic impressions. Young readers, as well as young children with parental assistance, quickly catch onto the text pattern, attending to the endless possibilites of what may come next in the bullfrog's search for his hop. This page-turing journey of the bullfrog provides an opportunity for an interactive, high-energy read aloud as a whole class activity or as a shared reading between parent and child.

Disappointed. Illustrations are not as beautiful as the work done in "So Many Bunnies." Text doesn't flow...too contrived and the last word of each page's rhyme is on the next page...which makes the reader/listener have to decide whether to linger over the scene or turn the page to finish the rhyme. Modes of transportation are depicted well, but on most pages the bunnies don't have the charm they have in "So Many Bunnies"...they are pretty much secondary in many of the illustrations, so if you liked "So Many Bunnies" for the rabbits, you may be disappointed in this edition. Opening and closing spreads have the charm I was expecting throughout the book.