All of my kids (ages 2, 4 and 5) love the Max and Ruby series of books. My 5 year old borrowed this particular book from his PreK's library and loved it so much I had to go out and buy it!
It teaches counting and the illustrations are just precious.

"Stanley and Rhoda" by Rosemary Wells is reminescent of her series with Max and Ruby, with mice instead of rabbits.

Stanley the older brother and Rhoda his sister interact in a few different short stories.

In "Bunny Berries," Stanley is told to help his sister clean her room. My then two year old son's favorite story was "Don't touch it, Don't look at it!" in which Rhoda gets a splinter and Stanley coerces her to find comfort. The wry humor of the author is evident and entertaining throughout this book! I especially like the character of the babysitter in the last story, a shy football player who has trouble managing an indignant Rhoda.

You will enjoy the perspective on sibling relations as you read it over and over again; something you will undoubtedly be forced to do!

I hope it will be reprinted, I lent our copy out and didn't get it back. This is the only children's book I have saved for years. The humor is excellent - funny for adults as well as children.

My son, age 3, loves this book. The nighttime setting and wait for Santa gives it suspense, and McDuff's ventures out into the snow make for a very vivid read! It's his favorite McDuff story, along with McDuff Comes Home.

We are 2nd graders. Our names are Kaitlynd, Roger, and Lindsay. We have been reading books by Rosemary Wells. Our favorite book is McDUFF's NEW FRIEND. Kaitlynd liked the part when it was snowing. It makes her happy when it snows. Roger liked this book because the dog gets a kitten for a Christmas present. Lindsay liked the part at the end of the story when McDuff got the kitten. It made her happy when McDuff got a friend.

Westie owners and westie lovers unite! McDuff has starred in another wonderful story! My children and I love the new book in the McDuff series. It is apparent that the author and illustrator have these wonderful little dogs in their midst for inspiration. We often see our Linus lying in the same way McDuff lies, giving us the same expression McDuff gives Fred and Lucy, and giving our children the "awful squinting looks" McDuff gives the baby. My personal favorite line from the new book: "McDuff is empty!"

This is the story of how Yoko brought Japanese food to school, and the reactions Yoko gets. Rosemary Wells has done a number of books about the kids at Hilltop school and turned it into a cartoon on PBS. She's also the author of the Max and Ruby 'Bunny' books.

This is a pretty simple little book but it has some good lessons tucked away in the story. First, it's good to try different foods. Second, its okay to be different. Third, the teacher is your friend and wants you to enjoy school. This is not a deep book, but Wells creates another story that small children will enjoy.

Somewhere three quarters of the way into this book, something happens. The book breaks away from the ending that my wife and I expected. Ms. Wells steers clear of the facile 'happy ending' and re-routes the book to new and different territory. In the hands of a lesser author we would have the entire class doing cartwheels for Yoko's sushi. Sorry, that doesn't happen. Instead we get a much different ending. Somehow that makes the book more tender. More realistic. Kudos to the author for the ability to make this true to the meaning of being a kid.

This is a wonderful story that celebrates the diversity of our nation, and shows that these differences are cause for celebration not ridicule. My daughter enjoyed this book, and followed the childrens feelings of the unusual lunch dish. When she said "ick!" and slowly began to wonder what sushi actually tastes like, it made me smile. She learned the first lesson of the differences in everyone. Rosemary Wells provided the stepping stone for understanding and tolerance.

I happened upon "Bunny Cakes" by accident about a week ago. I picked it up and read it just to pass a few idle moments, but I ended up laughing out loud, and I've chuckled about it every day since. I was unfamiliar with Max and Ruby before I saw the book, but they have instantly become two of my favorite children's book characters (Max especially). "Bunny Cakes" accurately depicts the rivalry between a bossy (but patient) older sister, and a younger brother who's determined to make a statement in the world that he's just beginning to comprehend. Clad in a sharp pair of plaid overalls, Max makes repeated trips to the grocer (red wagon in tow) to make up for his unwitting disruptions of Ruby's cake-making project, and to get the perfect ingredients for his own earthworm cake: red-hot marshmallow squirters. Although even his most beautiful handwriting is incomprehensible to the rest of the world, Max relies on his ingenuity to finally succeed in communi! cating with the grocer. The illustrations are adorable--especially those that depict the wide-eyed innocence on Max's face as he wordlessly stares up at the grocer, hoping the man will understand his scribbled request for red-hot marshmallow squirters. But don't be fooled by Max's innocent look. He's one determined bunny. He gets what he needs and he makes sure Ruby doesn't steal the spotlight at grandma's birthday party.

Rosemary Wells has it figured out. My 3-year-old daughter LOVES this book, and we have read and re-read it numerous times together. There are so many things to talk about - Why does Ruby want Max out of the kitchen? Why dies Max spill things? Why would Grandma want to eat a dirt cake? Is Max & Ruby's Grandma's name the same as my Grandma? What ARE red-hot marshmallow squirters? It provokes some really great questions and conversations with my daughter. Ms. Wells is a remarkable story teller.

We first borrowed Bunny Cakes from the library when my daughter was only 20 months old. She loved it so much that we ended up renewing it again and again. The library, eventually, asked that we return it for a while and we are now buying the book. So many of Rosemary Wells' books are great, but this one really stands out. I stopped counting the number of times in a row that my daughter would ask me to read it to her. She is still asking for it. I can't wait until it arrives!

This book was cute but in one way it was a little confusing. Max and Max's sister appear to be about the same size in most of the pictures so on a first read through I was confused as to why Max was talking in single words and his sister in full ten word fully grammatical sentences. Then it dawned on my that he was supposed to be a lot younger than she was? The pictures are cute, the story charming but I wish Max had been drawn as much smaller so that he was obviously a younger brother. It would have made more sense to me.

Laugh aloud with Max, as his big sister Ruby endeavors to give him a bath. Max, a typical little "boy" bunny has just finished eating his lunch, and as with most toddlers, half of his lunch is all over him rather than in his belly. Big sister Ruby decides Max needs a bath, so as he waits for the tub to fill, Max enjoys some orange sherbet, and a cup of grape juice. He decides his bath would be more fun eating the sherbet in the water, so as one can expect, the sherbet finds its way into the bathwater and Ruby must start over. The same thing happens with the grape juice; consequently Ruby decides to give Max a shower, "You're going in the shower to get CLEAN, said Ruby." The story ends with Max pointing at Ruby's dress saying, "DIRTY," because in her attempt to bathe her little brother, she accumulates bits of orange sherbet and grape juice all over her dress. Max's expression is priceless!

"MAX's Bath," is an adorable tale about clean and dirty that any "bunny" will find amusing. This little board book measures 7" x 7" x ¼", and is simply illustrated; yet the images are colorful and expressive for easy comprehension. The text is very short; only ten pages long, and embraces humor, which is always popular among children and adult alike. Birth and up.

This is one of the Max board book series that also includes Max's Birthday, Max's Toys, andMax's Bedtime. They are supposedly intended for children from birth to age 2 or so. There are also several non-board books about Max (Max's Chocolate Chicken, and Bunny Money are my favorites) with longer stories designed for slightly older children.

Forget the designated ages. I told my teenage son I had written a couple of reviews of children's books for Amazon and he said, "Don't forget to review Max." He STILL loves them, and wants everyone to know how good they are. When he was 10, he loved reading them to his baby sister, and I understood how he felt. When he was a toddler, the Max books were the only children's books I read that REALLY made me laugh.

Max and Ruby are brother and sister bunnies. Ruby's a little bossy. Max always gets around her in the end. But their relationship remains a genuinely sweet and loving one. Small children, I think, just love the clean-lined, simple pictures, and the striking expressions on Max and Ruby's faces. But any adult or older child who reads the books will see Max as one of the great trickster characters of all times, and Rosemary Wells as one of the most insightful writers around on sibling rivalry.

Do NOT let any child - yours or anyone else's you know - get through being a toddler without meeting Max.

I absolutely love this book. I am in school to be a teacher and found this book while doing a project and read it ten times. I laugh out loud each time I read it, it just gets better and better.

Just found this book in the library and laughed louder than I should have in that location. Max acts like a real kid does. He gets away with something, but so what? He's not wicked, just a kid. I take a thief any day to that teasing, bothersome, bossy sister!

My children asked me to read Max's Chocolate Chicken to them over and over. Max being Max, and a toddler to boot,charms his way out of trouble again.

I asked my children if what Max did was fair. They didn't think so, but understood that simple toddler urge to get that candy chicken and gobble it down.

I plan to send a copy to my 45-year-old sister as a reminder of all the chocolate chickens we shared as kids.

I will be a new father in a few days, and my wife had a copy of this book in the baby's room. I could not believe what this book seemed to be condoning: the acting out of an unattended to child. As the nature of Nora's actions escalated, I was fully expecting her to torch the house as a coup de grace.
In any case, I will not be reading this to my dear (but impressionable) daughter!

Noisy Nora is just as much fun to read today as it was when it first came out. I have been teaching second grade forever, and at one time, many years ago, a fellow teacher and myself wore out a filmstrip of Noisy Nora. Our students saw it over and over again. Recently, we used it as the take home book in a Book Bag program. Today's students love it as much as those almost 30 years ago!

I read this a million and three times to my own two (and now grown) children and now have such fun giving it as a gift. This is the most fun to read over and over again, it's just tough to get tired of.

An adventurous, heroic little mouse is and has been living a normal human lifestyle with a human family. As being part of the family he does many things for it. For example, Mrs. Little drops her ring down the drain of the bathroom tub and can't get it out, Stuart goes in and gets it. When the Little's play ping pong and the ping pong ball goes somewhere off the table Stuart gets it. Even though he does a lot of work for the other Little's he is treated well and is very loved, not just for his work. Stuart has a problem. Margalo is missing and Stuart has to leave to go find this special friend. Margalo is Stuarts loving and caring bird friend. Read, as Stuart goes on his journey to find his good friend and to watch him stumble into more, new exciting adventures. I was interested throughout the whole entire story. From Rowing down streams, up in trees, to walking through the tall wet grasses. Adventure after adventure. You might even catch yourself laughing. I recommend this book to all readers interested. Well written and understandable.

I re-read this story a few months ago after about an 11 year gap. What a delightful experience! It`s a great book for kids, but reading it as an adult is fun, too, and you understand a lot more of the author`s tongue-in-cheek wit and his lyrical descriptions. Child readers will be entranced by Stuart`s clever adaptions to a world that is always bigger than he is: details like his matchbox bed, paper clip skates, and toy sailboat that he commandeers quite well are very original. I do recall thinking as a kid that it was weird that he was born looking so much like a mouse and everyone just takes it for granted, but you tend to forget about that as you get absorbed in the adventures. Stuart is also born with an enormous capacity for wit and a novel take on life- witness his verbal sparring with Snowbell the cat and his hilarious turn as a substitute teacher. Others have noted that the primary reason he appeals so much to kids is because they, too, have to cope each day with a huge, often bewildering adult world. I agree with this, while also offering the idea that another reason he`s easy to like is because he is a true individual who likes to do things in his own special manner. He does`nt mind if big people and animals find his custom-built car or tiny clothing and suitcase strange! By the end of the story, you`re really rooting for him to find his lovely little bird friend, Margalo, and you`re also quite disappointed that the tale ends so abruptly! If only White had written a Stuart sequel. I can`t say enough good things about Stuart, and re-discovering him has inspired me to both rent the movie and look for a copy of White`s essays.

Endearing, full of wit and amusement, adventure!!

An adventurous, heroic little mouse is and has been living a normal human lifestyle with a human family. As being part of the family he does many things for it. For example, Mrs. Little drops her ring down the drain of the bathroom tub and can't get it out, Stuart goes in and gets it. When the Little's play ping pong and the ping pong ball goes somewhere off the table Stuart gets it. Even though he does a lot of work for the other Little's he is treated well and is very loved, not just for his work. Stuart has a problem. Margalo is missing and Stuart has to leave to go find this special friend. Margalo is Stuarts loving and caring bird friend. Read, as Stuart goes on his journey to find his good friend and to watch him stumble into more, new exciting adventures. I was interested throughout the whole entire story. From Rowing down streams, up in trees, to walking through the tall wet grasses. Adventure after adventure. You might even catch yourself laughing. I recommend this book to all readers interested. Well written and understandable.