I got this book for my baby daughter because she loves the song. I figured the spider would be fairly prominently placed in the illustrations. Yes, it is there, but really really tiny. The goose, instead fills most of the picture.

Also, if you plan to do the hand signs while you read/sing the text, the really short phrasing on each page makes it very hard -- because just when you'd want to do the hand sign; "rain" for example... you're supposed to be turning a page... down came the rain (turn) and washed the spider out (turn)

I also don't like the extra "Again" they paste onto the end of the song. "Climbed up the spout again" and then there is an additional paged that says "Again."

I don't think it was worth the money, and I wish I hadn't purchased this version.

This was given to me as a baby shower gift for my 5 month old, but my 2 year old has taken it as her own. Her favorite part is at the end when it says "Again!" So we read it again and again.

My three and a half year old is still reading this book every night in bed after more than 18 months. And we usually have to read it at least three times due to the last word of the book which is "Again!". The words are few and big so we have also been looking at the individual letters every now and then. The pictures, too, are simple and captivating - and beautifully drawn by someone with obvious talent. The magic part is, that the "bunny reads back" concept which Ms. Wells has had clearly in mind from the outset, really works with these books.

This book was OK. it was pretty interesting, but I only read it because it was an MSBA nominee. The stories were pretty touching, but not a lot so. So, I give it 3 stars for a pretty good book.

Mary Breckinridge (20th century nurse, leader, & visionary) set the standard for rural healthcare. Rosemary Wells' book takes 3 stories from the exciting life & times of a great American woman and brings them to children. This book is for all ages-young & old. I did a college-level biography on Ms. Breckinridge as I found her life and life's work so interesting (her autobiography is excellent & available through Amazon) This would be an excellent classroom reader grades 3-5 and a great read for anyone interested in history, great women, and Americans.

I thought that this book was an incredible testament of the human spirit! The title character completed her dream of caring for the poor people of the Kentucky mountains. This was done after Mary Breckinridge herself had undergone enormous personal tragedy. As an elementary school teacher, I plan to use this book as an example of the great things a person can do inspite of one's own circumstances.

Let me introduce Max, and his older sister Ruby if you are not already familiar with these endearing little bunnies. Max is generally the mischievous one, while big sister Ruby is helpful, but often bossy. In this short story Ruby attempts to teach Max some new words as his first, and only word is BANG. She starts with CUP, then try's POT, BROOM, FISH, EGG, CHAIR and finally APPLE. In the end, Max takes a big bite out of the apple and triumphantly declares it DELICIOUS! "MAX's First Word," is a charming account of brotherly and sisterly love, and teaches a few words too. I love that Max's first word is BANG, kid's love hearing, BANG, BANG, BANG.

The text is very short; only ten pages long, and incorporates humor, which is always desirable. This little board book measures 7" x 7" x ¼", and is simply illustrated, yet the images are colorful and expressive for easy comprehension. I found "MAX's First Word," difficult to read aloud. There are TOO many "he said/ she said's" in this story, as in many of Ms. Wells books. For instance, the story begins, "Max's one word was BANG! No, Max, said sister, Ruby. Say CUP. BANG, said Max." The wording is awkward to read out loud, and does not flow. Cute story, yet taxing text. Birth and up.

Our 14 month daughter loves this book but we hate it. The story is cute and she loves the pictures but it is very difficult to read. The words do not flow and I found myself having to read it slowly because what I was reading did not sound right. The sentence POT,Max,said Ruby. BANG,said Max is harder to read out loud than you think. Your child will probably love it , you probably won`t.

This is absolutely my son's favorite book, and has been since he was about 11 months old. He will sort through all of his books, pick this one, and come toddling over to me-grinning from ear to ear-and sit down in my lap to have it read to him. The fun of it is, its particular brand of humor has not gotten old for me, either.

We have introduced the book to several friends and their children. The adults have all become Rosemary Wells addicts (like us) and the children always drag it out to hear it, asking "Bang? Bang?" I respect Wells' books because she is able to write stories simple enough for infants and toddlers to enjoy, full of clear pictures, that can still make parents laugh every time, too.

I really enjoyed reading this book to 16 preschoolers at the Festus Public Library in Festus, Missouri. As a storytime book, McDuff Saves the Day makes for a fun and entertaining read. The artwork and story are beautiful and creative. The plot is charming, simple and realistic, giving McDuff (a fluffy white Westie) a perfect opportunity to be the cute dog that he is. This is my first McDuff story and I thouroughly enjoyed it. All dog lovers should have this in their children's book collection.
In this adventure, McDuff celebrates the Fourth of July with his family: Lucy, Fred and the baby. A perfect day for a picnic turns into a series of mishaps that leaves the family without a picnic and a cranky baby. By the end of the story, McDuff has found a way to have a picnic and make a new friend. Fred still complains though, because McDuff always gets to ride in the front.

I love this book! I like when McDuff has to sit by the baby then on Lucy's lap and then Fred has to sit in the back seat and McDuff sits in front.My name is Fred and Fred's name is Fred!Mcduff steals everyone's picnic because his picnic was stolen by ants. He steals a man's food so Lucy and Fred come eat with the man and the man isn't lonely and Lucy and Fred get food and watch fire works!

Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers' McDuff Saves The Day takes place on July 4th and tells of the bouncy dog's plans to celebrate. McDuff's ride in the family car is particularly hilarious and realistic as he bounces between seats, baby, and chicken versus marrowbone. A fun and zany tale.

This entire book has been entirely tainted by the disgraceful and completely insensitive endpapers! What gives with the author's simplified use of design motifs, such as the use of red stars indicating the former Soviet Union and BOWLS OF RICE for China...? Way to go, Ms. Wells.... lumping thousands of years of rich and wonderful history and culture into a bowl of rice. There is nothing to savor about this insensitivity and thoughtlessness and teaching children that diversity is nothing more than a cup of coffee or a pine tree.

This book is charming and exquisitely illustrated. Elements of origami and Japanese printmaking enrich it visually, while the story is beautifully simple and affecting. It is one of my three-year old daughter's favorites, and my personal favorite among her many books. The story and pictures can be used as a starting point to explore the ideas of separation, travel, gift-giving, the seasons in nature, bird migration, and they even show the reader how to make paper cranes! It is superb.

I am an American citizen who has been living in Japan for the past 18 months and I was delighted when a friend sent this book to my daughter for her 4th birthday. I have been a fan of Rosemary Wells for years and this book did not disappoint me. Wells has created a delightful visual experience for the young reader through the use of traditional Japanese washi papers combined with her own bright and whimsical watercolors. Wells has also managed to show the special relationship that exists between a child and their grandparents and how traditions are passed down through generations. (In this case, Yoko's grandfather teaches her to fold paper cranes.) My own daughter is thousands of miles away from her grandparents in the United States, and I think that this book has shown her that love can cross all those miles.
As a parent and preschool teacher, I would recommend this book as a teaching tool about Japanese culture -- Wells has even included folding instructions for the paper crane. What a wonderful literacy link activity!

The book Through the Hidden Door was a boring book. I wanted to read an adventure book. I thought it would be a good book to read but it was not. I felt there was not enough adveture in it. I would not recommend this book to chrilden under the age of eleven. There were some curse words in this book that they should not see. Overall the best part of the story is when Charlie and his friends walked "Through the Hidden Door."

When i read this book for the first time five years ago i couldn't put it down. I didn't really enjoy reading adventure stories as this but when i read it it just amzed me and it was so thrilling it actually pulled me into the story to this day it's still one of my all time favorites.

I loved this book

I am not sure why this book was re-illustrated and re-written. The writing revisions are not too bad, but the illustrations are not at all in the same league as in the original. They are big, bright and colorful. Perhaps they make the book a more successful read-aloud. If I had come across this book without having seen Wells' original, I'd have given it a higher rating. I'd have really loved it. But when you've already had the best nothing else will do.

This is currently #1 on my son's reading list. He could listen to this 20 times a day. I think he likes the fact that it's realistic---there are kids out there like Claude, that really make kids like Timothy not enjoy school as they otherwise would, but then Timothy is able to find a way to overcome his sadness. The pictures are wonderfully expressive. A real gem of a book.

so vividly it was scary. This book nails the feelings kids go through so perfectly I strongly recommend it to anyone with kids. A great read for the adults as much as for the kids. The artwork is perfect and funny too.

This book is not entirely accurate from a historical perspective. While I was THRILLED to see a child's book about Sears homes, I was so disappointed to see that the book missed a golden opportunity to teach parents and children a little more about these awesome old mail-order houses.

The book states that Dad "...wrote a check out to Sears, Roebuck and Company for $2500..." Further, it says that this was their "whole life savings."

This family is already in trouble, because Sears kit homes did not include masonry, plaster, labor costs, excavation expense or heating, plumbing and electrical equipment. Nor did the house include ALL appliances as is inferred in Homer's conversation with his sister.

Pa brought home a "big fat catalog" (presumably a Sears Modern Homes catalog), but in fact, these catalogs were about 125 pages long. Hardly big and nothing close to fat. Small point, I know, but stay with me.

The book also states that the house would be put together "with a barrel of nails." Actually, the average Sears home contained 750 pounds of nails in widely varying sizes. They were shipped in 50 and 100-pound kegs, not in a single barrel. (That'd be SOME barrel.)

After the house arrived, it took "three trips in Grandad's truck" to haul the house from the train depot to the building site. The average Sears home had 30,000 pieces. That's going to take a LOT more than three trips.

The floor plan, pictured in the book is the Sears Honor-Bilt home - "The Walton." But the house pictured on the cover (and inside the book) is "The Avalon." Pretty confusing.

Further the book states that the house had a second floor. Neither the Avalon or the Walton had a second floor.

Perhaps most disappointing are the drawings of the interior trim and the door hinge. Sears never used "bull's eye" trim in their homes (as is pictured in the book) and their door hinges were often quite distinctive because they were half-mortised, half-surface mount. Showing one of these distincitive hinges could have done so much to teach folks how to spot Sears homes!

The book states that 22 doors were hung on brass hinges. Neither the Avalon or the Walton had anything close to 22 doors. And Sears homes did not have brass hinges, but plated steel.

Homer took the "leftover scraps of wood" and built a new treehouse in the woods. Considering that this house came as a "put-together kit" (pre-cut), there would be very, very few scraps of wood "leftover." In 1919, Sears claimed that someone assembling one of their pre-cut homes could "hang their saw on nail all day..."

About "The House in the Mail," - let me say again - it's cute, interesting, appealing and dear. But there are some informational errors.

A story should have its facts straight, even if the facts are not the central part of the story. On the plus side, Ms. Wells' love of children shines through the pages of this book.

I love Sears homes and spent two years researching them in order to write my book, "The Houses That Sears Built." 95% of the Sears homes in this country remain undiscovered. "The House in the Mail" could have helped remedy that problem...

"Hello, whoever you are out there in the world of the future! I wonder how many years will pass before someone reads this. I'm only twelve years old now, but I might be a very old lady by the time you read these pages." Narrated by Emily Cartwright of Enfield, Kentucky, and presented as a family scrapbook, Tom and Rosemary Wells describe how one family picked out and built a mail order house from Sears, Roebuck & Company. The house will arrive by freight train, ready to be assembled, and there will be six rooms, modern appliances like a gas stove, electric ice-box, and washing machine, and best of all indoor plumbing...no more chopping wood, emptying drip pans, and hauling and heating water from the well. The Wells' easy to read and engaging text takes the reader on an exciting adventure as the house comes to life on the page, and is full of charming period details, interesting facts and trivia, and intriguing anecdotes about the early 1900s. Dan Andreasen's beautiful and evocative artwork combines drawings, blueprints, old photographs, advertisements, and mementos, that give the "scrapbook" an old and genuine feeling, and children will enjoy poring over the pictures and exploring all the special details in each illustration. Perfect for youngsters 6-10, or as a read- aloud story the entire family can share together, The House In The Mail is a captivating and entertaining slice of Americana that should open the door to interesting discussions, and a wonderful experience that shouldn't be missed.

My daughter was given a few of these Opie and Wells books andthey fare about "average" in her collection.

We (parents)would like them better if the verses weren't changed from what we remember. For example, instead of "Hickory Dickory Dock," they use "Dickory dickory dock."

An informal search on [a website] shows >1600 matches for "Hickory" and 9 for "Dickory," so the former is clearly more common. As best as we can determine, the original was published in 1744 as "Hickere, Dickere, Dock" in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book II by Mary Cooper. The French version has its opening: "Digerie, digerie, doge.")

Layout of some of the verses could be improved. For example, the first few times we read "The Big Ship Sails on the Alley Alley Oh," we didn't 'get' the rhythm because the verse is written vertically with awkward spacing. (In this instance, it's best to sing it as a song.)

On the plus side, we hadn't seen the "From Wibbleton to Wobbleton" rhyme before. Our daughter seems to like filling in the "fifteen miles."...

This book of simple rhymes and funny pictures can be read over and over. My one year old laughs out load, even though we've read the book hundreds of times.

If you are looking for good old classic Mother Goose that you grew up, with these are not the books you want. I was disappointed to find that I have never heard of over half of these nursery rhymes and the ones that are familiar have been changed. On the up side, the illustrations are great and the book is okay for a child who isn't familiar with classic Mother Goose.

I have two toddlers, and we have been reading both of these books at least twice a day for a year. My two year old has both books memorized and my one year old knows quite a few of the verses. I am also buying this for every expectant mother that I know. My husband wasn't fond of Mother Goose at first, but these books have turned him into a fan.

Wow! ... is collection had ALL the Mother Goose Rhymes that I remembered, and then some! The oversized format and bold pictures, all featuring sweet and funny animals playing nursery rhyme roles, will visually delight both the lucky listeners and the grown-ups sharing this treasury! I have been buying this set for EVERY expectant mother I know, it's a great shower gift (especially combined with Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook). I know I was so grateful to have a good Mother Goose collection when I was a new mommy, it's surprising how many you forget once you leave kindergarten. My son, who is now six, loves this book (I like that BOYS are made of sugar and spice and everything nice in this edition...I think a little liberty may have been taken there, but as a mom of a son, I won't argue!). I am grateful to the Opies and to Rosemary Wells for compiling a collection in such a way that is true to the original rhymes yet appealing to children in our century!

As far as I'm concerened, the only egg this goose lays is a golden one!