You could sum it up in one page.....

This book came highly recommended, but actually is rather boring - the whole gist of it could have been summarised in just one page rather than needing a whole book.

An absolute must for toddlers

My 2 year old daughter Amy loves this book to bits. It has to be read at least once a day and she seems to be completely captured by the rhyme and rhythm of the story. I thoroughly enjoy reading it to her as well because the words just flow beautifully. The illustrations are bright and colourful with lots to look at and enjoy. Fun and educational, simply a must for all very young children.

Another amazing chapter in Darren Shan's epic Demonata series

Barcode: 9780007260379<br /><br />So, with Death's Shadow we see the return of Bec as narrator. Still coming to terms with the modern world and her own abilities, she isn't given much time to settle down before our heroes are already thrust back into danger. The pace, as always with Shan's books is slick, the countless Lost-esque mysteries playing through your mind again and again as you try and decipher what's going on. It's fascinating and you just love the series all the more for it.<br /><br />Bec is a great character and there's a delightful scene between her and Meera near the beginning as she offloads her issues with Dervish neglecting her. It's testament to Shan's skill as a writer that he is able to do these touching, personal scenes as well as he does the action that forms the core of this book.<br /><br />Featuring showdowns at Dervish's house and the rooftop of a hospital, Death's Shadow is all about sacrfice. I won't give away any spoilers but what i will say is that as ever with Shan's books, victory is never easy or assured and the cost of fighting is always high. I whipped through this book in a matter of days, a rollercoaster ride of thrilling action and emotions. In a word 'fantastic'!.<br /><br />The dramatic conclusion of this book takes place on cruise liner out in the open ocean and as with previous book Demon Apocalypse there are some interesting parallels with Doctor Who. With Demon Apocalypse it was the episode 'Last of The Time Lords' what with its rolling back of time/negated timeline plot after the world was cast into oppresion.<br /><br />In the case of Death's Shadow it's the Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned with the events taking place on a sinking ship and featuring a selfish only-really-out-for-himself character, in Shan's case taking the form of Disciple Kirilli. Two nice little touching points for fans of science-fiction and fantasy who like references between series like this.<br /><br />On the whole though, what Shan once again proves is that he is a master at conveying just how epic the scale of the war with the Demonata is - it spans the globe as well as reaching back into the past for thousands of years. Which reminds me... we get some fascinating looks back into Beranabus's past in this book which only serves to make you admire his character all the more, he truly is the star of this book.<br /><br />I can't wait for the next installment in the series - i've been a fan of Darren Shan right from the the beginnings of Cirque Du Freak and he's taken us fans through a twisted, frightening world of ideas. It's been fun, scary, magical, intense, but above all - completely and utterly amazing!

Already waiting for the next Spook book

Never fails to amaze me how good this series is. Every book so far has had me wanting to read it in one go.<br />This will appeal to all age groups and I could not praise it enough. I like the fact that the books are a good size (always leaving you wanting more) and have stuck on a good price and not become too expensive.<br />Meet the authour recently and he hopes to be doing about 8 or 9 books overall. Cant wait. And will be interesting to see what the film will be like.

Enjoyable and meaningful

This is a lovely book which my 2 year old daughter really enjoys especially filling in the 'thats a ....' on each page. The simple repetative text and colourful pictures also makes the book suitable for my 11 month old. I also think this story has a lovely idea that although people may not look like their parents they are still a family. A lovely lesson in diversity.

Eloquent Expressions of Parent-Child Love

Guess How Much I Love You is a well-earned recipient of the Abby Award.<br /><br />This book is very uniquely plotted. Unlike most books for bedtime, the two protagonists are male (apparently father and son, although that is left unstated). And they spend the whole book describing and showing their love for one another. I know of no other book that provides this sort of man-boy modeling about expressing love and appreciation for one another.<br /><br />Yet at the same time, the"maleness" of the two characters is subdued so that the pair could be very easy to see them as female characters (a mother-daughter pair). Obviously, mixed pairs (mother-son and father-daughter) are even easier to imagine. So everyone can relate to expressing love and receiving expressions of love in return when reading this delightful story.<br /><br />The other attraction of this story is that the youngster, Little Nutbrown Hare, takes the lead. He wants to describe his love first. Children can start to be reticent about their feelings beginning around age 4, and this book should help overcome that shyness. Fathers of my generation and older have been reticent since that age with everyone, so this book will help a few parents as well to show their feelings.<br /><br />As for age level, this book should start to appeal at about age 2 1/2 to 3. You will be reading the story to your youngster at that age. In time, with memorization, you will be listening to the story. Later, you child will actually learn to read it to you.<br /><br />The illustrations are gently subdued, to help create a mood of drowsiness. Nicely done, Ms. Anita Jeram!<br /><br />The story opens with Little Nutbrown Hare on his way to sleep. He is riding on top of Big Nutbrown Hare, holding onto the larger hare's very long ears. The plot development begins when Little Nutbrown Hare raises the title challenge: Guess how much I love you.<br /><br />Little Nutbrown Hare uses his body to show how much. Big Nutbrown Hare, being larger, outdoes him when he repeats what Little Nutbrown Hare has said in terms of his own adult body. Little Nutbrown Hare then goes on to use his eyes to create even larger distances to express the greatness of his love. Big Nutbrown Hare comes up with even larger distances, based on his longer experience.<br /><br />As Little Nutbrown Hare goes to sleep after making his greatest expression of love, Big Nutbrown Hare says nothing until after Little Nutbrown Hare is in the land of nod. Then Big Nutbrown Hare makes his final expression of love . . . a very beautiful one (involving about 500,000 miles).<br /><br />After you have finished enjoying this heartfelt story, I suggest that you think about more ways that you can express your love more often to those you care about. Use the concepts in this book to come up with ways to flesh out the simple,"I love you" to make the expression more tangible to the hearer. I suspect you will receive many bouquets of expressed love as a result.<br /><br />May love be with and come from you . . . always!<br />

Brilliant!

When I decided to use this book for guided reading I thought I'd better read it myself first (always a good idea!) and what a good job I did - I cried my eyes out. We were devastated when the cub was sold to the circus and thought that would be the end of it...how wrong we were.<br />A wonderful story enjoyed by a snivelling teacher and class 5.<br />

Brilliant

There's nothing I can say except"absolutely brilliant". I have never read a more refreshing, thought-provoking, moving or, most importantly, entertaining children's series.

Intensely good.

This book is simply written but full of intense feelings. It was difficult in that I could have cried throughout for Kambili, her brother and their mother. It is a story of finding true love in unexpected places and a story of the resilience of children. Highly recommended and it will stay with you for days afterwards.

A 'must-read' for anyone with a 4 year old child!

This book introduces the world of school in a colourful and child friendly way. It deals with most activities the child will encounter, taking them through the first day, week, month and term. I've always used it with my new Reception class when they came on their induction days to ease them into school life.

Great fun

It's great when a children's rhyme we all know is given a new lease of life. This book does this. Yes there is the bus, yes there are the wheels and all the rest, but there is so much going on in each picture and each picture is so full of colour and life, that my youngster never gets tired of the book.<br />That's the best recommendation I can give.

Simply Magical!

This wonderful book is another stunning example of how heartfelt words and beautiful illustrations can delight the minds of young and old. Donaldson's story uses humour perfectly to relay a touching message of the importance of family love and togetherness. A message that most could identify with, even if your family isn't the traditional set up portrayed in the book. A great book to read with young children, especially around Christmas time.

Very good for older readers

I think this is a lot of fun for older children reading themselves because there are lots of little in jokes and details and it's sophisticated in a way they'll get, and quite post-modern, to make them feel clever. It's quite a bit too old for my daughter, but she likes to point at the birds and things and finish the rhymes she can remember. She'll enjoy it more later.

9 month old loves it

My 9 month old daughter loves this book and pulls it off the bookshelf for me when we are having a reading session. She gets very excited and laughs the whole way through. I'm really glad I bought it!

Another great mythical tale for Percy Jackson

Well i read this a few weeks ago. n i have to say it didnt let me down. The series has far surpassed my favorite series of books Artemis Fowl which takes some doing.<br />Percy once again finds him self on a quest with Anabeth and Grover and the return of Tyson. Luke has discovered the ancient labyrinth from the greek myths and hopes to lead Kronoses forces through to destroy camp half blood. It introduced some more interesting characters such as new love interests n further developes the relationships with Percy and Annabeth.<br />The writing is brilliant as ever and wont let you put this book down, each chapter remaining as exciting as the last. I wont tell you what happens in the book as its too good to be spoiled like that..<br /><br />I highly reccommend this to all. Its taken this superb series of books even further and i simply cant wait for the next.

Another Winner for 3yr olds

My daughter loved"Alien's love underpants" and while this isn't quite as good, it is entertaining and the illustrations are great. My 3 year old has a real sense of humour and finds these books hillarious

Listen and enjoy ( and remember Animal Magic!)

I'd always enjoyed being read and later reading myself the Just So Stories. With children of my own I started them on these stories and having a cd of them means we can enjoy them on the move. The joy of hearing Jonnie Morris' super animal voice characterisations just adds to the enjoyment - takes me back to watching Animal Magic - deep joy! <br />Four year old daughter enjoys listening to the stories but my nine year old son has become a great fan - this now regularly is on his cd player in his room. <br />Buy this and you'll all be able to listen together and enjoy.

Another Epic Novel by Robert Muchomore

James is in trouble again on Cherub Campus. He's got to do work experience and he's hoping it's all to do with motorbikes. But it the opposite of what he wanted to and who he wanted to work with. Meanwhile a plane has crashed into the Atlantic. A distressed boy rings the terrorist hotline. The fear in his voice must mean something but what? The boy's call is classed as a category grade 4 (Prank call). Mac's children were among those who died in the plane crash. He's back at cherub going through the calls and comes across this one. Lauren and Jake have to work together on finding out if the boy's right. But there are two problems. Firstly the boy has a history of emotional problems and violence. Secondly, Jake and Lauren hate each other! Read this amazing book and find out what happens.<br /><br />

the great picture hunt: fantastic return for Martin Handford

this latest book is fantastic. loads to do and find hours and hours of fun for the whole family. the puns in the pictures are as clever as ever, something for young and old. the detail is fantastic, a triumphant return for Martin Handford. i hope he continues to produce more Where's Wally? books.