Best Children's Mystery & Wonders Books
Lively and information-packed, this book is literally busting its covers with fascinating, fun-tastic facts on super, sensational topics that kids love. "Filled with photographs, this beautifully designed book is organized into two-page spreads that each focus on a different topic, making it easy and fun to read."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One of our favorite things about this book is how it has inspired questions and discussions between our children and my wife and I about various subjects."
"I gave this book to him for Christmas so we could both bone up on awesome facts--in fact, we read it often at bedtime, startling each other with one amazing piece of information after the other."
"I got this for my 10 year old son in hopes it would spark more reading and less electronics."
"Great Book!"
"He even tells me things that he has learned from reading this book."
"Bought this for a ten-year old for Christmas."
"I was surprised how big this book was."
"Great looking book, and will be read by son, however as a new book, there should not be any ripped pages."
With hundreds of topics ranging from silly to serious, we've got the expert information you need in a fun and entertaining format that will keep kids digging for answers. Answers include all kinds of fascinating extra info like top ten lists, weird-but-true facts, explorer profiles, and cool activities. The text is written with a lively vocabulary that pushes teens and tweens to expand their minds and challenge their reading levels.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Anyway, unless you want your 8 year old to be some nerdy, super smart kid, and be curious, and into science, and stimulate the ability to look deeper into things and become generally well-rounded and probably smarter than most average adults and the envy of all her friends and who will be continually supported by her proud parents for her thirst of knowledge, then don't buy this book."
"My son loves these books!"
"Great illustrations and info."
"Son likes these kind books."
"My 8 year old daughter absolutely loves this.. she is always teaching us new facts."
"Great colorful book filled with facts!"
"Great book, kids love it."
"Love the multitude of topics handled in this book."
Linking to a popular feature in the super successful National Geographic Little Kids magazine, this book brings the browsable fun of the bestselling National Geographic Kids Almanac to a new audience: preschoolers! Amy Shields is a longtime editor of National Geographic books who is known for her work in children's literature.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One of the reviews said it has misinformation because it classifies humans as "carnivores", but some recent studie shave classified humans as such "based on the percentage of meat in the typical human diet". See: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/04/20/150817741/for-most-of-human-history-being-an-omnivore-was-no-dilemma. Another negative review said the information is shallow and gave this example: "Some question do not even have answers like this one, 'why some animals are big and some are smalls?'. Why are some animals big and others small?"
"I bought this book and a few others that were similar for my kids (Ages 6 and 12) for Christmas."
"This is one of the best books I've purchased!"
"This was a great book to give my curious 4 year old."
"I bought this for my 4 year old for Christmas and it was a quick favorite."
"I bought this book for my 6 year old daughter."
"A little discombobulated format wise, but the subject matter stimulates valuable discussion between parent and child."
"Not exactly what I expected."
Best Children's Explore the World Books
Lively and information-packed, this book is literally busting its covers with fascinating, fun-tastic facts on super, sensational topics that kids love. "Filled with photographs, this beautifully designed book is organized into two-page spreads that each focus on a different topic, making it easy and fun to read."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One of our favorite things about this book is how it has inspired questions and discussions between our children and my wife and I about various subjects."
"I gave this book to him for Christmas so we could both bone up on awesome facts--in fact, we read it often at bedtime, startling each other with one amazing piece of information after the other."
"I got this for my 10 year old son in hopes it would spark more reading and less electronics."
"Great Book!"
"He even tells me things that he has learned from reading this book."
"Bought this for a ten-year old for Christmas."
"I was surprised how big this book was."
"This is a well done book for any inquisitive young person."
Best Children's Painting Books
For nothing is ever as it seems in Istvan Banyai's sleek, mysterious landscapes of pictures within pictures, which will tease and delight readers of all ages. PreSchool-Grade 3?This wordless picture book re-creates the effect of a camera lens zooming out. For example, one illustration shows a boy on a cruise ship, the next shows him from a distance, and the next reveals the whole ship.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My now 16 YO daughter and I loved this book when she was little."
"Laminated each sheet - put your team in a room."
"It is a great book that believes in "a good picture is worth thousands of words" and there is one good picture in every page of the book."
"Worked great for a staff meeting!!!!"
"But this second time, students need to also break themselves into self-styled "time periods.""
"We used Zoom in a Team Building excercise."
"a great book and I use it in class to develop communication skills."
"This was a great exercise."
Best Children's Arthurian Folk Tales & Myths
The complete Dark Is Rising Sequence is now available as one keepsake collection. One of the most celebrated fantasy sequences of all time, The Dark Is Rising is a searing, epic rendering of the eternal conflict between good and evil. She is also the author of Victory , a Booklist Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth book and a Washington Post Top Ten for Children novel; King of Shadows , a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor book; The Boggart ; Seaward ; Ghost Hawk ; and many other acclaimed novels for young readers and listeners.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I read the entire series a few times when I was a kid and I was transported every time."
"I really enjoyed "The Dark Is Rising Sequence"."
"I certainly think that The Hobbit is a vastly superior book, but I agree with my son's assessment re: age-appropriateness, and frankly it was more fun to read aloud."
"Otherwise you will have a young person struggling to deal with very adult problems, dealing with good versus evil and how to tell the difference."
"I've read the whole series several times."
"As a kid I thought this was one of the best fantasy trilogies I read."
"This is a great series for anyone who loves a well told and engaging story."
"All three are ostensibly for children, yet reading (or rereading) them as an adult brings a wealth of depth and detail to the tales that truly show them to be classics in the fantasy genre."
Best Children’s Books about Libraries & Reading
All four of the enormously popular Thomas board books are here: Go, Train, Go! In the early 1940s, a loving father crafted a small, blue, wooden engine for his son, Christopher.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My 3 year old son LOVES Thomas and Friends."
"The suggested retail price on the box is $15 too so this is a great value!"
"I have to say, the stories are a bit of a drag from a parent's perspective."
"The stories themselves aren't substantial of course, and there's some silliness like people having to get off a bus and walk to another train station avoid a 'toad in the road,' but they're cute and they hold her interest."
"I purchased this book Thomas & Friends book set for my son's upcoming birthday and I love it!"
"My son isn't a big fan of the older Shining Time Station Thomas and prefers the CGI stuff."
"I would recommend this to a friend, but would make sure they know the size of the set is small."
"I got this book set for my 17 month old for Christmas and it has been such a great hit with him."
Best Humor & Entertainment
Everything a player needs to create heroic characters for the world’s greatest roleplaying game The Player’s Handbook® is the essential reference for every Dungeons & Dragons® roleplayer.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am an oldster, have played every edition of D&D there has been, most of them being released when I was of legal drinking age, and IMO this is the best edition ever. Another way to think of it is that this edition is the most true to the game principles set forth in the earlier editions, especially AD&D 1st and 2nd editions, while at the same time carrying the more modern and popular principles from 3.5 and even the much maligned 4.0. When playing even 2nd edition, but very much so for 3.0, 3.5, and even 4.0, I found myself interacting with my character in the game more as a playing piece than a character in a story. It was almost as if my character, and my decisions about playing the character, began to be dominated more by my interface with the rules in the book, rather than with my ideas about my character and my interaction with the game world. As I reflected while playing these later editions, I found that I was not really playing a character, but instead was playing a set of rules. I worry now more about the choices and decisions I make while interacting with the game world, and those choices making the character fun to play, rather than fretting over whether or not I have chosen the right Feats or if my modifier for a particular skill is as high as I want it to be. As I start down the path of the twilight of my gaming career given my age, I want a set of rules that provides enough structure that a DM can make consistent rulings on the fly that fit in with the general mechanics used in the game, and that foster my appreciation as a player of the development of my character in a game world where playing the game is smooth and produces memories of an interesting character who is the protagonist in an interesting story line."
"So, the fifth edition of the venerable Dungeons and Dragons game is officially out, with the Player's Handbook ready to be picked up, combed through and played by the world. To give a little background (and you can feel free to skip this paragraph if you want to get to the meat of the review), I started with 3rd edition, which came out all the way back in 2000, when I was in middle school. In the end, I, like a lot of folks, gained interest in the older editions of the games, the ones that predated my own D&D experiences, the ones that sounded to me like ancient, esoteric and arcane books of mystery, whose rambling prose and absurdly convoluted mechanics became somehow enticing. I tried to get into more of the indie side of the RPG genre, taking a particular interest in Burning Wheel, which I still adore as a system, though it seems too unwieldy and I was and remain hesitant to actually try and play it. For some reason, after years of total uninterest in Dungeons and Dragons, where any mention of the game would make me turn up my nose at such inelegant, fiddly silliness, I found myself, all at once, filled with overwhelming excitement about the coming edition. The promise of a game, both old and new, divorced from the flaws of the past, made with some fresh ideas and streamlining, aiming to take the best of each old edition and instill them into a unified whole that is at once simple, quick and varied? The high level of quality starts with the art design and cover, which are probably my favorite for any edition of Dungeons and Dragons. When we open the book we can see that Dungeons and Dragons is a game of vaguely feudal societies, but whose inspirations span the entirety of the globe, removing us from the strict adherence to Europeanism that dominated past editions. My recurring argument for what D&D should be revolves around the game ideally being limitless, and the active inclusion of non-western cultures and peoples without lumping them into types such as "oriental" or "vaguely mesoAmerican but we are not going to call them that" really goes along with that. The order is logical and a good start for beginners, though the classes reference rules that are not detailed until much later chapters, which could be very confusing to newcomers. Classes too each have at least two subclasses, with the class list including the Barbarian, whose mechanics of course focus around her berserker rage; the bard, who can cast spells but also gets a pool of "bardic inspiration dice" that he can spend to benefit their allies and roll to add extra bonuses to attacks, checks and saves; the Cleric, who is fairly standard, but has a lot of variety granted by what "domain" corresponds to her respective god, potentially giving abilities ranging from being excellent in combat, excellent at sneaking around(! ), excellent at healing (the classic) and so forth; the druid, who can focus either in her ability to cast spells or the classic druid art of lycanthropy; the fighter, who can be a standard, simple to play warrior who is good at having hit points and hitting things, in addition to both a very 4th edition-like, Warlord-esque commander type guy, who uses a pool of special dice to trigger abilities and command his allies, and an eldritch knight, who casts spells while he slashes and smashes and stabs; the monk, who isn't really my thing but other people might like him a lot--he can either punch or cast spells; the paladin, who now swears an oath, either to a god, to nature or to herself, and draws her powers from that, manifesting as a paladin of vengeance, who loves to kill, or even a paladin of the woodland fae, confusing people with fairy-inspired charms, which are both pretty cool; the ranger, who either slaughters with his own swords or gets a lovely woodland creature to aid him; the rogue, who loves thievery, assassination or arcane tricksteriness, and who of course backstabs non-stop; the sorcerer, who either focuses on her draconic origins or the chaotic influence of wild magic, and who has special sorcery points to spend that allow her to modify spells in much the same way that 3rd edition's metamagic feats worked; the warlock, who is probably my least favorite class, though I like the thematic idea, and who combines 4th edition-esque style powers with classic Vancian casting in a way that I found particularly inelegant; and of course the wizard, who has a huge list of spells to choose from, and who gets to choose one of the classic schools of wizardry--abjuration, conjuration, necromancy et cetera--to modify spells and grant thematic special abilities. In past editions of Dungeons and Dragons, the end of the races and classes chapters would pretty much mark the final steps in creating and customizing your character's abilities, personality and details. Your background also gives you examples for four new stats in fifth edition: your character's personality traits, ideals, bonds and flaws. There is a lot in these chapters regarding roleplaying, cost of living, what your character's do with their downtime and other more mundane--but in my opinion still fun--activities that occur during an adventurer's life. These individual sections are fairly short, but I felt they cover everything to a reasonable degree, still allowing a lot of room for DM or player ideas. Combat is simple and quick, and unlike the past two editions, is assumed to be more of a "theater of the mind" experience, not relying on grids or miniature figurines. In a somewhat silly move, however, attack ranges and positioning and speed are still measured in feet, adding needless complication and increased possibility for arguments when it comes to who can reach who and who is in whose spell's area of effect. I would have much preferred a more narrativist combat positioning system that depended on more abstract zones or areas or something, but I suppose this way still allows for players who want to play with miniatures to do so. It also allows for a certain amount of improvisation, where a player may use his or her action to try and jump on the giant's back and stab him in the eye, for example. The book ends with a few appendices, detailing deities from various D&D worlds, common monsters and animals the players will interact with and summon and even a list of recommended reading, containing the old classics like Tolkien but updated with fantasy novels published as recently as in the last year. They even added some story game elements--how weird is that!--and your character's personality and feelings, for the first time ever in D&D, have mechanical benefits."
"UPDATE 9/30/15: I thought that I would share my experience with obtaining a replacement book from the manufacturer after my initial review. The info to do so may be found here: [...]. After explaining my situation to the customer service rep, they promptly scheduled a pick up via FedEx of my defective book and when it was received, I was sent email notification that a replacement was in route."
Best Science & Technology Teaching Materials
Children eight and up will enjoy this conversational but information-packed introduction to astronomy and stargazing, which includes the achievements of the great scientists, the history of space exploration, the story of our solar system, the myths behind the constellations, and how to navigate the night sky. The study of the night sky and all of the objects and forces up there is called astronomy, and A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky is a great introduction to what astronomers have learned (and are still discovering), what astronauts and scientists explore--and what you yourself can find by gazing up into the night sky. Finally, you will find out how to take the handy Star Finder outside with you and find all of your favorite stars, constellations and planets in the sky, just like professional astronomers do.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book teaches about the night sky, solar system, planets, and universe."
"A great addition to our daughters library."
"Wonderful book for children!"
"A beautiful book that both my kids enjoyed( age 3 and 9)."
Best Children's Inventors Books
Mistakes That Worked offers forty of these unusual tales, along with hilarious cartoons and weird and amazing facts. This book covers material similar to that in Wulffson's The Invention of Ordinary Things (Lothrop, 1981) and Steven Caney's Invention Book (Workman, 1985), but both are without the specific slant of "mistaken discovery."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Excellent book for teaching kids that all mistakes are not bad, trying out something new pays off."
"Our granddaughter was delighted with this book!"
"I had this sent to my 9 year old granddaughter."
"Great read for adults and children alike, especially those who are interested in history and science."
"My 8 year old son has really enjoyed reading this."
"Fascinating for my 9 year old grandson and the grown-ups he shared these stories with."
"My kids love this book!"
"Great for the kids as well as adults."
Best Children's Heavy Machinery Books
Famously packed with information on the inner workings of everything from windmills to Wi-Fi, this extraordinary and humorous book both guides readers through the fundamental principles of machines, and shows how the developments of the past are building the world of tomorrow. It is a very handsome book, a fascinating collection of riddles and a sound educational accomplishment that, while explaining in words and pictures - mostly pictures - some of the mysteries of physics, makes you smile, and often laugh. The author is honest enough to say that the book was intended for children of all ages, and brilliant enough to make all its readers feel brighter than they ever thought they could be.”— The New York Times “ The Way Things Work is not the only book that has tried to explain modern mysteries, but it's the best. “Keep the book a secret from your kids for a while and study up on the explanations of questions you're anticipating.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm unusually attached to this book: I laid my hands on the earlier edition as a very young child, and it probably shaped my interests more than anything else - ultimately setting me on a very interesting and rewarding life path."
"This book was tailor made for our young grandson who is very smart!"
"My 10 Year old friend, Loves the book, so I would say the book is an excellent one."
"I'll admit, we've been carefully enjoying it (ourselves) before we gift wrap it - hahaha!!"
"I love that it gives stories with the information."
"Great book."
"My husband LOVED this book as a child."
Best Children's How Things Work Books
Linking to a popular feature in the super successful National Geographic Little Kids magazine, this book brings the browsable fun of the bestselling National Geographic Kids Almanac to a new audience: preschoolers! Amy Shields is a longtime editor of National Geographic books who is known for her work in children's literature.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One of the reviews said it has misinformation because it classifies humans as "carnivores", but some recent studie shave classified humans as such "based on the percentage of meat in the typical human diet". See: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/04/20/150817741/for-most-of-human-history-being-an-omnivore-was-no-dilemma. Another negative review said the information is shallow and gave this example: "Some question do not even have answers like this one, 'why some animals are big and some are smalls?'. Why are some animals big and others small?"
"I bought this book and a few others that were similar for my kids (Ages 6 and 12) for Christmas."
"This is one of the best books I've purchased!"
"This was a great book to give my curious 4 year old."
"I bought this for my 4 year old for Christmas and it was a quick favorite."
"I bought this book for my 6 year old daughter."
"A little discombobulated format wise, but the subject matter stimulates valuable discussion between parent and child."
"Not exactly what I expected."
Best Children's Science Experiment Books
With The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book , all you need to do is gather a few household items and you can recreate dozens of mind-blowing, kid-tested science experiments. You won't want to wait for a rainy day or your school's science fair to test these cool experiments for yourself! Tom Robinson teaches high school science and math and has coauthored an online advance placement physics course.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"There are so many great experiments in this book!!"
"He loves this book."
"Purchased for my 9yr old nephew."
"Lip balm and slime kit were gifts & I haven’t heard how they were liked."
"Great gift for grandkids."
"Fun book with good ideas."
Best Children's Recycling & Green Living Books
A New York Times bestseller that TODAY calls “beautiful” and “stunning!” This interactive book immerses children in a fun and unique journey. A portion of the proceeds from book sales will go to support the environmental and humanitarian efforts of the White Feather Foundation, the global environmental and humanitarian organization that Lennon founded to promote education, health, conservation, and the protection of indigenous culture. “I’ve always admired Julian Lennon's singing, because for all he has seen of the world, his melodies contain such childlike wonder... his words too. “It's rare to find a beautiful book that speaks directly to kids , in both a playful and thoughtful way, about something as important as caring for our planet and all of its inhabitants. Touch The Earth combines this magic with true hand-to-page interactivity deftly woven into the narrative (and illustrations), creating a story I believe both kids and adults will want to read over and over again.”. –Laurie Berkner. “The first in Julian Lennon's White Feather Flier Adventure trilogy, Touch the Earth takes readers on a journey in a magical plane that allows them to send clean water to the thirsty, clean oceans of pollution, and ‘make the world a better place.’”. – New York Magazine. “Lennon's debut picture book, the first in a planned trilogy, asks readers to hop aboard a magical airplane, the White Feather Flier (a name inspired by his father and his own environmental and humanitarian foundation), and go on a “helping adventure” to protect the planet's oceans and water supply. “ A passion project that comes from the heart , this stunningly illustrated book is inspired by the white feather he was given by his father when he was young.”. – Mom and More.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The journey takes the reader around the world to help solve environmental problems, like helping fish by cleaning up plastic in the ocean, and solving water problems in dry regions, etc. The world that the children of today are inheriting from us, has a lot of environmental problems that they will have to deal with. I have been an environmentalist for many years, and I babysit my friend's children often."
"As you would expect from Julian Lennon, this book brings out the best in human children."
"Beautiful pictures and sweet story to engage young ones to see the bigger world and their place in it."
"good book, makes child and you used LOTS of IMAGINATION while you're reading."
"Not as good as I thought, need to think a little more as to how to use with my classroom."
"Children will love this book, and if you read it to them with amazement in your voice, they will love it all the more!"
"The message is sooo important for the children of the world; it is their tender, impressionable age that can be imprinted with the information and tools to tackle the challenges they'll face in their future role of protecting their planet."
"A wonderful story book with a message."
Best Children's Science of Light & Sound
Each of the 101 experiments is broken down into its purpose, a list of materials, step-by-step instructions, expected results, and an easy to understand explanation. Also available in this series from Janice VanCleave: Astronomy for Every Kid. Biology for Every Kid. Chemistry for Every Kid. Dinosaurs for Every Kid. Earth Science for Every Kid. Geography for Every Kid. Geometry for Every Kid. The Human Body for Every Kid. Math for Every Kid.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book has a sequence of experiments on several different subjects that teach concepts in fun active ways."
"Very prompt delivery - Recommend."
"great book!"
"Very satified."
"It's very useful for my students!"
"My favorite was the experience with the science itself,I loved that they had pictures."