Best Children's Reference
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! She has written several popular titles, including Little Kids First Big Book of Why and numerous installments for the National Geographic Readers series.
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."
The third title in National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book series, this book is for kids 4- to 8-years-old who LOVE dinos! Catherine D. Hughes is the author of several books in the National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book series, including Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs , Little Kids First Big Book of Space , and Little Kids First Big Book of the Ocean .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book was clearly designed for younger kids, because it has large print, pronunciation guides for all the dinosaur names, and imagination style questions associated with each dinosaur, like "if you could have a pet dinosaur, what would you name it?" If you are looking for a dinosaur book for older kids, there is also the "National Geographic Kids First Book of Big Dinosaurs", not to be confused with this book for "Little" kids."
"This book reads like an encyclopedia and not a story; however, they have shortened the information to 1 page per dinosaur which keeps a child's interest and a complete page with a picture illustration of the dinosaur."
"Some of the more commonly known dinosaurs are conspicuously absent or the illustrations don't show you how to tell them apart from other similar species."
"Illustrations are on point and love how they break down the names of each dinosaur."
"Good for younger kids and older...I'd say 3 to 8 ish."
"My daughter and nephew both got a copy of this book and they both LOVE IT!"
"Very cool book!"
"Good informative dinosaur book."
Mistakes That Worked offers forty of these unusual tales, along with hilarious cartoons and weird and amazing facts. Droll cartoons illustrate the stories behind the invention of such everyday items as Silly Putty, trouser cuffs, popsicles and penicillin. 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"Gave this to my son for Christmas and my 9-year-old daughter stole it."
"Excellent book for teaching kids that all mistakes are not bad, trying out something new pays off."
"Great read."
"The images are pretty but I wish they would’ve use a simpler and attractive language for kids."
"Purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my son."
"Very interesting!"
"My 8 year old son has really enjoyed reading this."
Best Children's Almanacs
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! She has written several popular titles, including Little Kids First Big Book of Why and numerous installments for the National Geographic Readers series.
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?"
"National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why is very much successful in answering this big question of a small word why. An newer to a why question can be given in two ways 1) theoretically 2) practically -. This book adopts the way of giving practical answers in a very simple manner without losing any important theoretical fact."
"National Geographic has several in this series depending on your child's interest."
"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."
"The subject matter is practical, it has easy to understand and short explanations, and vibrant pictures."
"My 3.5 year old son loved this book."
Best Children's Atlases
This charming reference introduces young readers to the wider world by exploring languages, landscapes, weather, animals, capital cities, mountains, deserts, and other landscapes and landforms, and more. Elizabeth Carney is a children's writer and editor specializing in children's nonfiction.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Easy to read for young children."
"Very vibrant colors and so much information that my guys found interesting."
"Perfect educational, fun book for kids!"
"Great book, excellent like all the National Geographic Series."
"Granddaughter spending countless hours reading and learning, thanks to this book I am 'The best Grampa ever"."
"a gift to a 5 years boy, he loves it."
Best Children's Dictionaries
More than 70,000 rhyming words. Merriam Webster Inc, Springfield, MA.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have Merriam-Webster Android version also, however I wanted hardcover type one. Because; 1) I'd like read/check preface, explanatory chart, explanatory notes, and so on this dictionary (it meaning, I'd like to read preface and appendixes of Webster). So, I recommend hardcover type dictionary even it's very heavy :) However, when I opened the dictionary at first..."
"Perfect, you can't find a hard cover dictionary in many stores anymore, and this is just what I was looking for."
"When using it as a writer (I know the word, but not its spelling, nor if I completely understand the word I seek to use) and not as a reader, I would have been more pleased if those who had added electronic usability had also made it more intuitive to those of us with poorer ability to spell by more simply allowing the browsing for a word as is done with a paper dictionary."
"If you are planning to use this as a kindle dictionary, you'll often run into definitions that contain the word itself."
"Finally, Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is a very good all-purpose dictionary, including as it does everything from basic vocabulary, to technical words, spanning the entire history of modern English up to the present."
"A clumsy volume, clearly thrown together by people without enough experience in digital production, it also lacks the rigor needed to constitute a useful dictionary on any platform."
Best Children's Encyclopedias
The third title in National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book series, this book is for kids 4- to 8-years-old who LOVE dinos! Catherine D. Hughes is the author of several books in the National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book series, including Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs , Little Kids First Big Book of Space , and Little Kids First Big Book of the Ocean .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book was clearly designed for younger kids, because it has large print, pronunciation guides for all the dinosaur names, and imagination style questions associated with each dinosaur, like "if you could have a pet dinosaur, what would you name it?" If you are looking for a dinosaur book for older kids, there is also the "National Geographic Kids First Book of Big Dinosaurs", not to be confused with this book for "Little" kids."
"This book reads like an encyclopedia and not a story; however, they have shortened the information to 1 page per dinosaur which keeps a child's interest and a complete page with a picture illustration of the dinosaur."
"Some of the more commonly known dinosaurs are conspicuously absent or the illustrations don't show you how to tell them apart from other similar species."
"Illustrations are on point and love how they break down the names of each dinosaur."
"Good for younger kids and older...I'd say 3 to 8 ish."
"My daughter and nephew both got a copy of this book and they both LOVE IT!"
"Very cool book!"
"Good informative dinosaur book."
Best Children's Thesauri Reference Books
A veritable "tko of terminology," Better Than Great is the essential guide for describing the extraordinary — the must have reference for anyone wishing to rise above tired superlatives. Even so, we find ourselves defaulting to such habitual choices as good, great, and terrific, or substitute the weary synonyms that tuble our of a thesaurus — superb, marvelous, outstanding, and the like. From the sheer number of quality adjectives, I imagine I would find one in this terrific scratch that frabjous compendium." To make look-up easy and accessible, Plotnik divides the words into fifteen categories: Great, Sublime, Physically Affecting, Mentally or Emotionally Affecting, Beautiful, Joy-Giving, Large, Exceptional, Intense, Delicious, Trendy, Cool, Wicked Cool, Forceful, and Challenging Belief or Expression. "[W]hat could be as fabulous, stupendous, showstopping, socko-boffo and epiphanic as this neatly organized, humorous yet helpful 'acclamatory hoard' of words for praising?" And (to lift one phrase) that ain't exactly chopped herring, considering it gives this critic some 6,000 substitutes for feeble old "amazing" and its ilk." a wide range of fresh superlatives in a number of categories, pulling from rare gems and vintage gold all the way through current phrases influenced by hip-hop. "Offers an energetic escape from the literary languor that enwreathes writers and speakers Together with two of his earlier works on writing style Spunk & Bite (2007) and The Elements of Expression , Better Than Great completes an unmatched triplicity of linguistic perfection." "Arthur Plotnik's Better than Great is a bouquet of perfection, a feel-good, all-purpose A-list Angel Cake of big-league tips on how to turn your complimentary powers into blue chip, berserkely good, yowzwers of social and professional opportunity." Alan Kaufman, author of Jew Boy, A Memoir and editor of The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry. "For those who find themselves at a loss for praise-worthy words, feel there’s a paucity of acclamatory expressions, or believe we are numbed by the plethora of platitudes that pass for superlatives, Arthur Plotnik’s new book is better than great; it is iridescently indispensable, a bare-knuckled barrel of berserkley fun words." Phil Cousineau, author of Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words. Arthur Plotnik shows us how masterful writers rub words together to make fire." "Even I loved Art Plotnik's sublimely subversive exercises in adverbs used audaciously." Dave Kindred, author of Morning Miracle: Inside the Washington Post , and adverbophobiac. Word -adroit Art Plotnik has compiled a collection of hundreds of juicy alternatives to your three favorite superlatives. A feloniously fun bedtime browsing treat, Better Than Great is also an unimpeachably useful daytime reference work. "...delightful, spankingly amusing... Plotnik presents hundreds of words and phrases that will make any conversation a sojourn through paradise... Terri Schlichenmeyer, Shelf Awareness for Readers , July 15, 2011. "If you want to add insane quantities of crackle and sizzle to your writing, look no further than Better Than Great ... a no-holds-barred ... guide for any writer looking to rid themselves forever of the stale, cumbersome baggage of overused and boring superlatives." ...Whether you use this book ... when stuck for a thwackingly good superlative or ... to turbo-charge your vocabulary... you'll find the ... industrial-strength verbal inventiveness that you're seeking. All readers will ... find it supremely fascinating to learn of the terms .... to express greatness.--Barry Silverstein --ForeWord, April 4, 2011. An energetic escape from the literary languor that enwreathes writers and speakers addicted to stale adjectives .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you're a writer in search of substitutes for over-used words and phrases, then Arthur Plotnik's "Better Than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives" is the Swiss-Army-knife for your Macgyver-esque writer's bag of tricks. When the only word that comes immediately to mind is "GREAT," "HUGE," or "AWESOME," imagine having at your fingertips such alternatives as: monsta! Better still, try some of these modifiers to spiff-up the over-used "awesome": awesome unabridged; giga-awesome; kiss-the-hem-of-its-robe awesome; out-of-the-ballpark awesome."
"I wished the announcer on a recently-televised NFL game had had a copy of BTG on hand as he blithely characterized the Packers as "a great team with great owners in a great city with great fans.""
"A great reference when you need fast word with bite."
"Some have complained that the words are too far out there, and while there are simpler ones, this book carries out it's mission: deliver a brain-bending, evocative, air-to-air missile of adverbs, adjectives and shrunken metaphors (and how-to for newer writers) that are sure to take your writing up a notch."
"If you write, if you blog, if you simply love to play with words, if the banalities of awesome, great, and fabulous bore you -- go ahead and spring for the hard copy."
"Do you have a feloniously fun bedtime browsing habit of looking through books for delicious & decadent phrases, words & superlatives (then noting them down in a notebook)?"
"'Better than Great' is a mosh pit of fresh new words and phrases to express thanks or joy or any number of occasions that head butt your stale thank you notes and make them sing (okay perhaps I'm over Plotniking here but the enthusiasm is heartfelt!)."
Best Children's Composition
She shows how you can get terrific ideas for stories, invent great beginnings and endings, write sparkling dialogue, develop memorable characters—and much, much more. Sections titled "Liftoff," "Heart and Guts," "Plowing Through," "Digging Deeper," and "Writing Forever" address such topics as coming up with story ideas, developing characters and plot, and finding opportunities for publication. Among the topics she covers are shaping characters, beginnings and endings, revising, and finding ideas. But the best part of Levine's book is her honesty as she shares with children the truth that there are no perfect books, that rejection can be as useful as success, and that you thank the creative part of you by using the ideas that it sends.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is a fantastic book."
"It's written to a middle school or high school student, but at the same time everything is applicable to anyone writing anything!"
"I gave this book to a young man, who is aspiring to write books."
"Timely delivery, quality product and I am enjoying it."
"I love this book it has also helped me with my writing skills and daughter also writes great compositions and stories ."
"Great book for helping kids (and adults) write better."
"This is a great starting book for anyone interested in writing for young children or teenagers!"
"I teach writing to English Language Learners, adults, and find this book very helpful. My daughter has also read a few books for this author (Ella Enchanted,The Wish (rack),The Fairy's Mistake (Princess Tales)) so it made a lot of sense when she described the characters and setting in this wonderful book; but you would not necessarily need such a background."
Best Children's Earth Sciences Books
Animal Stories for Kids: Coyote Peterson's Brave Adventures: Wild Animals in a Wild World chronicles some of the wildest encounters Coyote Peterson has had over the course of his travels. Coyote Peterson, host of the Brave Wilderness YouTube Channel and the Emmy Award winning show, Breaking Trail, is an avid adventurer and animal expert.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this as a Christmas present for my brother and he loves it!"
"The book is well written and at times presents like poetry, the way Coyote will describe the landscape, his internal thought process or the animal he is seeking."
"We love Coyote Peterson!"
"Bought this as a Christmas present for me and my son."
"Love reading this book to my son, great for his sense of adventure."
"Great Book."
"Kids love the book."
"Exactly what she wanted for Christmas!"