Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young

First, I will say that the format is very nice. There are beautiful drawings on each page, a nice table of contents, and the print is nice to look at and easy to read. However...I was expecting at least a few familiar poems or rhymes, but I have never heard of any of these. Even that would be okay with me if they were good ones, by which I mean rhymes that appeal to children, since the title does suggest this book is meant for "the very young." But I couldn't find a single catchy or engaging rhyme in the whole book. There are a lot of long-winded (non-rhyming) poems here on various subjects, such as the weather. Some of them also seem to be written many, many generations ago and therefore written in a strange style, which again, is fine if that's what you are looking for.I sincerely regret leaving a bad review for a children's book, but I don't think a child would enjoy this one at all. Perhaps a better audience would be adults, or even reading aloud in a retirement home.

I just received this book today. My daughter is 18 months old and we LOVE to read together. I am absolutely in love with this book. I started reading the poems aloud and found myself smiling and laughing...they are just so much fun! The illustrations are adorable and the books is simply gorgeous (I got the hard cover version)...but the poems are such great fun that they overshadow the illustrations. I have recently started reading to my daughter while she eats...that is where most of the paper books get read...board books are more durable for the hands on reading times. We read 20-30 books a day and that doesn't even include the repeat readings of her favorites. This will be so much fun to read to her during meals for now and as she gets older I am betting this will continue to be a favorite...especially for me. I cannot imagine reading this and it not bringing a huge smile to your face. I cannot wait to give this as a gift to other parents I know.

They hunt for poems about topics they are interested in. One, likes reptiles and the other likes kittens, but the topics are so varied they find others to enjoy.

I bought this for a friend's baby shower and for my five year old. The pictures are delightful as all Marc Brown's other works. This is a book of poetry not nursery rhymes. You get a wonderful sample of fun, lovely, and sweet poems. The poems are all pretty short in length and cover topics such as weather and age. The poems each have a picture that help tell the story behind the poem. You can easily read several poems a night to keep your little one interested in poetry. My son likes me to skim through the book and he picks a poem based on the picture. There is one about 5 monsters that he really enjoys hearing. The mother-to-be, who got the second copy that I purchased, was delighted to get this as a baby shower gift. She is an elementary school teacher and loves reading all types of books. I would highly recommend this book for your children or as a gift.

With more than 200 short and sweet, mostly rhyming and rhythmic poems about things children see and experience in their everyday lives (bedtime, cats, baths, Halloween, meals, animals, sneezes, and more, this is the perfect poetry book for your youngest listener. Be sure to spend some time with Trelease's introduction, as Trelease argues more compellingly than just about anyone for the importance of not only reading with our children, but also reading poetry with our children.

I took the time to write this review because I am so pleased with this book. I have read many children's poetry books. Most of them contain poems that are not very high quality. The poems in this book are enchanting; all on subjects that are accessible to young children, from nature and everyday life. The rhymes and meter of these pieces fairly trip off the tongue. It is so important to introduce children to the rhythms and cadences of poetry while they are young. I recommend this book very highly.

This book is a classic poetry book for children.

Was a favorite when my kids were little and now I'm buying copies for my grandbabies!!The poems are perfect for the young ones-they'll have the shorter ones memorized in no time.

Being not native speakers, we adults have immediately liked this book! Everyday situations in a funny manner with fantastic rhyms and rhythm! Very helpful as verses stick to your memory immediately. For example, teaches why love rain....

present for a new babys dad to read to the baby so baby has bonding with dad.

Las ilustraciones son muy bonitas y van acorde con las historias. Tiene historias más breves y otras más largas.

I bought this for my six year old daughter and 3 year old son because I thought it would be "good" for them. I had no idea that they would love it so much. My 3 year old son will sit for half an hour listening to this book, and requests it often.

Fun and great illustrated book. My 5 year old daughter loves listening to these rhymes.