Age 04-08. 5 Stars. Of all the easy-reader books in print, this series may be the best in writing quality, complexity, character development, and humor.

Age 04-08. 4 Stars. This is a clever book full of tongue twisters, which can be enjoyed as an easy reader or as a read-aloud. The fox plies his friend Mr. Knox with tongue twisters (each accompanied by a funny illustrated scene) and Knox refuses to try them, but in the end Mr. Knox bests the fox at his own game. Children will enjoy playing with these silly words and silly scenes, all of which are defined by the easy reader’s limited vocabulary. It’s lots of fun, and this kind of wordplay may help open the mind to an appreciation of true poetry.

Age 04-08. 4 Stars. This is a memorable alphabet book, populated with real and imaginary animals, and written in Dr. Seuss’s witty, rhythmic, rhyming style. Each letter comes with its own short vignette, allowing for a regular sense of accomplishment for beginning readers, who will also appreciate the clever alliteration for each letter, as in “”Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight… mighty nice.” It’s certainly not great literature, but so fun to read that it can almost make the reader forget he is learning a new skill.

Age 00-04. 4 Stars. This is a very simple story about a young boy’s confidence that the seed he plants will grow. He persists in caring for it, even though his family expresses skepticism, and his perseverance is met with success. This is a nice short read-aloud for young children who are just beginning to grasp the structure of stories, or those who are just moving into reading on their own.

Age 04-08. 4 Stars. A rhythmic, rhyming book of real and imaginary creatures, illustrated in Seuss’s delightfully engaging style. It is composed of short, funny scenes that are strung together to form a certain coherency as the creatures named become sillier and sillier.

Age 04-08. 4 Stars. Go Dog Go is an easy reader portraying many kinds of dogs engaged in various activities. It introduces opposites and adjectives, as well as many human activities…. The words are simple, but Eastman creates funny and imaginative scenarios through repetition and appealing drawings. The book was printed before sophisticated printing techniques were available, and its charm is enhanced by its simplicity.

Age 04-08. 4 Stars. Frances, a young badger girl, wishes to eat nothing but bread and jam, although the rest of her family enjoys many kinds of food. Her mother gently and lovingly teaches her the value of eating a diversity of foods by plying her with nothing but bread and jam until she is very tired of it…. It is difficult to write well with the simple sentences and limited vocabulary of early-reader books, but Hoban does a wonderful job with this carefully-paced, pleasingly illustrated story. The aesthetics and rhythmic repetitions in this story make it pleasing at several levels, not least of which the fact that Frances’s parents are loving, patient, and kind, and express genuine respect and affection for one another. A very nice read.

Age 04-08. 4 Stars. Young children have adored the Curious George books since the first one was published in the 1940s, and their popularity remains undiminished in our household. George is a monkey from the Amazon who was captured and brought home by the Man in the Yellow Hat. George happily settles into domestic life, but remains a mischievous monkey who constantly got into trouble, usually by failing to follow instructions from humans…. In this story, George’s troubles begin when the Man with the Yellow Hat leaves him at home, admonishing him not to get into trouble; George receives a letter which he cannot read; then he attempts to write a letter, spills the ink, fills the room with soap and water in an attempt to clean it up, then makes off for the country to swipe a pump to empty the room. He releases a herd of pigs and steals a cow to tow the pump away, then flees the farmers by stowing away on a pickup truck headed for the museum. There he wrecks a dinosaur exhibit and is about to be carted off to the dreaded zoo when the Man with the Yellow hat arrives to explain everything. It turns out the director of the museum is the author of the letter that began George’s troubles, and the letter invites him to become the first monkey to go into space. George agrees, all is forgiven, and he receives a medal for his courageous participation in the space program.

Age 00-04. 4 Stars. This is a wonderful Seuss book presenting a number of adjectives applying to feet: left, right, big, small, slow, quick, and so on. The adjectives are delivered in easy-to-read rhyme and illustrated with Seuss’s characteristic good humor. It’s a silly, amusing episode of rhythmic reading, with just enough content that older children might sit still for it.