Wonderful children's tale.  Not so great art.
934469
What a fun story!  A nice sociable giant named Finn MacCool lives a peaceable life until a mean giant finds out about him.  The mean giant, Culcullen, aims to destroy Finn.  But Finn outsmarts the meany.  The book builds speed and tension in a wonderful way, and the climax is very satisfying.  When the bad giant is defeated, we all feel happy and safe and the sense that victory over bullies and evil is a very doable thing.  Only the lame art is a setback to this very well told tale.

I see from Amazon and Wikipedia that this is Eve Bunting's first work.  And that she now has 250 books!  I also see lots of strong approval from Amazon readers.  This leads me to think that Eve Bunting is an author I will plan to revisit time and time again.  If Ms. Bunting's first story can be so good, I expect its no coincidence that she has become a veritable children's fiction industry unto herself.  It is SHE who has become a good giant! :)
2974488
I hesitate to give this book less than five stars because I really do appreciate good literature and Ruth Krauss.  And any book with illustrations by Maurice Sendak is worth giving to a child.

That said, the illustrations are the best part of the book.  It is not Ruth Krauss' best.  Don't get me wrong, I love creativity and the childlikeness of the poems included.  But my kids didn't really get it.  EVen though they are gentle and creative types, the poems appealed more to me than them.  They couldn't catch the subtle sense of humor either.

NOw my kids are young (4 and 6), so maybe they'll appreciate it more when they are older.  And they did get some smiles out of the Song for  Monkey.  But I am not sure they were prepared for a new story each page, with very little connection throughout the book.  Buy this for yourself and get the kids "The Carrot Seed" or something else.
1424326
The illustrations are beautiful in this book, but unlike others, the story is lacking. Its more that the sentences don't flow well. Our daughter (just turned 6) had a hard time reading this because of the long, run-on sentences. The sentences are a bit ostentatious for a childrens book, ie: Is that my turret or a tangled crown?-a grove of generals your refuge in the flora. She enjoys looking at the creative & colorful drawings though.
1810652
This movie is animation artwork at its finest. Beautifully put together like the pages of a vintage children's book with mystical dialog and scary illustrations. I watched this as a kid and again as a teen and now as an adult... it still captivates me. It will open imagination in your child's mind, yet frighten them a bit, but in a good way that will have them pondering and exercising the mind's creative imagination. Its great to have a beautiful quality print, but this Blu-ray is still lacking and deserves a better release. I give the disc and presentation a 3, I really dislike this misleading cover art, the original poster is a magnificent illustration and I'm sure true fans would prefer it over the current candy-coated cover. The movie gets 5 stars, but this deserves so much more extra features... Give us Interviews, Artwork, commentary and more.
3151636
This was one of my favorite books as a child.  It's a beautiful story, beautifully told, and the Irene Haas illustrations are to die for.  It's nice to see this back in print, but the new illustrations look very disappointing.  Whyever did they think the story needed new ones?  For a far more imaginative and beautiful take on the story, buy a used vintage copy illustrated by Irene Haas.
3044383
The art in this is beautiful! Unfortunately the story wasn't as good as the art. It was hard to follow at times, and it didn't start getting good until the end. The ending was great though and left me wanting to check out the sequel. Let's hope I enjoy the next book more!
3323169
The Disney Bunnies line of books are gorgeous to look at.  Thumper, the charismatic, mischievious bunny rabbit from Disney's Bambi has been illustrated in a beautifully lush world teeming with adorable animal friends and pretty idyllic wildlife settings.  However the "story" of this book is awkward to read.  The words just don't have a nice flow and makes the book seem stunted.  Thumper searches for his sisters and there's lots of flaps to lift but it could have been written with a more entertaining spin in mind.  It's just kind of flat, though the artwork is beautiful.

My daughter still likes it, because it IS Thumper afterall but prefers the Shapes, Numbers and Good Night Thumper titles.
3572117
My child enjoyed the story but was disturbed by the illustration of the owl's faces. The dark line that colors the circle of the face looks like a mouth to him and he saw the owls as odd puppet looking figures. I, too, saw the owls like this once he described what he was seeing and found the main characters disturbing to look at.
3888873
This is one of my favourite Grimm's tales, but I was disappointed in this picture-book.

Bell's version of the story is clear and straightforward, very little different from the Andrew Lang text. Watts' illustrations are attractive in a folk-art way, but too gentle and saccharine for the story, which has the usual Grimm harshness. In some pages, the artist seems to be doing her best to ignore the story, which may make for some problems in read-aloud sessions.

The wicked stepmother looks almost benevolent, and finding her lurking in the backgrounds of the first pages could be an amusing where's-the-witch game. But on the last page she is burnt to death and her daughter (who never appears in the pictures) is sent into the forest to be torn apart by wild beasts. But don't worry! The illustration is of an idyllic garden scene, so everything is safe and nice, at least on the surface.

Parents who buy this book on the basis of the charming and innocuous pictures may be in for a shock when they sit down to read the story at bedtime.
4066345
The illustrations are as great as I expected from Tim Ladwing, although I rather wish the people looked more Mediterranean; but the story doesn't add anything special to a child's understanding of the Christmas Story.  It's not bad, mind you, just not special.
4645971
With a book for this age group, certainly part of the fun is the artwork.  I really like the artwork in this book.  Its very colorful and lively.

As for the story itself.  . .Im not a huge fan.  I think it plays on stereotypes where kisses from girls are bad.  Using a not-so-nice term, Scaredy Cat is not great either.  Then the crew wants to show the captain some touch love (my words) by sending him off on a ghost ship.  For this age group, I just think that a better scenario could have been created for this book.
1378482
Herodotus the Hedgehog is charming tale for children that offers insight into the ideas of spirituality and religion. In a culture where children are often presented with varied religions and beliefs, it is important for them to learn tolerance, if not acceptance, of others' spiritual differences. This book is an attempt to do that.

Herodotus encounters various woodland creatures who explain to him about their "spirit gods," and what they do to please them. Each one offers a new idea for the hedgehog and presents him with something to ponder. My concerns with the book lie at the ending which was abrupt and somewhat muddled. I'm also concerned that story was presented in a simple fashion as though it was for young-ish children, but the concepts would have been better understood by middle school aged kids. There was a disconnect between the two somehow. Also, I would love to rate the book higher than 3 stars but, unfortunately, my ARC did not contain any illustrations and, for me and for children, the illustrations in a children book are half the story. I would like to see more thought put into this book and then re-released. It is a needed subject but this story needs more work.
3691704
This is for the Ripple Digital Publishing Version

I would expect if someone is using the story of a Master, that they would make their illustrations as bold and detailed as the story.  Unfortunately not.  Hans Christian Andersen wrote this story.  It is a wonderful piece of work.  Ripple Digital Publishing does a disservice to the writing when they do not offer full page illustrations.

Instead they have taken the original story and added a few logo sized illustrations that do nothing to enhance the telling.  From the cover illustration I can see that they hired someone with some talent.  If only they had used the talent in full pages throughout the story.  That might have made this worth purchasing.

If you want just the story there are free versions of Hans Christian Andersen collections.  If you want full Illustrations look elsewhere.

I do NOT recommend this version.
2923953
I was surprised and disappointed by the story.  "Goldie, where did you go?  Have you become one with the universe?" is not really a concept I want to discuss and explain to my young child while casually reading a kid's book.  "Perhaps Goldie is hiding from the mean sorcerers who have come to take me to the dungeon" Pinkalicious says as she's getting ready for bed - not great bedtime concepts for my 3 or 4 year olds.  The artwork is great, but I changed the words when I read it to my daughter then put it away where she won't find it.
There are tons of kids books out there - I'll read my kids something different.
1814025
This book is visually stunning and a great buy if you are looking for an art gallery of the talented artist, Fausto Bianchi.  This book, however, is a loose paraphrase of Bible text and very liberally adds details that are NOT in the Bible, apparently for the sake of making sweet sounding stories for children.  Though I appreciate the effort of presenting the story of the Bible in an appealing way, I really can't get over implanting details pertaining to the Bible that are not there into young, impressionable, minds.  I would love to use this book in church or give it to a young loved one, but I don't want to risk misleading them about the contents of the Bible.  I guess I will just keep it around and enjoy the art from time to time.  Perhaps I can pick out select stories that are not too "skewed" to read to my nieces and nephew, or edit the "added" details as I read to them.
639152
In a new spin on Perraults tale of Little Red Riding Hood, this graphic novel features a little wolf who loves his red cape and is sent by his mother to take a rabbit to his ailing grandmother. Forgetful of his mothers warnings to stay on the trail and beware of the hunter and his daughter, Little Red Wolf comes very close to a dire end and readers find out why the hunter hates the wolves so.

Dont be fooled by the whimsical artwork and title, this is not the Disney kind of fairy tale, its more the old original kind of fairy tale with some bits that are a little bit dark and a little bit disturbing. For middle grade or older readers who can handle the darker twists, this would be a fantastic twist on the classic fairy tale for compare/contrast activities. Also a good pick for those who like their fairy tales a wee bit creepy, but not hauntingly so. And for those studying folklore and how stories can change or how bias impacts a tale, theres a song in this story that has two different versions, one sung by the hunters daughter, the other sung by the wolves. Its up to readers to decide which one is true and shows how viewpoints can change a storys telling. The artwork and design in this are truly marvelous, so even if you prefer your fairy tales with happy endings (like me) you still might find yourself mesmerized by this feast for the eyes (I certainly did...and can see myself rereading this multiple times). The artwork alone deserves four stars.

Notes on content: No language issues or sexual content. The little wolf devours a rabbit on page but it isn't bloody or gory (which almost makes it disturbingly clean). The tale with two versions involves the death of someone, with blood hinted in crimson tones on the page but not gory. Wolf skins are discovered by the little wolf which disturbs him.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3518135
Story is not very engaging. Illustration is great.