E-mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer
Published by Chronicle Books
Pages: 40
Buy It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Powell’s Books | Indiebound | Book Depository
Publishers Summmary:

It’s an E-mergency! The letter E took a tumble and the only way to get her back on her foot is for people to stop using her. But who can take her place? The other letters have to make a decision ASAP. Z is too sleepy and Y asks way too many questions. Thankfully, O rolls in to try and save the day. Now E can rost up and got bottor . . . as long as ovorybody follows the rulos. Chock-full of verbal and visual puns, this zany book is sure to tickle both the brain and the funny bone.

The Turkeybird Speaks: “Talk about tough! Trying to say all the words without the E’s was super hard, but pretty funny too. I kept having to ask my mom to read the word without the E and it was super super funny! She had such a hard time because she said always had E’s in all her words normally.

“This poor E got hurt though and it was super nice that the other letters liked to help him out. It would be super hard to not have E’s to read and write with but I had no idea until I read the E’s story. It’s amazing!”

Mom’s Two Cents: In the letter house all the letters work together to have a happy home, but when one of the letters has an “E-mergency” everything gets a bit chaotic. Suddenly there’s not an E in sight and it seems as though there’s a chance he’ll never return without a bit of TLC. As “O” steps in to help everyone gets more and more confused, especially one person in particular…the reader. Once everyone understands they all need to give E his time to rest he gets a full recovery and is back to his normal E-self.

E-mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld is an incredibly original picture book. Omitting a letter in it’s entirety makes readers even more aware of the other letters in the alphabet, parents and children alike. To be honest I had a terrible time trying to read this the first few times I read it, but it was actually to the Turkeybird’s benefit. He kept pointing out to me when I’d accidently use an E in my reading and make me go back and read it again. For him it was hilarious and a fantastic way to learn about the importance of one of our most commonly used letters.

Take a unique look at the letters we use everyday, especially one in particular. E-mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld was one of the most difficult picture books to read a loud, but unbelievably beneficial reading for the Turkeybird and I’d imagine others at his same reading level. As we’d read through the pages he was able to have an even better understanding of how each letter interacted with the others which coupled with the humor of the story became a very enjoyable read for him. Help young readers learn the importance of each and every letter in the alphabet by eliminating one of the most commonly used, the E.

The1stdaughter Recommends: Ages 5 to 10. A great read for older picture book readers who are will enjoy not only the humor of the story, but the fun of learning how each letter interacts with others.

Find E-mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Powell’s Books | Indiebound | Book Depository | Goodreads

E-mergency!

Today’s post is part of our month long celebration of Chronicle Books for our monthly feature “Book Publishers 101“. Make sure to stop by the Chronicle Books for more information about this title and more. For more information about our Book Publishers 101 feature take a look at this month’s opening post.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Chronicle Books, for coordinating many of this month’s features and reviews! Connect with them on Twitter and on Facebook!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our various affiliate relationships.

A Little Book of Alliterations by Felix Arthur and Illustrated by Jenny Capon
Published by Inside Pocket Publishing (An imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
Pages: 64
Ages: 5 and up.
Publishers Summmary:

Jenny Capon’s marvellous interpretation of Felix Arthur’s alphabetical and phonetic tongue-twisters represents a leap in visual literacy, offering something totally unique. An entertaining journey through the alphabet which is fun for parents and children alike. Poetic vampire bats, speaking sea urchins, piano playing penguins, champion carrot-crunching cockroaches… All is not as it seems!

The Turkeybird Gets Tongue Tied: “Trying to talk to my mom today in all Ts is tough! Haha! When we were writing my review I kept wiggling and giggling. It’s super silly to speak in the same letters but it’s super fun too!

“I’m still trying to work on it, but this book was so funny. I really liked the ‘CH’ page:

Chunky Charlie
cheerily chewed
chips and cheddar cheese
(p. 10 of A Little Book of Alliterations by Felix Arthur)

“Isn’t that the funniest thing ever! The monkeys on the page next to it are even more funny. The best is trying to say it so fast that you get all goofy. Not all of them are super funny, but there are some I like the very best that I keep having my mom read over and over.”

Mom’s Two Cents: “Filled with silly sayings that have little ones in stitches over the smallest things, A Little Book of Alliterations by Felix Arthur and illustrated by Jenny Capon is a book to be enjoyed and learned from. From A to Z (and even a few in between) young readers are exposed to new words and a variety of ways to use them to create what quite often turn out to be realistic but hilarious situations. In addition to the use of alliteration on each page there are also accompanying illustrations that may or may not have anything to do with the alliterations themselves, but are quirky just as the words are.

“This was a really fun read! Not only did the Turkeybird enjoy learning new words, but it was fun to see how giggly he got by just listening to the combinations. Being someone who struggled with rhyming and alliteration as a child it’s nice to have entertaining yet educational books to share with my children that I know they’ll enjoy and that I will be able to teach from. A Little Book of Alliterations was quirky with some very unique illustrations by Jenny Capon that often also had the Turkeybird chuckling. Obviously, not every page was a huge hit (he’s still a bit young), but I’m positive that with time and age he’ll be able to appreciate each alliteration as a way of learning about each letter of the alphabet in an enjoyable way.

“A Little Book of Alliterations by Felix Arthur is a fantastic addition to any young learners’ library. With quirky illustrations and an alphabet directory filled with hilarious alliterations it’s sure to be a book kiddos will appreciate for quite some time. Our family has thoroughly enjoyed learning all of the new words for each of the letters and spent quite a bit of time laughing over the combinations the author created. Educational and entertaining all in one book, A Little Book of Alliterations by Felix Arthur is the perfect book to appreciate over time with little minds looking longing for learning.”

The1stdaughter Recommends: Ages 4 to 8. An educational yet fun book filled with quirky illustrations that young readers will truly enjoy.

Make sure to take a look at the micro-site for A Little Book of Alliterations for some fantastic coloring pages and more about the book!

Find A Little Book of Alliterations by Felix Arthur and Illustrated by Jenny Capon at the following spots:
Amazon
Powell’s Books
Indiebound
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads

Today’s post is part of our month long celebration of Lerner Publishing Group for our monthly feature “Book Publishers 101“. Make sure to stop by the Lerner Publishing Group Site for more information about this title and more. For more information about our Book Publishers 101 feature take a look at this month’s opening post.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Inside Pocket, for providing a copy of this book for review! Connect with them on their Blog, Twitter and on Facebook!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our various affiliate relationships.

Sunday {App}etizers is a new feature where we take our absolute favorite Book Apps for the iPad and iPhone and serve them up for you to enjoy! We may feature one or half a dozen each week, it all depends on how many {app}etizers we think you need that week. This week’s feature…

Bob Books #2 – Reading Magic By Learning Touch

Publishers Summary: Millions of kids have learned to read with Bob Books. Now Bob Books is coming to the iPhone with Bob Books Reading Magic!

Bob Books Reading Magic Set #2 is here!

Parents and educators have raved about Bob Books #1 – Reading Magic. Now set #2 is here with twelve new scenes and over 50 words!

Start your child reading with this phonics-based interactive game. Your favorite Bob Books characters and full-color animations encourage kids along the path of learning to read.

About eight months ago we had the opportunity of reviewing the first set of iPhone Bob Books, Reading Magic Set #1, and we loved it. The Turkeybird was in the beginning stages of connecting the fact that letters form words and can be mixed up to make more words where he only had previously seen them as “solid” words. The first set in the series was instrumental in his current ability to spell his own name as well as sound out other words by placing letters together. So needless to say, we were excited for a second in the series.

This time it’s Littlebug that is absolutely in love with the series, but that’s not a surprise as she also loves the other Learning Touch literacy apps as well. In this second in the series though there is more interaction, more ways to learn and additional scenes not in the previous book. It starts out with the basic level where your child can drop in the letters at random to fill the scenes with color as you complete words. From that level forward it adds a series of difficulty from placing the letters in order to no visual aids and then picking the letters on their own. It’s progression and interaction level is perfect for beginning to more advanced learners which is exactly what we need in our home with a two and four year old.

Bob Books have long been a wonderful resource for parents and teachers alike. Their basic format and approach make learning a fun and enjoyable experience for young learners. With the addition of two iPhone/iPad versions of the Bob Books series Learning Touch has taken it to another level making it a superior literacy tool. I’ve no doubt seen a huge difference in the Turkeybird’s ability to form words on his own and Littlebug has already begun to recognize words by the letters they are made up of. This is the perfect addition to any parent’s app library and one I’d highly recommend!

The Sweet and Savory Sum-up: Ages 2-5. Perfect for toddlers & pre-schoolers learning to read! An enjoyable literacy tool that both parents and children will love.

Available for the iPad in HD as well as for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Giveaway!

As an added bonus, thanks to the generosity of Learning Touch, I have the opportunity to giveaway four (4) app codes for their iPhone version of this app to and one (1) for their iPad version of the app to There’s A Book readers! To enter all I’m asking is that you leave a comment below with a valid email address and which version you’d prefer. That’s it! These codes will expire on Monday September 4th, 2011 and so this is going to be a short giveaway so that you can download the apps before the code expires! The giveaway will only be open until Wednesday August 31st, 2011 at Midnight EST. I’ll announce the winners the following morning in this post. Good luck all!

This Giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered! Below are listed the winners of the Bob Books #2 Reading Magic App codes. Congratulations!
Tea – iPad
Helena – iPhone
Julie – iPhone
Kaya H. – iPhone
Teri C. – iPhone

Thank you so much to Learning Touch for providing this book app for review! Connect with them on Twitter and Facebook!

As some of you may know, our family is incredibly interested in technology. Both my hubby and I are avid internet users and gamers plus the Turkeybird and Littlebug are also very interested as well. We try to limit our time using these things and when possible with the kiddos we try to gear them towards educational & learning applications. So when we were initially introduced to Learning Touch via their BOB Books – Reading Magic app you can imagine how excited we were. Since that time we’ve tried nearly every one of their apps from FirstWords Deluxe to FirstWords Shapes and have loved every one of them. They are currently Littlebug’s go-to app on my iPhone!

Today I have some very exciting news direct from Learning Touch to share with There’s A Book readers! Learning Touch has reached their one millionth app download!!! Congratulations! As part of the celebration their providing a few benefits to iPhone and iPad users, take a look…

All editions of FirstWords will be on sale in the iTunes App Store for 24-hours at $.99 cents each! Just stop by the FirstWords App Store on iTunes to add some or all of these following apps to your literacy library!

As an added bonus, thanks to the generosity of Learning Touch and this huge celebration, I have the opportunity to giveaway three (3) app codes for their “FirstWords Vehicles” app to There’s A Book readers! To enter all I’m asking is that you leave a comment below with a valid email address. That’s it! The giveaway will be open until tonight at Midnight PST on May 04, 2011.

I also happen to know that Digital Storytime is also giving away a few apps via their Facebook page! So go check it all out and enjoy!

To follow the celebration and maybe get a promocode, like us on Facebook, follow us at Twitter, or search for the hash tag #FirstWordsParty.

The month long celebration of all things Top That! Publishing is now coming to a close. It’s been fantastic to take a closer look at some of the fantastic books they have to offer! Again, I’d like to say thank you so much to Top That! Publishing for spending the month with There’s A Book! I know everyone including the readers, Turkeybird, Littlebug and myself have absolutely loved it!

As a wrap-up, I’m including all the posts from this past month as well as a “Link-up” for those of you with Top That! Publishing book/app reviews that you’d like to share. Please do “Link-up”, no matter how new or old your review may be, we’d love to read them! Don’t worry, this isn’t the last you’ve seen of Top That! Publishing here at There’s A Book, we’ve got many more reviews to come very soon!

Reviews:
Pandamonium by Dan Crisp and Illustrated by Mark Chambers
Little Grey Donkey by Nicole Snitselaar
Sunday {App}etizers: Funny Faces
Fuzzy Let’s Build

Inside-Look:
A Month with Top That! Publishing – An Introduction
Top That! Publishing is Expanding!
A People’s Book Prize Finalist!
The Froobles!

Giveaway:
Top That! Publishing Giveaway

Link-Up of Your Top That! Publishing Reviews/Guest Posts/Author Interviews:

Our feature publisher for the month, Top That! Publishing has a People’s Book Prize Finalist!

When I Dream of ABC voted a finalist in The People’s Book Prize!

Our beautiful book When I Dream of ABC was recently voted the public’s favourite children’s book in the winter 2010 collection of The People’s Book Prize.

When I Dream of ABC by Mr Henry Fisher, is a soothing picture storybook that encourages children to learn the alphabet in a fun and humorous way, through the strange and extraordinary characters that inhabit the fantastical dreamworld.

When I Dream of ABC has received a host of fantastic reviews, featuring in the UK national press numerous times and was also selected for the Top 10 of 2010 for babies and toddlers on lovereading4kids.co.uk

When I Dream of ABC is now in the final selection of The People’s Book Prize where the public will vote for their favourite children’s book from 2010/11. Voting for the overall winning book begins on the 1st June with the winner crowned at a ceremony in July.

‘I am delighted that When I Dream of ABC is a finalist in The People’s Book Prize. To celebrate this achievement, Top That! are publishing a special hardback edition of the winning title, which is due to be published at the start of the new voting period.’ David Henderson, Managing Director.

When I Dream of ABC is currently available as a paperback or an eBook. Find it at the Top That! Publishing site!

Today’s post is part of our month long celebration of Top That! Publishing for our monthly feature “Book Publishers 101“. Be sure to stop by the Top That! Publishing Site for more information about this title and more. For more information about our Book Publishers 101 feature take a look at this month’s opening post.

Make sure to take a look at our Book Publishers 101: Giveaway for a huge giveaway featuring numerous Top That! Publishing books!

Thank you to Top That! Publishing for providing this post to share with There’s A Book readers! Find Top That! Publishing on Twitter and Facebook!