The Best Place to Read (ISBN 0375837574)

Can't Wait to Read.....:
"A new book for me-/I can't wait to read!/I run to my own little chair./I'm growing too tall and the seat is too small,/So I am not comfortable there." Now where is the perfect place for our young narrator to read his new book? He looks all over the house and even outside, but can't quite find just the right spot. Grammy's soft, cozy chair is being used by Rover, and he's not sharing. Daddy's chair is under the cold, blowing ceiling fan, and his brother's beanbag chair has sprung a leak. The kitchen's too sticky and messy, Grandpa's chair has sprung a spring, and though the backyard is warm and sunny, the sprinklers come on as soon as he settles in and now it's too wet out there. "I dry myself off./I give up, I can't read./I've tried to sit down everywhere./With no reading done, I'm still on page one-/I can't find a comfortable chair!" Debbie Bertram and Susan Bloom's clever, rhyming text is engaging and full of bouncy energy, and complemented by Michael Garland's bold, bright, and playful illustrations. Each page dazzles with vibrant color, marvelous facial expressions, and humor as our frustrated hero is thwarted again and again as he runs from room to room looking for just the right place to read. With a sweet ending to set everything right, The Best Place To Read is a heartwarming, joyous romp preschoolers will beg to read again and again. "Mommy, oh, Mom!/May I sit on your lap?/I love it so much when we share." The best place to be, just my book, Mom, and me-/At last.../In a comfortable chair."

The best book since Runaway Bunny!:
Wonderful poetry, excellent pictures, and fabulous message. This is a must-read for all little kids and their parents.

Disappointed that protagonist ended up being a boy:
The book on its own is fine, but when I recently read an article that said the authors had originally intended the protagonist to be a girl but changed their minds because they "learned that boys will read about boys and girls will read about both boys and girls", I was very disappointed. That kind of thinking will contribute to ever minimizing girls and women. Why not have featured a girl protagonist and worked a little harder to have made that character interesting to both boys and girls?

The best book since Runaway Bunny!:
Wonderful poetry, excellent pictures, and fabulous message. This is a must-read for all little kids!

Best baby - young child gift:
This is the book I keep on hand for a new baby gift. It gives the parents and child a cute message on how important it is to read to children at an early age. I was introduced to the book at a children's literature conference. I have gotten many thank yous years and years after the newborn was in school! Even though I am a retired kindergarten teacher - I am still contributing to early childhood eduaction! :-)