Customer Reviews

Ten Apples Up on Top! (Bright & Early Board Books(TM))

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My son loved the "Ten Apples Up On Top" (Hardcover) book I borrowed for him from the library so much that I ordered a copy of our own. Thinking that the board book would be more sturdy, that's what I ordered. Never imagined that the board book could be only less than half of the full version, you can imagine the surprise and disappointement we had when we sat down to read it together. Now I know to compare the number of pages when I order. I wish there were some kind of clearer indication and warning about Board book version not being the full version somewhere in the Product Description.

This book is a tour de force for helping with reading and counting to ten, using a vocabulary of only 75 words! A lion, dog, and tiger find many interesting ways to balance ten apples vertically on their heads, building up from only one. Then the birds decide they would like the apples, and the fun really begins. The conclusion will leave your child giggling happily.

Most simple books try to teach only counting or reading. I found it to be a great idea to combine the two. It makes the task both easier and more interesting for your child.

By using only 75 words, there is much repetition to help your youngster identify words that she or he will reuse throughout life. Here is an example:

"One apple up on top!

Two apples up on top!"

The illustrations nicely cue the young person to the words and the numbers involved. With these words I have quoted, you see the lion with the requisite number of apples balanced on top of the head.

The illustrations are also very active, and help draw interest to the story. Mr. Roy McKie's colorful, dynamic illustrations bring the story to life. Otherwise, how interesting can a counting book be?

Most children will have no trouble memorizing this story. Then, they can "read" along as you read aloud. Later, you can stop for certain words that they know how to identify, and they can read that word as part of the sentence you are reading aloud. You can also encourage them to count the number of apples aloud on each creature's head.

You can extend the value of this book by adding some pages of your own that involve numbers beyond ten. Your child will enjoy helping your with the illustrations for those pages. With the simple text structure, you cannot help but match what Dr. Seuss would have written (writing here under his pen name of Theo. Le Sieg -- the reverse of his real last name).

As an adult, I also encourage you to consider creating other books for your children to learn from. You could take this same structure, and introduce other nouns as well. Beyond that, you could also use this structure (with tiny amendments) to teach new verbs. By adding only a few dozen words, you can greatly expand your child's ability to enjoy stories!

Keep it simple, and everything can be understood!

I remember liking this book as a child and I thought I could get this book for my daughter. The board book has been so abridged that it lacks a lot of things that I thought were funny. AND what about that "climatic ending" where the apples all topple - Not there! I wouldn't even recognize the wording in the board book as Dr. Suess's.

I bought this to read to my son and found that I remembered reading it as a child. It is an excellent book to start reading with! I got so I could recite it and, as soon as I said "one..." my son would smile. The illustrations are great--red, black, white and yellow--again perfect for a very young child. A great story--I didn't even know until recently that Theo. LeSieg is in fact Dr. Seuss--d'oh!

This is a cute book in the beginner books series which helps learn to count in a little different way. Familiar Seussian wordplay is fun to read and fun for the kids. Overly cautious parents should be aware of themes such as a big bear chasing the main characters out of her house with a mop, a rolling pin, etc.

This book is unbelievably good for early readers. My son started reading right after he turned 4. The book is written using about 85 basic words that all kids need to learn (sight words). Once they know these words they can read a lot of other books. The value in Ten Apples is NOT the illustrations, counting or the story. Put simply, it is a wonderful tool to get your child reading. My son (4 yrs and 3 months) can read this book to himself easily. Those 85 words help him read all other books that he wants to. Those looking for a good book to practice sight words must buy this book.

Out of all the books that Dr Seuss has out, this is THE ONLY book I can remember from my childhood! I immediately got this for my son and he loves it now too! He and I love Green Eggs and Ham, as well as Fox in Socks (which he finds so funny to hear especially if you try to read parts REALLY fast) this is the book that stands out the most, probably because I make him count the apples on each animals head before we start or finish each page. Its a very simple book mind you, but its a very nice story for the younger kids

This is a great book for a toddler. Very simple words, and counting too. There are a couple pages where the animals each have different numbers of apples on their heads, and I always stop my two-year-old and ask him to count the apples on each of them. He also likes to identify each of the animals: dog, lion, tiger, bear.

He is also learning to read with this book. He can read words like "top" and "ten" and "apples." He really surprised me though by memorizing some of the text, so that on every page he knows the first couple words! "Look, see!" "Look out!" "Come on!"

I loved this book as a kid, and yours will too. I guess the board book is not the full book, so I would get the paper-paged book once your child is old enough to not tear it apart.

An inspired bit of whimsy. Using spare text for very beginning readers, this story tells the absurd tale of a dog, a lion, and a tiger who start balancing apples on their heads. Soon they each have a bunch of apples stacked on top of themselves, having purloined a few from a bear's icebox. The bear is not happy with this and seeks to topple their apples with her mop. While the apple stackers start out as rivals, they soon become friends as a variety of spoilsports end up chasing our heroes, trying to get the precarious apples to fall off their heads - all of which leads to a spectacular and pleasing ending. The cartoon illustrations are direct and manage to do much with little. This story is a masterpiece of escalation, silly joy, counting, and simple vocabulary all in one. I still enjoy it as an adult!

How many apples can you place on top of your head...one, two, three? This book is really fun. As a child I remember counting the apples "up on top" of the characters heads. With each turn of the page a new and more outrageous event takes place as well as the addition of more "apples up on top". My girls listen attentively through the entire book and love the conclusion each time we read it.