Customer Reviews

A Book of Kisses

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This book was beyond my expectations. I found it to be a simple way of teaching young children about the different types of kisses there are. My 5 year old was totally thrilled on reading about all these different kisses.

This is a really cute book, and my kids enjoyed the pictures as much as they did having me demonstrate many of the kisses on them. Around our house, we share many kisses, and we especially enjoy the "tummy kisses," which, like author Dave Ross, we also call "raspberry kisses." These are normally dispensed with PERMISSION here, however, since both my husband and I remember being tickled and kissed mercilessly by our uncles when we were children. (I was fairly traumatized by a couple of uncles who liked to "whisker" my face, which is a barbaric custom in which an older male relative rubs his three-day-old growth of facial hair on a child's face and neck until the child bleeds--or until she screams loudly enough that another older relative comes to her rescue! Girls treated in this fashion often grow up to be afraid of men with beards and/or mustaches.)

I liked the charming pastel drawings, the variety of animals depicted, and the unusual type-style in which the book is set. The lettering is still a version of print (but not cursive), and gives older readers a chance to practice reading a different style of type-set than they're used to seeing in their school textbooks. I think this is an important consideration, since kids are expected to read and write in print and cursive styles--and to decipher their teacher's often difficult-to-read printing and handwriting!

ISBN 0060002743 - It's hard to imagine that any book with the title "A Book of Kisses" could be bad in any way. Considering the countless retellings of old tales, the endless stream of board books on colors, shapes, counting and other basic concepts, finding one with something unique to it is always a good thing.

On thick board pages that can stand up to much rough handling, all sorts of kisses are described. From Congratulations Kisses to Across-the-Room Kisses and plenty of others, this book covers most of them - and leaves Mom and Dad a chance to remind their kids of any that might have been missed that are particular favorites in their family. The book is fairly small, making it easy for a toddler to tote around, and the board pages are nice and easy to turn for small fingers.

Author Dave Ross does an all right job (and I admit that I can't see how anyone could possibly make a mess of what is, essentially, a list). Laura Rader, the illustrator, did a great job, using a wide variety of animals and settings. The images are cute and engaging; the only negative I would mention is that some of the text within the images, like "bubbles" in comic strips, is way too small for some folks.

- AnnaLovesBooks

I gave this book to my boyfriend as a Valentines Day present ;) We're both 19, but it was still a very cute gift. I added little comments and when we're stressed out with school, sometimes we'll pull it out and read it to each other. So I'm sure it's a great book for children, but when approached with the right attitude, it's also a cute book for grown-ups! :)