Customer Reviews

The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was so disapointed in this book! My son (at age 2) loved this book in the original form we had; but he was a bit rough on it & I had to tape our copy a few times! So I searched everywhere for a board book version, and was so happy when I found one. I bought it without reading it first (which I almost never do) and was so disapointed in the quality! The pictures are poorly drawn (I think some of them may even be drawn by someone other than Dr. Seuss? maybe the original drawings could not be reprinted or something) and the rhymes were changed. They are awkward and I can't see why they needed to be changed in the first place! For example, changing "Feet in the morning...Feet at night" to "Feet in the day...Feet in the night". This is poor english, and what was wrong with it the way Dr. Seuss wrote it? Twice, they changed "Feet, feet, feet...how many, many feet you meet" to "how many different feet you meet". Again, why? It just sounds better the other way. And finally, why change "slow feet..quick feet...trick feet...sick feet" to "well feet"? It doesn't even make sense- what are Well Feet? The picture is a dog juggling balls- doing a "trick"! I am surprised that the Seuss trustees, who are usually so protective of Dr. Seuss' work would OK this book.

My niece loved it, but I'm hiding this version now that I've gotten her the *real* version. Stupid editors, changing the text, cutting stuff out, just to make a board book.

Forgo this copy, just get the hardcover edition. You'll thank me later when you don't have to figure out why they forced an "opposites" theme on poor Dr. Seuss, or why they cut out some of the best passages.

The Foot Book teaches children adjectives and nouns to describe and name things; this educational read will be a lot of fun for your young child just learning to read. This book is perfect for adults to introduce to children while reading it to them; and gradually the child can be encouraged to read it more and more independently.

The illustrations are wonderful and classic Dr. Seuss style; but the real draw here is the information the books imparts to young readers and children learning to read.

The book has a page near the very front so that the child can write their name in it to personalize this book; that's sweet and a very clever idea to draw the child into the book all the more.

The lines of the book teach adjectives and nouns as they relate to, well, feet. (Well, mostly as they relate to feet.) Children are taught the words and the differences between left and right; morning and night; wet and dry; high and low; front and back; slow and quick; up and down--and much more. It's all very well done.

The hardcover of the book feels very strong and resilient so that young children can't accidentally do much damage to it; and the quality of the paper is excellent.

I highly recommend this book for young children. It is very educational and fun for them at the same time. Just don't tell them they're learning--as long as they think this is all in fun they'll gobble up this information faster than anything!

This is a nice enough board book, but be advised that it is NOT the full version of Dr. Seuss' book! They've left out several (charming!) pages of text and illustrations for the Board Book... What a disappointment to loyal fans, and how unfair to the newest generation of fans-to-be.

Welcome to the wonderful world of whimsical, wacky writing, and crazy, colorful caricatures. Geeezz, that's hard to read aloud. "The Foot Book, Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites" is an inspired introduction to contrary concepts, such as left verses right, and just plain silliness through rhyme. Wet/dry, high/low, front/back, and well/sick... you get the gist. William LOVED this book when he was a baby. He especially liked the pig page.

"Up feet, down feet, here come clown feet.

Small feet, big feet, here come pig feet."

It's a quick read. It takes less than a minute to complete, although, we'd sit for 5-minutes or more just talking about the illustrations. If you've ever read an original Seuss, then you know what I mean when I say they are whimsical, and colorful. Of course, I am partial to Seuss's illustrated works, rather than the books he wrote and others illustrated for him, such as "The Eye Book". His caricatures are silly, almost fantasy like. He doesn't use a lot of color on each page; however, the overall effect is upbeat, and always entertaining.

"The Foot Book, Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites" is NOT a miniature version of Seuss's, "The Foot Book". The text, and images have been adapted from the original to accommodate board book standards. Yet, the phrasing and prose flow, as is apparent from the above excerpt.

There has been a great deal of controversy regarding these little books. It seems, others think the publisher, has infringed upon the copyright laws. When these "Bright and Early BOARD Books" were released in 2001, the titles, and the covers were the same as the originals. Some were confused, and even angered. Apparently, they thought they were buying smaller, yet full-text copies of the originals. It clearly states they are adapted formats on the back of the cover, so I don't understand what the fuss is all about. Random House has since altered the titles, and covers to indicate the modifications. For instance, "The Foot Book" has a white cover, while "The Foot Book, Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites" has a green background even though the image is the same.

I, for one, was thrilled to have the opportunity to offer my infant son a CLASSIC Seuss narrative, even in it's ADAPTED form. These magical miniatures are delightfully entertaining for little babies. Especially for those who enjoy the positive interaction of cooperative play through reading. The objective of these small books is to appeal to newborns, and very young children who are not attentive enough for the full-text versions. They are NOT meant to replace the originals. Moreover, these pocketsize gems are fashioned for effortless travel to the market, on a plane, in the car, or on a train. Hee, hee... that's my own Seuss inspired rhyme. Birth and up.

Happy Reading,
Mary

The original book is NOT about opposites. It a clever funny, rhythmical book about ... feet. But when adapting it for a board book they decided to make it useful, and so changed the wording to fit an imposed theme. This is not Dr. Suess. This is a publishers way to make a few extra bucks from unsupecting customers. But the original.

"The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites" is a board book adapted from the original Bright and Early Book for Beginning Readers, a series of books for the youngest of the young. The idea here is that the stories are brief and funny, the words are few and easy, and there is always a catchy sense of rhyme. Of course "The Foot Book" is about not only the foot (singular) but feet (plural). There are more references to feet (plural) than to feet (singular), if you happen to pay attention to such things (which, apparently, I did). But the key part of this book are all the adjectives that Dr. Seuss comes up with for all those feet.

This happens mostly in terms of oppositional pairs such as right and left, wet and dry, high and low, front and back, etc. Of course sometimes rhyme comes into play as well, such as when we go from small feet to big feet and then to pig feet. The illustrations all feature the strange hairy creatures that populate the imagination of Dr. Seuss, although you will see a pair of rather normal looking kids in the mix as well. Did you ever stop to think that Dr. Seuss is probably the most influential poet of his generation? He is certainly the most imitated, and behind all those silly rhymes was a deep desire to get kids to read. Once your beginning reader has read "The Foot Book," be sure to have them check out the sequel, "Fox in Sox."

My 18 months old son just loves this book. If I let him choose a book to read from a pile, this would always be his choice. I enjoy reading it him and with some interaction by using his feet and mine, he always end up laughing almost every page. He has enjoyed this book since 1 year old.

Buy the original Foot Book (one that is not a "wacky book of opposits"), not one that was modified to make it a board book and more "educational" than the original. The original Foot Book was wonderfully poetic, and was only tangenitally about opposites. But "trick feet, sick feet" is a much better bit of text in the original than "well feet, sick feet" in the original. Children are not stupid, and that the board book has effectively been dumbed down is another reason not to buy this edition.

My 1 year old girl loves this book! She will pull it out almost every day and show to me "left foot, left foot, right foot, right" physically ever since I told her how to move her feet left and right. It is just fun to see her moves around.