The Friendly Book [Hardcover]

Margaret Wise Brown (Author)

Book Description

I like cars / Red cars, green cars / Sports limousine cars / I like cars . . .Since 1954 parents and children have adored The Friendly Book, where everything is likable, from bugs to boats and from cars to stars. Garth Williams’s lively illustrations are a perfect counterpart to Margaret Wise Brown’s playful lists of wonderful things.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Garth Williams was a prolific illustrator of Golden Books. His illustrations have brought to life Charlotte’s Web, Mister Dog, Home for a Bunny, Stuart Little, and many other children’s classics. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Goldencraft (December 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307605922
• ISBN-13: 978-0307605924
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,128,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 45 years ago, her books still sell very well. Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading. She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them. She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper. Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alliterative, repetitive, and entertaining text, August 11, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friendly Book (Big Little Golden Book) (Hardcover)

The Friendly Book is the reprint of a "Big Little Golden Book" classic written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams. Of special note is the way the alliterative, repetitive, and entertaining text of The Friendly Book is so useful in helping children ages 2 to 5 to simultaneously built vocabulary and reading skills. Also very highly recommended are two other newly reprinted Gold Books classics: K. & B. Jackson and Gustaf Tenggren's The Saggy Baggy Elephant (0375-825908, ...) and Tibor Gergely's The Great Big Fire Engine (0307103218,...).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book Ever!, August 11, 2003

By 

"betsarms" (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friendly Book (Big Little Golden Book) (Hardcover)

I LOVED this book as a child. The pictures by Garth Williams are so lovingly rendered. I can recall each image with amazing detail (obviously I poured over this book often!).

Since it's been out of print, I would search used book stores - pawing through their inevitable stack of old Golden Books. I found one several years ago in college that I promptly sent to my then toddler sister. I continued to look for another copy to keep for my own children someday. Alas, to no avail.

Last year a treasury of Garth Williams illustrated books was released, and I promptly bought a copy for my 1-year old daughter. I'm thrilled that the original book has been re-released - better for small hands. I strongly recommend this book for young children (birth & up). You will not be disappointed!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Use the pattern, April 3, 2004

By 

Gwynne C. Spencer (Mancos, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Friendly Book (Big Little Golden Book) (Hardcover)

Kids even as young as first grade, can use this as a model for writing their OWN book. I LIKE....is the bones, and the lists and loosely rhymed examples are the flesh. And no matter whether a kid wants to write about cars or cuttlefish, they ought to end up with I LIKE PEOPLE...to keep the friendly book pattern intact.