Customer Reviews

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (null)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

At first glance, this book appears to be simply an illustration of a kids song. Some reviewers have complained that that's all there is..so why buy it. But actually, there is a lot more there if you look.

First of all, while illustrated songs seem like an odd choice sometimes to adults, little kids LOVE them. Invariably, they are the ones my two year old brings to me again and again. They are also the first books that kids are able to memorize. This is important because they like to pull them out when they are playing independently, and model reading on their own. What a satisfying experience for a pre-reader! Plus, for parents for whom it doesn't come as naturally to bring music into their children's lives, these sorts of books are a great way to do so.

This book does an excellent job of being really clear with the pictures lining up the words and the body parts. The first line, she gives each body part it's very own page, so that they can be large and really obvious -- the little animal on the page mirroring the same body part as the baby is also very adorable.

When she gets to eyes, ears, mouth and nose, she adds another dimension by putting in item on the page that you can do with that body part -- for eyes - books, for ears - baby instruments, for mouth - baby food and sippy cup, and for nose - flowers. So there is a discussion element if you are reading this with your baby and choose to take it.

The back of the book has the last "knees and toes" echo...pretty cute, and also has the whole song written out under a staff with musical notes. My older daughter has taken to grabbing this 'baby' book and asking how to pluck it out on her little piano keyboard. So the book can have a second life for that purpose later on.

The pictures of the babies are endearing.. I love their happy little faces. It is worth noting that while the babies are definitely different "shades" -- it's hardly what I'd call multi-cultural, which is a shame because there's no reason why it couldn't have been. She did throw in a couple girls.

All and all, if the multicultural issue doesn't concern you, I'd recommend this highly for your own little on, or for a gift.

My husband and I were trying to teach out daughter where her eyes, nose, mouth etc were. My husband has never heard this song so it was hard for him to do with our daughter. I found this book and now this is daddy's book to read. within a week our daughter knows where her body parts are and how to say and she loves reading it with her dad. I would recommend this book.

This is merely a verbatim book version of the old playschool song "head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes . . " It could be made a bit more worthwhile if the art was engaging or dynamic in some way, but it's blah (think Precious Moments meets Charlie Brown) and does little to enhance a young childs perception of where to find his/her head, shoulders, knees . . well you get to idea.

My niece just loves this book! She is 9 months old and this is the book she always wants to have read to her, or the book the chooses to just look at the pictures.

Because of the utter simplicity of this book, I was surprised at how quickly it became one of my grandson's favorite books (along with the Row, Row, Row Your Boat, by the same author.) I guess babies all enjoy looking at other babies. I have since ordered these two books for my friend's granddaughter, and she had the same reaction.

don't like the pics in this book - no open eyes on the babies - and where they're pointing is vague. don't think it really contributes to kids' comprehension - and there's not a good rhyme to it, either. sorry!

My daughter loves babies and she loves books. So this was a great purchase for her. I bought this book along with the Ten Little Fingers board book. I think they are a little bit young for an 18 month old, but JJ loves them anyway.

If you had any other books in this little series, you'd probably already knew what I found out after I got this book - they're just illustrated children's songs. The illustrations are cuter than anything, but this one starts off with a separate page for "head," then "shoulders," and "knees," etc. but then starts sticking them all on one page. And the last few words of the book are on the back cover. I don't know why they tried to push the song into too few pages (see "Ten Little Fingers (Board Books for Babies)" for what happens when it's done right), but the results were less than stellar. I give it three stars mostly for the illustrations...

My son who is 2.5 years old loves the book and we read it about 10 times a night.

I purchased this book for my son when he was 15 months old and he loves this book. He brings it to me to read to him over and over again. The illustrations are fun, he loves the song, and he knows all the body parts now. Many times I have seen him flipping through the book on his own "studying" the pictures. Given I don't usually pay to buy new books that cost more than a dollar or two, this one was definately worth it!