Customer Reviews

Tails

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My 15 month old daughter received this book for Christmas, and it is AWESOME. She already liked the traditional "touch & feel" books, and "Tails" is a big step up.

The story is a limited verbage, rhymey discussion of different types of tails. It has elements of the basic touch & feels - different furry tails and bumpy tails, but it goes even further. It has a flip out page with a BIG peacock tail that has shiny/sparkly circles to touch (my daughter's favorite), a pull-up tab with tails on each side, and 2 pull tabs that "wag" tails. There is also a "scratch n sniff" stinky skunk tail, but to be honest, we've never actually tried that one!

The illustrations are colorful and fun, with friendly animals to engage your child.

This book is quite sturdy. The pages aren't the board book pages, but sort of a double layer of cardstock - very solid. The tabs to pull are thick, not flimsy. We did have trouble with one of the tails that wags, a pig's tail that has a thin tail with a poof at the end, because my daughter tugged it several times and ripped the poof off. Fortunately, there is still enough tail to go "swat, swat, swat".

This is a really fun book that reads fast, has lots of page turning, and something new and fun on each page. It really captures my daughter's attention. Sometimes she grabs "Tails" and shoves it at me to read to her, and sometimes she sits down with it and "reads" it to herself. We spend a LOT of time with this book.

I'm buying some more of these books to give as gifts, and recommend this books as a BUY for everyone!

Who among us has not spent long times mesmerized by a cat's tail? How fascinating they are to watch. I agree with the previous comments: this book, Tails, will wag the dog in all of us.

If my grandchildren and those of my friends are representative, Matthew Van Fleet is fast becoming a collectible author. Throughout his growing little family of educational, cleverly-illustrated books--One Yellow Lion, Spotted Yellow Frogs, Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings, and now, Tails--is the theme of surprise. Behind every number, under every stone, beneath every innocent-looking shape lurks the possibility that things aren't always what they seem. After repeated readings--and you WILL often hear "read again!"--your children will love scoring points on you by knowing the secrets in advance and by demonstrating their newfound learning.

Being read to is the coziest of feelings, and these are the sort of books that bind reader and child such that they may forever summon from memory the original emotion. I think, years from now, when teenagers, young parents, mid-lifers and retirees like me dust off copies of their first books and thumb lovingly through the pages, that these Van Fleets will often be among those treasures, for they will have left the same heartprints that now whisper the names and bring back the faces and voices of those who read to me so long ago--grandparents, parents, big sisters--and that reignite that wonderful glow of child-warmth that has not gone from us, after all.

Tails is by far my son's favorite book. He has us read it to him at least a dozen times a day. If we're not reading it, he's reading it to himself. Fortunately it's a delightfully illustrated book and holds up well to multiple reads.

Yesterday I was at Toys-R-Us looking at the baby and children's books, especially the touch-and feel and pop-ups, which the store has a lot of. The furry black tuft on the cover of Tails caught my eye, and I started to read it. As other reviewers have already said, it is a cute ryhming book with lots of interactive things to keep little eyes and fingers interested. I was enjoying the book until I came to the page with the skunk and the scratch and sniff sticker. "No way!" I thought, "Why would they put that in a toddler's book (or any book!)?" I was reluctant to smell it, but my curiosity got the better of me. As they say, curiousity killed the cat... well, it nearly killed ME! I cautiously scratched the little sticker and bent my head, expecting, if anything, a subtly unpleasant lemonade scent. "WHOA!" I jerked my head back almost instantly with possibly the most disgusting odor I have EVER smelled still in my nostrils. I was in shock. It was way beyond "pretty gross", as another reviewer mentioned--it was truly atrocious. The best way I can describe it is a horrible combination of burnt rubber and rotten eggs, but that does not do it justice. It was very strong, and it didn't smell in the least like skunk. Skunk would have smelled mild next to this little sticker, and I'm not exagerrating. I don't write a lot of reviews, but I just had to warn people to avoid smelling this nastly little thing at all costs. It was a bad idea to put such an awful scent in , because throughout the rest of the book I had trouble focusing--I just kept thinking about that SMELL. It was enough to make me feel almost ill. A few minutes later I went searching through the store for the rest of my family. I wanted a second opinion to make sure that my nose wasn't over-sensitive. Well, I handed it to my brother, and unbelievably he was willing to try it. There is no way to imagine how bad it will smell, which I guess is why we tried it. His reaction was identical to mine. With a half yell he yanked his head back and looked at me with an expression of extreme disgust. Nobody else would try it after that, and they said it was so strong they could smell it in the air around the book. So, while the book in itself is neat, that aspect of it is just plain bad. You can decide for yourself whether or not one page is enough to ruin the rest of the book. I am confident that if you can ignore that sticker you will enjoy the book, since it has many fun, positive points.

I bought this book for my 17 month old son. He really likes it and so do I. The text is fun to read and the flaps, pulls, and textures on the pages delight him. The pull tabs on the pages are sturdy and large enough that he can do them himself. I like that it is interactive and he can touch and feel and have the tabs or flaps to figure out also. This book is fantastic; durable and well made; a great book for toddlers.

My 18 month old can not put this book down. Not only is there a lot to touch and feel, but there are flaps to open and tabs to pull and lots of colors. If your toddler likes animals, they will love this book. It is also made of very sturdy material, so unlike most flap and tab books, my daughter has not been able to rip off all the peices. A great buy.

We bought the book because we purchased earlier the "Heads" book in a book store. The design is very nice and our little son loves to see the moving images or to touch the special fields.

The only not well made thing is the durability of the book. Little children want to grab moving things and not always moving parts like tails are covered so that a child can see it moving without grabbing it...

Overall still a great book and I would like to see more books from Matthew Van Fleet (see also "Heads" and "Alphabet")

My 14 month is constantly in motion. He has never been one to sit still and let me read to him, which has been discouraging. He received this book for his 1st birthday and for the first time, he loved a book! When he first got it, he would sit and experience the book for ten minutes at a time. He loves all the different 'activities' and stimulating extras. At first he just wanted to pull on the pop up type of things but now that he has read it a hundred times, he likes to look at the pictures and point at the different animals and their features. As a result of his interest in this book, he is now willing to look at other books. Tails has been our gateway book and is still his favorite. I am so grateful for it!

My duaghter loves this book. We have read it every night for the passed 3 months. She loves to feel the different textures and pull the tabs. She can even finish the sentences now. It has taught her the difference between textures. Also, it teaches animals - names - and we add in sounds. LOVE this book. Definitely Rec!

I love this book. I found it at a book store while I was looking for books that my 3-month-old could grow to love as she gets older. I was surprised to find that *I* was having a great time looking at this book! It is very interactive and will be great fun to read with my baby as she gets older.