Customer Reviews

In the Tall, Tall Grass

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

 

 

This is my son's favorite book. The age range for this book says 4 & up, but my 2 year old just loves it. The illustrations are magnificent. My son & his day care class love to get involved and make the sounds that are in the tall, tall grass. Highly recommend!

This is a very colorful book (see for yourself in the "search inside this book" feature) for the pre-school and under set. It begins with a drawing of a child watching a caterpillar in the tall grass. Then there are more caterpillars crunching and munching, hummingbirds darting and dipping, bees humming, a bird with wings flapping, ants lugging, snakes gliding, moles scratching and digging, beetles hurrying, frogs snapping, bunnies hopping, fireflies glowing, and bats swooping. The last lines are:

Stars bright,
moonlight...
good night,
tall, tall grass.

These last lines make it appropriate for a good-night book, but the language in general is good for children as it has a nice cadence, rhyme and rhythm.

Strum, drum,
bees hum
crack, snap
wings flap...

Four Stars. [B-]. Bright color from edge to edge. Okay read-aloud that uses more interesting, but simple, words for small fry. Suitable for a good night book.

Bright, attractive illustrations complement simple rhymes in large print as readers examine, from a caterpillar's point of view, the creatures that live and act in the tall, tall grass -- hummingbirds, bees, birds, ants, snakes, moles, beetles, frogs, bunnies, fireflies and bats -- as the book takes us through day and into the night.

Simple, effective and appealing to children.

The Good
Big pictures, splashy colors. The best part is the microscopic perspective. You feel like you are right with the boy in the tall, tall grass zoomed in on each creature that crawls or skitters by.

The Bad
The rhyming is sometimes awkward and there isn't much of a storyline.

To me, what makes this book so appealing is the variety of familiar and more unexpected creatures that are to be found "in the tall, tall grass," and what makes it remarkable is the perspective from daylight to dark. The text bites and Eric Carle style illustrations do not seem particularly original or unique to me beyond that (though others might disagree: its was an American Library Association Notable Book and a Boston Globe Horn Book Honor Book in 1992), but it its still an enjoyable, good quality read for budding naturalists and youngsters who are curious about the world around them.

My son brought this book home to read and fell in love with it. Unfortunately, he had to return it to the school library. I had promised to buy it for him. However, I couldn't find it anywhere. So as always Amazon saved the day! Christmas was around the corner so I figured I'd try to get it in time. Luckily This company kept its promise and it was delivered just in time! And wow the packaging should they really cared to have this book delivered in the best condition possible! Thank you!

My son loves this book, and so do I! The illustrations are beautiful. Fleming uses a process similar to making paper for the illustrations, so they have a richness and complexity to the colors that you don't get from other forms of illustration. The story is simple--the alliteration and rhyming capture my son's attention each time, and it's lots of fun to read out loud. He also loves to hunt for the caterpillar on each page, and it makes a fun little game inside the story. This is one of those books that is worthy of admiration from both kids and adults who love kids' books!

Fantastic pictures! Great for introduction to rhyming words. Shows children all the different animals and interesting activity of them as they live in the tall, tall grass. It also shows the journey from animals seen during the day to those seen at night. A very simple plot, not to much of a story but the pictures really add to it. A great book for younger children!

I am so pleased with this product. I teach kindergarten and as anyone in this field or a similar one knows books get so expensive. It arrived so quickly and is in wonderful condition. I can't say enough about the PRICE! It is so much cheaper than some of the traditional places I buy from. I am now a repeat customer!