Customer Reviews

Twice As Nice: What It's Like To Be a Twin

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Nicole Rubin (a twin herself) offers a multiplicity of twinship facts and "factoids" from biology, history, psychology, math, and zoology (all easier to master than those words might imply!). The varied format and perspectives keeps things moving, and will appeal to a wide audience

Rubin answers scientifically-oriented questions as "Where Do Twins Come From?" and "What are the Odds" clearly and factually. However, she also presents many entertaining anecdotes and stories about twins, often of the "Gee whiz" variety: The twins separated at birth who discover astounding similarites when they meet years later, the 3,000 sets of twins (there's a photo of them) who meet annually in Twinsburg, Ohio, and famous twins such as Abigail Van BUren and Ann Landers, bad guys Reggie and ROnnie Kray, Robin and Maurice Gibb, and Mary-Kate and Ashley (too famous to need a last name).

Aside from the humor (e.g., two pages of riddles such as: Q. "What do you do if twin tigers are running towards you?" A. "Run twice as fast!"). the most important sections deal with the advantages/disadvantages of twindom, and how to deal with these, either as a twin, or as an adult caregiver. Through interviews with young twins, humorous examples, and straight-on tips, we learn that while twins MAY have a special bond, others' silly questions and expectations can be a real burden too. Kids are offered some snappy comebacks ("What's it like being a twin?" "I don't know. What's it like not being a twin), and twins (and their parents/guardians/teachers) are encouraged throughout to celebrate the special bond, but develop their individuality as well. A one-page acknowledgements page contains books and a few websites (e.g., twinsmagazine.com) for further exploration.

Rubin, creator of the "Rotten Ralph" series as well as many other superb books, gives us an intriguing, light, but informative book that explores the relatively rare (no pun intended) phenomenon of twinhood, while understanding and respecting the experience.

My daughter (a fraternal 7 yr old twin) checked this book out at the library. We loved it so much I'm here ordering one for us to keep. It explained the difference in the kinds of twins in a simple way. It gave some very interesting facts & stories and some funny things too. I think anyone that knows a twin would enjoy it.

i found the book very entertaining and informative. although it is targeted for the your reader, i found it equally enjoyable as an adult. as a twin, it is still nice and intriguing to read information regarding twins and unknown facts. thoroughly recommendable

I have five-year old boy/girl twins, and both they and I love this book. It's filled with facts and stories about twins, including the difference between fraternal and identical twins, what animals have twins, what are the best and worst things about growing up a twin (from the perspective of other twins), stories about twins, and more. The last two pages are advice for twins and parents on how to best enjoy being, and parenting, twins. A very nice offering for elementary age kids that are twins.

I wanted to make sure my great niece and nephew got their own copy. Hopefully, they will keep this gift forever, and read it often even after they grow up. It was a fun read for me, with great illlustrations. Well constructed.