Nutshell Library: Alligators All Around, Chicken Soup with Rice, One Was Johnny, Pierre

Heres a great little set of books for small children, I have a set from when I was small and my 5 year old son has been captivated by the whole series as well..... especially Pierre and he has chosen this for his class reading competition!! They are great books, easy to hold for little fingers and span the range from 0 - 7 years, the set I purchased was for a friends baby.

This is an excellent collection of books. BUT! I didn't check the dimensions! If you can't read WEE LITTLE TINY PRINT, don't buy this! It's SMALL!! My 2 year old adores these books. Alligators All Around and One Was Johnny are his favorites! Sadly, I assumed these would be the bigger size that we got from the library. Live and learn!

If you have children you know that they love to hear the same stories over and over and over again. If you are a good parent you'll be required to read the same books night after night after night. Some books can take it, others you'd put in the shredder if you had one handy, and were devious enough to blame the children themselves for losing it. To our shame, some of us have been that devious. The Nutshell Library, however, can be read a thousand times and each time the reader finds truth, beauty, life lessons, and the best darn rhymes around. Even a shy parent finds the ability to read with verve and feeling, night after night after night. My personal favorite is Alligators All Around, unless I happen to be reading Pierre.

I re-discovered this collection two years ago, and took a very fond walk down memory lane - I loved these as a child. My two-year old recently became hooked, and I have now had the exquisite pleasure of revisiting "Chicken Soup with Rice", "One was Johnny", "Pierre", and "Alligators All Around" on a regular basis. With the same arch humor and sly drawings that Sendak brought to "Where the Wild Things Are", the four books in the Nutshell Library entertain as they instruct. The rhyming pattern makes it very easy to memorize (I've gotten to be a whiz at reading in semi-darkness circa bedtime...) - in fact, my daughter can "read" almost all of "Chicken Soup with Rice" now by associating the rhymes with the pictures. This collection is a rarity in children's books - it's fun for both kids and parents! Plus, it easily fits into a purse or diaper bag to take along on trips - whether to the supermarket, or Grandma's. And the kid-sized volumes are a delight for small hands. DON'T MISS IT!

We picked this up on a trip to New York years ago because my partner grew up with it. We now have a two year old daughter whose love of this set borders on obsession. I must have read them 100 times by now and have yet to tire of it. My daughter knows it off by heart despite the fact she can't read. No wonder as Sendak is a genius whose wit and imagination know no bounds. I can't recommend it highly enough.