When the Giants Came to Town

"When the Giants Came to Town." written by Marcia Leonard and illustrated by R. W. Alley, is a Hello Reader! Level 4 book, intended for Grades 2 & 3. This is an absolutely wonderful book, perfectly suited for encouraging children to read. The book provides a series of stories, all purporting to be actual events witnessed by Grammy when she was a little girl. We get to meet Samson and Rex the giant twins, Stella the sleepy giant, Clem the noisy giant, Ruby the vain giant, Rosco the helpful giant, Lily the giant baby, and Max the forgetful giant. Each in their turn makes their way from the other side of the mountain to where they visit the town and unfortunately things happen. But children will quickly discover that the mischief caused by one giant might end up getting fixed by another giant, and not always intentionally either. As they move from story to story, children will see the connections between what happens in one story and the next and will be encouraged to anticipate what might happen in the following story.All of the stories are short enough that it is not at all difficult to "read just one more" at nighttime or to go through the entire book at one sitting. The illustrations are charming but still have sufficient detail to encourage children to look them over carefully to see everything there is to be seen. There are also encouragements for parents to read aloud to their children and helpful hints about how to listen to your child read aloud to you as well. "When the Giants Came to Town" is one of the most perfect stories for this age group I have stumbled across in my recent explorations of the joys of children's literature. There are just so many ways it will help make your child a better reader and thinker. I recommend it with unrestrained enthusiasm to children, parents and teachers alike.

This book was very humorous. Each chapter features a different giant and shows them just being themselves. Unfortunately for the neighboring townsfolks, having the giants so close can be somewhat troublesome when they venture into town. I like the way each subsequent chapter of the book builds on the previous chapter's adventures. My daughter really liked the jokes in one of the chapters. She also liked looking through the colorful illustrations to find the people and things that were mentioned in the story. It was kind of like a Where's Waldo book. This book makes a good 2nd grade reader.