A Simple Book for Very Young Children - a review of "In the Tall, Tall Grass"

books:

	• In the Tall, Tall Grass (An Owlet Book) Denise Fleming Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 1995 - 32 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

interesting perspective

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.

A Simple Book for Very Young Children - a review of "In the Tall, Tall Grass"

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.

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simple rhymes and colorful illustrations

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.

One humble opinion

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.

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Descriptive & entertaining

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!

If you were a fuzzy caterpillar crawling through the tall, tall grass on a sunny afternoon, what would you see? Beginning as the sun is high in the sky and ending as fireflies blink and the moon rises above, this backyard tour is one no child will want to miss.A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor BookAn ALA Notable BookA School Library Journal Best BookAn American Bookseller Pick of the ListsA Booklist Editors' Choice

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