Always Promised Myself, 21 Oct 2007
a Pam Ayres book, but never got off my backside to get one, then this wagged its 'come hither' finger at me in Asda last Saturday. Always enjoyed her work, she's not on TV enough, but is 'On Tour' right now, I found, if you check her website
This book is a cracker and will have you chuckling along all the way through, because Pam always writes about events we can relate to, which is her great strength.
Get a copy, then, like I'm planning to do, get some of her other books from Amazon; my idleness has now been cured, as laughter, is indeed, a wonderful thing. She dishes up exceptionally good British humour in a world where American humour seems to be trying to take over, and OK, maybe I'm one-in-a-million, but The Simpson's and all the other codswallop from the U S of A JUST DOESN'T DO ANYTHING for me; Pam Ayres does, in bucketloads!


Oh what a joy!, 07 Feb 2007
I'm usually into thrillers but saw Pam Ayres promoting her book on the TV and asked my husband to get it for me as one of my Christmas presents, saying that I could do with a giggle.

Well, what can I say? First thing that struck me was that whilst reading it, (to myself, not even out loud), I found that I was reading it with an endearing Pam Ayres accent! Couldn't help myself and it just made it all so much more real somehow.

Her tales of times growing up brought back lots of lovely memories of my own happy childhood. Wish I'd known about that handy trick to catch crayfish though, love those.

All the tales are just so what could happen to any of us and probably has or will at some point in our lives but she just has such a wonderful way of expressing them.

I foolishly started reading this just before bedtime and naturally couldn't put it down until it was finished. Resulting in some very strange sideways glances from my almost sleeping husband as I tried to stifle my chuckles once I'd made it up to bed with the book.

This was a real pleasure to read and some welcome light relief from my usual genre of thrillers. I've never read any Pam Ayres books before, but will certainly be reading more in future. I'm sure her older works are equally as laughable.

Our National Treasure!, 30 Nov 2006
Isn't Pam Ayres wonderful! What a National Treasure!! These bite-sized reads, whether poem or prose, ring with her Oxfordshire accent and the twinkle in her eye. As a fine reflection of the quirks of middle-aged life, I hope my wife will forgive me for giving her this title for Christmas.

Brilliant , 22 Nov 2006
A brilliant read poetry to make you laugh, her style is always quirky I wish I could write as she. I would recommend to any one who needs a little light entertainment. I can still see her renditions from years ago and always believed she was the female version of Benny Hill with her facial expressions as she recited her works.

Always Promised Myself, 21 Oct 2007
a Pam Ayres book, but never got off my backside to get one, then this wagged its 'come hither' finger at me in Asda last Saturday. Always enjoyed her work, she's not on TV enough, but is 'On Tour' right now, I found, if you check her website
This book is a cracker and will have you chuckling along all the way through, because Pam always writes about events we can relate to, which is her great strength.
Get a copy, then, like I'm planning to do, get some of her other books from Amazon; my idleness has now been cured, as laughter, is indeed, a wonderful thing. She dishes up exceptionally good British humour in a world where American humour seems to be trying to take over, and OK, maybe I'm one-in-a-million, but The Simpson's and all the other codswallop from the U S of A JUST DOESN'T DO ANYTHING for me; Pam Ayres does, in bucketloads!


Oh what a joy!, 07 Feb 2007
I'm usually into thrillers but saw Pam Ayres promoting her book on the TV and asked my husband to get it for me as one of my Christmas presents, saying that I could do with a giggle.

Well, what can I say? First thing that struck me was that whilst reading it, (to myself, not even out loud), I found that I was reading it with an endearing Pam Ayres accent! Couldn't help myself and it just made it all so much more real somehow.

Her tales of times growing up brought back lots of lovely memories of my own happy childhood. Wish I'd known about that handy trick to catch crayfish though, love those.

All the tales are just so what could happen to any of us and probably has or will at some point in our lives but she just has such a wonderful way of expressing them.

I foolishly started reading this just before bedtime and naturally couldn't put it down until it was finished. Resulting in some very strange sideways glances from my almost sleeping husband as I tried to stifle my chuckles once I'd made it up to bed with the book.

This was a real pleasure to read and some welcome light relief from my usual genre of thrillers. I've never read any Pam Ayres books before, but will certainly be reading more in future. I'm sure her older works are equally as laughable.

Our National Treasure!, 30 Nov 2006
Isn't Pam Ayres wonderful! What a National Treasure!! These bite-sized reads, whether poem or prose, ring with her Oxfordshire accent and the twinkle in her eye. As a fine reflection of the quirks of middle-aged life, I hope my wife will forgive me for giving her this title for Christmas.

Brilliant , 22 Nov 2006
A brilliant read poetry to make you laugh, her style is always quirky I wish I could write as she. I would recommend to any one who needs a little light entertainment. I can still see her renditions from years ago and always believed she was the female version of Benny Hill with her facial expressions as she recited her works.

Burns for the family, 16 Oct 2008
A great guide to how to organise a family Burns Night.

This was originally given out free with The Sunday Post, and it is a tribute to the power of Scotland's first family that it has become neccessary to reissue the booklet to reach a wider audience.

To those who have already purchased Maw Broon's Cookbook or The But and Ben Cookbook, I say, "Go ahead. You won't be disappointed!"

Always Promised Myself, 21 Oct 2007
a Pam Ayres book, but never got off my backside to get one, then this wagged its 'come hither' finger at me in Asda last Saturday. Always enjoyed her work, she's not on TV enough, but is 'On Tour' right now, I found, if you check her website
This book is a cracker and will have you chuckling along all the way through, because Pam always writes about events we can relate to, which is her great strength.
Get a copy, then, like I'm planning to do, get some of her other books from Amazon; my idleness has now been cured, as laughter, is indeed, a wonderful thing. She dishes up exceptionally good British humour in a world where American humour seems to be trying to take over, and OK, maybe I'm one-in-a-million, but The Simpson's and all the other codswallop from the U S of A JUST DOESN'T DO ANYTHING for me; Pam Ayres does, in bucketloads!


Oh what a joy!, 07 Feb 2007
I'm usually into thrillers but saw Pam Ayres promoting her book on the TV and asked my husband to get it for me as one of my Christmas presents, saying that I could do with a giggle.

Well, what can I say? First thing that struck me was that whilst reading it, (to myself, not even out loud), I found that I was reading it with an endearing Pam Ayres accent! Couldn't help myself and it just made it all so much more real somehow.

Her tales of times growing up brought back lots of lovely memories of my own happy childhood. Wish I'd known about that handy trick to catch crayfish though, love those.

All the tales are just so what could happen to any of us and probably has or will at some point in our lives but she just has such a wonderful way of expressing them.

I foolishly started reading this just before bedtime and naturally couldn't put it down until it was finished. Resulting in some very strange sideways glances from my almost sleeping husband as I tried to stifle my chuckles once I'd made it up to bed with the book.

This was a real pleasure to read and some welcome light relief from my usual genre of thrillers. I've never read any Pam Ayres books before, but will certainly be reading more in future. I'm sure her older works are equally as laughable.

Our National Treasure!, 30 Nov 2006
Isn't Pam Ayres wonderful! What a National Treasure!! These bite-sized reads, whether poem or prose, ring with her Oxfordshire accent and the twinkle in her eye. As a fine reflection of the quirks of middle-aged life, I hope my wife will forgive me for giving her this title for Christmas.

Brilliant , 22 Nov 2006
A brilliant read poetry to make you laugh, her style is always quirky I wish I could write as she. I would recommend to any one who needs a little light entertainment. I can still see her renditions from years ago and always believed she was the female version of Benny Hill with her facial expressions as she recited her works.

Burns for the family, 16 Oct 2008
A great guide to how to organise a family Burns Night.

This was originally given out free with The Sunday Post, and it is a tribute to the power of Scotland's first family that it has become neccessary to reissue the booklet to reach a wider audience.

To those who have already purchased Maw Broon's Cookbook or The But and Ben Cookbook, I say, "Go ahead. You won't be disappointed!"

Beautiful, 25 Sep 2008
The intricacy, layout and artistry of this book is amazing. My children (5 and 2) absolutely love it although they do need to be reminded to be careful of the popups but so far it's survived many readings and curious fingers. Absolutely recommended, especially as a gift.

Wow!, 10 Sep 2007
This is just a beautiful piece of work. Must confess we haven't had the heart to let our 2 and half years old play with it, though... It'd be a real shame if it got damaged!

Simply the Best, 09 Jun 2006

The creativity in use of colors and images, and the attention to detail makes it for a beautiful art. Sabuda does bring the Christmas spirit to your home. In fact, I think that this is one of the best Christmas books around. This is because it is a perfect Christmas gift not only for the smallest of children but for the whole family. Being an adult I also enjoy it. All children at my 9-years-old daughter's class made a big order for Sabuda's "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Night Before Christmas" together with Nowiki's two books from the series "Why some cats are rascals". The teacher's smart idea made for a great savings on shipping costs



A stunning book to treasure, 02 Jun 2006
What an amazing, beautiful book. Every page has elaborately crafted pop-ups that compliment the well-known poem. Before I showed it to my son I must have spent an hour going back and forth through the pages enjoying the scenes for myself.

An earlier reviewer said that it was a book unsuitable for young children. I would say that it very much depends on the child in question. My 2 year old was thrilled by the book. It was intended for use only over the Christmas period, to be put away and stored until the following festive season. I think we actually managed to put it away in March, not because he tired of it but after repeated discussions about Christmas being over.

Not only did my little boy love the book, but he did not damage it. The book IS delicate and is not for unsupervised use by small children. But if children have reasonable language skills and can be trusted to do what they are told they can enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the poem while an adult holds the book and turns the pages.

After buying this book I ordered several more copies as gifts for friends' children next Christmas as well as several other books by this unusally talented man.

Not suitable for under 5s, 20 Oct 2005
I have just returned this book as the pop ups were too scary for my children. Purchasers should note that they are mainly white, elaborate paper cut outs. It definitely did not appeal to my two (5 and 2). The pop ups are very detailed (and therefore subject to potential immediate distruction by anyone aged under 3) but not in the least bit traditional. If you have pre-schoolers my recommendation would be to steer clear of this version of this book. It may appeal to adults/older children, but our family were very disappointed.

Always Promised Myself, 21 Oct 2007
a Pam Ayres book, but never got off my backside to get one, then this wagged its 'come hither' finger at me in Asda last Saturday. Always enjoyed her work, she's not on TV enough, but is 'On Tour' right now, I found, if you check her website
This book is a cracker and will have you chuckling along all the way through, because Pam always writes about events we can relate to, which is her great strength.
Get a copy, then, like I'm planning to do, get some of her other books from Amazon; my idleness has now been cured, as laughter, is indeed, a wonderful thing. She dishes up exceptionally good British humour in a world where American humour seems to be trying to take over, and OK, maybe I'm one-in-a-million, but The Simpson's and all the other codswallop from the U S of A JUST DOESN'T DO ANYTHING for me; Pam Ayres does, in bucketloads!


Oh what a joy!, 07 Feb 2007
I'm usually into thrillers but saw Pam Ayres promoting her book on the TV and asked my husband to get it for me as one of my Christmas presents, saying that I could do with a giggle.

Well, what can I say? First thing that struck me was that whilst reading it, (to myself, not even out loud), I found that I was reading it with an endearing Pam Ayres accent! Couldn't help myself and it just made it all so much more real somehow.

Her tales of times growing up brought back lots of lovely memories of my own happy childhood. Wish I'd known about that handy trick to catch crayfish though, love those.

All the tales are just so what could happen to any of us and probably has or will at some point in our lives but she just has such a wonderful way of expressing them.

I foolishly started reading this just before bedtime and naturally couldn't put it down until it was finished. Resulting in some very strange sideways glances from my almost sleeping husband as I tried to stifle my chuckles once I'd made it up to bed with the book.

This was a real pleasure to read and some welcome light relief from my usual genre of thrillers. I've never read any Pam Ayres books before, but will certainly be reading more in future. I'm sure her older works are equally as laughable.

Our National Treasure!, 30 Nov 2006
Isn't Pam Ayres wonderful! What a National Treasure!! These bite-sized reads, whether poem or prose, ring with her Oxfordshire accent and the twinkle in her eye. As a fine reflection of the quirks of middle-aged life, I hope my wife will forgive me for giving her this title for Christmas.

Brilliant , 22 Nov 2006
A brilliant read poetry to make you laugh, her style is always quirky I wish I could write as she. I would recommend to any one who needs a little light entertainment. I can still see her renditions from years ago and always believed she was the female version of Benny Hill with her facial expressions as she recited her works.

Burns for the family, 16 Oct 2008
A great guide to how to organise a family Burns Night.

This was originally given out free with The Sunday Post, and it is a tribute to the power of Scotland's first family that it has become neccessary to reissue the booklet to reach a wider audience.

To those who have already purchased Maw Broon's Cookbook or The But and Ben Cookbook, I say, "Go ahead. You won't be disappointed!"

Beautiful, 25 Sep 2008
The intricacy, layout and artistry of this book is amazing. My children (5 and 2) absolutely love it although they do need to be reminded to be careful of the popups but so far it's survived many readings and curious fingers. Absolutely recommended, especially as a gift.

Wow!, 10 Sep 2007
This is just a beautiful piece of work. Must confess we haven't had the heart to let our 2 and half years old play with it, though... It'd be a real shame if it got damaged!

Simply the Best, 09 Jun 2006

The creativity in use of colors and images, and the attention to detail makes it for a beautiful art. Sabuda does bring the Christmas spirit to your home. In fact, I think that this is one of the best Christmas books around. This is because it is a perfect Christmas gift not only for the smallest of children but for the whole family. Being an adult I also enjoy it. All children at my 9-years-old daughter's class made a big order for Sabuda's "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Night Before Christmas" together with Nowiki's two books from the series "Why some cats are rascals". The teacher's smart idea made for a great savings on shipping costs



A stunning book to treasure, 02 Jun 2006
What an amazing, beautiful book. Every page has elaborately crafted pop-ups that compliment the well-known poem. Before I showed it to my son I must have spent an hour going back and forth through the pages enjoying the scenes for myself.

An earlier reviewer said that it was a book unsuitable for young children. I would say that it very much depends on the child in question. My 2 year old was thrilled by the book. It was intended for use only over the Christmas period, to be put away and stored until the following festive season. I think we actually managed to put it away in March, not because he tired of it but after repeated discussions about Christmas being over.

Not only did my little boy love the book, but he did not damage it. The book IS delicate and is not for unsupervised use by small children. But if children have reasonable language skills and can be trusted to do what they are told they can enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the poem while an adult holds the book and turns the pages.

After buying this book I ordered several more copies as gifts for friends' children next Christmas as well as several other books by this unusally talented man.

Not suitable for under 5s, 20 Oct 2005
I have just returned this book as the pop ups were too scary for my children. Purchasers should note that they are mainly white, elaborate paper cut outs. It definitely did not appeal to my two (5 and 2). The pop ups are very detailed (and therefore subject to potential immediate distruction by anyone aged under 3) but not in the least bit traditional. If you have pre-schoolers my recommendation would be to steer clear of this version of this book. It may appeal to adults/older children, but our family were very disappointed.

Terribly Tricky tongue twisters!, 02 Feb 2008
Dr. Seuss, the famous author of `The Cat in the Hat' and `how the Grinch stole Christmas', has written this masterpiece (which is tricky to say)!
Fox in Socks is a brilliant board for books and it is a book of crazy tongue twisters. It is a simple, sturdy book for babies of all ages (as it says on the back). Dr. Seuss is great if you want a laugh or you need some cheering up (although hit might frustrate you at times)!
In this book, there is a fox, Knox, chicks, Sue and Slow Joe Crow. In addition, an unnamed chicken chews the blue gooey goo. I think this book is lovely but the events are very, very, very random. I would rate this book 7/ 10 and I would recommend it to all children and fun-loving adults.


Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses through Thorough Thoughts,, 29 Aug 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning about reading aloud: "The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end wondering how numb your tongue is from reading aloud.

Everybody can handle the first page but it soon goes to maximum difficulty.

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end.

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Based on the universal truth that all children (and quite a few adults) find pants hysterically amusing, Pants by Purple Ronnie creator Giles Andreae is an unashamedly silly celebration of "smalls" big and small.

Written in the style of a playground rhyme, Pants is illustrated by prolific children's illustrator Nick Sharratt in his trademark bold, colourful style. Andreae and Sharratt's imaginations have evidently run wild with the collection on offer here, including "lighting up at night pants" and "special pants for driving the car", modelled by animal characters as well as people. Frilly, jewel-encrusted, baggy, psychedelic, every conceivable type of pants is here.

Pants is a frivolous, fun read suitable for children aged two upwards.--Alison Drury

Always Promised Myself, 21 Oct 2007
a Pam Ayres book, but never got off my backside to get one, then this wagged its 'come hither' finger at me in Asda last Saturday. Always enjoyed her work, she's not on TV enough, but is 'On Tour' right now, I found, if you check her website
This book is a cracker and will have you chuckling along all the way through, because Pam always writes about events we can relate to, which is her great strength.
Get a copy, then, like I'm planning to do, get some of her other books from Amazon; my idleness has now been cured, as laughter, is indeed, a wonderful thing. She dishes up exceptionally good British humour in a world where American humour seems to be trying to take over, and OK, maybe I'm one-in-a-million, but The Simpson's and all the other codswallop from the U S of A JUST DOESN'T DO ANYTHING for me; Pam Ayres does, in bucketloads!


Oh what a joy!, 07 Feb 2007
I'm usually into thrillers but saw Pam Ayres promoting her book on the TV and asked my husband to get it for me as one of my Christmas presents, saying that I could do with a giggle.

Well, what can I say? First thing that struck me was that whilst reading it, (to myself, not even out loud), I found that I was reading it with an endearing Pam Ayres accent! Couldn't help myself and it just made it all so much more real somehow.

Her tales of times growing up brought back lots of lovely memories of my own happy childhood. Wish I'd known about that handy trick to catch crayfish though, love those.

All the tales are just so what could happen to any of us and probably has or will at some point in our lives but she just has such a wonderful way of expressing them.

I foolishly started reading this just before bedtime and naturally couldn't put it down until it was finished. Resulting in some very strange sideways glances from my almost sleeping husband as I tried to stifle my chuckles once I'd made it up to bed with the book.

This was a real pleasure to read and some welcome light relief from my usual genre of thrillers. I've never read any Pam Ayres books before, but will certainly be reading more in future. I'm sure her older works are equally as laughable.

Our National Treasure!, 30 Nov 2006
Isn't Pam Ayres wonderful! What a National Treasure!! These bite-sized reads, whether poem or prose, ring with her Oxfordshire accent and the twinkle in her eye. As a fine reflection of the quirks of middle-aged life, I hope my wife will forgive me for giving her this title for Christmas.

Brilliant , 22 Nov 2006
A brilliant read poetry to make you laugh, her style is always quirky I wish I could write as she. I would recommend to any one who needs a little light entertainment. I can still see her renditions from years ago and always believed she was the female version of Benny Hill with her facial expressions as she recited her works.

Burns for the family, 16 Oct 2008
A great guide to how to organise a family Burns Night.

This was originally given out free with The Sunday Post, and it is a tribute to the power of Scotland's first family that it has become neccessary to reissue the booklet to reach a wider audience.

To those who have already purchased Maw Broon's Cookbook or The But and Ben Cookbook, I say, "Go ahead. You won't be disappointed!"

Beautiful, 25 Sep 2008
The intricacy, layout and artistry of this book is amazing. My children (5 and 2) absolutely love it although they do need to be reminded to be careful of the popups but so far it's survived many readings and curious fingers. Absolutely recommended, especially as a gift.

Wow!, 10 Sep 2007
This is just a beautiful piece of work. Must confess we haven't had the heart to let our 2 and half years old play with it, though... It'd be a real shame if it got damaged!

Simply the Best, 09 Jun 2006

The creativity in use of colors and images, and the attention to detail makes it for a beautiful art. Sabuda does bring the Christmas spirit to your home. In fact, I think that this is one of the best Christmas books around. This is because it is a perfect Christmas gift not only for the smallest of children but for the whole family. Being an adult I also enjoy it. All children at my 9-years-old daughter's class made a big order for Sabuda's "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Night Before Christmas" together with Nowiki's two books from the series "Why some cats are rascals". The teacher's smart idea made for a great savings on shipping costs



A stunning book to treasure, 02 Jun 2006
What an amazing, beautiful book. Every page has elaborately crafted pop-ups that compliment the well-known poem. Before I showed it to my son I must have spent an hour going back and forth through the pages enjoying the scenes for myself.

An earlier reviewer said that it was a book unsuitable for young children. I would say that it very much depends on the child in question. My 2 year old was thrilled by the book. It was intended for use only over the Christmas period, to be put away and stored until the following festive season. I think we actually managed to put it away in March, not because he tired of it but after repeated discussions about Christmas being over.

Not only did my little boy love the book, but he did not damage it. The book IS delicate and is not for unsupervised use by small children. But if children have reasonable language skills and can be trusted to do what they are told they can enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the poem while an adult holds the book and turns the pages.

After buying this book I ordered several more copies as gifts for friends' children next Christmas as well as several other books by this unusally talented man.

Not suitable for under 5s, 20 Oct 2005
I have just returned this book as the pop ups were too scary for my children. Purchasers should note that they are mainly white, elaborate paper cut outs. It definitely did not appeal to my two (5 and 2). The pop ups are very detailed (and therefore subject to potential immediate distruction by anyone aged under 3) but not in the least bit traditional. If you have pre-schoolers my recommendation would be to steer clear of this version of this book. It may appeal to adults/older children, but our family were very disappointed.

Terribly Tricky tongue twisters!, 02 Feb 2008
Dr. Seuss, the famous author of `The Cat in the Hat' and `how the Grinch stole Christmas', has written this masterpiece (which is tricky to say)!
Fox in Socks is a brilliant board for books and it is a book of crazy tongue twisters. It is a simple, sturdy book for babies of all ages (as it says on the back). Dr. Seuss is great if you want a laugh or you need some cheering up (although hit might frustrate you at times)!
In this book, there is a fox, Knox, chicks, Sue and Slow Joe Crow. In addition, an unnamed chicken chews the blue gooey goo. I think this book is lovely but the events are very, very, very random. I would rate this book 7/ 10 and I would recommend it to all children and fun-loving adults.


Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses through Thorough Thoughts,, 29 Aug 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning about reading aloud: "The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end wondering how numb your tongue is from reading aloud.

Everybody can handle the first page but it soon goes to maximum difficulty.

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end.

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Boring book, 19 Oct 2008
My daughter was easily bored with this book, we found it funny the first couple of times we read it but after that it just seems boring. It is too simple, probably better for smaller children as my 4 year old wanted more!

One of the best kids books around!, 27 Aug 2008
My kids, husband & I adore this book and never tire of it. We all know it off by heart and each of us has a favourite type of pants in the book. We have bought many copies to give as gifts and would thoroughly recommend to all. Caution - it is not the sort of book to read at bedtime when trying to settle your children down quietly as you cant help but shout and laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're now off to buy "More Pants"!!!!!!

This is a fantastic book!, 23 Feb 2008
I bought this book originally as a gift, but after reading it i ended up buying two copies. All three of my chidren adore this book, when my daughter came along she destroyed the paperback copy so i bought it again this time in board format!!! We have read it so many times that the whole family know it word for word now. Fantastic bright colourful illustrations and quirky rhyming make this a silly but funny book which everyone will adore. A Must-Have Book!

Pantastic, 19 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book which has become a childhood classic and a favourite in our house. It has wonderful rhymes which the children love to copy and remember, and usually wildly embroider with their own version! It also has fantastically cheeky illustrations by Nick Sharratt which add hugely to the humour and work brilliantly with the bold rhyme.

We have two versions of this in our house. We have the paperback for our older kids and the chunky version for the baby, who hates to be left out and loves his pants too!

We found this a godsend when we were potty training, and used the illustrations on a reward chart for dry days in big kids pants. It worked brilliantly and we have much to thank Nick Sharratt for.

Pants Fantastic!, 07 Jan 2008
Pants is our family's fave. Our daughter is especially fond of "Pants on your head when you've gone crazy!". Will create many happy memories.

Always Promised Myself, 21 Oct 2007
a Pam Ayres book, but never got off my backside to get one, then this wagged its 'come hither' finger at me in Asda last Saturday. Always enjoyed her work, she's not on TV enough, but is 'On Tour' right now, I found, if you check her website
This book is a cracker and will have you chuckling along all the way through, because Pam always writes about events we can relate to, which is her great strength.
Get a copy, then, like I'm planning to do, get some of her other books from Amazon; my idleness has now been cured, as laughter, is indeed, a wonderful thing. She dishes up exceptionally good British humour in a world where American humour seems to be trying to take over, and OK, maybe I'm one-in-a-million, but The Simpson's and all the other codswallop from the U S of A JUST DOESN'T DO ANYTHING for me; Pam Ayres does, in bucketloads!


Oh what a joy!, 07 Feb 2007
I'm usually into thrillers but saw Pam Ayres promoting her book on the TV and asked my husband to get it for me as one of my Christmas presents, saying that I could do with a giggle.

Well, what can I say? First thing that struck me was that whilst reading it, (to myself, not even out loud), I found that I was reading it with an endearing Pam Ayres accent! Couldn't help myself and it just made it all so much more real somehow.

Her tales of times growing up brought back lots of lovely memories of my own happy childhood. Wish I'd known about that handy trick to catch crayfish though, love those.

All the tales are just so what could happen to any of us and probably has or will at some point in our lives but she just has such a wonderful way of expressing them.

I foolishly started reading this just before bedtime and naturally couldn't put it down until it was finished. Resulting in some very strange sideways glances from my almost sleeping husband as I tried to stifle my chuckles once I'd made it up to bed with the book.

This was a real pleasure to read and some welcome light relief from my usual genre of thrillers. I've never read any Pam Ayres books before, but will certainly be reading more in future. I'm sure her older works are equally as laughable.

Our National Treasure!, 30 Nov 2006
Isn't Pam Ayres wonderful! What a National Treasure!! These bite-sized reads, whether poem or prose, ring with her Oxfordshire accent and the twinkle in her eye. As a fine reflection of the quirks of middle-aged life, I hope my wife will forgive me for giving her this title for Christmas.

Brilliant , 22 Nov 2006
A brilliant read poetry to make you laugh, her style is always quirky I wish I could write as she. I would recommend to any one who needs a little light entertainment. I can still see her renditions from years ago and always believed she was the female version of Benny Hill with her facial expressions as she recited her works.

Burns for the family, 16 Oct 2008
A great guide to how to organise a family Burns Night.

This was originally given out free with The Sunday Post, and it is a tribute to the power of Scotland's first family that it has become neccessary to reissue the booklet to reach a wider audience.

To those who have already purchased Maw Broon's Cookbook or The But and Ben Cookbook, I say, "Go ahead. You won't be disappointed!"

Beautiful, 25 Sep 2008
The intricacy, layout and artistry of this book is amazing. My children (5 and 2) absolutely love it although they do need to be reminded to be careful of the popups but so far it's survived many readings and curious fingers. Absolutely recommended, especially as a gift.

Wow!, 10 Sep 2007
This is just a beautiful piece of work. Must confess we haven't had the heart to let our 2 and half years old play with it, though... It'd be a real shame if it got damaged!

Simply the Best, 09 Jun 2006

The creativity in use of colors and images, and the attention to detail makes it for a beautiful art. Sabuda does bring the Christmas spirit to your home. In fact, I think that this is one of the best Christmas books around. This is because it is a perfect Christmas gift not only for the smallest of children but for the whole family. Being an adult I also enjoy it. All children at my 9-years-old daughter's class made a big order for Sabuda's "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Night Before Christmas" together with Nowiki's two books from the series "Why some cats are rascals". The teacher's smart idea made for a great savings on shipping costs



A stunning book to treasure, 02 Jun 2006
What an amazing, beautiful book. Every page has elaborately crafted pop-ups that compliment the well-known poem. Before I showed it to my son I must have spent an hour going back and forth through the pages enjoying the scenes for myself.

An earlier reviewer said that it was a book unsuitable for young children. I would say that it very much depends on the child in question. My 2 year old was thrilled by the book. It was intended for use only over the Christmas period, to be put away and stored until the following festive season. I think we actually managed to put it away in March, not because he tired of it but after repeated discussions about Christmas being over.

Not only did my little boy love the book, but he did not damage it. The book IS delicate and is not for unsupervised use by small children. But if children have reasonable language skills and can be trusted to do what they are told they can enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the poem while an adult holds the book and turns the pages.

After buying this book I ordered several more copies as gifts for friends' children next Christmas as well as several other books by this unusally talented man.

Not suitable for under 5s, 20 Oct 2005
I have just returned this book as the pop ups were too scary for my children. Purchasers should note that they are mainly white, elaborate paper cut outs. It definitely did not appeal to my two (5 and 2). The pop ups are very detailed (and therefore subject to potential immediate distruction by anyone aged under 3) but not in the least bit traditional. If you have pre-schoolers my recommendation would be to steer clear of this version of this book. It may appeal to adults/older children, but our family were very disappointed.

Terribly Tricky tongue twisters!, 02 Feb 2008
Dr. Seuss, the famous author of `The Cat in the Hat' and `how the Grinch stole Christmas', has written this masterpiece (which is tricky to say)!
Fox in Socks is a brilliant board for books and it is a book of crazy tongue twisters. It is a simple, sturdy book for babies of all ages (as it says on the back). Dr. Seuss is great if you want a laugh or you need some cheering up (although hit might frustrate you at times)!
In this book, there is a fox, Knox, chicks, Sue and Slow Joe Crow. In addition, an unnamed chicken chews the blue gooey goo. I think this book is lovely but the events are very, very, very random. I would rate this book 7/ 10 and I would recommend it to all children and fun-loving adults.


Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses through Thorough Thoughts,, 29 Aug 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning about reading aloud: "The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end wondering how numb your tongue is from reading aloud.

Everybody can handle the first page but it soon goes to maximum difficulty.

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end.

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses Through Thorough Thoughts, 19 May 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning: "This is a book you READ ALOUD to find out how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end. "How is your Tongue Numb?"

Everybody can handle the first page. "Fox Socks Box Knox" But it gets harder, "They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle."

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end. "When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetle battles with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call . . . a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled muddled fox in sox, sir!"

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Boring book, 19 Oct 2008
My daughter was easily bored with this book, we found it funny the first couple of times we read it but after that it just seems boring. It is too simple, probably better for smaller children as my 4 year old wanted more!

One of the best kids books around!, 27 Aug 2008
My kids, husband & I adore this book and never tire of it. We all know it off by heart and each of us has a favourite type of pants in the book. We have bought many copies to give as gifts and would thoroughly recommend to all. Caution - it is not the sort of book to read at bedtime when trying to settle your children down quietly as you cant help but shout and laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're now off to buy "More Pants"!!!!!!

This is a fantastic book!, 23 Feb 2008
I bought this book originally as a gift, but after reading it i ended up buying two copies. All three of my chidren adore this book, when my daughter came along she destroyed the paperback copy so i bought it again this time in board format!!! We have read it so many times that the whole family know it word for word now. Fantastic bright colourful illustrations and quirky rhyming make this a silly but funny book which everyone will adore. A Must-Have Book!

Pantastic, 19 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book which has become a childhood classic and a favourite in our house. It has wonderful rhymes which the children love to copy and remember, and usually wildly embroider with their own version! It also has fantastically cheeky illustrations by Nick Sharratt which add hugely to the humour and work brilliantly with the bold rhyme.

We have two versions of this in our house. We have the paperback for our older kids and the chunky version for the baby, who hates to be left out and loves his pants too!

We found this a godsend when we were potty training, and used the illustrations on a reward chart for dry days in big kids pants. It worked brilliantly and we have much to thank Nick Sharratt for.

Pants Fantastic!, 07 Jan 2008
Pants is our family's fave. Our daughter is especially fond of "Pants on your head when you've gone crazy!". Will create many happy memories.

AA Milne admirers, beware, 30 Jun 2008
This is NOTHING like Milne.

Yes, it is funny, if you like puerile, smutty and sometimes weak jokes.
It has far more in common with Ogden Nash than Milne, but Christopher Matthew lacks Nash's talent.
Eccles' illustrations are excellent, and do remind one of Shephard's.

I am not yet sixty, but getting there fast, and am old enough to remember
the early editions of Pooh and company fondly.
The inside dust jacket review of my copy of 'Sixty' calls this an "affectionate tribute to Milne". In my opinion Matthew has deliberately mis-packaged his work to make money off Milne's place in our hearts.

Great book., 29 Apr 2008
Great fun, great value, Makes a super gift for the person coming upto 60.
Swift delivery.

Ken Baker
Wakefield.

A DELIGHT!, 03 Apr 2007
I ordered this book from Amazon because I wanted to give it to a friend for her 60th birthday, but first of all, I fell in love with the front cover. It is brilliant, with the image of a decaying dust cover over a cloth one.
Then the illustrations are wonderful so I looked at all of those first.
And then .......
I read the utterly delightful verses!
I showed it to another friend who took the book from me and all the time that we talked, clutched the book and I couldn't ask for it back. So I gave it to her and she cried with pleasure.
Now I have to order another one (or two).
It is such a wonderfully written and presented book and of course, it brings back memories of the original 'Now that we are Six' and there's no harm in remembering that book.
Do buy it, whether for yourself or for a friend.


Hilarious, a must have book for anyone who loves humour, 04 Jan 2002
Many years ago I found a book in a book shop that made me laugh out loud so much I had to buy it, if only to avoid the withering glances I was getting from other customers and the staff. That book was The Diary of Adrian Mole; I read it a good while before it became well known and turned into a TV series.

It has taken me all this time to find another book that had the same effect. Now We Are Sixty by Christopher Matthew is that book.

I stood in the bookshop unable to stop laughing. And I'm no where near sixty yet! I gave a copy to my father in law for Christmas and he loved it.

It does help if you are familiar with the original poems by Milne, that way you get the rhyme in your head and the poem flows better. but even if you are not you will appreciate the remix of of Milne's work. The weird joining together of a wistful longing for the past, plus cynical observations of modern life and sureal poetry really works well.

What else can I say? The book will be a classic of humourous poetry for years to come. Buy it, read it, love it.

For anyone who ever appreciated A A Milne......, 29 Nov 2000
I am not yet sixty! I opened this book as an A A Milne lover. And closed it as a Christopher Matthews lover too. The modern translation hits home! One can't help but to identify!! Fun. Idiosyncratic.

Always Promised Myself, 21 Oct 2007
a Pam Ayres book, but never got off my backside to get one, then this wagged its 'come hither' finger at me in Asda last Saturday. Always enjoyed her work, she's not on TV enough, but is 'On Tour' right now, I found, if you check her website
This book is a cracker and will have you chuckling along all the way through, because Pam always writes about events we can relate to, which is her great strength.
Get a copy, then, like I'm planning to do, get some of her other books from Amazon; my idleness has now been cured, as laughter, is indeed, a wonderful thing. She dishes up exceptionally good British humour in a world where American humour seems to be trying to take over, and OK, maybe I'm one-in-a-million, but The Simpson's and all the other codswallop from the U S of A JUST DOESN'T DO ANYTHING for me; Pam Ayres does, in bucketloads!


Oh what a joy!, 07 Feb 2007
I'm usually into thrillers but saw Pam Ayres promoting her book on the TV and asked my husband to get it for me as one of my Christmas presents, saying that I could do with a giggle.

Well, what can I say? First thing that struck me was that whilst reading it, (to myself, not even out loud), I found that I was reading it with an endearing Pam Ayres accent! Couldn't help myself and it just made it all so much more real somehow.

Her tales of times growing up brought back lots of lovely memories of my own happy childhood. Wish I'd known about that handy trick to catch crayfish though, love those.

All the tales are just so what could happen to any of us and probably has or will at some point in our lives but she just has such a wonderful way of expressing them.

I foolishly started reading this just before bedtime and naturally couldn't put it down until it was finished. Resulting in some very strange sideways glances from my almost sleeping husband as I tried to stifle my chuckles once I'd made it up to bed with the book.

This was a real pleasure to read and some welcome light relief from my usual genre of thrillers. I've never read any Pam Ayres books before, but will certainly be reading more in future. I'm sure her older works are equally as laughable.

Our National Treasure!, 30 Nov 2006
Isn't Pam Ayres wonderful! What a National Treasure!! These bite-sized reads, whether poem or prose, ring with her Oxfordshire accent and the twinkle in her eye. As a fine reflection of the quirks of middle-aged life, I hope my wife will forgive me for giving her this title for Christmas.

Brilliant , 22 Nov 2006
A brilliant read poetry to make you laugh, her style is always quirky I wish I could write as she. I would recommend to any one who needs a little light entertainment. I can still see her renditions from years ago and always believed she was the female version of Benny Hill with her facial expressions as she recited her works.

Burns for the family, 16 Oct 2008
A great guide to how to organise a family Burns Night.

This was originally given out free with The Sunday Post, and it is a tribute to the power of Scotland's first family that it has become neccessary to reissue the booklet to reach a wider audience.

To those who have already purchased Maw Broon's Cookbook or The But and Ben Cookbook, I say, "Go ahead. You won't be disappointed!"

Beautiful, 25 Sep 2008
The intricacy, layout and artistry of this book is amazing. My children (5 and 2) absolutely love it although they do need to be reminded to be careful of the popups but so far it's survived many readings and curious fingers. Absolutely recommended, especially as a gift.

Wow!, 10 Sep 2007
This is just a beautiful piece of work. Must confess we haven't had the heart to let our 2 and half years old play with it, though... It'd be a real shame if it got damaged!

Simply the Best, 09 Jun 2006

The creativity in use of colors and images, and the attention to detail makes it for a beautiful art. Sabuda does bring the Christmas spirit to your home. In fact, I think that this is one of the best Christmas books around. This is because it is a perfect Christmas gift not only for the smallest of children but for the whole family. Being an adult I also enjoy it. All children at my 9-years-old daughter's class made a big order for Sabuda's "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Night Before Christmas" together with Nowiki's two books from the series "Why some cats are rascals". The teacher's smart idea made for a great savings on shipping costs



A stunning book to treasure, 02 Jun 2006
What an amazing, beautiful book. Every page has elaborately crafted pop-ups that compliment the well-known poem. Before I showed it to my son I must have spent an hour going back and forth through the pages enjoying the scenes for myself.

An earlier reviewer said that it was a book unsuitable for young children. I would say that it very much depends on the child in question. My 2 year old was thrilled by the book. It was intended for use only over the Christmas period, to be put away and stored until the following festive season. I think we actually managed to put it away in March, not because he tired of it but after repeated discussions about Christmas being over.

Not only did my little boy love the book, but he did not damage it. The book IS delicate and is not for unsupervised use by small children. But if children have reasonable language skills and can be trusted to do what they are told they can enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the poem while an adult holds the book and turns the pages.

After buying this book I ordered several more copies as gifts for friends' children next Christmas as well as several other books by this unusally talented man.

Not suitable for under 5s, 20 Oct 2005
I have just returned this book as the pop ups were too scary for my children. Purchasers should note that they are mainly white, elaborate paper cut outs. It definitely did not appeal to my two (5 and 2). The pop ups are very detailed (and therefore subject to potential immediate distruction by anyone aged under 3) but not in the least bit traditional. If you have pre-schoolers my recommendation would be to steer clear of this version of this book. It may appeal to adults/older children, but our family were very disappointed.

Terribly Tricky tongue twisters!, 02 Feb 2008
Dr. Seuss, the famous author of `The Cat in the Hat' and `how the Grinch stole Christmas', has written this masterpiece (which is tricky to say)!
Fox in Socks is a brilliant board for books and it is a book of crazy tongue twisters. It is a simple, sturdy book for babies of all ages (as it says on the back). Dr. Seuss is great if you want a laugh or you need some cheering up (although hit might frustrate you at times)!
In this book, there is a fox, Knox, chicks, Sue and Slow Joe Crow. In addition, an unnamed chicken chews the blue gooey goo. I think this book is lovely but the events are very, very, very random. I would rate this book 7/ 10 and I would recommend it to all children and fun-loving adults.


Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses through Thorough Thoughts,, 29 Aug 2004
This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning about reading aloud: "The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end wondering how numb your tongue is from reading aloud.

Everybody can handle the first page but it soon goes to maximum difficulty.

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end.

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not r