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

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.

Let yourself be silly, 09 Dec 2007
I want to add my own testimonial to the collected talent of Andreae, Sharratt and Lenny Henry. The poetry is simple but surreally hilarious ("Groovy pants, funky pants, cheeky little monkey pants, pants you can wear if you're 10 feet tall") and totally infectious (I catch myself singing it at odd moments around the house!). It makes a real change from moralistic, worthy, educational or sickly sweet children's stories. Let's face it, little people love being silly and this book is silly in spades!

The illustrations are colourful and zany. But, best of all, is the CD that comes with this edition. Lenny Henry sings the poem in a whole range of styles - rock, reggae, rap, disco, folk. He is hysterical. When I listen to the CD with my son we are torn between dancing round the room or trying to turn the pages and keep up with the song. Often we listen to it through a few times so we can do both.

The book and CD together are fabulous value for money. I have bought several copies for friends and heartily recommend to everyone with a small child.

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.

Let yourself be silly, 09 Dec 2007
I want to add my own testimonial to the collected talent of Andreae, Sharratt and Lenny Henry. The poetry is simple but surreally hilarious ("Groovy pants, funky pants, cheeky little monkey pants, pants you can wear if you're 10 feet tall") and totally infectious (I catch myself singing it at odd moments around the house!). It makes a real change from moralistic, worthy, educational or sickly sweet children's stories. Let's face it, little people love being silly and this book is silly in spades!

The illustrations are colourful and zany. But, best of all, is the CD that comes with this edition. Lenny Henry sings the poem in a whole range of styles - rock, reggae, rap, disco, folk. He is hysterical. When I listen to the CD with my son we are torn between dancing round the room or trying to turn the pages and keep up with the song. Often we listen to it through a few times so we can do both.

The book and CD together are fabulous value for money. I have bought several copies for friends and heartily recommend to everyone with a small child.


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.

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.

Let yourself be silly, 09 Dec 2007
I want to add my own testimonial to the collected talent of Andreae, Sharratt and Lenny Henry. The poetry is simple but surreally hilarious ("Groovy pants, funky pants, cheeky little monkey pants, pants you can wear if you're 10 feet tall") and totally infectious (I catch myself singing it at odd moments around the house!). It makes a real change from moralistic, worthy, educational or sickly sweet children's stories. Let's face it, little people love being silly and this book is silly in spades!

The illustrations are colourful and zany. But, best of all, is the CD that comes with this edition. Lenny Henry sings the poem in a whole range of styles - rock, reggae, rap, disco, folk. He is hysterical. When I listen to the CD with my son we are torn between dancing round the room or trying to turn the pages and keep up with the song. Often we listen to it through a few times so we can do both.

The book and CD together are fabulous value for money. I have bought several copies for friends and heartily recommend to everyone with a small child.


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.

Great Fun, 15 Jun 2007
I thought this would be a "baby" book as it was in board format in our library: but it isn't! Really fun rhymes "Timothy Pope, Timothy Pope, Is looking through his telescope" And very witty illustations. Good for directions too (left, right, up and down) which are repeated often.

It's good for predication too - getting my 3 yr old to think what the shape could be if it wasn't a shark's fin...

I'd say it was a good toddler read 2 1/2 to about 4 possibly. After that it may have a short shelf life apart from early readers.

absolutely gorgeous., 12 Jul 2002
I bought this very funny book for a third birthday present because it had instant appeal for me. It was funny, uncomplicated and had little surprises here and there as well as the big surprises seen through the "portholes" in alternate pages. I carefully read it to my nearly 3 year old before wrapping it and he loved it. So did the 5 year old brother of the birthday boy, who got hold of it first and read it to his friend. I don't know at what age this book would get too easy, but it is so bold and well illustrated that I would recommend it for any 2-6 year old at least. The print is also big, and partly rhyming, partly repetetive, so it would make a great early reader too.

No one knows exactly what makes a poem funny. It might be puns, or wordplay, or unexpected rhymes that elevate plain old verse to genuinely comic stature. Then again, plenty of downright hilarious poems don't employ any of these tricks. We all know how it feels, though, to be under the spell of a truly comic poem, and in The Nation's Favourite Comic Poems, we get the chance to feel it again and again.

Editor Griff Rhys Jones does an excellent job of bridging centuries, including classics side- by-side with lesser known gems. Here you'll find some of your all-time favourites by Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, Edward Lear and Shakespeare, as well as Louis MacNeice's little- known but ingeniously lyrical "Bagpipe Music".

Did you know Keats wrote at least one comic poem? Are you familiar with the "Ning Nang Nong", or the "Akond of Swat"? Do you know of "The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy- Bo", or how the fish answered when asked, "O scaly, slippery, wet, swift, staring wights, / What is't you do? What life lead? eh, dull goggles? / How do you vary your vile days and nights? / How pass your Sundays? Are ya still but joggles / In ceaseless wash?" If you've ever tiptoed downstairs in the middle of the night for a taste of chocolate only to devour the entire cake, if you've ever had the urge to write:

TO SOMEONE WHO INSISTED I LOOK UP SOMEONE

I rang them up while touring Timbuctoo,
Those bosom chums to whom you're known as 'Who?'

then you'll find something to tickle your fancy here. --Martha Silano

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.

Let yourself be silly, 09 Dec 2007
I want to add my own testimonial to the collected talent of Andreae, Sharratt and Lenny Henry. The poetry is simple but surreally hilarious ("Groovy pants, funky pants, cheeky little monkey pants, pants you can wear if you're 10 feet tall") and totally infectious (I catch myself singing it at odd moments around the house!). It makes a real change from moralistic, worthy, educational or sickly sweet children's stories. Let's face it, little people love being silly and this book is silly in spades!

The illustrations are colourful and zany. But, best of all, is the CD that comes with this edition. Lenny Henry sings the poem in a whole range of styles - rock, reggae, rap, disco, folk. He is hysterical. When I listen to the CD with my son we are torn between dancing round the room or trying to turn the pages and keep up with the song. Often we listen to it through a few times so we can do both.

The book and CD together are fabulous value for money. I have bought several copies for friends and heartily recommend to everyone with a small child.


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.

Great Fun, 15 Jun 2007
I thought this would be a "baby" book as it was in board format in our library: but it isn't! Really fun rhymes "Timothy Pope, Timothy Pope, Is looking through his telescope" And very witty illustations. Good for directions too (left, right, up and down) which are repeated often.

It's good for predication too - getting my 3 yr old to think what the shape could be if it wasn't a shark's fin...

I'd say it was a good toddler read 2 1/2 to about 4 possibly. After that it may have a short shelf life apart from early readers.

absolutely gorgeous., 12 Jul 2002
I bought this very funny book for a third birthday present because it had instant appeal for me. It was funny, uncomplicated and had little surprises here and there as well as the big surprises seen through the "portholes" in alternate pages. I carefully read it to my nearly 3 year old before wrapping it and he loved it. So did the 5 year old brother of the birthday boy, who got hold of it first and read it to his friend. I don't know at what age this book would get too easy, but it is so bold and well illustrated that I would recommend it for any 2-6 year old at least. The print is also big, and partly rhyming, partly repetetive, so it would make a great early reader too.

Tee Hee Hee, 22 May 2003
I sat in my local bookstore for a good half hour the other day just giggling at this book and recieving odd looks from other shoppers. This is great. OK, some of the entries are a little obscure, but I challenge anyone to read Roald Dahl's little red riding hood without smiling. Especially when it gets to "the small girl smiled, one eyelid flickered..." Pure Genius. This book is brilliant.

Tee Hee Hee, 22 May 2003
This is fantastic. OK, some entries are a little obscure, but I challenge anyone to sit and read Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf without smiling. Especially at "The small girl smiles, one eyelid flickers...." Pure Genius. This is a brilliant book just to flick open when you have nothing better to do and have a good chuckle.

Patchy with some giggles, 25 Oct 1998
While there are occasional glimmers, the book was rather a disappointment. Old favourites like the 'November Pig' are there but many of the poems beg the question of why they are included at all, especially some of the song lyrics. A reasonable selection of off-beam verse, certainly, but not the gem I had hoped for.

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.

Let yourself be silly, 09 Dec 2007
I want to add my own testimonial to the collected talent of Andreae, Sharratt and Lenny Henry. The poetry is simple but surreally hilarious ("Groovy pants, funky pants, cheeky little monkey pants, pants you can wear if you're 10 feet tall") and totally infectious (I catch myself singing it at odd moments around the house!). It makes a real change from moralistic, worthy, educational or sickly sweet children's stories. Let's face it, little people love being silly and this book is silly in spades!

The illustrations are colourful and zany. But, best of all, is the CD that comes with this edition. Lenny Henry sings the poem in a whole range of styles - rock, reggae, rap, disco, folk. He is hysterical. When I listen to the CD with my son we are torn between dancing round the room or trying to turn the pages and keep up with the song. Often we listen to it through a few times so we can do both.

The book and CD together are fabulous value for money. I have bought several copies for friends and heartily recommend to everyone with a small child.


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.

Great Fun, 15 Jun 2007
I thought this would be a "baby" book as it was in board format in our library: but it isn't! Really fun rhymes "Timothy Pope, Timothy Pope, Is looking through his telescope" And very witty illustations. Good for directions too (left, right, up and down) which are repeated often.

It's good for predication too - getting my 3 yr old to think what the shape could be if it wasn't a shark's fin...

I'd say it was a good toddler read 2 1/2 to about 4 possibly. After that it may have a short shelf life apart from early readers.

absolutely gorgeous., 12 Jul 2002
I bought this very funny book for a third birthday present because it had instant appeal for me. It was funny, uncomplicated and had little surprises here and there as well as the big surprises seen through the "portholes" in alternate pages. I carefully read it to my nearly 3 year old before wrapping it and he loved it. So did the 5 year old brother of the birthday boy, who got hold of it first and read it to his friend. I don't know at what age this book would get too easy, but it is so bold and well illustrated that I would recommend it for any 2-6 year old at least. The print is also big, and partly rhyming, partly repetetive, so it would make a great early reader too.

Tee Hee Hee, 22 May 2003
I sat in my local bookstore for a good half hour the other day just giggling at this book and recieving odd looks from other shoppers. This is great. OK, some of the entries are a little obscure, but I challenge anyone to read Roald Dahl's little red riding hood without smiling. Especially when it gets to "the small girl smiled, one eyelid flickered..." Pure Genius. This book is brilliant.

Tee Hee Hee, 22 May 2003
This is fantastic. OK, some entries are a little obscure, but I challenge anyone to sit and read Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf without smiling. Especially at "The small girl smiles, one eyelid flickers...." Pure Genius. This is a brilliant book just to flick open when you have nothing better to do and have a good chuckle.

Patchy with some giggles, 25 Oct 1998
While there are occasional glimmers, the book was rather a disappointment. Old favourites like the 'November Pig' are there but many of the poems beg the question of why they are included at all, especially some of the song lyrics. A reasonable selection of off-beam verse, certainly, but not the gem I had hoped for.

Fun!, 10 Feb 2008
I have always loved these poems. Elliot really managed to capture the personality of different cats in his different poems, which will sparkle out to anyone who has ever loved or owned a cat, a little bit of the Rum Tug Tugger here, a bit of Bustopher Jones there... cats to a tee, and wonderful fun! Buy a copy with Edward Gorey's fantastic illustrations, they really bring the poems to life. I'd also recommend this to future cat owners - heed the words of 'The Addressing of Cats' - you've got to treat cats with respect!

Enchanting Poems, 01 Nov 2001
I was read these poems when i was very young. 20 years later and they are still as enchanting as they were when i was one. The poems are used in the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical 'Cats' My favourite peoms is Magical Mr Mystoffles. Good for young and old!

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.

Let yourself be silly, 09 Dec 2007
I want to add my own testimonial to the collected talent of Andreae, Sharratt and Lenny Henry. The poetry is simple but surreally hilarious ("Groovy pants, funky pants, cheeky little monkey pants, pants you can wear if you're 10 feet tall") and totally infectious (I catch myself singing it at odd moments around the house!). It makes a real change from moralistic, worthy, educational or sickly sweet children's stories. Let's face it, little people love being silly and this book is silly in spades!

The illustrations are colourful and zany. But, best of all, is the CD that comes with this edition. Lenny Henry sings the poem in a whole range of styles - rock, reggae, rap, disco, folk. He is hysterical. When I listen to the CD with my son we are torn between dancing round the room or trying to turn the pages and keep up with the song. Often we listen to it through a few times so we can do both.

The book and CD together are fabulous value for money. I have bought several copies for friends and heartily recommend to everyone with a small child.


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