To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever was one of her picks.

This book was my daughter's choice night after night during the years from ages 3-6. The stories are all vividly colored, humorous, and reasonably short. They just suited her perfectly.

She would plead after each one, "Just one more story, Dad." (This was after her mother had read to her, as well.) I would read until I had almost no voice left. Eventually, we negotiated that she could pick two stories from this book, and if I was in the mood (and in good voice) we could go up from there. Otherwise, bedtime would have been delayed for hours!

If you don't know Richard Scarry, he has a wonderful, light sense of humor. He usually features intelligent animals, but in human-like contexts. This makes the moral of the story easier for the youngster to swallow, while making the story more interesting. For example, A Castle in Denmark is about the rules that you should follow in a castle (or a house) such as not leaving things on the floor where people can trip on them. Who else would have come up with such a wonderful way to help establish household rules?

The stories in the book contain all the elements needed in a preschool book, with lots of alphabet, numbers, socialization, and charming stories with important lessons attached. The book includes one of my daughter's all time favorite stories, I Am a Bunny by Ole Rison. This story was repeated like a mantra around our house by all four children. It is a great beginning reader story.

The stories vary in sophistication from simple ones to mini-mysteries involving detectives. My daughter especially loved the mini-mysteries.

Here are her favorite stories in the book (in the order they appear):

The Rabbit Family's Home

I Am a Bunny

Work Machines

Pip Pip Goes to London

A Castle in Denmark

Couscous, the Algerian Detective

Officer Montey of Monaco

Pierre, the Paris Policeman

The Country Mouse and the City Mouse by Patricia Scarry

Schtoompah, the Funny Austrian

From a value perspective, it is much less expensive to buy these stories in this form than to get them in the various Richard Scarry books. Of all the story books we bought for our children, this one was definitely the best value. I suspect it only cost about a penny per hour used. Running the television costs more than that!

Some readers have complained about the binding. Ours is a little loose in back after four years of hard use. For such a thick book, that's about par for the course. If your child is a hard user of books, you may want to get a new copy at some point.

After you have finished enjoying this book for the 4,317th evening in a row (if you have a large family), I suggest that you think about how these stories could be made even funnier by changing the context. For example, a castle in Denmark could become Cinderella's castle after she married the prince. What rules do you suppose Cinderella would have wanted to have? In this way, you and your child can exercise your imagination to have even more fun.

Take great stories and build on them . . . together with your child!


This book had an incredible imapct on me as a child   April 27, 2003
 23 out of 24 found this review helpful

Like other reviewers, this was one of my favorite books as a child. Since the contents of the book have been covered in other reviews, I wanted to mention a few other things. First, I can proudly say that my 3-year-old son is currently thrilled with my original copy. Second, I believe that this book has much to offer in terms of pre-reading skills. When I pulled this book out for my son last year, I looked through it fondly, and vividly recognized almost all of the pictures. Interestingly, though, I didn't remember the words; I had memorized all of the pictures and created my own stories as a very young child. I was a very early reader; I was reading novels of 300-400 pages in the third grade. I believe that that had much to do with my desire to sit and "read" books on my own as a toddler.

Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever is designed for a child to work through on his/her own. My son "reads" to himself for about an hour each day (self-inflicted!) and he already matches letter sounds to words. I'm not a believer in the genetics argument for most children; I believe that children learn to read early, and learn to have a love for books based on the environment provided for them. This book is a fantastic way to begin to set that environment for your child.


A Richard Scarry Classic-should be required reading for all   January 7, 2000
 13 out of 14 found this review helpful

I had this book as a child as it was originally published in paperback and I actually wore it rags. I believe I originally got it free in the early 1970's when my mom purchased a promotional box of laundry detergent. Now, I have just purchased a copy for my "Mr Frumble Loving" 2 year old son and I myself look forward to the memories of these great little stories being retold. Wonderful detailed color pictures and great short stories and lessons. Thank You Amazon.com for making it easy to find again!


Best Children's Book Ever!   May 18, 2002
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I still have my original paperback copy, which came free with a box of Bold laundry detergant (the sticker is still on the cover), and hold it as one of my most valued childhood treasures. I'm sure my dad can recite the entire book word for word as he read it to me so often!
I am now 7 months pregnant with my first child and wondered how my tattered (read that as well loved) copy would hold up for my little boy. Imagine my delight when I found that it is still in print! I can't wait to get a copy for the library we are working on for him! Even though my little one is still in utero, my husband and I read to him every night, and will continue to do so after he's born. I can't imagine a better book to read from than Richard Scarry!
This book has delightful tales and rhymes that all children will love. My favorite part about the book though is that so many of the stories are set in different parts of the world and illustrated in a child friendly manner that will make them want to learn more about the world around them (in my opinion anyway, as it certainly did for me). As we now live in Europe, I've visited many places I was first introduced to, and intrigued by, in Richard Scarry's world. This book is an absolute must for all children's libraries.


An excellent choice for young readers!   December 22, 1999
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Like many of the other customer reviewers, I loved this book when I was a child. This book has it all: classic nursery rhymes, stories that don't tax little ones' attention spans, and enchanting illustrations. Names of everyday objects, shapes, colors, numbers, etc. are presented in an entertaining manner - your child won't realize (s)he's being educated!

This book is great for getting your toddler interested in books. My two year old daughter loves reading her "Lellow Book" at bedtime every night, and I look forward to it as much as she does. (If I had the proverbial dime for every time I've read "Chipmunk's Birthday" I'd be richer than Jeff Bezos!)

The only complaint I have is that we've had to glue the spine to the pages several times. I suppose frequent use is a contributing factor, but other reviewers have noted similar binding problems from this publisher. If not for this one drawback, I would have rated this book 6 out of 5.