Everything Book

From Barnes & Noble

Bright, bold, and filled with fun, The Everything Book has something for everyone! It's a complete preschool library in one volume. Here, Caldecott artist Denise Fleming has gathered and illustrated all the basic concepts a child needs to learn in order to thrive: ABCs, 1-2-3s, colors, shapes, nursery rhymes, finger games, and more. Vibrant, bouncy babies and toddlers abound in this joyful collection, perfect for browsing through or reading from start to finish.

From the Publisher

"Fleming's vibrant picture-book hodgepodge surely lives up to its title." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Fleming makes learning a fun, colorful experience . . . This unique combination of playfulness and learning...will keep young readers enthralled. [The Everything Book] truly has everything." --Kirkus, starred review

"All the first concepts children learn are endearingly presented in Fleming's vibrant, distinctively textured style...The illustrations are both accessible to children and simply lovely to adults." --The New York Times Book Review

New York Times Book Review

. . . With her warm, intuitively childlike touch, Fleming’s book could be properly billed as ‘What Every Pre-Kindergartner Wants to Know.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Part concept book, part word book and part nursery rhyme anthology, Fleming's (In the Small, Small Pond) vibrant picture-book hodgepodge surely lives up to its title. Exuberant spreads teeming with brightly hued animals, plants, objects and for the first time in Fleming's oeuvre a cast of children, introduce numbers, colors, the alphabet, body parts and seasons. Simple rhymes ("Cock-a-doodle-do!/ Hello! Good day!/ Good morning to you!"), most of them anonymous, are interspersed throughout, like gentle breaks between more learning-oriented pages. Fleming is at the top of her game, depicting a seemingly endless number of bold color combinations using her technique of "painting" with dyed cotton pulp and handmade stencils. Her richly textured compositions beg to be pored over and touched. Fans will delight in seeing familiar elements from many of Fleming's earlier works (In the Tall, Tall Grass; Lunch!; Count!) freshly updated here. And readers young and old will want to accept the challenge of finding the 119 ladybugs that crawl or fly across the pages of this lively outing. Ages 2-6. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Publishers Weekly

Across the Board Fun New and treasured titles are released in toddler-sized board formats. Perfect for smallest hands to hold, Denise Fleming's The Everything Book may have been edited to fit a board book format, but there is still plenty of "everything" here. PW said in a starred review, "Exuberant spreads teeming with brightly hued animals, plants, objects and children introduce numbers, colors, the alphabet, body parts and seasons. Fleming is at the top of her game." (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

The eye-catching illustrations are what this book is all about. Denise Fleming with her unusual images produced with cotton pulp poured through hand-cut stencils has created plenty for young kids to look at. This book teaches numbers, shapes, counting, the ABCs, seasons and also contains pages that show scenes and name the objects, animals, etc. The poems are all attributed to anonymous and they have a distinctly English flavor to them. It is like preschool 101 and should provide many hours of fun for toddlers and caregivers. At the end of the book there is a challenge to count all of the ladybugs that have appeared throughout the book--that challenge is beyond the ability of the intended audience. 2000, Holt, Ages 2 to 4, $19.95. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot

School Library Journal

PreS-Animals of all kinds, lively insects and birds, and a diverse array of small children romp through this collection of simple rhymes, numbers and letters, and listings of familiar objects. The book includes everything needed to make it an anthology of preschool interests and concerns, from mealtimes to body parts. It even has traffic lights and trains. The very attractive illustrations, done in Fleming's characteristic bold and energetic style, were produced by pouring cotton pulp through hand-cut stencils, the result being simple forms that are attractively textured, with edges that are just fuzzy enough to look soft and friendly. The brilliant, warm colors are given depth and interest by the inevitable small differences in color produced by this process. Small children will enjoy pointing out the ladybugs crawling or flying or perched quietly on grass blades or leaves in almost every picture. There are, in all, 119 of them to be found, and doubtless young readers will spot every one. This is, indeed, an "Everything Book."-Marian Drabkin, Richmond Public Library, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Julie Yates Walton

This is a gorgeously illustrated 64-page compendium of nursery rhymes and much of the basic life information that caring parents un-self-consciously and naturally introduce to their babies, toddlers and preschoolers. . .Somehow the softness of the paper tempers the intense colors and active composition, so the illustrations are both accessible to children and simply lovely to adults.
—New York Times Book Review

Leonard S. Marcus

Rainbow-bright art introduces the very young to such first concepts as the alphabet, numbers, colors, and seasons. A sampler of tired-and-true nursery rhymes rounds out this happy-hearted treasury for lap-time sharing!
— Parenting

Kirkus Reviews

Beginning with a brilliantly colored rooster greeting the day in "Good Morning to You!" and concluding with a mother hen cuddling her chicks in "Good Night," this compilation of rhymes, games, and learning will keep young readers busy from sunup to sundown. Fleming (Mama Cat Has Three Kittens, 1998, etc.) makes learning a fun, colorful experience. This eclectic collection encompasses virtually everything from preschool essentials, such as colors, shapes, and numbers, to fanciful nursery rhymes. There are traditional games for baby, including the finger game "Two Little Blackbirds" and the well-loved "Peekaboo!" Fleming's signature color-drenched, pulp paintings help children identify an array of commonplace items baby sees in the course of the day: kitchen paraphernalia, favorite foods, and the multitude of tiny inhabitants of the backyard. Fleming's unique medium consistently produces vividly hued, textured pictures that are fascinating to peruse. Throughout the book her artwork is laced with humor. The two-page spread Kitchen Toys has all the standards; spoon, pot, pan, with an added touch of whimsy—a kitten's ears peeking out of the paper bag and a tot gleefully perched inside the large pot. Surprises await the turn of every page. In the counting section, the layout consists of the appropriate amount of eggs drawn next to the numeral and the word "egg" spelled out. However, get to number five and a quintet of baby crocodiles scurry away from their broken shells. It's this unique combination of playfulness and learning that will keep young readers enthralled. Entertaining and educational, this is sure to pleaseoldfans and new. It truly has everything. (Picture book. 1-4)