George and Martha

Title: George and Martha
Author/Illustrator: James Marshall
Publication Year: 1972
Age Group: Preschool, Kindergarten
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Recommended By:

1. 100 Best Books for Children
2. Valerie and Walter’s Best Books for Children
3. What to Read When
4. The New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children

Comments: This is a very cute, simple series of small stories about 2 hippo friends. It would almost make a good first chapter book in that each book has a few completely unrelated stories which could be read on a nightly basis. Each story only takes a couple minutes to read and there are pictures to make it easier to understand. I read this to my son for the first time when he was about 3 and I think it was a little over his head. However I read it to him again about a year later and he definitely seemed to understand each mini-story a little better. I didn’t realize how much he liked it until about a month or two after we returned it to the library when he asked me to check it out again. He didn’t remember the names George and Martha, but was able to describe what happened in the stories. It’s very rare for a book to make that kind of impression on him. We checked it out again and read the whole book through 3 or 4 more times.

Included on Lists:

1. Best Books for Preschoolers
2. Best Books for Kindergarteners