George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends

Rating:
Summary: It holds up through countless readings.
Review: My wife and I bought this for our daughter's 4th birthday, and we read it over and over and over to her. And the highest form of praise I can give is I'm not tired of it.
James Marshall was a great writer. The stories are short, 3 or 4 pages at most (you get 5 stories per book, all 35 in here). Marshall used an economy of words to tell the stories, but he chose his words well. How many other picture books would you find the sentence "Martha strongly objected"?
As for the illustrations, Marshall made it totally believable that hippos can go to the movies, walk tightropes, and high dive.
Someone complained in a review that some of the stories end abruptly, but life is like that sometimes. I don't think kids will mind (grownups maybe, but not kids).

Rating:
Summary: all the G&M stories
Review: This is a sweet little book that contains all five of the George and Martha stories accompanied by simple illustrations. These are humorous tales of friendship, and are fun shortish readings for the advanced beginner.

Rating:
Summary: How My Children Learned to Read
Review: This is my children's favorite book, though I doubt they will admit it at present. I read this to them when they were very young. When Mom was to busy to read it to them for the hundreth time one day, they took matters into their own hands and started reading it to one another. In addition to helping my kids learn to read, they have learned about friendship. I believe wonderful stories like this contribute to their ability to get along with others.

Now that they are older, they "sneak-read" this book. I see it move around on the bookshelf. I never actually spy them putting it into a backpack or hiding it under a pillow, but I know they are occasionally rereading it. I suspect this will be one of the first books they will read to their own kids.

Rating:
Summary: Watch the TV show; skip this book
Review: We are huge fans of the George and Martha TV show, so I bought this book for our three and five year old children. It was so disappointing. The basic stories are the same as the ones featured on TV, but they are only 3 or 4 pages (really just a few sentences) long. We were reading it, wondering if we were missing something. The stories just seem to end mid-thought. Now, we just laugh about it. When I read one of the stories to my daughter, after the first sentence, she says "the end" and we all laugh. The TV program on HBO family is so much better, with character development, cool music, and a hilarious ensemble of animal friends.

Rating:
Summary: Life Lessons
Review: We started watching the George and Martha TV series while living in Australia. I don't know who is more enamoured with the series - my daughters, or myself. These stories, different from the tv show as far as I can tell, all teach a lesson in friendship. It's a fun way to let those lessons about being a good friend sink in with your child. George and Martha are hilarious, and we love following their adventures. It is a book that even an adult without children might enjoy reading. A real page turner and a well made, quality book!