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Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever!

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From the cheery sun on the first page, to the sleepy moon on the last, and throughout all 290 pages in between, there are stories, rhymes and fun with the one-and-only Richard Scarry. Classic tales, alphabet and counting stories, lots of new words and concepts, and visits around town, to the airport, and across the world make this essential book that will captivate even the most restless child.
Book Details: Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 6/8/2000 Pages: 288 Reading Level: Age 3 and Up

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

41 people are currently reading
2631 people want to read

About the author

Richard Scarry

1,311 books513 followers
RICHARD SCARRY is one of the world's best-loved children's authors EVER! In his extraordinary career, Scarry illustrated over 150 books, many of which have never been out of print. His books have sold over 100 million copies around the world, and are currently published in over twenty languages. No other illustrator has shown such a lively interest in the words and concepts of early childhood. Richard Scarry was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators in 2012.

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5 stars
4,473 (51%)
4 stars
2,258 (26%)
3 stars
1,400 (16%)
2 stars
293 (3%)
1 star
190 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
Profile Image for Ken.
374 reviews86 followers
August 1, 2021
Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever! (Hardcover) Yeeah found and bought a used copy, had one as a kid, read it a billion times, definately still the best story book ever. So many cool memories such a happy find definately.
8th print 1976
674 reviews19 followers
February 24, 2020
Used to get this at the library constantly during childhood. Great memories!
Profile Image for R..
1,021 reviews142 followers
Want to read
October 2, 2021
Picked up a practically brand new copy of this up at a neighbor's yard sale - am going to keep this in reserve for the day, the hour, when I can just sit back with it, a tall glass of ice cold milk, a jar of peanut butter and a sleeve of Ritz crackers.
Profile Image for Carolynn Markey.
295 reviews1 follower
December 26, 2016
My son got this book for Christmas and we love it, I love how it has daddys cooking and cleaning and moms doing yard work. Well drawn and so much snarky Britt lit.
Profile Image for Little Miss and the Legomeister.
595 reviews4 followers
August 4, 2016
This book was my husband's when he was a child. It's seen a lotta love. It's missing the cover and some outside pages. Legomeister spent hours pouring over all the vehicle pictures, and we loved to read the nursery rhymes and stories.

Little Miss really liked "I am a Bunny" by Ole Risom. It shows the bunny in four different seasons. And "The Bunny Book" by Patricia Scarry, where everyone asks Baby Bunny what he wants to be when he grows up. (A daddy.) These longer stories weren't my favorite, except for the story "Pierre Bear," which is funny because it's so very politically incorrect. It talks about him hunting seals, and Mrs. Pierre making coats from the pelts. You don't see children's stories like that anymore. In fact, this one was replaced in the later versions.

I also love "Polite Elephant," who "knows the right things to say and do." And the counting story, "Whisper in My Ear." They have to whisper so they won't wake the baby mice; but the baby mice are jumping on the bed. And "Is this the House of Mistress Mouse?" I could go on and on, there are so many fun and unusual stories and interesting pages.

We really love this book!
Profile Image for Becky.
338 reviews13 followers
December 28, 2022
Read through the summer with the boys. Will read again, and Hudson enjoys looking through it repetitively.
Profile Image for Caleb Bratton.
62 reviews
July 28, 2025
Arlo picks this book almost every night and just told me “I only like it a little bit”
Profile Image for Vittoria.
62 reviews
April 26, 2019
Richard Scarry's books are a treat.
You can get lost in the beautiful and wonderfully detailed illustrations.
His worlds are alive, and vibrant, as few artists are able to bring to paper.
As a child I had some of these stories collected in separate books.
My favourite was Harry and Larry the Fishermen.
When an illustrated book manages to really catch a child's rapt attention and immagination the experience becomes almost synesthetic, doesn't it? Objects are almost felt by one's reaching hands and all but attain a weight of their own. Foods that one has never tasted acquire a mythical flavor that real life will never mach or be able to compete with; and so, little me found herself in a harbour of a northern sea watching tugboats on the horizon.
87 reviews
August 12, 2018
Best book ever for my childhood. So many great stories and the illustrations are my favorite. I can't put my finger on why I like this so much. I remember as a kid, always looking at the pictures and trying to replicate the drawings on my own. The drawings of London also helped with my sense of adventure. There are a lot of great stories as well that cover everything from counting, the alphabet, to fruits and flowers. This book has seen better days, but it will remain on the shelf for others to read.
Profile Image for Arlene Allen.
1,442 reviews37 followers
February 9, 2012
This book has so much sentimental value to me as it was one of the staples of my daughter's reading diet for years. We really loved Lowly Worm. I adored how the stories were morally engaging without being didactic or pendantic or boring. I think I even may have kept it, although it was rather falling apart. Oh the memories!
Profile Image for Nancy.
2,751 reviews60 followers
July 5, 2014
I recommend this book all the time. It is a wonderful book for a child to grow with. It has everything from the alphabet and colors to easy reading stories to bedtime stories to read to the little ones. Good to carry everywhere for those times when the kids are getting cranky. Lots to occupy their busy minds.
Profile Image for Amanda.
224 reviews
January 3, 2018
Adalyn (2) pours over this book in the car. It’s not my favorite because it’s not in the style of his other “Busy town” books. But for a child who doesn’t sit still well, she’ll read this in the car for 20 minutes at a time. Some of the “stories” are weird so I try to skip those. Some of them are just pictures with word labels.
Profile Image for DivaDiane SM.
1,191 reviews119 followers
September 11, 2014
This was my book when I was a child. I gave it to my nephew and he gave it to my son. It's very battered, but that's because it is such a rich book. There are word pages, very short stories and longer stories. Something for every mood and time of day.
Profile Image for Ileana.
158 reviews41 followers
December 28, 2018
I bought this book to help my children learn English, as they are just starting to learn it at school. It is a great way to learn new words and both my 6 and 8 year olds love the stories and the illustrations.
Profile Image for Beth.
127 reviews
November 7, 2007
I LOVED this book when I was little.... and I still love it!!!! It is a great book for anyone!!!
Profile Image for Jenny.
31 reviews
June 19, 2009
Incomplete individual stories compiled into one large storybook. Read the individual stories instead.
Profile Image for Hilary.
97 reviews1 follower
May 13, 2012
One of my absolute favourites as a child, so full of images and stories and adventures, I could spend hours absorbed in this book.
Profile Image for Perrilyn Pringle.
220 reviews23 followers
June 16, 2022
Very educational and has a nice layout. Great learning book. 😊
Profile Image for Khalid Hajeri.
Author 2 books26 followers
June 18, 2020
Fun reading for young ones, and great nostalgia for adults!

I first read this book a long time ago as a child, and absolutely loved the creativity in the artwork and the subtle lessons taught. Despite the fact that cartoon animals are seen everywhere, the attention to detail in their environment and objects such as automobiles and clothing are stunning for a children's book of this kind. All objects are also word-labeled in order to teach children the connection between them and the way they are used in the scenarios with the animals (such as an animal using a toothbrush to brush his teeth or animals using a fire engine to help out a fire).

Adults will find amusement in the many stories and scenarios portrayed in the book, ranging from a robber in Paris running away from the police and then having dinner with them after being caught, to an entire two-page spread of a funny traffic jam that is meant to show children the different types of vehicles such as a lorry and a small car. All situations are played out for laughs yet serve as an early educational tool.

Great book that is recommended for children of any generation, and adults to look back on for fun as well as to appreciate the nice art and ideas of Richard Scarry.
Profile Image for Kali.
349 reviews14 followers
May 19, 2019
This is a HUGE collection of various stories, Mother Goose rhymes, and educational drawings by Richard Scarry and his wife Patricia. However, it should be noted that most of the stories are shortened versions of what you can read/get in individual storybooks - "I Am a Bunny" in particular is missing some of the loveliest drawings of Scarry's from the original book.

If you're looking for a quick and abridged overview of Scarry's works, or a book full of stories to entertain your children with, this is a great collection to get - but if you or your children are collectors or Scarry fans, you'll want to make sure you check out the full versions of these stories in their own storybooks!
Profile Image for Julia Forrester.
55 reviews13 followers
November 4, 2012
My kids love looking at this book in the car...lots of fun pictures and stories. A number of the pages are scenes with everything labeled or different concepts (colors, counting etc). It's a great book to take along for quiet reading while at the doctors or someplace else since it's large enough to keep them entertained for awhile.
Profile Image for Jeanne.
177 reviews13 followers
January 15, 2018
Two of my favorite stories in this collection were written by Patricia Scarry. I found a copy of this book at a thrift store that matches exactly the book i owned as a kid.

Why did my mom toss or give away all my books from my childhood? Having fun recalling and searching for copies of all my childhood favorites.
Profile Image for Sarah.
892 reviews
April 8, 2020
Gosh, I love Richard Scarry’s books. They’re so wonderfully illustrated and always a delight to read with its wide cast of animal characters always getting into zany adventures. Makes me want to watch the Richard Scarry animated series that used to play on Nick when I was young. Great book for the small kids, just as good for us adults when we feel nostalgic.
366 reviews4 followers
May 23, 2018
Wow! The cover used to be yellow! This find in my parents' attic now lives next to my preschooler's bed by her choice. The bits and pieces from other Scarry stories are great to grab attention and refocus energy without needing to sit down to a long book.
659 reviews4 followers
May 29, 2018
My 3.5 year old girls love Richard Scarry. We started this one, read it every night, and when we finished it, started again at the beginning. After reading it back to back 3 times, I'm ready to put it away and read something else for a while.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews

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