3-Minute Stories: Animal Tales

by Publications International

Beautifully illustrated story book for young children featuring animals. Glossy pictorial, padded boards have an inset clock on the front.
Contents:
Counting sheep --
Baby bluebird --
Bridget's new look --
Baby pig --
Bear cub --
Clover's patch --
Four musicians --
Little Squeak --
Dabble Duckling --
Goat kids --
Farm kitten --
Butterfly doctor --
Baby kangaroo --
Ziggy's fine coat --
Farm donkey --
Cedar's new tooth --
Panda baby --
Speedy colt --
Elly's little friend.

Genres: Picture Books

159 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Publications International, Ltd. (PIL) is a leading North American publisher, producing hundreds of new titles each year and printing millions of books annually. CEO Louis Weber founded the company in 1967 with a mission to provide high-quality, high-value products for consumers worldwide.

PIL publishes books in many categories, including the popular Brain Games® series of puzzle, sticker and coloring books, in addition to cookbooks, children’s books, craft, reference and much more.

PIL's bestselling Brain Games® product line features a wide array of puzzle books, including standards such as word searches, crosswords, sudokus, codewords, and cryptograms, as well as variety puzzle books themed around crime, Christmas, summer, celebrities, and more.

The New Seasons® division publishes a variety of stationery products that combine unique formats with the latest trends in design. Among these are Sticker by Number titles, Color and Frame books, notepad sets, journals, and recipe keepers. These products are the perfect vehicle to de-stress and relax, organize your day, and record and share memories.

Collectible Automobile® magazine, another division of PIL, presents an in-depth look at the cars and trucks that Americans have known and loved for decades. First published in 1984, Collectible Automobile® magazine is released six times a year.

PIL's cookbooks feature visually outstanding presentations of culinary classics and world cuisine, including books that focus on the Mediterranean diet, plant-based cooking, restaurant recipes, and the best in entertaining.

Reviews

[Gretchen Ivers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This abridgement of the Grimm Brother’s Town Musicians of Bremen follows four animals deemed too old to work, hunt, catch mice, or crow, that set out on a journey to find a purpose as singers. Read The Four Musicians to find out if their first performance is a success!
The story is sweet and nicely illustrated. I love the picture on page 63 where all the animals are singing. I can practically hear the cacophonous racket. The ending is a bit clunky, but overall, I enjoyed the tale.
I would recommend this for 6-8-year-olds. The pictures add to the text and the language is not too difficult that a beginning reader couldn’t manage it. I like the large text size because the full pages of text seem like it is a “real” book, but the story is still very short.
Some ageism is addressed when the animals are cast out due to being deemed too old for work. Unfortunately, they do not actually prove their worth in a meaningful way. They mostly are very bad at their chosen skill and are lucky. Themes of racial, sexual, intellectual, or socioeconomic diversity are not addressed.

[Kaleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the short story "Farm Kitten" by Catherine McCafferty. The short story is about a baby named Farm Kitten who in the beginning is born from it's mom. Farm Kitten starts to get a little bit older and opens his eyes and starts to figure things out. Farm Kitten's mom is a mouser and the other kittens and Farm Kitten have to become mousers to. One day Farm Kitten decides to explore and he meets a brown cow and a puppy. He is frightened by both, but he has an exciting day than goes home and goes to bed.

There are only a few characters in this short story. The main character is Farm Kitten. Farm Kitten is just a baby kitten who is slowly discovering the new world he was born into. Another character in the story is Mama Cat. Mama Cat is a mouser who hunts mice and rats for the farmer. Also there is the brown cow and Farm Puppy.

The setting takes place on a farm during summer. It is really nice at the farm and there are some other animals there other than Farm Kitten. For the most part the story takes place in a barn, but later it ends up outside the barn because Farm Kitten decides to go venture outside of the barn. Farm Kitten did not go far though. He only went outside the barn and ran up in a tree.

I thought this was an all right short story. The story did not seem to have any purpose or reasoning behind it which made it a little less good. I would recommend this story to people in need of an easy good read who just want to get it out of the way.