This was one of my favorite books when I taught kindergarten. Stephanie Calmenson's rhyme and rhythm are just right and it makes a marvelous read-aloud, along with a great way to practice counting as each group of customers increases by one. (Pigs need a table for three, monkeys arrive and go "swinging across to their table for five," a bear baseball team requests a table for nine . . .) Nadine Westcott's illustrations are funny and bright and will have little ones smiling from page one. A bonus? It's a sweet lesson in hospitality. As I begin a new chapter in my own life as a school librarian, I look forward to adding Dinner at the Panda Palace to our library media center! ( )

In my opinion this book is perfect for ESOL or English Language Learners. The illustrations help the reader understand what is going on without actually reading the book. This is a book you could read numerous times without getting bored because of the entertaining illustrations and rhythm. In every stanza, the last word of the second and last phrases rhymes with each other. This gives the story a melodic tone. I also liked this book because there is a sequence of numbers. The first guest to arrive at Panda Palace was one elephant, then the next guests were two lions. Then there came three of some other type of animal, then four, and so forth. This book can be easily turned into a lesson with animals, numbers, and rhyming! The overall idea of this book is for students to know that there will never be enough people they can help. No matter how many people you have already accepted/helped, you can always do what you can to do a little more ( )

I love "The Panda Palace!" The illustrations are beautiful, each page is very detailed with pictures and easy to read, educational text "the hyenas walked in and laughed right out loud. They never had seen such a wonderful crowd. We've come from afar from four our family meeting. There are seven of us, we do hope you have seating." On the page there are 7 hyenas that the children can count and make connections to the text as it says 7 hyenas came in. The sentences are also an ABAB rhyme scheme which helps raise phonic awareness. The illustrations, besides being able to count the animals matching the text, are very detailed. They are colorful, animated and grab the readers' attention making the story educational and interesting. "Dinner at the Panda Palace" is a book I grew up reading and I would still recommend it any day. ( )

Very popular with the kids over the years! ( )

380L,GRL J,AR 2.4,3 copies