Wallie Exercises Hardcover – January 4, 2011

This is a really cute book. My class had the good fortune to meet the author. He is a really nice guy! Worth purchasing.

What a fun and beautifully illustrated book! My kids absolutely love it and have been practicing all the exercises Wallie teaches them in the back. It's about time someone stepped forward and thought of a clever and dynamic way to battle childhood obesity and laziness. I've recommended this book to all my friends for their kids and I recommend it to you now! Bravo!

Thank you! Excellent resource for teaching children about physical exercise.

The kids I read this to as a part of a nutrition class were Kindergarten age. We all had fun doing the exercises too!

What an interesting and innovative work by Steve Ettinger this one is! Recent information has disclosed that our nation's school children are woefully out of shape, overweight and simply setting themselves up for major heath problems in their near future. Many have called this a national crisis. I fear I must agree.Well the author and the wonderful illustrator Pete Proctor has taken on the chore of doing their little bit to try to correct this problem by creating this amusing tale of a truly lazy (but I must say, loveable) dog; Willie. Willie can be found of the couch eating and napping. Willie can be found making up all sorts of excuses for his inactivity and his obvious enjoyment of junk food.Ah, but Willie pays the price! One day he gets up and simply can no longer get his pants on! His young master is finally able to talking our chubby and out of shape canine friend into taking some action! They hop into the truck and go to the local park where they find all sorts of animals participating in exercise programs.The author has used a very simply text, completely appropriate for the first and second grade crowd, to emphasize the importance of staying active. His method of using Wallie the dog is good in that I am pretty sure that the young kids can perfectly identify with Wallie on several levels. First, the wee ones quite often share Wallie's attitude and secondly, I fear to say that they probably see living examples of our couch potato friend in their own homes via watching mom and dad. It will not take a kid long to make the connection here and hopefully give him or her incentive to break this cycle.Through the goodwill and encouragement from the Exercise Elephant, Wallie learns that exercise and activity can actually be fun and realizes the benefits.The art work by Pete Procter is excellent; big, bold, concise and funny. It is well executed and goes perfectly with the informative and encouraging text. These two make a fine team.This makes a great group read and from experience I can tell you that it can lead to many good discussions with the little ones as to the importance of exercise and activity.I can most certainly recommend the addition of this one to your child's library or to any school/classroom library.Don BlankenshipThe Ozarks

Wallie the dog is a wonderful pet except for one thing - he's terribly lazy. His laziness is making him fat so his owner seeks help. Edwin the Elephant will show Wallie that exercise is not only good for you but it can also be fun.Aimed at ages 4 - 8, "Wallie Exercises" is a cute picture book, told in rhyme form, that is fun for children to read yet will teach them that exercise can be fun. The story has a great deal of humor - Wallie's pants no longer fit him - but it is not mean, never picking on Wallie because he is overweight (and lazy). Instead, it treats the subject gently, showing that people need to exercise and take care of themselves. Having Wallie be a dog instead of a human makes the lesson even gentler. The exercise "camp" is also fun - they are taught exercises by an elephant and watch some very speedy turtles race (nice touch!) and chimpanzees and giraffes exercise. Mixed in with the humor are some good "lessons" about exercise: exercise can be fun; do the exercises that you like and are fun for you to do; and make sure you drink plenty of water while exercising. At the back of the book there are some fun exercises that kids (and maybe their parents!) will no doubt want to try: Silly Shark Squat; Wallie Wiggle Wag Walks and Relay Race; and Lazy Tag. There are also some exercise tips and a very short quiz that has no wrong answers. Adding to the overall fun of the book are the delightful illustrations by Pete Proctor. He has a lot of fun with the characters, particularly Wallie - I love some of the expressions on Wallie's face."Wallie Exercises" is a cute book for young children that teaches them exercise can be fun for everyone.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."