Eloise and the Very Secret Room; Eloise and the Dinosaurs; Eloise Has a Lesson; Eloise's New Bonnet; Eloise at the Wedding; Eloise Breaks Some Eggs

This book is beautiful addition to any little girl's collection. I cannot wait to sit and read the stories and tell our own stories with my young daughter. She loves the movies and she will be thrilled by this book.

Large, hardcover. Fantastic foldouts and illustrations.

This is a wonderful book with delightful illustrations. My three year old loves the Eloise character. The stories are unique, but, as written, are a little hard to follow. I would reccomend the book as a wonderful keepsake and reminder of "Eloise."

This book came to me in excellent condition there was no sign of use other than three small lines on the inside cover. Product was very cheap, excellent value, and arrived very quickly. I would order from here again.

I really dislike this character. I was not familiar with this book and cannot recommend. Looked for redeeming qualities but other than anniversary nostalgia there didn't seem to be any. I gave it two stars so as not to be snarky, but found it a complete waste of time.

I have read the classics, traveled the world, and have had a few experiences, to say the least...and I still admit I know nothing. I just finished reading a little of this book and had to make up the rest. It's as if she had Tourette's and Alzheimer's when she wrote this. The bath tub overflowing book was marvilous and I really enjoyed the art....but this, I don't even know where to begin. It is unreadable and progressively gets worse. The pictures are small and random and the language, when coherent, is aimed at a 85 yr. old plus audience. The reviews that only adolescent children can understand this, is the most amusing of all. This is the most bizarre and frustratingly hard to read book, out loud, by the longest shot...ever. Do not buy this. You have to find it at the library and marvel at how this was even published, then go back and read people's 5 star reviews. That is when things get entertaining.

I would NEVER recommend this book to anyone. Not only does it have references to alcohol and cigarettes, there are plenty of words that are not spelled right in any language, half of the sentences are not full sentences and they don't make any sense. Poorly written, poorly edited. I stopped halfway and just started to make up my own story because what I was reading was awful on so many levels. I was really wanting it to be a cute book.

What I find astonishingly odd about this book is that Eloise's mother invites her to Paris. Eloise and Nanny, tres excited, fly to Paris. They see all the sights. Never once do we see Eloise's mother. In fact, Eloise and her Nanny stay in a hotel by themselves. Odd. Very Odd.

But it's fun to see and hear Eloise learn French, and I enjoyed the humor provided by the illustrations. There is too much repetition, but the character of Eloise is tres engaging.

This is the typical cute Eloise stories, but in a longer verson. My daughter who loves Eloise got board with the first story half way through. She is young and is getting used to longer stories, but even I was glad when she said she did not want to hear anymore for that night.

I Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove the books
i got my first eloise book when i was 6, and i am now 13 and last year i got my first eloise doll.
i think the book has no age limits, as kay thompson wrote in the front cover of "Eloise" the first book "a book for precious grown-ups".
my mum still sometimes borrows my copy to read.
there are alot of things in it that you dont pick up on the first time you read it, and only now am i getting some of the jokes in it.
i agree, to hard for a 4 year old, but it should go from 6-106 years old.
once you have met eloise, she stays in your family forever.
(go to [...] for more eloise stuff, and also [...] is good too!)

This is a wonderful book with delightful illustrations. My three year old loves the Eloise character. The stories are unique, but, as written, are a little hard to follow. I would reccomend the book as a wonderful keepsake and reminder of "Eloise."

Eloise gets a telegram one day from her mum inviting her and Nanny to come over to Paris. Eloise can't wait. She falls onto the French capital like an American storm and goes just about everywhere. She dines, sightsees, meets locals, gets a dress made just for her by none other than M. Dior, and she eats so much she gains "rawther" a lot of weight. In the end, Eloise misses the Plaza and is happy about her return home to New York. In a nice touch, in the doorway above the famous old hotel Eloise and Nanny call home, a big banner hangs, and it reads, "Welcome Back Eloise!" Eloise has gone full circle and we feel we've taken every galloping step along the way with her. Yet another fun and charming volume in the Eloise series from Kay Thompson and Hillary Knight!

Eloise is a classic. That is that it has withstood the test of time and remained in the heart of many as they have moved from childhood to adulthood. It does create a lasting impression, no matter what age you are and that is pretty important in a book. The illustrations are great. Mostly black and white line drawings with plenty of character and imagination. But if you really take the story line at face value it is about a pretty sad little girl, lonely, bored, spoiled and hyper-active. I bought this book through the store for my daughter, but after reading it I wrapped it up to give to my mother-in-law instead. I don't really want my daughter to be exposed to Eloise's behavior and lifestyle until she is old enough to see her as more of a sad 'orphan like' character, than a lucky kid that gets to have and do whatever she wants due to lack of love and supervision. As an adult I rather appreciate the silly humour, the lively illustrations and the Grand Hotel setting. But I see this as more of a book for the kid inside of 'grown-ups' than for the kid in my child.

I purchased this book for my granddaughter, and almost couldn't give it to her because I wanted to keep it for myself! It has the traditional Eloise stories, which are great, but the real jewel here is the back section of the book. In this section you'll find photos of many of the Eloise products through the years, and a lovely history of the little girl and how she grew to be America's most precocious, most lovable six year old.

My daughters (4 & 6) "love, love, love" Eloise. The book is a classic and would be a great gift for girls 4-8. Eloise lives with her nanny in a posh New York hotel and her antics get her into trouble. She is unique, independent, curious, inventive, creative, sleuthy & oblivious. The line art is fun and adds detail to her antics. We like the Essential Eloise best, followed by Paris. Be aware that the "newer" Eloise books are based on the classics but are not the originals.

I love Kay Thompson and ordered this for my great-niece without ever having read an Eloise book. It certainly has the feel of a different era (one moment of Eloise swatting the doctor and him ordering a Johnny Walker Black) but the flair, exhuberance and open personality of Eloise makes it "tres drole". Just remember to read it fast and without taking a breath. Pure fun.

I read Eloise (at the Plaza) and Eloise in Paris - all 'very much' Kay. I loved that woman - a very good friend of my mom's. I worked with/for her when (as a teenager) I did her musical arrangements and orchestrations for her fabulous act with The Williams Brothers - which opened in Vegas and played all over the world.
She was one of a kind (you can see her in Funny Face) brilliant musical/vocal arranger herself, world traveler, racounter, incredible lady. I've bumper into her in Rome, Paris, London, New York, LA and was terribly saddened by her death (even though she was painfully painfully thin her whole life). She was one of the great women in the history of show biz. The Eloise books are thrilling to say the least and I continually laugh every time I pick one up even after I've gone through them 100 times. I'm ordering them once again as I left mine in London and MUST have them once again. Buddy Bregman

I have always loved children's books and at seventeen, I am still quite a child myself. One of my dearest friends, whose name is Eloise and I swap children's books and so she leant me the Absolutely Essential Eloise. I do not care what others say about her being a 'brat' or whatnot, I love this book and the others! Eloise is exactly how anyone would want to live, having everything and doing anything. I would highgly recommend it to any adult who wants to capture their 'inner child' again. :D I love Weenie too because I love pug dogs.
My mother knows Coco Chanel.

A few years ago, I was waiting with baited breath for all the Eloise books to be reprinted. It just could not happen fast enough for me. Finally, all 4 were out, and I was happy. Then they came out with this book that collects all four books in one volume for the first time, and I bought this too. Why did I buy this? Well, for one thing, the new Hilary Knight cover is rather fabulous. I am all for new Knight artwork whenever it appears, and this cover was obviously not dashed out but carefully drawn, and it shows. This is definitely worth having for the Eloise fan.

The picures are wonderful, stories are great, but the part of The Story of Eloise, they miss judged the spacing and left out the 1st letter of the starting paragraph. Someone didn't proofread it right. You get all 4 book, one great buy with the extras! ( the scrapbook and the story of Eloise) Hopefully they caught the errors for the next printing. A book you can pass down from generation to generation!

Kay Thompson based the character of Eloise on her goddaughter, Liza Minnelli (which means that the mother who sends the cablegram telling them to go to Paris is Judy Garland, probably off on a film set somewhere).
I loved, loved, loved this book as a child. As soon as I saw it in a used bookstore I knew I had to have it (I still have that old copy, a first edition). I was completely captivated by Hilary Knight's illustrations (he also did the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, by the way). It made me want to go to Paris so badly, and when I finally went at age 24 it was like a dream come true. I often thought of Eloise, Nanny, and the rest while there.

This is my favorite Eloise book. As an Eloise fan and a dedicated Travel-buff, this book is a perreniel favorite.
My sister and I had a battered copy that had belonged to my mom. Little did we know that it was a first edition. Unfortunately, with the cover missing and many of the pages creased and loose, it certainly didn't look like much.
That didn't matter to us, all the pages were still there, and we read that book, along with Eloise and Eloise in Moscow, over and over again. How happy I was to see that these books have been re-printed.

I first received Eloise when I was five years old at the Plaza Hotel in New York, even then I love love loved her to pieces. She is an enchanting 6 year old living the life of a movie star in the 50's. Kay Thompsons extrodanary example of this whitty little girl is increadable! I want to shout out loud...OOOOOOOOOOOOO I ABSOLUTLY LOVE ELOISE!