Artsy Alphabet. Gwen Smales & Connie Fisher. Huntsville, ON: Artsy Pear (info@artsypear.com), 2010. 29 pp., stapled, $14.00. ISBN 978-0-9866590-0-3. Preschool-Kindergarten / Ages 2-5. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ***½ /4

excerpt:

S
We like playing in the sun.
Let's go sailing. It's great fun.
When we get hungry, we'll stop for lunch.
Sandwiches and pickles – crunch, crunch, crunch.
We have a saw and two screws.
We can fix whatever we choose.

Cute and clever sums it up. This creative alphabet book displays the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet on each page, surrounded by illustrations of animals and objects beginning with that letter, except for X which sneaks in exit, but we all understand the limits of words beginning with X.

     The text accompanying each letter is formed of four or six lines of rhyming couplets. The words beginning with the alphabet letter for that page are colour-coded to match the colour of the illustrated alphabet letter. Preschoolers will have fun finding the illustrations matching the colour-coded words.

      For example, on the S page, readers will find sun, sailboat, sandwiches, a saw and two screws to match the words in the excerpt included in this review.

      Each page includes two picture boxes, one for the upper case letter and one for the lower case letter. Under each picture box are four to six lines of rhyming couplets so children get to seek and find the correct illustrations twice for each letter. Twice the fun and twice the practice.

      Although it is a small matter and probably only a personal preference, I don't like the font style used for the text. It may have been chosen because it is less formal and more childlike, but it isn't the easiest font to read. It is likely that young children will have this book read to them, but the goal is to have the children increase their letter recognition. Why use a font that has a lower case 'q' with a curly tail?

      Still, cute and clever and worthy of a spot on your preschool shelf.

Highly Recommended.

Suzanne Pierson is a retired teacher-librarian, currently instructing Librarianship courses at Queen's University in Kingston, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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