CM Magazine: I Love My Busy Book.

________________ CM . . . . Volume IV Number 20 . . . . June 5, 1998

cover I Love My Busy Book.
Cyndy Szekeres.
Toronto, ON: Scholastic, 1997.
46 pp, hardcover, $16.99.
ISBN 0-590-69195-3.

Subject Headings:
Mice-Fiction.
Alphabet.
Counting.
Colour-Fiction.

Preschool - grade 1 / Ages 3 - 6.
Review by Leslie Millar.
*** /4

excerpt:

Up is the ceiling,
down is the floor.
Left is the window,
right is the door.

In is the kitty,
out is the dog.
Over sleeps a little mouse,
under sleeps a frog.

I tend to be wary of books that purport to be everything. So it is with some surprise I say that Cyndy Szekeres' I Love My Busy Book, About the Alphabet, Counting, Colors, Opposites, Shapes and Much, Much More, is a pleasing compilation of poems and rhymes on the above subjects.

This book is aimed at the preschool/kindergarten crowd, providing practice in counting up to ten objects [in this case, animals], identifying colours and shapes, and of course, saying the alphabet. For this reason, it is a useful book for parents and early childhood educators alike. It also deals with prepositions, feelings, manners and names of body parts. Active listening is likely as children can count the mouse, name colours and shapes, and find animals who are over/under, etc. The table of contents is helpful for a parent/educator looking to focus on a particular area.

Also in Busy Book's favour is the fact that it's oversized and charmingly illustrated with cuddly kittens, rabbits, dogs, and other adorable animals. Look for the mouse in red overalls who appears at least once on every two-page spread. Cyndy Szekeres has created a competent, attractive book.

Recommended.

Leslie Millar is a mother and substitute teacher.

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

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - JUNE 5, 1998.