An A to Z Walk in the Park by R.M. Smith is a fun book that packs a lot of information into 32 pages. As a librarian who works in a system that supports the Every Child Ready to Read literacy program, I found Smith's book to be very useful in fostering all six of the pre-literacy skills that children need to master in order to learn to read: Print Awareness, Letter Knowledge, Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Narrative Skills, and Phonological Awaress. The use of upper and lower-case letters and the alliteration that often read like tongue-twisters help with Letter Knowledge and Phonological Awareness. The labeling of the different animals, especially the rare animals, which will be new to many children help with Vocabulary and Narrative Skills as parents engage their children in dialogue about the different animals. The use of different colored text to highlight the animal names helps with Print Awareness and the engaging graphics help with Print Motivation by bringing the text to life. In addition, a quick trip to the website www.atozwalk.com yielded a treasure trove of activities that can be used to reinforce the six skills with animal fun facts, coloring sheets, and word searches. My only complaint is that it is a paperback, which is great for home use, but makes for a short life in a public library. Overall, it is well worth the $8!
As a grandmother and former teacher, I found this a delightful picture book! You are led into an animal park by mysterious footprints to find pages chock-full of animals, who are realistically drawn for easy identification. Some are very familiar so little ones can call out their names; others are new and challenging for older children who might want to do further research. ( Can YOU identify the Javelina? the Kinkajou? the Zorilla?) The text is spare but fun to read, as it is full of alliteration: "Lucky to lure in the king of the jungle, the letter "Ll" lucks out with a Lion, a Llama, and a lounging Leopard." My grandson and I love it!
Graphic artist and illustrator R. M. Smith brings a delightful adventure to preschool children everywhere with An A to Z Walk in the Park. The 2008 release leads readers on a walk through an imaginary park filled with wildlife. Beginning with the letter "A" and closing on the letter "Z," children are introduced to an entire alphabet of more than 200 animals--some familiar, some more exotic. Even parents won't recognize all of the animals peeking out from the pages. There's something for everyone to learn! The illustrations are detailed, brightly colored, and guaranteed to capture a child's attention. There is very little text, but it is filled with words that correspond to each letter, furthering the cognitive experience. There are plenty of common farm and zoo animals for children to recognize, but the hordes of more exotic animals will provide lots of opportunity for discussion and future research. Even with my son's unhealthy 24/7 addiction to Animal Planet, there were still plenty of new species to discover. Our own discussion centered on the hodge podge of animals arranged on each page. Of course, there's no way these animals could survive in one locale together in real life. A cobra and a chipmunk aren't going to get along very long in enclosed surroundings. So we got a kick out of discussing which animals would eat each other and who would be the reigning survivor. With its gorgeous illustrations and educational content, An A to Z Walk in the Park is destined to be a hit with young readers. The intended audience is ages 3 to 7. A visit to the book's web site yields corresponding puzzles, word searches, and printable coloring sheets. I would love to see some art prints from the book made available, because the pictures would make beautiful room decor for a child's bedroom. Hopefully, there are more children's books in the works from R. M. Smith.
I won this book in the giveaway, and it is really great! We are looking into adoption, so I am going to hang on to this to read and share with our child in the future. The book includes lots of animals for each letter of the alphabet, including interesting ones like a kinkajou and loris. The drawings are really great and look just like the animals! Great job, R. M. Smith and I love the dedication on the opening page.
I was fortunate enough to win a copy of An A to Z Walk In the Park from Goodreads. An A to Z Walk In the Park is a delightful book for children, with amazing artwork. The animals chosen are cute and cover the alphabet from Alligator to Zebu, and the author's descriptions are clever and fun. I will be sharing this book with my great-nephew, I'm sure he will enjoy the pictures.
A werewolf gang-war mini-epic written in free verse (!!!). If it had stopped...
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