Making Learning Fun
Back to school for the youngest students means back to the basics: numbers and letters. If “concept books,” about these basics are fun, it helps keep learning fun.
“Counting Crocodiles,” by Judy Sierra
“Counting Crocodiles” is a jolly good read. A clever monkey lives on an island in a sour lemon tree. She eats lemons, “boiled and fried, steamed, sauteed, pureed and fried,” until she cries “I’m all puckered up inside.”
Across the Sillabobble Sea, she spies an island with a banana tree. The sea is full of crocodiles, though, so the monkey must be creative. She bets the crocs there are more monkeys on the island than crocodiles in the sea, thus tricking them into lining up to be counted. As she dances across the crocs toward the island, the reader is treated to a lively counting rhyme that has a wonderful rhythm.
David Hillenbrand’s pictures are funny and fanciful. (Harcourt Brace, 40 pgs., ages 3-7, $15)
“Ashley Bryan’s ABC of African American Poetry,” compiled and illustrated by Ashley Bryan
This is a sophisticated and lovely alphabet book. Bryan, who is well-known for his beautifully illustrated collections of spirituals, here has complied short poems and excerpts by gifted poets and matched each with a letter of the alphabet. Here’s N:
“Nothing happens only once,
Nothing happens only here,
Every love that lies asleep
Wakes today another year.”
That’s written by Owen Dodson, and was originally published in 1946. Bryan’s paintings, in tempera and gouache, are bold and brilliantly colored. (Atheneum, 32 pgs., all ages, $16)
“Bunny Money,” by Rosemary Wells
My youngest child has a poster of Max the rabbit on his bedroom wall. When he’s too old for it, I’ll put Max on the wall of my room. He and his big sister Ruby - heroes of “Max’s Dragon Shirt” and “Bunny Cakes” - are two of the greatest characters in children’s books.
In their latest adventure, Max and Ruby set off to buy birthday presents for their grandma. Ruby plans to buy a music box with skating ballerinas. But she makes the mistake of giving Max her wallet to buy a small lemonade.
Max has to pass a display of vampire teeth with cherry syrup inside. Grandma will love those, Max decides. But he needs to try them on first. What a mess! That mishap leads to more, and Ruby’s money dribbles away. Will they be able to buy a present for Grandma?
Wells’ books are so funny and well-written that they’re a pleasure to read aloud, even repeatedly. Her illustrations are charming. The end pieces of the book are illustrated with bunny money that can be copied and used for play and counting. The famous bunnies Marie Curie, Mahatma Gandhi, Chief Seattle and others appear on the faces of the bills. (Dial, ages 3 and up, 32 pgs., $14.99)
“Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems,” selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
“How does a New York taxi go?
“What size is Grandpa’s attic?
“How old is the oldest dinosaur?
“The answer’s in Mathmatics! …” - From “Marvelous Math” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich This is another great poetry book that reinforces (and sometimes pokes fun at) an academic subject.
Hopkins is a poet himself and anthologist of many poetry collections. Two of his fine poems are included here: “Fractions” and “Sky”.
Children will love the wild, colorful illustrations by Karen Barbour. (Simon & Schuster, 32 pgs., ages 5 and up, $17)
“The Awful Aardvarks Go to School,” by Reeve Lindbergh
A gang of mischievous aardvarks pays a visit to school, and the result is hilarious alphabetic mayhem. They race through the classroom chasing chickens, dancing with bears, hassling hamsters, immersing inchworms and performing many more pranks, all in rhyming text that works nicely.
This will be a sure favorite with children. The illustrations by Tracey Campbell Pearson are as funny as the text and full of detail. An alphabet strip appears at the top of each double-page spread.
As the aardvarks reach the letters on each page, the letters in the strip are knocked askew. (Viking, 32 pgs., ages 4 and up, $15.99)
“Give Me a Sign! What Pictograms Tell Us Without Words,” by Tiphaine Samoyault
Children’s first reading material is often familiar signs. Most children “read” the “McDonald’s” sign long before they recognize “cat” and “dog.”
This interesting book tells about signs that nonreaders, and readers of any language, can easily interpret.
The red circle with a slash over a cigarette is easily recognized, but youngsters will have fun trying to read some of the less familiar pictograms. The book contains lots of written information for older readers on the uses and history of pictograms (some hieroglyphs were pictograms).
It isn’t easy to get the whole world on the same track in use of symbols. One early venue was the Olympic Games, with universally recognized symbols for sports. (Viking, 32 pgs., ages 5 and up, $13.99)