Friday, December 20, 2013

Fun with Color


Little hamsters help toddlers to recognize and name familiar colors in the playful board book This Little Hamster by Kass Reich. The examples mix the routine with the whimsical. For black, it's a tire (in the form of a swing), a top hat, and a "healthy snack" (blackberries).

Repetitive phrasing allows toddlers to join in on repeat readings, and large, open type helps them recognize patterns of letters and length of words, even if they're not reading yet. The pictures clearly show the items mentioned in the text, and the charming hamsters make ideal models for the objects under examination.

Hamsters Holding Hands, also by Reich, which counts up to 10 and back down again, boasts a "meatier" story line, but by the time toddlers finish this pair of board books, they will be quite comfortable with both numbers and colors--and likely will have shared more than a few laughs.

No comments:

Post a Comment