Official Review: What Does Little Glenn See at The Park?
Posted: 18 Oct 2015, 00:32
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "What Does Little Glenn See at The Park?" by Olympia Snyder.]
3 out of 4 stars
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What Does Little Glenn See at the Park? Things that begin with the letter B, is a preschool storybook written by Olympia Snyder and illustrated by Mike Motz. The story is about Little Glenn’s walk in the park with his mother. As they stroll through the park, they come upon different objects that Little Glenn is curious about so he points to them and his mother tells him what the objects are called. Then Little Glenn repeats what she says.
The story is very simple; it’s about things that start with the letter B. The sentences on each page are very similar to the sentences on the previous page, but instead include a new object being discussed. This repetition and simplicity make it easy for a child to learn to read.
The illustrations in this book take the story to another level. They are very colorful and include other activities that are going on at the park around Little Glenn and his mother’s walk. These illustrations can lead to imaginative discussions about all the other activities at the park. They could also help the child learn to observe things with questions like, “What colors are the trees?” At the end of the book are the objects that the child has seen that start with the letter B. They are hidden in pictures so the child has to search for them, also helping a child learn observation skills.
I think this book has lots of learning opportunities for a child who is preschool age or younger. It would be a good book for an older reader to share with a child, but I think it could also be used as a first reader by a child reading alone. The vocabulary is simple and there are sentence repetitions to aid in learning to read. It’s also good as a first reader because there are very few words on each page, and being only ten pages long the book is short enough for a child’s attention span.
This story was only about a few objects that start with the letter B. It is a good start for a child learning the sound of the letter B as a precursor to learning to read. I didn’t see anything about the author writing more books about other letters of the alphabet, but I imagine that the author could do a series about other letters in the same manner as this book. These types of books could all be very helpful for a child learning to read.
There are two things that could be problems with the book. One is that it “tells” rather than “shows.” For example it starts with, “Glenn gets up very early. He runs to find his mother. She is in the kitchen cooking.” For a short, simple first-reader, I don’t think this is a big problem. There are enough things going on in the book to keep a child interested. The other potential problem lies in the illustration. The characters are made to be very friendly and colorful, but they aren’t very engaging. I don’t think this would make much difference to a young child, but they do not have the stylistic appeal of classics like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” or “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”
This book is of almost the same caliber as the majority of children’s books currently available; however, I would not consider it to be exceptional. While this book may be acceptable for very young children, I think that elaborating on the stories and enhancing the appeal of the illustrations would help to improve it.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars, and I would recommend it to parents of children preschool age or younger. It’s a nice book with a simple story supported by simple illustrations.
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What Does Little Glenn See at The Park?
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3 out of 4 stars
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What Does Little Glenn See at the Park? Things that begin with the letter B, is a preschool storybook written by Olympia Snyder and illustrated by Mike Motz. The story is about Little Glenn’s walk in the park with his mother. As they stroll through the park, they come upon different objects that Little Glenn is curious about so he points to them and his mother tells him what the objects are called. Then Little Glenn repeats what she says.
The story is very simple; it’s about things that start with the letter B. The sentences on each page are very similar to the sentences on the previous page, but instead include a new object being discussed. This repetition and simplicity make it easy for a child to learn to read.
The illustrations in this book take the story to another level. They are very colorful and include other activities that are going on at the park around Little Glenn and his mother’s walk. These illustrations can lead to imaginative discussions about all the other activities at the park. They could also help the child learn to observe things with questions like, “What colors are the trees?” At the end of the book are the objects that the child has seen that start with the letter B. They are hidden in pictures so the child has to search for them, also helping a child learn observation skills.
I think this book has lots of learning opportunities for a child who is preschool age or younger. It would be a good book for an older reader to share with a child, but I think it could also be used as a first reader by a child reading alone. The vocabulary is simple and there are sentence repetitions to aid in learning to read. It’s also good as a first reader because there are very few words on each page, and being only ten pages long the book is short enough for a child’s attention span.
This story was only about a few objects that start with the letter B. It is a good start for a child learning the sound of the letter B as a precursor to learning to read. I didn’t see anything about the author writing more books about other letters of the alphabet, but I imagine that the author could do a series about other letters in the same manner as this book. These types of books could all be very helpful for a child learning to read.
There are two things that could be problems with the book. One is that it “tells” rather than “shows.” For example it starts with, “Glenn gets up very early. He runs to find his mother. She is in the kitchen cooking.” For a short, simple first-reader, I don’t think this is a big problem. There are enough things going on in the book to keep a child interested. The other potential problem lies in the illustration. The characters are made to be very friendly and colorful, but they aren’t very engaging. I don’t think this would make much difference to a young child, but they do not have the stylistic appeal of classics like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” or “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”
This book is of almost the same caliber as the majority of children’s books currently available; however, I would not consider it to be exceptional. While this book may be acceptable for very young children, I think that elaborating on the stories and enhancing the appeal of the illustrations would help to improve it.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars, and I would recommend it to parents of children preschool age or younger. It’s a nice book with a simple story supported by simple illustrations.
******
What Does Little Glenn See at The Park?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Amheiser's review? Post a comment saying so!