Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
How Do Dinosaurs Write Their ABC's with Chalk?
Illustrator: Mark Teague
Novelty Board Book Series
For ages 3 to 5
Scholastic, 2016 ISBN: 978-0545890526
Learning their ABC’s can be “a mountain” for some and “a breeze” for others. The important thing to do is to try to make the process fun, which is what Jane Yolen and Mark Teague have done with this clever novelty board book.
On every page there is a large black space where children can practice writing words using the chalk that is provided. The words they are invited to write appear in the two sets of verses that are written on the page above the little ‘chalkboard.’ Each of the verses explores how a dinosaur might behave when he or she is presented with a situation. For example, “Does a dinosaur pull the dog’s tail hard? / No a dinosaur throws him a stick in the yard.” In this case the word “dog” is one of the words that appears on the chalkboard below, and the young reader can try writing the word dog for him or herself in the space provided.
We go from page to page, with two words appearing on each chalkboard, taking a journey through the alphabet from A to Z, from “airplane” to “Zzzs.”
After we have gone through the alphabet, with one word per letter, we get to practice the whole alphabet before we are invited to read some sentences and complete them by writing in the right word.
Children will love this novelty title with its cunning built-in chalk and eraser holder. They can write on the chalkboards as often as they choose, and will thoroughly enjoy the amusing artwork and verses that appear on every page. With this book in hand young ‘dinos’ truly can “have fun with their alphabet … every day.”
