I would love to have one of those kids that can never pull themselves away from their book of the week. Neither of my kids are that way…they would do anything to not have to read. My daughter has dyslexia, so the enchantment of reading left her long ago. My son, oh, my son. I don’t really know why he won’t ever read…we will just call it extra stubborn. Extra, extra stubborn. I am always on the lookout for books that I think/hope will appeal to them. Books that will keep their attention, won’t be too easy to read but also won’t be too hard to read, and books that will last; my kids are not easy on things.
I was sent the book A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes, published by Harper Collins, without much information on the book. All I had was the hope that my son will read this book; my kids are huge animal lovers. The book arrived, as I opened the box and saw the cover of the book my hope grew stronger, I flipped through the pages and grew more and more excited. This book would be prefect for my son. As I was looking, my daughter walked in and was immediately drawn to the book; the cover is bright and the words large. The book is also very sturdy and feels nice in your hands.
As you open the book, it keeps drawing you in. The illustrations are big, bright, and cute. I believe any child will want to keep reading just to see the next picture, I know I wanted to see what was next. The way the pages were laid out was also very appealing. The words, let’s talk about the words. As a parent of a dyslexic, I am learning what works for my child to read successfully. The larger the text the better she can read it, and I am sure she is not the only child out there like this. The text size is great and very easy to read.
Now the true test, will my son, not only be able to read it, but would he enjoy it also? Getting him to open the book was a bit on the difficult side, BUT, he enjoyed it! The words were not too hard for him; he read them all. I liked that the words repeated a bit. The book also touched on teaching counting and the concept of opposites. My son enjoyed the illustrations and the story line. He read the book multiple times. Success!
A Parade of Elephants is great as a bedtime book for babies and toddlers and great as an early reader. My 10-year-old daughter even enjoyed reading it to her brother. It can span many different age groups and is made well enough to survive for generations. Think Christmas, baby showers, birthdays, or just because and purchase your copy here!
