Book Review: Dr. Seuss's ABC
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What Parents Should Know
Seuss's words are chosen for maximum fun on the tongue, and
there's a delightful interplay between the letters and Seuss's
crazy-wild drawings. Alphabet books are nothing if not
participatory.
Common Sense Media Review
Seuss, faithful to his mission, entertainingly and
effectively delivers the educational goods--in this case, the
alphabet. The letters each take a turn in the spotlight and
then are wedded to a few well-chosen words that convey the
Seuss worldview of the high humor to be found in mental play:
"Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight
... mighty nice."
Because Seuss's illustrations are all about possibility--quacking quacker-oo, policeman in a pail, ten tired turtles on a tuttle-tuttle tree--that same sense rubs off on the letters: Here, take these letters, they're fun! Rub 'em together and see what you come up with. There is no better way to take the anxiety out of something than to makes friends with it.
A four-year-old who recently took command of the alphabet found in the book that next step: connecting the letter to a word. He also reveled in belting out the pages that summarize the letters covered up to that point--there are four of them--and sending out probes into the strange world of lowercase.
Seuss's Hop on Pop is a good choice to make the move from letters to words.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
