My First Action Word Book
PreSchool-K?This bright, lively book should inspire children to explore the relationship among objects, actions, and the written word. The activities featured will be familiar to most youngsters: going shopping, eating, doing errands, etc. All of the brief phrases begin with gerunds, and children will quickly learn the concept of forming these words. Each double-page spread is filled with photographs of children and adults actively engaged in one of these pursuits. Consistent use of primary and secondary colors against a white background helps to unify the numerous pictures on each page. Objects are clearly labeled and grouped within simple lined borders. The large format is perfect for sharing. The subtitle is somewhat misleading, however, since the book does not follow a dictionary format and far fewer than 1,000 words are listed in the index. The book's companion title, Angela Wilkes's My First Word Book (DK, 1991), while less successful in design, is more comprehensive in its coverage of nouns, verbs, opposites, numbers, and colors. The American Heritage Picture Dictionary (Houghton, 1994) follows a standard format and defines a general vocabulary with pictures and short sentences. The narrow focus of Bunting's book makes it an additional purchase.?Jody McCoy, Casady School, Oklahoma CityCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.