4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Puffy and the Formidable Foe by Marie G. Lepkowski, Ann M. Hannon and Margaret B. Hannon
As reflected by current trends in the world today, children no longer have to wait till a certain age before being exposed to the richness of a language’s vocabulary. In fact, it is advised to start when they’re still in the mother’s womb! Against this backdrop, The Terrific Trio namely Marie G. Lepkowski, Ann M. Hannon and Margaret B. Hannon teamed up to publish the 3rd edition of Puffy and the Formidable Foe on the 7th of September 2011.
Despite being of small content, it’s an illustrated children’s book with themes bordering on exploration, adventure and learning from one’s mistakes. The story paints a vivid, relatable picture for kids (literally); warning of the potential repercussions of straying off without supervision.
Puffy, the major character in Puffy and the Formidable Foe, is a kitten in search of adventure all by himself. He chances upon an animal he presumes is a fellow kitty but ends up regretting their meeting as the kitty-look-alike turns out to be a skunk “with odor obscene”. As a cat who hates water by nature, it is little wonder then that Puffy views the perfectly cleansing bubble bath that follows as “yucky shampoo.”
This cute-sized 16-page book is an interactive learning tool capable of serving varying functions. Words like ‘scampered’, ‘beneath’, ‘obscene’ and ‘formidable’ among others are employed with the aim of expanding a child’s vocabulary at a tender age. On each page, two words are underlined to assist readers in identifying specific rhymes. The story in general is capable of stimulating individual thoughts alongside discussions between children and their guardians.
I think the authors did a great job by providing a page for coloring as a reward for reading and/or participation especially if a child is able to discern his/her favorite part of the story while citing reasons, as well as the ability to retell the story in their own words. They even went a step further by providing an email to request for more coloring pages if needed. I do agree that this feature would greatly increase children’s desire for learning especially reading.
There are ten hand-drawn illustrated pages excluding the one left for coloring. These drawings fill up the pages and are quite creative with appropriate facial expressions reflecting how Puffy felt at every given time. I particularly loved the one where he was in the bubbly bathtub, unable to escape that ensuing wash.
Puffy and the Formidable Foe is a cute story with lessons learned. For example, it mentions that “Puffy doesn’t get angry, he doesn’t get sore” at his unfortunate encounter with the baby skunk, instead he takes proactive measures against future occurrences. This will reinforce on kids (adults too) the maturity of being a good sport especially during games and other activities.
I picked out no spelling or grammatical errors. I do worry though, if the children would be able to understand the powerful words used without an adult around to explain them. Yet, I am pleased to rate Puffy and the Formidable Foe 4 out of 4 stars for meeting the target it set out to achieve. I think parents, teachers and guardians will find this book useful to their young wards as a tool for learning and banishing boredom, at least, for a little while.
******
Puffy and the Formidable Foe
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Vickie Noel's review? Post a comment saying so!
