3 out of 4 stars
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Puffy and the Formidable Foe by Marie G. Lepkowski, Ann M. Hannon and Margaret B. Hannon is a short children’s book with hand-drawn illustrations. The book tells a story of a cat named Puffy. One day Puffy went hunting for a rat, but he found a ‘Kitty’ with a grossly offensive smell instead. The ‘Kitty’ turned out to be a skunk. On realising his mistake, Puffy runs home where he is washed clean.
What I liked most about the book are the hand-drawn illustrations. The cartoonish illustrations relate well with children- they can actually attempt to do the drawings on their own. The book is short and I found this to be a clever way to capture the attention of children. The drawings will also appeal to children because of the vibrant colours used throughout the book.
The book teaches children about the dangers of wandering off on their own in the absence of adults. The story is told in a friendly way which is not scary for children. Children will also learn not to associate with strangers because such a deplorable action usually results in endangering oneself.
Unlike other children’s books, the authors actually wrote a whole page on how best the book can be used. The better part of the book is written in rhyme. The rhyming words are easy to find as they are underlined. To make the book interesting, the authors put an additional page for colouring. They can also send you extra colouring pages via email upon request.
I recommend Puffy and the Formidable Foe to children who want to learn big words. Though small, the book consists of a couple of big words. The authors also included an option to get another set of big words via email. Impatient children with a short attention span will benefit most, as the book is very short. Parents who want to teach their children will also benefit. They will make use of the various methods highlighted at the beginning of the book. I recommend this book to children of ages three up to ten years old. Due to the inclusion of big words in the book, the guidance of an adult is highly recommended.
Puffy and the Formidable Foe has an appealing layout. The editing was generally good as I could not find any typing errors. I could only find one grammatical error. I found this to be distracting considering that the book is only fifteen pages long. I therefore rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
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Puffy and the Formidable Foe
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