3 out of 4 stars
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Puffy and the Formidable Foe by Marie Lepkowski and Ann Marie Hannon is a children’s book about a cat named Puffy. Puffy is a curious cat who is led astray. He runs into a skunk and ends up having a loathsome bath. Puffy learns about the adversities of straying away from home and learns to appreciate the idea of choosing to stay close home. The book thus offers a wonderful platform for parents to discuss the adverse consequences of loitering away out of curiosity, the possible dangers it may ensue and the importance of staying safe. The cat taking a bath, also provides a golden opportunity to discuss hygiene. The book also lends us a chance to nurture a healthy emotional intelligence in the young reader by touching upon words that describe emotions like “anger”, “regret”.
At the outset, the authors profess the book being an interactive learning tool and offer suggestions for various learning activities one can engage with their kids while reading the book. The book aptly underlines the rhyming words to lay more focus on them. It allows the young readers to focus on the rhyming sounds and offers them a chance to explore phonics.
The illustrations of the book stand out. The pictures and their coloring look like a book illustrated by a child. The diction too is carefully chosen to range from monosyllables at the beginning and gradually move towards bigger polysyllabic words. This approach of moving from easy to difficult vocabulary will definitely build the confidence of the child while moving on to introduce them to new words. I especially like how the book has a coloring page at the end. That is a pleasant incentive to the reader.
According to eminent pedagogies children possess different kinds of intelligence and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways. Thus, any truly holistic learning material must appeal to learners of all kinds. Evaluating thus, we see this book efficiently addresses all possible intelligences: Musical Intelligence, through phonics presenting a stimulus for recall or sound recognition; Naturalistic intelligence, through discussions about animals; Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence, through the coloring activity which enhances motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination; Interpersonal intelligence, through the discussions between the parent and the child ; Intrapersonal intelligence, when the child is allowed to think on its own on the possible dangers he/she may encounter if he/she strays away from home ; Verbal Intelligence, through the introduction of new vocabulary; Spatial Intelligence, through the visually appealing pictures which help the child acquire concrete concepts, such as object identification and Mathematical-Logical Intelligence while counting the pictorial representations.
I would rate the book a 3 out of 4 stars. I had to take away a star as bathing was portrayed as an unenjoyable activity. Although, it was in tune to the likes of the cat, having the readers in mind, the authors could have removed words like ‘yucky shampoo’, as such words leave negative impressions about bathing through association on tender minds. Overlooking this minor lapse, I think the book will be an enriching read for any toddler.
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Puffy and the Formidable Foe
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