A B CA
N I M
A LR
I D D
L E S
(click on a letter to see a riddle!)
Author: Susan Joyce ~ Illustrator: Doug DuBosque
ISBN 0-939217-51-1
Rhyming animal riddles challenge beginning readers to make connections between sounds and letters. With bright, colorful illustrations, this children's book helps encourage phonemic awareness, a key to reading success.For author Susan Joyce, the concept evolved less from theory than from her own childhood dyslexia. To help her make sense of letters, sounds, and words, her family made learning language fun by making up riddles based on the alphabet.To make ABC Animal Riddles fun for children of various ages and abilities, some of the riddles are easier than others, just as some of the illustrations are fairly obvious while others require a second look.This book also features a page at the end with "Ideas for Parents and Teachers."Kids will love this book. And adults? Well, I'll bet you can't guess just one!
K-Gr 3-Using a familiar format, this author and illustrator team has created a dynamite book. For each letter of the alphabet there is a mystery animal whose identity can be guessed from clues in the accompanying rhyming riddle. The first and last letter of the creatures' names are also provided. Many are familiar-monkey, snail, and turtle, for example; but several not so familiar beasts-newt, quail and zebu-also stalk these pages. The rhymes are packed with vivid descriptions:" I'm five letters long. I start with a Q./I roam through the woods/and through grassy fields, too./Bob-bob-white I chatter/ while my noisy wings clatter./People hunt me for game./Can you guess my name?" At the end of the book, the animals are listed, along with a page of "Ideas for Parents and Teachers." The full-color illustrations are also splendidly mysterious, for only a part of each animal is depicted. the appealing cover in bold colors will draw children to this book while the riddles will captivate them.
--School Library Journal, May 1999
...learning our ABCs has never been more fun. The author's purpose is to stimulate word decoding, spelling and language experiences among young readers. Each letter of the alphabet is represented through a riddle. The word to be guessed - an animal name - usually has the first and last letters, with the number of spaces for each letter shown in-between. The riddle and a colorful illustration provide the clues.The illustrations are particularly well suited to the goal of this book. Even though colorful and stimulating, they are subtle representations of the animal and not always obvioous. Reading and guessing go along with the illustrations to provide a motivating way to "decode" the clues.Readers will have their hands full with some of the tougher riddles - as I did. I couldn't come up with two of the words (vole and zebu) and had to resort to the much appreciated answer page at the back of the book. Other words may give readers som etrouble as well, such as newt, puffin, and iguana. Thus there is a range of difficulty to attract a variety of young readers.This is wonderful resource for the classroom or home. It is bright and stimulating, challenging and purposeful. The author has brought a creative spark to the ABCs, and kids will love it.
-- Independent Publisher
...an enjoyable word game, ideal for a primary-grade classroom where the children know their animals.
--ALA Booklist, June 1999
...a sure winner for younger children.
--Tacoma, WA Public Schools
ABC Animal Riddles is certain to be as entertaining as it is educational.
--Midwest Book Review, March 1999
