Review of Spotty, Stripy, Swirly by Jane Brocket

 

Publisher: Millbrook Press, Lerner Imprint

Series: Jane Brocket's Clever Concepts

Release date: January 1, 2012

Buying Links: Millbrook Press     Amazon

Book Blurb (from publisher):

 

Dotty, stripy, straight and swirly—patterns are all around us. How many different patterns can you find pictured in this book?

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

Brocket has added another wonderful book to her Clever Concepts series. Using vivid, detailed photographs and everyday objects, she explores the concept of patterns for young children. She uses flowers, items of furniture, toys, fabrics, sidewalks, pretty much anything that has a pattern of some kind. There are numerous examples of patterns, including but not limited to, spots, stripes,circles/dots, zig zags, etc. The photographs are eye catching, and despite showcasing patterns, they're not too busy.

Just as in prior books, Brocket encourages readers to look for patterns in the world around them. I like that she uses patterns found all around children in houses, toys, foods, etc. to illustrate her point and she gently encourages children to look for them. A basic understanding of shapes is necessary to recognize and understand patterns but once that has been mastered, children will enjoy spotting patterns in everything around them. Parents and teachers will be able to turn looking for different patterns into a fun I Spy game. 

I received an eARC from the publisher.

Review of Spiky, Slimy, Smooth: What Is Texture? by Jane Brocket

Publisher: Millbrook Press

Release date: April 28, 2011

More info: Amazon, The Book Depository

Book Blurb:

Soft, gooey, fluffy, prickly--textures are all around us. What clever words will you use to describe the textures pictured in this book? Jane Brocket's appealing photography and simple, whimsical text give a fresh approach to a topic all young children learn about.

My Thoughts:

This book discusses the rich variety of textures all around us in a fun, colorful, and joyful way. It perfectly combines text and photographs, they balance and complement each other. We are shown the pictures accompanied by simple words describing what that specific texture feels like. Texture is a very tricky subject to talk about sometimes. Words like smooth, hard, and soft are easy to come up with but more descriptive words are not as easily thought of and of course, texture involves touch, not just words.

The book itself has a lack of textures. I wish that some of the pages would have incorporated textures to extend the discussion and allow children to connect the physical texture with the words. I did love the vocabulary that described the textures. There are two or more words for each texture, which is excellent for vocabulary building. Since it is very vocabulary rich and the pictures are so eye-catching, I think the book works for infants up to kindergarten.

The photography is amazing, very crisp and clear, with clear, contrasting colors. The pictures really pop and will capture the attention of the children. As mentioned, after every picture, we're given a description of how the item feels. I really loved that the author did that because not all children are exposed to the things in the book. Some children grow up never knowing what snow feels like, so I appreciated how descriptive the author is. For the most part, it was easy to see the textures. A few of the pictures don't do a very accurate job of showing the texture being described, such as the butterfly page and the watermelon page. However, the book as a whole does a remarkable job and has a good range of textures. The book uses a mix of everyday objects and more unusual objects. I liked that balance and think that most kids could find some object that they were familiar with. They were also close up but you could still identify what it was.

At the end of the book the author challenges the readers to discover the textures of things around them and to creatively come up with words to describe them. This is a great activity to do at home or at school and I think most kids will enjoy the challenge.

This eARC was received from the publisher via NetGalley.

NOTE: This is a revised version of the review that originally appeared.