Saturday, March 3, 2012

God Made Something Amazing (Find the Animal)

God created many incredible animals. In Penny Reeves book God Made Something Amazing by Penny Reeve, it's your job to use the clues to figure out which animal is spotlighted.

The story depicts two young explorers--a boy and a girl--who spot an animal. They speculate what it might be, based on the shape of its head, tail, feet, and where it lives. The illustrations, done by Roger De Klerk, tantalize the reader by showing only a small part of the animal at a time. In the final pages, the mystery is solved, and God is thanked for creating such marvelous creatures.

Each two-page spread in the book features a full page illustration on one side and large-sized print with 3-5 sentences on the other. In addition, each spread provides a short Bible verse (such as, "How great are your works, O Lord. Psalm 92:5) and two questions related to the picture (such as, "Can you find the green socks?").

What I Like: The large print and simple conversational style make this book ideal for the toddler/preschool age. In addition, I like how the questions redirect the reader's attention to the pictures. I also like the inclusion of Bible verses.

What I Dislike: There is nothing I truly dislike, but neither do I feel strongly that it's a "must have" type of book.

Overall Rating: Good

Age Appeal: No age is suggested by the publisher, but I think it's probably too basic for kids older than kindergarten, and would probably best appeal to the toddler/preschool age group.

Publisher Info: CF4K, 2011; ISBN:978-1845506940; Paperback, 16 pgs., $4.99


Special Info: This book is one in a series of Find the Animal books. Other titles include God Made Something Strong, God Made Something Quick, God Made Something Funny, God Made Something Tall, and God Made Something Enormous.


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3 comments:

Penny said...

Hi CCBR, thanks for this review. I was thrilled to see my book up on your site.

Re the age range - yes these books are best suited to pre- school age children but I've found they also work well for guided reading with beginner readers. One parent also commented that the books really helped her child with speech pathology issues.

Teacher's notes to support this series of books are available for download from my website. www.pennyreeve.com

Have a lovely day, and thanks again for such the great resource your website is for people working with children and books!

Penny Reeve

Lori Z. Scott said...

Thanks for leaving the website download information. As a parent, those little perks are always an extra plus when I consider buying a book for my child. I hope people check you out at www.pennyreeve.com!

Simon said...

My kids loved these books, my youngest puts her "detective" hat on when we do these books. She is 3 and really enjoys the illustrations and so do I. Great for youngesters learning to read.