ABC Animal Riddles

Rating:
Summary: Playful Learning
Review: ABC Animal Riddles is part of a series of books designed to encourage readers to develop phonemic awareness. The riddles also encourage children to develop their problem-solving skills.

Many of the animals in this book are not shown in their full size or are partially hidden by their environments. So, children not only have to figure out what the animal is, they have to learn the spelling. Fortunately they also include a list of the names of the animals at the back of the book.

A trip to a zoo would be a fun way to introduce this book. Susan Joyce also gives additional ideas for how to make up your own riddles.
Each page if filled with color and might work well as a color guessing book because the colors are vivid and rarely blend into one another. For example, the page for ladybug has:

L_ _ _ _ _ _ g and the rhyme:

I start with an L and end with a G.
I eat harmful insects.
Gardeners like me!
I have spots-at least two
sometimes more, quite a few.
Lady's part of my name-
male or female, the same.
I'm a very small beetle.
Can you name me?

On the page there is a picture of a farm and to the right an enlarged picture of half a beetle shell.

Other animals featured with rhymes: ant, beaver, camel, duck, elephant, firefly, giraffe, hippopotamus, iguana, jellyfish, kangaroo, monkey, octopus, quail, rhinoceros, turtle, emu, whale, fox and zebu.

~TheRebeccaReview.com