CAROLANE, Sue Aa is for Alpacas Jojo Pub, 2014 unpaged $16.99 pbk ISBN 9780987463593 SCIS 1653892
Sue Carolane has had over 30 years as a speech pathologist working in pre-school, primary and secondary education. She has written this book in response to her observations of the high number of children experiencing difficulty in learning to read, write and spell. She is a powerful advocate for the essential pre-reading experience of reading with young children and making them familiar with books and how they work and developing early language skills. She stresses the importance of the relationship between the written letter and its sound and it is essential that children know both name and sound of letters.
Expert directions are given for the adult reader, including tips on how to select excellent alphabet books. In the second part of the book, Carolane uses her own attractive alpaca family to help teach the names and sounds of the alphabet. The pages are enlivened by their appealing photographs, and extra information about alpacas is seamlessly included within the ABC format, adding interest beyond the usual picture/word experience.
An excellent resource for any parent/carer involved with beginning readers, both for the teaching information and the ABC content especially those involved in home schooling or distance education.
reviewed by Joy Steward
