The Guinea Pig ABC

Rating:
Summary: Worst ABC book ever...
Review: First of all, I have read other books by Kate Duke and I must say that her guinea pigs are cute and I enjoy some of her drawings. While Ms. Duke does a competent job of illustrating her books, she has no business writing them. The Guinea Pig ABC features 1 page illustrations with a word at the bottom and a large letter taking up most of the page. The problems however are that the guinea pigs, in their interactions with the letters, wind up blocking pieces of them. This causes the letters to not stand out as much and the guinea pigs to become the central focus, and not the alphabet. The larger problem however is the selection of words. Many of the words are not in the vocabulary of children learning their alphabet. I have field tested this book with over 100 different children in small groups. It has not been well-received in any setting or by any group of children. Too many of the words deal with abstract concepts that the children simply do not yet have a grasp of. For instance, "E" is the word "empty" - with two guinea pigs looking inside an empty mailbox. 3, 4 and 5 year olds are not going to make the connection. "Q" is the word Quiet; "N" is Neat; "F" is Ferocious! On the rear dust-jacket, Duke says, "the only research I did consisted of staring at Peaches, my little sister's guinea pig"... that is painfully obvious.

Why 1 star?: This book is much too complicated for its target audience. This was Duke's first attempt at children's literature and I do wish she had done some more research. I am appalled that E.P. Dutton would even print this book. The book attempts to teach both the letters and abstract concepts simultaneously instead of picking a definite focus.

Rating:
Summary: good for teaching ESL
Review: Most ABC books are about nouns.
This author decided to be different and write an ABC book about adjectives!

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderfully Whimsical Alphabet Book!
Review: My toddler loves this book. At first I worried that the concepts were too advanced for him, but after several reads he got quite a few of them. He asks me to read it to him again and again. I think this book helped him learn his alphabet before his 2nd birthday.

Rating:
Summary: Best ABC book I've seen
Review: The review giving this book one star is quite a revelation. It's unfortunate the reviewer was unaware that all the words in the book are adjectives - what a brilliant innovation for an ABC book!

Apparently the person who wrote the review is working with very disadvantaged children. Generally young children, even those under three, know words such as 'empty', 'quiet' and 'neat'. The purpose of this book is to help enrich a child's vocabulary, and not repeat the common 'apple, bird, and cat' ABCs. And the wonderful illustrations are as appealing as those in any of the very best children's books.

Rating:
Summary: Best ABC book I've seen
Review: The review giving this book one star is quite a revelation. It's unfortunate the reviewer was unaware that all the words in the book are adjectives - what a brilliant innovation for an ABC book!

Apparently the person who wrote the review is working with very disadvantaged children. Generally young children, even those under three, know words such as 'empty', 'quiet' and 'neat'. The purpose of this book is to help enrich a child's vocabulary, and not repeat the common 'apple, bird, and cat' ABCs. And the wonderful illustrations are as appealing as those in any of the very best children's books.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderfully Whimsical Alphabet Book!
Review: The reviewer who gave this book one star, Jay Babcock, underestimates the intelligence of the average 4 to 5 year old. Certainly 1-3 year olds may not get the concepts in this book ""E" for Empty" with two piggies looking at an empty mailbox. It is the parent's or reader's job to explain the illustration and what "empty" means as a teachable moment. Everything should not be spelled out and spoon fed to kids or they will never learn anything at all. The children that I have seen checking out this book again and again loved it and when they sounded out words, they were so happy to get them right. They were inspired to read further and read other books as well. It is highly unfair of him to suggest that she had no business writing this book.

I found the book to be delightful and wonderfully illustrated and again, the children I have seen reading this book in the library clearly loved it.