Crane Guy is a rhyming picture book by acclaimed author Sally Sutton and illustrator Sarah Wilkins that utilises the classic I Spy concept to make a fun game of learning letters and their sounds.
Aria (just turned 5) gave Crane Guy a test run.
Crane Guy, up so high,
Building towers in the sky,
Tell me, tell me what you spy.
Something beginning with …
Aria (5) has just started school and her class is focussing on letters and sounds right now, so Crane Guy was a perfect learning tool for her as well as being a bit of fun!
Rhyming, interactive fun
This rhyming picture book is full of fantastic illustrations of people, vehicles and other everyday scenes which Aria loved exploring. It’s a very interactive game of I Spy with each page featuring a different letter, which we practised the sound of before trying to find as many things on the page starting with that letter as possible.
She had to really think about the sounds and work out what images on the pages related to them which was great to see – she was completely engaged and very proud of herself when she found words to describe the images using the correct letter.
We talked about what was happening in each scene, and there was so much to look at so, while the text of the book is quite short and simple, it kept us busy for ages.
Rhyming is also another current focus for her at school, so we looked for rhyming words for each of the items she pointed out, helping her to learn how language works and to notice the sounds within words.
Promote language learning
Crane Guy is an excellent book to promote language learning for kids, in a really fun way. I found that it really enhanced the foundational learning Aria is already getting at school and showed her that letters, sounds, and rhyming words are all around us.
She loves the book so much that she wants to take it in to share with her teacher and class which I think is an excellent idea.
Highly recommended
There is so much to benefit from reading this book with your little one, so it’s definitely one worth having at home, especially if your child has just started school this year. I’ll be recommending this book to everyone!
To purchase a copy of Crane Guy for your kainga visit Penguin Books.
Reviewed by Claudia and Aria
See more books:
- The Māori Picture Dictionary / Te Papakupu Whakaahua | Book Review
- Atua: Māori Gods and Heroes | Book Review
- Little Kiwi and the Goodnight Song Book | Book Review
- My Elephant is Blue | Book Review
- Bluey: Where’s Bluey | Book Review
- Kia Kaha – a storybook of Māori who changed the world | Book Review
- Discover, or revisit, our Puffin Books of the Month from previous years!
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.