Guess the Animal Faces: Animal Identification Book for Kids by Dr. Lisa Rusczyk is one of the
You Are Loved Series. The author is a Stay-At-Home Mom to two daughters and holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership.
The book is supposed to be viewed in landscape view. It was a cute,
quite lengthy picture book. It is available as an e-book via Kindle or
by using a Kindle App. I chose to install the Kindle App on my iPhone
and view it that way. I would encourage the use of a tablet, if
available or computer to ensure the pictures are large enough.
This playful picture book is geared towards a pre-reading audience. Mom and Dad or whomever can read and play along to help baby or their toddler find and guess the corresponding and appropriate animals.
In the first half of Guess the Animal Faces, cartoon pictures are provided where toddlers are encouraged to guess what the animal is, on the next page there is a realistic photo with a response.
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| First you see a cartoon animal to which you are supposed to guess what it is. |
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| Then you are provided with a realistic photo with a caption such as "Koala". |
To be honest, I'm not sure I would have recognized the cartoon camel. I
have seen alpacas and llamas; but, perhaps a toddler would guess this
correctly.
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| Photos from "Guess the Animal Faces" with a photo of a Bactrian Camel. |
It's interesting to see how mainstream exotic animals have become, even in children's books. My family and I can relate. My father and stepmother own quite a menagerie. My daughter is the second generation to grow up around a wide variety of animals including a hybrid camel named Caesar (Bactrian and Dromedary cross).
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| Visiting Caesar the Camel on a winter day. |
It's nice to remind parents and teachers to use positive reinforcement as illustrated below. It is used to praise the child for a job well done and to build confidence and self-esteem.
In the second half of the book kids are encouraged to find the animal from a larger compilation of animals from a grid. This aides in hand and eye coordination and gets the child to interact whether it's with an oral response or by pointing out the picture.
I would have liked to have seen all of the animals in the grid represented in the book or left out of the grid. You will see some animals are not mentioned but show up in the grid.
Language and interaction are so important in ages birth to 3 years old! So much growth can happen. It is best to nurture learning in any way you can. Of course parents can discuss with their children much further about the animals in the book, for example: where might this animal live? What do you think they like to eat? My personal favorite has always been "What sound does this animal make?" You can talk about colors. The possibilities are endless.
Disclaimer: I received this product for free in order
to facilitate my honest and unbiased review. I was not compensated in
any other way. All opinions are my own.
