Customer Reviews

Cleo's Alphabet Book (Barefoot Paperback)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a gorgeous book! Bright, beautiful colors and wonderful illustrations. However, I have to agree with the other reviewer that wanted the pages (rhymes) to include the name of the item instead of just the letter ("A kite loves dancing in the wind" instead of "K loves dancing in the wind").

The other thing that bothers me is the last page of the book (Y and Z, see user photos). The Y for Yawn isn't shown (the boy is shown sleeping) and the Z rhyme could have been done much better: it reads "Y means Cleo wants to rest. Z means bedtime's best!" That last line is SO stunted it throws me every time, so I have taken to reading it as "Z means bedtime is the best." I find it hard to believe that NO ONE in the publishing process thought to write it that way--especially since the rest of the rhyming in the book is spot on.

I still highly recommend this book. It's very fun to read, and my 3-month old loves me reading it to him!

I love the illustration in all the Cleo books. Nice bold primary colors in what looks like oil pastel, outlined with bold black strokes; a style that, for sure, appeals to young eyes.

And I like that this book rhymes.

My only problem is that the words representing each letter aren't written out. Sure, you can read "A is crunchy, crisp and red", point to the apple, and eventually a kid may get that it's an apple and it starts with A. But why not write: "An apple is crunchy crisp and red"? I started out reading the book as it's written and always felt uncomfortable, like I was introducing some confusion in my daughter's learning of the alphabet. So now I read it with the words instead of just the letter. So:

An Apple is crunchy crisp and red.
A Boat floats on the waves.
A Cow moos when she says hello.
A Dog barks as he plays.
[...etc.]
A Yawn means Cleo wants to rest
Zzz means bedtime's best.

Yes, I have to introduce the article at the beginning. But this way of reading, to me, sounds more instructive and less confusing, and I wish it had been written as so.

The colorful and dynamic illustrations keep my toddler's attention as we learn the alphabet. Shows both uppercase and lowercase letters and each letter features Cleo in action. The text asks questions that are answered by the picture, so it is automatically engaging. A nice board book -- well constructed. Barefoot books are great!