Customer Reviews

Hop on Pop

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book was a favorite of our four children, especially in helping them realize that they might like to hop on Pop (which they did as much as Pop would let them). This book has really stayed with me, and I was interested to analyze why it is so appealing and effective.

What I discovered upon rereading it today is that the book packs a whallop in terms of providing learning opportunities for children. Long before Sesame Street was a staple for youngsters, this book picked up on some of the same learning techniques.

For example, you start with two rhyming words. The only difference may be one consonant (hop and Pop). This helps a child learn to read by seeing the role that a letter plays. Then the book uses the two words together to form a sentence, and puts an illustration in the reinforce the syntax (the difference between a house on a mouse, and a mouse on a house). After the simple syntax lessons are done, it goes on to give the child more rhymes and more complex sentences. "We like to hop on top of Pop." Here are where Dad's abs come in. The illustration shows how to hop on Pop without hurting him. Also, the book says not to, which will help Pop and the child learn that the subconscious in all people and all children pay no attention to negatives in sentences. So what is captured is an imperative to hop on Pop.

The story builds to a crescendo by letting the child know that there is more to learn. Children can learn small words like "if and it" while Father knows long words like "Constantinople and Timbuktu." The child is given a little quiz at the end about "seehemewe" and so forth and is given the hint that learning can continue tomorrow.

Also, this book provided me more pleasure in being a Father than any other that I read to and with my children. So if you are a Father, get with it. If you want to encourage a Father to be with his children more, get this book to him.

Overcome your stalled thinking about the limits of what can be learned by small children from an introductory reader by using this masterpiece!

. . . and practice tightening your abs!

Donald Mitchell

Coauthor of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise

"Hop on Pop" and "Green Eggs and Ham" were the apex of Theodore Giesel's (Dr. Seuss's) creative genius. Hop on Pop is a rhythmic romp through the joys of reading, rhyme, and sight for babies, infants, toddlers, and parents alike. The work is both ageless and timeless. I read this book to my 4-month old and it never fails to get him squealing and wide-eyed in delight. Maybe he doesn't understand the subtlety and weirdness of three fish in a tree or a bunch of people in bed together but it was the sixties...besides their names rhyme, so there is fun to still be had in the PC 00's.

There are so many things to enjoy about this book, that it's hard to find a place to begin. The weird hybrid creatures, the creative rhymes and wordplay...my favorites are the thing that can sing a long long song. I break out in overblown Pavarotti-extravagance singing and the boy is sure to either laugh or look at me strangely...is this Dad or is this an alien? But the biggest joy of the book comes at the end when Seuss strings together endless rhymes with endless rhythm in the string of run-on words, "hethreemewepatpuppophethreetreebeetophopstop." It will be indelibly stamped on your brain and give your child the joy of reading as well as reminding you how truly fun words and pictures can be. Thanks for all times go out to the good Doctor.

We asked if these were the regular books and we were told they were, but they don't have the full story because they are the board books. It's disappointing.

I am a literacy tutor for adults, and this is a fantastic book! I already had it in my collection, being one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books from childhood, and I brought it with me to my student's. With the simple words, the repetition of stems and the wonderful illustrations, my student was able to read a WHOLE book in only a couple days. She was thrilled, and shared it with her children who also have reading difficulties. It helps with word recognition, syntax, sounds of letters and had us laughing as well. I wish there were more such versatile books on the market. And as another reviewer said, it does make one want to hop on pop! (or play all day and fight all night!!)

This is a review of Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. This story is very interesting. I think that this book should be recommended to people all ages. This story is a more better book than the book The Cat in the Hat. This book has a lot of rhyming words. My favorite line was [ Three , tree, Three fish in a tree. Three fish in a tree? How can that be?] [p. 20-21] .

Hop on Pop is where my son's hardcover book reading started. His kindergarten teacher was having personal issues during his critical learning year so it was left to his parents to fill the void. Hop on Pop was the beginning. Now, in his fifth grade year, Redwall, Potter, Tolkien and Snicket have been read and we wait for new issues. Dr. Seuss, you were our foundation.

I grew up with Dr Suess books so I couldn't wait to share them with my own children. The books are illustrated simply, the text is easy to read and creatively laid out and the silly rhymes make me and my children laugh.
What I've noticed from reading them Dr Suess books (they are 1 and 2.5 years) that it has really helped my 2.5 year old with increasing her vocabularly, saying words properly and recognising sounds that a letter or group of letters make. A wonderful series of books to read aloud to your children.

After my preschooler started learning to read with the Bob Books, I wanted to mix in some different material to help her apply what she was learning to other books. HOP ON POP, by the legendary Dr. Seuss, was the perfect choice. HOP ON POP uses rhyming words and short, active sentences to help children extend their reading vocabulary and build up their sight words.

The brilliance of HOP ON POP stems from using rhyming words to teach common diphthongs and letter combinations, and then adding or changing only one or two initial letters to form new words. From these new words, Dr. Seuss then creates the wild and zany sentences he is famous for, and are easy for very young children to read. As a possible example, using "at" as the basic letter pair, you can form the words cat, hat, sat, and bat. The silly sentence then might be "The cat in the hat sat on a bat," accompanied by a wacky and wonderful Sessian illustration showing the cat in the hat sitting on the end of a baseball bat. At 72 pages, HOP ON POP has many basic letter patterns that really help a young one build their reading skills fast.

My wee one loves to read HOP ON POP to me. She can do it all by herself, with very little prompting, and her pride and confidence in her new skills are through the roof because of HOP ON POP. HOP ON POP has really helped to increase her sight word vocabulary, as well as her ease and comfort in sounding out new words. HOP ON POP really is a perfect first reader.

I worked with a little girl (ELL) who already had her basic reading skills; phonemic awarness, letter recognition and knowing what to do with words (in print). She just couldn't seem to read (even in her first language) with the level of fluency required for a student to pass from K- to First grade. This book captured her attention and we worked on the book in sections, first we read the section, then she had it as "homework". Each week when I returned to her home to work with her she would read both her "homework" and the preceeding section(s) in the book until at last she could read the entire book. This is the first hard back book, that she has ever read completely by herself so I have purchased this as a gift to her.

Children have been reading and loving this book for what seems like forever! It is an abslutely perfect book for the "I'm on the verge of reading..." child. It's easy to follow and the rhyming format allows the child to sound out a great many words--it's a great confidence builder. The illustrations are silly and fun. Can't go wrong with this one.