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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Colorful, Fun and Wise Book for Children,
By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Queen Vernita's Visitors (Paperback)
Dawn Menge has a background/degree in Special Education and while working with severely handicapped children she has keenly observed learning patterns of all children (her current goal is a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction). Fold all of these experiences together and one fine example of her creative mind is QUEEN VERNITA'S VISITORS. Collaborating with artist Bobbi Switzer she has produced a book for children that is at once a fine story well illustrated and a resource for assisting parents and teachers to explore the concept of time, the days of the week, the months of the year, the numbers of days in each month, the concept of friendship and of sharing, and the beauties of the four seasons and the physical and climatic changes they represent. And Menge wisely uses the trusty tool of repetition and variation to teach and to maintain the interest of the reader and the lucky child to whom this book is read.
Vernita is the Queen of the mythical kingdom of Oceaneer, and while she is a happy person she misses the contact of friends in the land of Quails. Her solution to her loneliness? Invite a different friend to stay with her in her castle for one month, during which time she and her friend enjoy events pertinent to that month's climate and holidays. Each page (accompanied with a superbly painted illustration) introduces a new friend in a new month and the routine Queen Vernita and her visitor of the month is mapped out as repeated frolics for each day of the week until the friend departs at the end of that month. We visit winter, spring, summer and autumn and discover novel and alliterative ways to bond with friends, such as 'popping pumpernickel popcorn', 'picking shiny Shell Flowers' and numerous other very clever ideas for children to explore in their own neighborhood of friends. The book is well conceived and well written, a pleasure for adults to read and a contagiously informative and entertaining book for reading and re-reading for children of all ages. We can only hope Dawn Menge continues to publish this approach to children's literature. She does it very well! Grady Harp, November 08
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Join the Queen for Wonderful Adventures Each Month!,
By Sarah Moore "Sarah" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Queen Vernita's Visitors (Paperback)
As the mother of a preschooler, I am always looking for new books to stir up my daughter's imagination. Books with outdoor adventures and colorful, detailed pictures seem to be her favorites. When you add a fun way to expand her knowledge base, I am particularly excited to sit down and dig into a new story. The new book by Dawn Menge, titled Queen Vernita's Visitors, meets the qualifications of both my daughter and me perfectly. I know the Queen will be a favorite bedtime character in our home for a long time to come.
The main character of Menge's book is Queen Vernita, the ruler of a world called Oceaneer. Although she loves being a queen, Vernita has discovered that it can be lonely at the top. To diminish the isolation she feels in her castle, Queen Vernita decides to invite twelve of her friends to visit her - one for each month of the year. Queen Vernita and her friend of the month take their attention to the calendar one step further by deciding on a fun activity for each day of the week. Who wouldn't want to have a huge snowball fight every Friday in February or eat apples right off the tree every Thursday in September? Queen Vernita is a hostess who knows how to show her friends a good time! My experiences as both a parent and a teacher have taught me that repetition is important when teaching a new concept to a child. Menge goes through each day of the week on every page and always mentions the number of days each guest gets to visit (including the fact that Tommie only visited for twenty-eight days in February because it wasn't a leap year). By the last few months detailed in the book, even the youngest readers will be able to recite the days of the week with you. Queen Vernita's Visitors provides a fun and creative way to learn that Tuesday comes after Monday and so on. Just as important to the adult reader who is sharing the story with a child, I never felt like I was reciting the same material over and over again. The repetition serves its purpose without overpowering the enjoyment of learning how Queen Vernita and her guests spend their time together. Children will love the exciting games and adventures that are laid out in this book. From jolly jump rope to climbing big pine trees to making pumpkin pies, these characters know how to keep themselves busy. Queen Vernita is not satisfied with watching TV or playing video games, and hopefully Menge's readers will take the cue and try some of these fun activities themselves. Great books are often the catalyst for hours of imaginative fun. The beautiful illustrations drawn by Bobbi Switzer add so much to the pleasurable experience that is Queen Vernita's Visitors. The bright colors and large drawings can be used to tell a story all by themselves. With just enough detail to be interesting but not be too busy, the pictures can be used to encourage kids to have further discussions about the great times that Queen Vernita and her visitors have every day. Switzer's pictures also provide a perfect opportunity for siblings to share this book. The older child can take pride in reading each day of the week while her younger counterpart can delight in the pictures of Queen Vernita as she makes the most out of her castle and its surroundings. I love that the author used family members and friends as the inspiration for the characters in this book. Queen Vernita is based on her grandmother, which I imagine made for wonderful childhood visits! Dawn Menge has said that she hopes to use the Queen Vernita character in a series of books. I certainly hope that she follows through on this intention, as I promise that my daughter and I will cuddle together and read every one of her stories. Queen Vernita's Visitors is a beautiful book that takes children and adults alike through a year of friendships and fun. It is a must-have addition to any kid's library!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Visually pleasing calendar story book for young children,
This review is from: Queen Vernita's Visitors (Paperback)
I am a former teacher and mother to a 3.5 year-old preschooler. I have been teaching my daughter the days of the week, the months of the year and the seasons using various teaching aids such as books, wall charts etc. Dawn Menge's "Queen Vernita's Visitors" is a beautifully illustrated story book that aids in helping young children [preschool and up] learn the days of the week, the 12 months of the year, the number of days in the 12 months, and also the seasons of the year.
The story's premise is charming in itself - Queen Vernita of the Oceaneers Kingdom invites 12 special friends to visit her during each month of the year.For each of those months, Queen Vernita and her visiting friend engage in fun activities every day of the week - the days of the week are listed together with the activities carried out and this repetition helps young children in remembering the days of the week. Not only that, one can also teach concepts such as 'the day before', 'the day after' and so on using the story in this book. Besides the days of the week, the months of the year are also covered here and each page is devoted to a particular month, with a mention of the number of days for each month - e.g. February is listed as having 'only 28 days because this year is not a leap year' - this is quite a difficult concept to teach a preschooler but with some explanation and repetition [using other learning tools such as nursery rhymes etc] it is not an impossible concept to teach. The seasons of the year are beautifully reinforced here through the vibrant use of color and illustrations [by Bobbi Switzer]. For example, the months of Spring have illustrations of greenery and vibrant flowers, the months of Summer are illustrated by outdoor activities such as playing on the beach, lying outside under the stars, the months of Fall are conveyed by colorful pictures of apple-picking, pumpkin harvesting, and a Thanksgiving meal, and finally Winter is depicted by a Christmas celebration. All in all, I found "Queen Vernita's Visitors" by Dawn Menge to be an engaging and well-written story book for young children. Both my preschooler and I enjoyed reading it and I found it an effective teaching tool for reinforcing calendar-related themes such as days of the week, months of the year and the seasons. Highly recommended!
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