Wumbers [Hardcover]

Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Author), Tom Lichtenheld (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2012 | Age Range: 4 - 6 years

What do you get when you combine a word and a number? A wumber! Paying tribute to William Steig's CDB!, best-selling book, cre8ors Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld have wri10 and illustr8ed this s2pendous book that is 1derful 4 readers in kindergar10 and up. If we've confused you, just take a look at the book—4tun8ly it has helpful pictures. We are sure you will get it ins10tly!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-Rosenthal and Lichtenheld team up again to craft an inspired picture book that encourages cre8tive wordplay. Starting on the endpapers with questions in speech bubbles ("What do you think you'll be like as 18ager?") and continuing through a series of conversations in double-page vignettes, Rosenthal cleverly combines words and numbers ("wumbers") that challenge readers to use their number recognition and phonological skills. Once children grasp the "ba6," they will have a "s2pendous" time figuring out the captions. From a boy and girl enjoying their "10ts" to the smiling child who is "el8ed" because he lost his first "2th," Lichenheld's ink and pastel coloring-book-style drawings supply visual clues to decoding the text. Wumbers takes the concept behind text-messaging shorthand and repurposes it into an interactive read-aloud that both kids and grown-ups can enjoy.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CTα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"A great way to think about the sounds our words make - with a fun twist!" - SavvyAuntie.com

"Wumbers takes the concept behind text-messaging shorthand and repurposes it into an interactive read-aloud that both kids and grown-ups can enjoy." - School Library Journal

"This book can be the center of family fun" - Chicago Tribune

"Pure fun, from 1 to 80, this book by the creators of Duck! Rabbit! once again makes us see things differently... will launch as many imaginations as the wumber of young people who read this book " - Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Playful!" - The Wall Street Journal

"In short, it's simply 1derful." - Daily Candy Kids

"Clever" - Kirkus Reviews

"Characters have conversations that readers of all skill levels will delight in decoding. " - Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 6 years
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 30, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1452110220
• ISBN-13: 978-1452110226
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 0.4 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A fun concept, but it needs a story. July 13, 2012

By James Korsmo VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Wumbers is almost a really great children's book. The concept of replacing part or all of a word with a number is a fun one. It helps kids reflect on what letters and numbers do in a playful way. And for my pre-readers, it helped them "sound out" some simple words like "4t", since they can "read" a number easier than they can "read" a collection of letters, so it has great potential as an aid to literacy. But in its execution, I thought Wumbers falls short, primarily because it has no story. Each spread is a disconnected scene in which various characters (the cast of characters changes throughout the book as well) have a brief conversation. These episodes have no connection to one another, so it is really like reading a series of independent comic strips, not a continuous story. I enjoyed the illustrations, which are fun and colorful, and some of the episodes are fun or humerous. But my main feeling was one of disappointment at what could have been. I loved E-mergency!, a spectacular book about the role of letters couched in a fun and clever story about an injury to the letter E. And with the same illustrator doing the images in this one, I was excited to give it a try. But it just didn't measure up. It's still a decent book, and I like the concept, but it cries out for a story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars fun word play with numbers July 3, 2012

By Jimmie VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This picture book is a lot of fun. It's based on the idea that you can replace certain sounds in words with their sound alike number equivalents. So investigate becomes investig8; tooth becomes 2th, and so on.

For a skilled reader, it takes a bit of a mind shift to be able to read this book. I imagine it would be really fun with a child who can recognize numbers but can't read well yet. You, the adult, can read the story and point at the number for the child to read outloud. The two of you can decipher it together.

My teenager says it is great for giving her texting tips. I'm not sure how often she will be texting words like enligh10ment or longi2ude, but the principles are the same. That is something I appreciate about the book. Many of the words are more advanced vocabulary words like elate (el8), intense (in10se)contentment (con10tment). That makes this perfect for enjoying with little children. They learn the meanings in the context of adult interaction and the illustrations in the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Wumbers didn't wow me or my kiddos. July 15, 2012

By Christie VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Cute idea, but the delivery could have been better. I look for books that will encourage my children to read. Wumbers left even my advanced seven-year-old reader frustrated because several of the "wumbers" just didn't flow. I even found myself stumbling while reading. I actually chose this title for my 5 year old. It was way too hard for her.

Also a consistent set of characters from beginning to end would have been nice. Instead the story was compiled of two page "quickies" (not sure what else to call them) over the course of the book. We had everything from a family on a picnic to a penguin wedding. The plot continuously jumping from a different setting and characters every two pages, paired with the awkward "wumber" dialogue just made the book too difficult to enjoy.

The illustrations were ok, but nothing extraordinary. All in all I'm really disappointed with Wumbers and after having such high hopes that is a serious bummer