I started cleaning out my youngest sons closet a few days ago and spent most of the time wallowing in depression – he was growing up and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. Not that I am one of those obsessed mothers that tries to keep her offspring in "baby mode" for as long as possible – but it was a harsh slap in the face from Mr. Reality nonetheless. This was one of the very first coloring books I picked up for my youngest. He was the only one of my brood that expressed any interest in the Pooh characters and had a personal attachment to Tigger. He spotted this at a small bookstore and started to squeal and bounce around, all the while repeating the word “Tigggerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”[add growling sound]. Sure that might sound cute and adorable but after ten minutes I was ready to ring that Tigger’s neck.

This is one of the most basic, yet educational, coloring books you will ever find. It incorporates fun with learning and puts it on a level that almost any child can understand. The pictures are basic and wide open to afford a young child plenty of room to color and still stay inside the lines. One of the really nice things about the Pooh’s Book of ABC’s is that it contains all the characters from Pooh’s little world. Pooh, Piglet, Roo, Kanga, Eeyore, Tigger, Owl and Rabbit all have several pages dedicated just to them. This is especially nice if your child has a favorite character – they will be sure to find a few pages to squeal over.

Activities

Aside from the obvious coloring activities there are a ton of fun things to do in this book – however – some just aren’t age appropriate. I suggest sitting down and picking out the pages that might require a bit of explaining. One is page 23, a picture of Piglet leaning over an empty birds nest with the text reading “Draw some eggs in the nest”. You might want to draw one to get a younger child started – but that’s just a suggestion.

Along the way you’ll encounter more than a few fun things to do – connect the dots, matching leaves, mazes, matching shapes, phonics, opposites and basic counting skills. The way the alphabet is stacked against the activities helps to break things up, keep it fun and reinforce skills. This would be the prefect introduction to education for 12 months and up – but you are the best judge of your childs skill level. Don’t ever let a book, physician or relative try to dictate your own childs progress. Each child is different with a special learning curve – and you are the best judge of that curve.

The book contains 38 pages and is printed on newsprint. This might present a problem if your child likes to use markers over crayons – so unless you want to makes copies of this I suggest picking up a few copies of this book. The text used in the book is big, but I would have liked to have seen it just a little bigger – especially the letters of the alphabet. I took an orange neon marker and outlined each of the letters on the alphabet pages so my son would make a connection with it when he saw it. The front and back cover didn’t manage to hold up very well – and if memory serves me correctly my son loved the taste of the covers :] If Golden ever restructures this book I hope the enlarge the size of the alphabet and leave them open faced so the child can color them in.

Above all, this is a coloring book. Don’t get obsessive over the whole “stay inside the lines” deal that most people tend to get caught up in. If your child colors Tigger blue, so what – are you sure that there are no blue Tiggers? While this is meant to teach – it is almost meant to be fun. Don’t lose sight of that simple fact and you’ll have just as much fun as your child with this book.

Suggestions

If you want to maximize the amount of educational power from this book I suggest that you make a few copies of the pages your child seems attracted to. You might also want to use a thicker, stronger paper so that your child doesn’t have to worry about ripping the pages or having it tear. There is nothing worse that really getting into coloring and having the page rip on you. It’s also nice to copy these to heavy paper if your child wants to paint them or use markers – you won’t have to worry about the other side getting ruined.

One thing my son loved was when I reduced the size of the pages and made an alphabet book just for him. Sure it took me two hours of cutting, pasting and copying but when he saw it for the first time with his name on the cover – it was a priceless moment that still gets me misty eyed. Now he laughs at me, denying the whole event. brat

Bottom Line

This is one of the many books in the My First Activity series. Others in the series include Disney characters, Sesame Street, Scooby Doo and recently Toy Story and Star Wars books. They are all designed to get children motivated to learn while having fun at the same time. I can honestly say that these books are worth their weight in gold – they stimulate, educate and start your child on the path to higher knowledge.

I highly suggest these to any parent of a small child, caregiver or those shopping for parents to be. This is a great way to make your dollars go even further and kick start the learning adventure. :]


Stats

Name: Pooh’s Book of ABC’s
Published By: Golden Books
Series: My First Activity Book
Pages: 38
ISBN: 0-307-09335-2
Price: .99 cents
Age Recommendation 1 year and up

As always, thanks for stopping by!

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2004 Freak369


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Recommended: Yes