Overview
How would you describe a hippopotamus? Big might be the first word that comes to mind. What about a whale? Gigantic? Immense? How about enormous! What if you had to find a word for the biggest animal of them all—a dinosaur. Mammoth? Humongous? Colossal!
With its bright pictures of animals in all shapes and sizes, this terrific read-aloud introduces young children to the language of comparisons, synonyms, and antonyms.
Synopsis
How would you describe a hippopotamus? Big might be the first word that comes to mind. What about a whale? Gigantic? Immense? How about enormous! What if you had to find a word for the biggest animal of them all—a dinosaur. Mammoth? Humongous? Colossal!
With its bright pictures of animals in all shapes and sizes, this terrific read-aloud introduces young children to the language of comparisons, synonyms, and antonyms.
Children's Literature
This book introduces the concept of comparisons, including antonyms and synonyms, beginning with "Big" and "Small." Similarly, "Fast" and "Slow" and "Hungry," "Slimy," and "Sleepy," though the last three do not include antonyms. At the end page, the reader is given six synonyms for "The End." The bold drawings are simple and bright, presenting thickly outlined animals colored with two or three tones of one or two colors. The comparisons would be enriched if the opportunities to combine concepts were taken. For example, a rabbit illustrates "small," but a rabbit is also "fast." Attention to scale would also reinforce the concepts. A hippopotamus illustrates "big," and a whale illustrates "bigger," but the animals are drawn the same size on the two-page spread. It would be fun if a mammoth were illustrated for "mammoth, humongous, colossal," but only the animal's feet and long tail are depicted. A mammoth does not have a long tail. A simple graphic could be included to further illustrate scale and speed comparisons of the different animals, which would reinforce learning and add interest. With these cautions, this book remains a useful introduction to comparison concepts for very young children. Reviewer: Hazel Buys
Editorials
Children's Literature -
This book introduces the concept of comparisons, including antonyms and synonyms, beginning with "Big" and "Small." Similarly, "Fast" and "Slow" and "Hungry," "Slimy," and "Sleepy," though the last three do not include antonyms. At the end page, the reader is given six synonyms for "The End." The bold drawings are simple and bright, presenting thickly outlined animals colored with two or three tones of one or two colors. The comparisons would be enriched if the opportunities to combine concepts were taken. For example, a rabbit illustrates "small," but a rabbit is also "fast." Attention to scale would also reinforce the concepts. A hippopotamus illustrates "big," and a whale illustrates "bigger," but the animals are drawn the same size on the two-page spread. It would be fun if a mammoth were illustrated for "mammoth, humongous, colossal," but only the animal's feet and long tail are depicted. A mammoth does not have a long tail. A simple graphic could be included to further illustrate scale and speed comparisons of the different animals, which would reinforce learning and add interest. With these cautions, this book remains a useful introduction to comparison concepts for very young children. Reviewer: Hazel BuysSchool Library Journal
K-Gr 2
This exercise in vocabulary expansion through synonyms and one-upmanship is innovative despite a few missteps. On the first page the hippo says, "I'm big. I'm large. I'm huge. I'm jumbo." On the facing page the killer whale says, "I'm bigger. I'm gigantic. I'm immense. I'm enormous." The following spread depicts a dinosaur's feet and tail with the words, "I'm biggest. I'm mammoth. I'm humongous. I'm colossal." And so it goes with each word-small, fast, slow, hungry, slimy and sleepy-going through its comparative and superlative forms, while several synonyms for each word are listed, and different animals are depicted. The acrylic on canvas illustrations show each simply drawn, boldly outlined animal on a color-saturated background with minimal-if any-props. However, at times Coffelt stretches to find enough words to fit the concept (e.g., "empty," "piggish," and "hoggish" for "hungry") and in some cases they do not seem to effectively increase in intensity. Is "droopy" really more tired than "spent," or "nimble" quicker than "speedy?" Finally, the fact that the "sleepiest" animal is a bat at night certainly is not educationally sound. Nevertheless, teachers looking for an innovative way to introduce synonyms and superlatives will certainly find much to work with here, and perhaps young listeners will be better able to express themselves after exposure to books of its ilk.-Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT