Boy Meets Dog
A Word Game Adventure
- Publisher
- Kids Can Press
- Initial publish date
- Aug 2013
- Category
- Words, Imagination & Play
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781554538249
- Publish Date
- Aug 2013
- List Price
- $17.95
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 4 to 8
- Grade: p to 3
- Reading age: 4 to 8
Description
In this entertaining picture book by award-winning author Valerie Wyatt, “strange things happen if you change just one letter in a word.” For example, a toy could become a boy (easy, just change the t to a b). Or, a house might become a mouse and then a moose (change the h to m and then the u to o). Lewis Carroll first created this game of turning one word into another by changing only one letter at a time. Most often called word ladders, the game is introduced in this book to young children through a humorous story featuring a toy that becomes a boy and his loyal dog, who find themselves taking a walk through a funny, mixed-up town. As visual aids, the first and last words of each ladder are highlighted in the text of the story, and a vertical list of all the words in the ladder is written separately, with the one changed letter also highlighted: “Tiny may become huge. / tiny-tine-line-lone-lore-lure-luge-huge.” Wacky, high-energy illustrations by Dave Whamond bring the silliness to life. Making letters and words fun is one of the best ways to cultivate and enhance a child's enjoyment of reading. Playing word ladders can help children increase vocabulary, improve spelling, discover common letter combinations and learn about vowels and consonants. The back of the book provides background on word ladders, as well as classroom activities for children to create their own word ladders or follow an assigned ladder.
About the authors
Valerie Wyatt is an award-winning author of more than 14 nonfiction books, many of them about science. She also writes on historical topics and, from time to time, picture books. Asked if she has a favorite book, she says it's always the one she's just finished. She loves writing for children because it's not just about the words. “You have to think about the photographs and illustrations as well and make sure they fit together,” she says. “It's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.” Valerie lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with her husband and dog, MacPherson, whose favorite food is cucumbers.
DAVE WHAMOND a illustré la série Margot et My Think-a-ma-Jink, tous deux gagnants du prix Blue Spruce. Il a également signé les illustrations des livres de Robert Munsch Quelle tête!, C’est petit ici! et Je raffole de l’école!, et est l'auteur d'une bande dessinée intitulée Reality Check, qui paraît quotidiennement dans un certain nombre de journaux nord-américains. Dave habite à Calgary, en Alberta.
DAVE WHAMOND is the creator of Oddrey and My Think-a-ma-Jink, both winners of the Blue Spruce Award. He illustrated the Robert Munsch books Braids!, Think Big! and School Rules! He also has a syndicated cartoon strip called Reality Check, which appears daily in a number of North American newspapers. Dave lives in Calgary, Alberta.
