Review of Children's Book "S is for Smiling Sun" by Wordsbright

Ever since we implemented a 20-minute a day mandatory reading time in our home, the entire family has been reading more -- together!  One book that has been fun to watch my kids share is S is for Smiling Sun by Vick Wadhwa and Wordsbright publishing.  It is an ABC book with a sweet twist, one that my family has welcomed into our home and onto our "favorites" bookshelf.

The book, a quality hard-back title, contains page after page of colorful illustrations, poems, and letter features.  Unlike almost every other book on the market for this age group, each letter represents something new: "I is for Infant", for example (instead of ice cream or igloo.)  Under each boldly printed letter in both upper and lowercase is the word, a big, bold picture, and a sweet rhyme that illustrates something positive about the word.

Here is a quick video of my 19-month-old enjoying the book.

He's just getting to the point of recognizing that letters are for reading, and so is "babbles" while pointing and trying to sound out letters.  He also loves the attention that he gets when his older brother reads to him.  This book is a fun way for the boys to bond and for my little guys to get phonics reinforcement.

One other really nice thing about this title is that you can access an MP3 of a song that can be played along with the book.   Some kids (like mine) are really into music, so this is another way to reinforce the words and themes presented in the book.  We also just like listening to the song throughout the day, even when the book isn't out.

There is also a very handy Teacher's Guide that can give you more ideas for ways to use this book.  It includes concepts to review, rhyming words that coordinate with the poems, vocabulary words that younger kids can try to pronounce and older kids can learn to spell and write, as well as additional activities of things to draw, explore, and visit (like a field trip!)  The Teacher's Guide turns the book into an entire curriculum for preschoolers in the language arts category of learning.

Who is this book for?  It's really appropriate for a wide age-range.  The more challenging words in the poems make it a good fit for 7-8 year olds.  But younger children (Pre-K, for example) will like the pictures and letter recognition.  And, of course, children Manny's age (18 months and up) who are just discovering books will find it enchanting, as well.