Long-Short

June 1, 2000
K-Gr 1-Simple concept books for beginning readers. The rhyming texts describe opposites in no more than 10 words per page. However, some of the examples may be lost on young children. "Dashes are short. They tell left from right" is illustrated with a square of brown and some short lines going down the middle; it's not until the next page that children will realize that the photo is of a divided highway, with a caption that reads "Roads are long." All of the words, with pronunciations and page numbers, are listed at the end by part of speech. Full-page, full-color photographs appear opposite each two lines of text; most of them are blurry and washed out. Too many better concept books are available to consider adding these lukewarm offerings.-Christine Lindsey, Lake Superior Primary School, Ashland, WI

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