26 Letters and 99 Cents

From Publishers Weekly Hoban's name is synonymous with creative and carefully crafted concept books for young children. This newest offering in arresting full color is really two books in one. 26 Letters is a delightful ABC handbook. Each page shows two letters (in both upper- and lowercase) paired with objects from airplane to zipper. Turning the book around reveals the even more creative 99 Cents. Here Hoban clearly shows youngsters how to count by pairing photos of numbers with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters in a variety of combinations. The book counts by ones from 1? to 30?, by fives from 30? to 50?, by tens from 50? to 90?, culminating in 99?. Math concepts are extremely difficult to convey, while explaining nickels, dimes and quarters is harder still. An extremely inventive approach that will be hailed by parents, teachers and librarians. Ages 3-8. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 3 Hoban's clever design, providing two books in one, is highlighted with clear, bright photographs. In the alphabet half of the book, each upper- and lower-case ``soft touch'' letter in primary colors (two per page), is matched to a photo of an object. Interesting and challenging choices are presented to enhance vocabulary development of preschoolers. At ``Z,'' readers need to turn the book around for the counting half. Here ``soft touch'' numbers are used. The count proceeds in sequential order to 30, by 5's to 50, and by 10's to 90. An exciting feature of 99 Cents is the concept of monetary equivalency grouping which is introduced at number 5 and continues with increasing complexity. Teachers and parents can extend counting and grouping activities by creating additional coin combinations. Children will enjoy manipulating money, numbers, and letters to correspond to the photographs in this book. The combination of unique design, distinguished photographs, and superb layout adds up to a winner! Gale W. Sherman, Pocatello Pub . Lib . , IdahoCopyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.