Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Secret Birthday Message by: Eric Carle
























Ages: Preschool – Grade 3

It is Tim’s birthday, and he receives a secret message letter written in code. He follows the coded message to find his birthday surprise. Follow Tim through his “treasure hunt” to figure out what his birthday surprise is in The Secret Birthday Message.

The Secret Birthday Message is a wonderful children’s book. The text is simple, and unique that most of the book is in a coded message. The code contains shapes, and the shapes correlate with cutout illustrations. The cutout illustrations half reveal, and have conceal the pages behind it as the reader follows the code. The illustrations are bold and colorful. The shapes revealed in the cutout illustrations are associated with real world objects. Readers will enjoy following the coded message to figure out the secret birthday surprise at the end of the book. The code, cutout pages, and colorful illustrations will keep the readers attention. I like that this book is interactive, and children are able to fully participate in the exciting adventure of the hunt to find the birthday surprise. This is an adventure that children could imagine themselves going through. The map on the final pages shows a spatial layout of the instructions given in the coded message. It is fun for readers to follow the map of the treasure hunt. This book is wonderful for teaching children shapes, colors, following directions, and reading a map. The Secret Birthday Message is a fun book that children will enjoy!

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