Tish Rabe

This book lives in that gray area between fiction and nonfiction. The Cat in the Hat tells young readers all about the different types of primates that exist, including monkeys, apes, and lemurs.

Although billed as a beginner reader's book, this does not strike me as an "easy reader" at all. The vocabulary used is incredibly difficult, featuring such words as arboreal, brachiating, prehensile, and proboscis. Names of unusual primates are of course included, but I think young readers will show more struggle with recognizing/pronouncing tarsiers, lorises, and galago, to name a few.

However, I think this book would work well for an adult reading aloud to a child. It is chock full of information and ends with a glossary and sources for additional information. But again I'd stressed that I wouldn't give this title to a beginning/struggling reader to try to work out on her or his own; they'd end up more frustrated than anything else.

The chosen title of Can You See a Chimpanzee? is reminiscent of Dr. Seuss's Say Can You Say but do not be mistaken, this book contains none of the imaginative whimsy of a Seuss story. Beyond the Cat in the Hat and the children from that book, the illustrations do not scream Seussian either. However, the language does follow a basic rhyming pattern that is evocative of Seuss's style. show less

With the Cat in the Hat as our guide, we are off to visit the planets, the stars, and the sun. First, we’ll visit the eight planets in our solar system, then we’ll play a star dot-to-dot game to see the constellations. Then we’ll see our sun and Earth’s moon where we’ll learn about the astronauts exploring there.

The Cat in the Hat has a present for us so that we will be able to look up in the sky and discover something new. What could it be?

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Told in rhyme, this delightful show more trek through the sky introduces beginning readers to the concepts of space. Targeted for the youngest readers, ages three through six, preschool through primary grades, the beloved Cat in the Hat serves as the guide as readers soar through the skies learning about the solar system, planets, star constellations, and astronauts. A glossary is included for defining words; a further reading list offers suggestions for readers interested in learning more about space.

This revised edition, part of The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, introduces young readers to basic nonfiction. Providing a foundation upon which young readers will be able to build as they gain reading fluency, the books in this series present nonfiction in a way that is both educational and entertaining.

Highly recommended. show less

Using the classic Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, as an inspiration, author Tish Rabe explores the fun things a new student can do during the first twelve days of first grade. From telling the time to leading the line, from performing in a play to building things with clay, as the narrator here concludes, first grade is lots of fun...

Apparently the second book in which Rabe has used The Twelve Days of Christmas to create a text exploring the first day of a new school year - show more that initial title was On the First Day of Kindergarten - On the First Day of First Grade was somewhat less than impressive. I found the text awkward, and rather forced. It didn't read particularly well, and although I attempted to follow along using the tune of the carol, it didn't quite work. Although I realize that the idea here is to highlight fun activities a child in first grade might enjoy, I also had to wonder at a text in which a play is put on the eighth day of school. The artwork by Sarah Jennings is colorful, and features a diverse cast of children, but leaving that aside, there really isn't much here that I would recommend. There are far better "first day of school" books, from Ryan Higgins' humorous We Don't Eat Our Classmates to Alyssa Satin Capucilli's sweeter Not This Bear: A First Day of School Story. I would recommend that potential readers track down those titles instead. show less

I thought this book was awesome. There were a lot of things I liked about it. The first thing is definitely the rhyming. Rhyming is a great way to get students interested in books. For example, one of the lines in the book was “Guinea pigs need to get lots of exercise, too. There are ramps to be climbed and tubes to run through.” Secondly, I thought the illustrations were great. They were very colorful and vibrate which will catch the reader’s eye. Finally, I liked the topic of the show more book. It teaches the reader about many types of pets such as cats, dogs, guinea pigs, and bunnies. The overall theme of this book is to teach the reader about different pets through a fun rhyming story. show less