Jones Yvonne

As a former children's librarian that continues to have a heartfelt interest in children's literature, I was interested in the availability of a book with advertised content with the subtitle description of "Children's Safety - One Rhyme at a Time". Also, I've never met anyone (child to adult) who doesn't spontaneously respond in a very positive way and with excellent recognition to animal associations (i.e. commercials with The Aflac Duck character, Taco Bell's Chihuahua, GEICO's Gecko and the GEICO Hump Day Camel, etc.). With this anticipated delight, I greeted the Safety Goose as created by author/illustrator Yvonne Jones to read the book and review. I recommend the book and/or would consider it for purchase as a gift but I also offer some thoughts which would have turned by “liked it” to “it was amazing”.

As per marketing on the back cover, the book is recommended for ages 3-6. I love the bright and colorful cartoon illustrations beginning with the front cover. The double O's in the word Goose are illustrated using the easily recognizable and universal red and white life preserver symbol (or as known by other names: lifebuoy, ring buoy, lifering, lifesaver, life donut). The smart use of this symbol also helps the child to identify that the content of this book will contain safety. The Safety Goose is cute and welcoming and with spread wings seems to invite the reader to step inside and join the fun. However, I was disappointed that the Safety Goose does not appear with each rhyme. The Safety Goose appears again on the Table of Contents page (which is generally not a page on which a child will linger) but only appears once more with the "Brushing My Teeth" rhyme. Particularly as the author/illustrator identified herself as a military spouse with military family which suggests diversity and global awareness, I expected more diversity in the presentation of the illustrations of the children.

The book opens with a “Note to Parents” by the author/illustrator and includes 19 rhymes on various safety topics each on a two-page spread with yellow background. Some examples of the 19 safety topics covered are provided in the book marketing description. Other safety topics include: The Number for All Emergencies (911); My Trusted List; Stop, Drop, Roll; Fire; Before I Cross a Street; If There’s a Bully; Say “No” to Strangers; When Lost, Where Do I Go? Some of the 19 rhymes are on topics that all parents and/or teachers help young children to learn include: My Birthday; Left & Right; My Clean-Up; Brushing My Teeth; My Week (Days of the Week); The 12 Months of the Year; All 4 Seasons; Tying My Shoes; Please and Thank You. Some of the vocabulary of the rhymes is not part of a child’s everyday vocabulary at ages 3 to 6 (i.e. slumber, crosswalk) but vocabulary that can easily be explained during the sharing and learning of the rhymes.

After the rhyming pages, there is a page to provide author background, other titles by this author and a thank you from the author for reading the book and a welcome to leave a review on Amazon. This is followed by 5 pages available as cut-out pages with each rhyme on a single page that are suggested to be attached to visible locations (i.e. bathroom mirror, refrigerator, near the phone, near the front door, etc.) for ease of repetitious practice each day. Please note that the cut-out pages must be cut by an adult as the pages are not perforated. As the cut-out pages are on a white background with black font and a single illustration in multi-colors at the bottom of each rhyme, the pages could be easily reproduced on a color printer for daycare and pre-school use. I would have liked to have seen all 19 rhymes be available in an easy method cut-out and the incorporation of the Safety Goose on each cut-out. Currently, the Safety Goose is not on any of the cut-out pages and after the 5 cut-outs are removed from the book, there is no way to identify that the 5 cut-outs were removed from the “Safety Goose” book.

I was lucky enough to receive a pre-publication copy of this title as part of the Goodreads First Reads Program. This is the first pre-publication copy that I have received that was signed by the author and that was an extra delight since I will be sharing this book as a gift.
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