My Five Senses (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

I love the simplicity of Aliki's books, and "Five Senses" is no exception. This classic text clearly, playfully explains the concepts of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, and encourages questions and playful explorations. I read this book to my PK scientists at the beginning and end of our five senses unit, and they enjoyed it in different ways each time. Aliki is truly the master of creating a text that engages emergent readers where they are; there is no patronizing language or overly explained ideas. His language and illustrations capture the essence of childhood and encourage curious minds to learn more.

For the kindergarten class, I really enjoyed this book. As well as others like it that allow us to have full discussions around the concepts and layer in how the senses can work together for a fuller experience.

I really like this book, especially for a read aloud in a science class going over the five senses. This is a great way to incorporate literature in the classroom. and this is a well written book for that.

I thought this informational book had potential, but overall I disliked this book for a very prominent reason. The one reason I loved this book was for the connection between the text and the illustrations. For example, on the page that first talked about the sense of taste, the text gave examples of how one would say they use the sense of taste by saying “I can taste! I taste with my tongue.” And had a picture of a young child licking some ice cream with his tongue. This made the reading more enjoyable for me by giving my eyes something to glide over to after reading the text and it visually reiterated the topic of the text directly next to it. The illustrations also gave examples of what you use your senses for. For example, on show more the page in which the young boy of the story said he can smell soap, the page had illustrations of soap and other items that were not mentioned in the text that the reader could use to identify that sense. Another aspect I liked about the illustrations is they were all extremely simplistic. For example, on the page that the main character said he wanted to “touch all there is to touch” there was only his hands depicted on the page, making the topic of your five senses extremely easy to understand. Although the illustrations were colorful, simplistic, and helpful, I ultimately did not like this book because there was only an Asiatic young boy depicted in the story. I would have loved to see multiple races and ethnicities illustrated throughout the book too because I tend to connect to stories with multicultural aspects much more due to the multiculturalism in my life. The big idea of this informational book was to teach the reader about the five senses: seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, and smelling. show less

I enjoyed this book because of the style it was written. The author was repetitive yet informational throughout the book, which gives children a chance to "read along" with the reader. The illustrations are very unique, and use bright, vivid colors that draw attention to the senses. This book is also culturally relevant since the main character is of Asian descent, which is something that is not always as common in some picture books. While this book did not have a conflict or much of a plot, I still enjoyed it because it was a simple, informational book that children would find useful. This book could be used in the classroom to introduce the five senses, and then teachers could create centers revolving around the five senses. In all, show more I do think that this is a book I would use in my classroom. show less

This book is simple and adorable. I enjoyed looking at the illustrations. I read it to my 1 year old niece and together we pointed to our senses as we read along. She laughed and pointed the entire time. She would point to the little boy in the book them point to herself. We will read this book until she fluently knows her senses.

I like this book for two reasons. The first reason is because of the big and uncomplicated illustrations. The pictures on each page make teaching the subject easier because the illustrations are a great reference. When teaching the sense of smell there is a big picture of a boy smelling flowers which is very relatable for children. The second reason why I liked this book is because it can be made interactive. When referencing a body part, the student could point to that body part to help them learn the concept of the sense. The message of this book is to teach the five senses.