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Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader) by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi


Children are a little like Pokemon; you may not be able to house them in a Pokeball, but they are always evolving. Your little kiddo may have spent the first couple of years or so intent to sit on your lap and listen to you read a story, but at some point they are going to want to read themselves. This is not the moment to lend them your copy of Lord of the Rings as their own first books will actually be simpler stories than the books that you have shared together. You need to know your ducks and your hats before you can tackle what on Earth a Gruffalo is.

Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader) by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi

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Buy Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader) by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: Emerging Readers
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Sam Tyler
Reviewed by Sam Tyler
Summary: A very first reader book that may be simple, but has a sense of fun that makes it a joy to read.
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32 Date: May 2017
Publisher: Maverick Arts Publishing
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781848862494

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Cool Duck and Lots of Hats by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi is part of the Early Reader series of books by Maverick Arts Publishing and comes under the simplest Pink Band. It actually contains two tales, one about a set of hot animals needing to cool down and one about a family with a series of increasingly large hats. Each tale spans around 10 pages and is less about the narrative and more about associating simple words and concepts.

If you remember the Billy Blue-hat and Roger Red-hat books, this is essentially a modern series like this, but the tales are a little more fun and less 70s. As a Pink Band book Cool offers the simplest form of reading. Each page may have four words on it e.g. the cat is hot, the duck is cool. These words are placed next to one of the Capizzi illustrations which are a colourful interpretation of what the words are saying e.g. a picture of a hot looking cat!

The stories included are extremely basic, but for a reason; this book is meant as a very first reader. Connecting the concepts of the words with the images helps a child to understand – H, O, T means hot, like the cat in the picture. Although incredibly simple, Dale's stories are also a little daft so they are still fun. Capizzi is able to capture this sense of lightness in the drawings. This makes a book that could have felt like my first academic text, actually feel like my first special book just for me.

For parents who are worried about how they can help their child develop their reading, Maverick has included a section for both stories about the book's aims, what the important words are and the type of questions you may want to ask. All children will develop at different rates and the fact that all the Early Learner books are part of a staggered progression means that you can buy the book that suits your child. I can certainly recommend Cool Cat and Lots of Hats as a very first emerging reader book; it is simple, but also simply fun.

There are loads of great books in the Early Reader series; Bamboo and I Wish (Early Reader) by Alice Hemming and Julia Seal, and Buzz and Jump! Jump! (Early Reader) by Alice Hemming and Louise Forshaw, amongst them. We can also recommend A Scarf and a Half (Early Reader) by Amanda Brandon and Catalina Echeverri.

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Buy Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader) by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader) by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Buy Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader) by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader) by Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi at Amazon.com.

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