Title: Poke-A-Dot: Old McDonald’s Farm
Author: Lucy Schultz
Illustrator: Travis King
Age Group: 1-3
Synopsis: This interactive, counting book encourages kids to physically engage with the book and rewards them with a satisfying: “POP!”
The Low Down:
This is book won’t win any awards for its illustrations or text. Don’t get me wrong, the pictures are cute but not staggeringly so. And the text is pretty basic; the lyrics to Old McDonald are pretty common in most child-friendly homes. What encourages Bug to read this book again and again, are the poppers or buttons. These raised bubbles allow Bug to count the animals on each page while teaching him not to forget a single one or re-count his favorite. Once the buttons are popped down, they don’t pop back up until they’re pushed from the other side, naturally setting-up each page. We were counting before but we weren’t physically counting, if that makes any sense. We were reciting the numbers 1-15 (or there abouts) but without actually counting anything. In the last couple weeks, Bug had picked up this book multiple times and this last weekend actually begun counting things he sees. It just clicked somehow. It’s so exciting and I’m sure that Poke-A-Dot: Old McDonald Has a Farm has helped with this transition.
Story Tips:
- I flip through real quick and make sure all the buttons on the left pages have been pressed down before we read. Sometimes Bug flips through by himself and presses them willy-nilly cause awkward counting moments later on.
I need more!
There are six Poke-A-Dot books: 10 LITTLE MONKEYS, AN ALPHABET EYE SPY, Poke A Dot Goodnight, Animals , WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?, and WHO’S IN THE OCEAN?. I’d have to argue that Old McDonald looks like the best and the cutest. But check them out for yourself at: http://www.innovativekids.com/shop/190/poke-a-dot
Add to my library:
UK Amazon:Old MacDonald’s Farm (Poke-A-Dot!)
US Amazon: OLD MACDONALD’S FARM (Poke-A-Dot!)
