Family Briefs

I recently received a couple of books from Sylvan Dell Publishing that I agreed to review (I’m always on the lookout for good children’s books). The mission of Sylvan Dell Publishing is to bring science and math to children through literature, so I was a little skeptical - I didn’t expect an educational book to have much entertainment value.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, by ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day by Catherine Ipcizade. I read this to my three oldest children, who are 8, 5, and 3 years of age. They all enjoyed the story, which held their attention right through to the end.

The story line has the zoo keepers diligently working to get the animals and the zoo all cleaned up and ready for the next day. All along the way, the author drops in interesting facts about the animals and their habitats. For example, did you know that African meerkats eat bugs? Since my 5-year-old no longer insists on watching the Lion King every day, I’d actually had the opportunity to forget that

My children thought all the things that go wrong in the zoo were rather funny. They laughed and laughed about the llamas spitting, the alligator that gets stung in the eye, and the elephants that roll around in the mud (sometimes that sounds like my day around here!). My 3- and 5-year-olds were most interested in the animals, and they both giggled when the one of the zookeepers cleaned up the turtle doodoo .

While the book doesn’t offer an inspirational lesson or a meaningful moral , it is a cute poem full of animal facts that are bound to interest any child. The wonderful illustrations by Ben Hodson give a unique, child-like detail to all of the zoo inhabitants.

What’s really neat about the Sylvan Dell Publishing books, however, is the “For Creative Minds” section that follows the story. These educational activities are a wonderful way for children to learn more about some of the characters they’ve just read about, in addition to providing some opportunities for discussing further ideas with your child. Great for some quality one-on-one time!

My 8-year-old liked the book too, but he was most interested in doing some of the activities in the back. The book certainly has appeal for a wide range of ages - that’s good news for a mother of four!

If you’d like to learn more about Sylvan Dell Publishing, you can visit their website at www.sylvandellpublishing.com. They have lots of free online resources like teaching activities, English and Spanish audiobooks, reading comprehension and math quizzes, and Learning Links for deeper science study. They even have stuffed animals for sale that correspond to favorite book characters.