Review by Booklist Review
It isn't clear at the start who's giving out the advice, but the 10 steps offered here for teaching someone to read are surprisingly sound especially considering who's being taught. Slugs are notoriously nonintellectual, but Pearson handles the situation with a fairly straightforward approach: 9. Read your slug's favorite poems with him as many times as he wants. Read him other books too! It's the illustrator who gets to go wild. Slonim's amusingly cartoonish images of a wilderness library include a little yellow slug happily learning, an orange mother slug (wearing lipstick and mascara) patiently explaining vocabulary definitions, copies of classic slug kid lit (Go Slug, Go!, The Snail in the Hat), and other diverting scenes. The master instructor turns out to be a little boy, and young readers will be able to relate to his growing mastery of reading and to his desire to share his new knowledge.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This charming and funny manual is also informative for older siblings or parents who are beginning the teaching process themselves. The bits of advice include: "Attach labels to Little Slug's favorite things," "Read out loud to him," "Point out words that repeat," "Sound out words," "Make a vocabulary list," and "Be patient." Everything is made amusing by adding the slug perspective ("underline favorite words in slug slime"). Presented in a combination of bold text and speech bubbles, Pearson's text is simple and appealing. Illustrations are cartoonish with plenty of bug appeal, humor, and a scintilla of grossness. Beyond its cleverness, this is a terrific bookfomercial for READING. The final pages share some of the joys to be found in books in an unpreachy way. And that is no small achievement.-Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
When you teach a slug to read, you should: 1. Start out by putting labels on his favorite things." So begins a ten-rule lesson given by a little boy (who appears toward book's end) to a mama slug--at least that's what seems to be happening in this utterly confusing book. The acrylic and charcoal illustrations do include some clever book-themed, slug's-eye-view touches. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
