The worst part of a vacation for me is trying to sit long enough to finish a book before I pick up another as now I have time to sit and read. Of course, once your sister hears “The Aunt is Free” she says, “Oh you loooove your oldest nephew so you want to spend time with him….” Sure, why not? What else was I going to do? Read and sleep? Who needs that?
All kidding aside, I love my nephew. But he’s not really a reader anymore. So, what I do is use him as a prop for holding books in photo shoots and read to him books when I can. One of the books I decided to read to him was Is It Time, Yet? by Lynn Levine and Dirk Steinhoefel (iIllustrator). I had already read it once (after picking it up from the library) but I figured it was a relatively short book and one that would be fun for him as what boy doesn’t like salamanders and other creepy crawly things? Well, I guess my nephew. He was “ewww a millipede!?” (after I explained it was a millipede. It was the pointed legs that got him) And “Oh! Yuck a salamander…..”
Still we/I read it, he was engaged with this unique theme (helping frogs and other critters cross a busy road) but the environmental parts did not grab him. Granted, for me, it is not a new idea to a picture book, but it was not “fun” for his level (mentally about 5 or 6 when it comes to action needed). He was less learning the facts as it was the overall tone and interaction with me, but that just showed me it will hold the attention of most aged kids if presented right. Overall, it is a decent story, however, the illustrations were not to my personal tastes. And that is just a small issue that I do recommend the book if you are looking for something that includes facts but is a fictionalized representation of that to keep kids interested.
It’s a fun read aloud that teaches children about the salamander (told from its point of view) and that time of year when all salamanders’ hearts turn towards romance. But, of course there are a lot of dangers and only one is the light of the big metal things that rush towards the critters that need to cross the road to the pond for whatever it is that critters do when they get Twitterpated. So, it covers several areas and can grow with the child.
