Common Sense Media Review
Play-acting aspect will engage young readers.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Eight classic fairy tales, from "The Three Bears" and "Cinderella" to "The Princess and the Pea" and "Jack and the Beanstalk," are used as the basis for eight very short plays for two voices. The vocabulary is basic, and the lines are short and manageable for beginning readers. The author engages the reader by using characters from the familiar fairy tales in a lively, fanciful skit that leads to the reading of the original fairy tale in the end.
Is It Any Good?
The teaching technique used here is clever and appealing, perhaps most significantly in that it requires both readers, whatever their level of expertise, to participate. Each has a part in the play so both readers must think about character, voice, articulation, expression, etc. This makes the learning work shared and more enjoyable.
The alternating parts of the plays are printed in different colors and surrounded by a spacious white background. The colorful, cartoon-style pictures run alongside the text, offering support and suggestions. Emberley's attractive picture characters are as entertaining and expressive as those in the text. This is perfect for parents to use with their children who are learning to read.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the fun of reading stories aloud. Think about your "character" in one of the plays, and try changing the way you play your part in different readings of the same play.
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Michael Emberley
- Genre : Picture Book
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Little, Brown and Company
- Publication date : April 17, 2004
- Number of pages : 32
- Last updated : September 22, 2015
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate