Can you spot, Spot? (Where's Spot? - Eric Hill)

Name: tb4ms

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Where's Spot? - Eric Hill
Date:	03/05/07 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great interactive lift-the-flap, hide and seek book.

Disadvantages: Little hands sometimes rip the flaps in their excitement to find Spot!

Spot is a lovable puppy who hasn't failed to enchant any of the children who I have read the series of Spot books to.

~ The author, Eric Hill & Spot Books ~

Where's Spot? was written / published in 1980 and is the first in the massively successful series of Spot books.

Following the huge success of this book, Eric Hill has gone on to write a huge number of books for very young children, recounting the adventures of this sweet little pup:

Spot's first walk
Spot goes to the farm
Spot's noisy toy box
Spot goes to the circus
Spot's busy week
Spot's touch and feel day
Spot visits his grandparents

To name but a few!

Eric Hill's Spot books have sold over 40 million copies and have been translated in to 65 languages.

Evidence of the huge popularity of Spot amongst pre-school children is the animated series of Spot and the number of educational videos available, e.g. Spot's ABC, Spot Tells the Time etc......

If you have the time, why not check out Spot's official website where games etc can be downloaded for young children:
www.funwithspot.com

~ Where's Spot? ~

This is a great hide and seek, lift the flap book, aimed at pre-school children.

Spot's Mum, Sally, asks "Where's Spot?" and so begins an interactive hunt for Spot through the house.

Is he behind the door?
Is he inside the clock? (grandfather clock I hasten to add!)
Is he in the piano?
Is he under the stairs?

And so on until eventually Spot is found in a basket and is given his dinner.

~ Illustrations ~

All set against a white backdrop, the illustrations are bright, large and bold, ideal for little eyes.

What I like about this is the fact that rather than a boring brown, upright piano, Eric Hill has drawn a pink grand piano!

Each page has a lift the flap opportunity for children to see if Spot is hiding under, in, behind etc a certain object or place.

~ Content and Style ~

This is aimed perfectly for pre-school children.

The text is very large and simple so that children can join in after the first or second reading.

The sentences are very short, e.g. "Is he under the bed?". Usually one sentence per double page.

~ Educational value ~

This book is an invaluable aid in the basics of education for a number of reasons:

* It encourages the development of fine motor skills with lift the flap opportunities.
* It develops a love of books in young children through the interactivity and bright, bold illustrations.
* It's good for beginner readers as the sentences are short and quite repetitive.
* It's great for developing vocabulary relating to position: under, in, behind etc

An Italian friend of mine has used Spot with his pupils in primary as an aid to learning English!

~ Price and Publishers ~

Puffin
Truran
Frederick Warne
Putnam Publishing Group

The book is available in paperback, hardcover and boardbook, the latter of which if great for little hands as they are less likely to rip the flaps!

Check out www.amazon.co.uk for great bargains as all 3 versions of the book are on offer from just 1p!

~ Conclusion ~

This is a great book for very young children and it's hard to believe that it's more than a quarter of a century old!

No wonder that 'Parents Magazine' described this book as:
'One of the essential experiences of children'

Summary: A great book for pre-school children.