The B on Your Thumb: 60 Poems to Boost Reading and Spelling

by Colette Hiller, Tor Freeman (Illustrator)

Overview

‘This is the sort of picture book that will bear up under repeated childhood readings and may even be of use to adults.’

—The Wall Street Journal

"The B on your Thumb is clever, engaging, educational and fun. I wish I had thought of it."
—Craig Smith, author / songwriter of The Wonky Donkey

The B on Your Thumb is a book of 60 hilariously illustrated rhymes and delightful ditties to boost early reading—each poem teaches a specific sound, spelling, or rule. Using rhythm and wordplay, they promote phonics awareness, thinking skills, and literacy. But most of all, this book delights young readers with the fun and silliness of the English language.

This is a book where words like to play,
where letters get cross when they don’t get their way.
There are sounds to make and jokes to uncover.
An owl in your bowl, for you to discover.
Meet the K on your knee, who’s ready for fun,
and don’t be alarmed by the B on your thumb!

An introduction instructs grown-ups how to use the book and extensive activities at the end allow children to build on their learning. Grouped into four categories—sounds, silent letters and secrets, spellings, and words that sound the same—the poems include:

• See with Two Ees
• The Story of Q and U
• The Rain in the Train
• Ridiculous Ph
• Enough of Uff
• Certainly a C
• The Most ImportANT
• Which Witch

Learning to read has never been so much fun!The B on Your Thumb is a must for every young family’s bookshelf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780711254602
Publisher:	Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	45,634
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Colette Hiller is a writer, arts producer, and mother of twins. Her arts projects have reached hundreds of thousands of participants—she is the woman who put pianos and ping-pong tables in countless locations across the UK, and is also the mind behind the hit Talking Statues project.

Her children’s rhymes have been featured on BBC Words and Pictures and her children’s LP, Applehead, has been a hit with kids across the world, selling over 50,000 copies. An advocate of early learning, Colette believes that even very young children are receptive to the joy of wordplay (she taught her own twins to read by the time they were three).

Tor Freeman is a London-based illustrator. In 2012 she was awarded the Sendak Fellowship. In 2017 she won the Guardian Graphic Short Story Prize. Her books include the Digby Dog and Olive series.

Editorial Reviews

"The B on Your Thumb is clever, engaging, educational and fun. I wish I had thought of it. I can't wait to read it to my daughter." - Craig Smith, Author/Songwriter of The Wonky Donkey


"What a wonderful book! I can think of no better way to introduce children to the delights and idiosyncrasies of the English language, helping them learn to read and spell. I’m sure these joyful rhymes are destined to become beloved by teachers, parents, and most importantly, children." - James Clements, Education writer


"This is the sort of picture book that will bear up under repeated childhood readings." - Wall Street Journal


"This collection of 60 poems to help three to seven-year-olds learn to read and spell is a hoot. [...] Each poem teaches a specific lesson, whether it’s mastering letter sounds or explaining that words like “write” and “right” sound the same but are spelled differently." - The Independent


"I remember the misery I had as a child trying to pronounce and spell words. I wish this book had been around back then, it would have saved me and the teachers a lot of grief. The illustrations are fun, every page is as colourful as a jar of smarties and every rhyme is accessible. Also, its usefulness as an educational tool can’t be underestimated." - Brian Patten, Poet and author


"A lovely, loony look at language!" - Michelle Robinson, Children's Author


"A fun (not frivolous) phonetic friend." - Kirkus Reviews


"A charming, gentle way to get children thinking about and playing with spellings, language and words. Proof that spelling can be a whole lot of fun." - Jospeh Coelho, Poet and author

From the Publisher

2020-06-16
This selection of pithy phonetic poetry is both fun and educational.

Imported from the U.K., the book is divided into four sections: “Sounds,” “Silent letters and secrets,” “Words that sound the same,” and “Homophones.” A foreword assures caregivers (and independent readers) that the book can be read from cover to cover, but it’s OK to “just choose a rhyme that you think your child will enjoy.” With this knowledge (and a handful of other tips and tricks), readers will delight in the poems with their phonetic and spelling hints. Each poem is printed in two colors to allow the letters discussed to stand out and to aid visual connections: “The sh that’s in your shoulder, / the sh that’s in your shoe. / S and H go sh, / that is what they do.” The poems are witty, but a few rely on knowledge of British vocabulary or pronunciation to fully appreciate. These minor quibbles won’t detract from the merrymaking, however. The colorful cartoons feature anthropomorphic letters that elevate the humor and zaniness. The human characters depicted display a range of skin tones, hair textures, and ages, providing young readers a lot of opportunities to find themselves or a friend within the pages. It will work best as a lap book, but a skilled educator might be able to incorporate a poem or two into their storytelling repertoire, especially if they take advantage of the suggested extensions in the backmatter. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 100% of actual size.)

A fun (not frivolous) phonetic friend. (Picture book/poetry. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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