A New ABC for Everyone

By Jan Pease

Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver continue their series about younger Hank Zipster with Here’s Hank: the Soggy, Foggy Campout. My memories of camping seem to include a lot of rain, but Hank’s campout is an extreme disaster.

 I think I’ve mentioned Dyslexie, the special font used in these books, in an earlier article.  This is such important information to pass on that I’m borrowing freely from the facing page of Here’s Hank.  Christian Boer, who designed the font, is a Dutch graphic designer and is dyslexic.  Sometimes  people with dyslexia have a difficult time distinguishing individual letters, so Mr. Boer added heavier bottoms on b and d, larger than normal openings on c and e, and longer ascenders and descenders on f, h, and p.  The font also has larger spaces between letters and words.  To make the beginning of each sentence stand out, capital letters are all bold.  These simple changes can help all kids read better, not just those who are dyslexic.   Dyslexie is available to download on home computers with a free home license at www.dyslexiefont.com.   I recommend it!

Sometimes a child will have more success at reading with a topic they love.  The library has added a new set of level 2 readers called ASPCA kids Rescue Readers.  They are sweet books with stories about shelter pets.  A note to parents provides tips for successful reading.   You’ll recognize them by the full-color covers with close-up pictures of cuddly critters.  The one I’m looking at right now is titled I Am Picasso, about an adorable dog that paints.  Other titles full of cuteness are I Am Nibbles, I am Daisy, and I Am McKinley.  These titles were all written by Lori C. Froeb.

Little, Brown and Company have an imprint called Jimmy Paterson Books, created by  James Patterson.  The mission is simple: “We want every kid who finishes a JIMMY book to say, ‘Please give me another book.’” James Paterson and Chris Grabenstein have teamed up to write the Treasure Hunters series as well as other best-selling series.  Treasure Hunters books tell the tale of the Kidd children, avid treasure hunters   who found their missing parents in the first three books.  Now, in book four, Treasure Hunters: Peril at the Top of the World, the Kidd family find themselves in the middle of the bleak, cold Russian Arctic trying to find thieves who have stolen valuable treasure.  These are great adventure stories that are fun to read.

It seems to me that it would be easy to play hide and seek with an elephant, but it what if it warns that he is very good at hiding.?  David Barrow wrote and illustrated Have You Seen Elephant?   This funny picture book begins with elephant hiding in more and more outrageous places, and ends with a land tortoise named Zoom inviting our hero to play tag. Zoom warns, “But I’m very good!”  This book is written in cursive, which some children find difficult to read, but I think that having a book engage the imagination is one way to get children to attempt something that’s a little bit difficult. 

These and more great books are waiting for you at Litchfield library!