A Treasury of Tales for Four-Year-Olds - Gabby Dawnay

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Author: Gabby Dawnay

Illustrator: Heidi Griffiths
Genre: Anthology for Children
Rating: 3 stars.

A decent collection of stories and poems for little readers but I expected a lot more.

Unlike what the title suggests, the book contains not just tales but poems as well. (I am not a poetry aficionado so this was somewhat disappointing.) The forty “tales” span a range of themes from traditional folktales to imaginative stories to retellings to funny narratives. . Topics include ideas that kids can relate to (play, food, animals,…) as well as unusual (for them) concepts such as pirates and dragons. There are many stories from the perspectives of animals and these were the best for me. Some of the tales include possibly scary content such as a tiger swallowing a boy whole and a black hole eating up the universe. Scattered along the way are a few “Did You Know?” facts related to the content of the stories

The content is supposed to be recommended by literacy experts, and this is evident in the choice of stories, with the stress on educational content being prominent across most of the tales. Many focus on numbers, spellings, and wordplay such as rhyming words or onomatopoeic words. These are the best suited for the primary audience – the four year old who is just venturing into the world of letters and the magic they create when they come together.

The length is quite varied. Some are just a page long while others go on for four pages. A four page story is too long for a four year old’s attention span, but thankfully, there are just a few of them in this book. Many of the tales are verbose. A few have vocabulary that will be tough to explain to four year olds. (How the heck do parents explain vampires and werewolves to children without scaring them?)

The illustrations are decent. They weren’t my kind of artwork but they are colourful and quirky enough for little kiddos.

The intention of the authors comes across as very genuine. I even appreciated their idea of having two authors’ notes, one for the four year olds and the other for the adults, focussing on reading techniques and on how to make reading interactive and fun. I just wish the content too had worked equally well, but I was left with a vague sense of dissatisfaction.

It is a book that means well, and I hope that it will work for its target age group well. For me though (speaking as a parent, not as a four year old), it was a hit-or-miss experience.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “A Treasury of Tales for Four-Year-Olds: 40 Stories Recommended by Literacy Experts”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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