Maggie Testa

CoComelon fans will enjoy exploring words and sentences with this read, but even those who aren't into the show will have no problem joining in.

This starts out with a few exercises to help ease into the read. There are some sounds to practice (-ay, -ool, and -ook) as well as twelve basic 'sight' words and nine more difficult ones. This does a good job at preparing young readers for the tale and gives them some practice before facing the words in sentence form.

The story follows JJ as he spends a day at school and tells what the class does throughout the day. The sentences are kept short, most three to four words long. They incorporate the words practiced at the beginning of the book and tend to repeat the same phrases with slight alterations. It's a gentle way to ease into reading.

The illustrations are scenes taken from Cocomelon and will be recognizable to fans. But even those who don't know the show will enjoy the lively and familiar situations. The scenes also offer other activities such as color recognition, counting, and shapes. All of these are bright and bold, making them easy to see and use.

At the end of the book, there are several questions to help readers reconsider not only what they read but also connect the story with their own experiences. This last part will need assistance from the teacher, guardian, parent or adult but then, the book is laid out with the purpose to use in a guided reading situation. After the first run through, readers will enjoy revisiting the story. It's fun to read and is well laid out as well. I received a complimentary copy and found it well thought out.… (more)

With simple fun, this book does awake curiosity for eating those veggies.

This is a robust, little board book, which is great to take on a bit of abuse and fit right into younger readers' hands. The spoon on the side is a nice touch and caught my interest (yes, I'm easily intrigued).

The illustrations follow exactly the type of scenes as seen in the CoComelon show. So, fans will have no trouble recognizing and finding familiarity with the characters and situations. These are bright and very busy illustrations, not only due to the pictures shown, but also, the words dance everywhere. I find it a bit too busy, but others might disagree.

The main text is easy to find and read, since this is placed in green text boxes. The vocabulary is great for the younger listeners. It makes for an easy read-aloud, too...which is what this book really works well as. In addition to the main text, which accompanies the mother's and child's dialogue as they eat vegetables, there are the words for the fitting song (which I'm assuming comes from the show), so this can also be sung along. This does make it easy to really get engaged in the read, when a parent/guardian/caretaker read this for the child, since it adds more interaction and variety.

I can see this one working to encourage kids to eat their vegetables, especially when they have the exact same thing on their plate as the character in these pages. And if nothing else, it is a lot of fun to read. I received an ARC copy and found this one packed with tons of fun for fans.… (more)