WordsBright Review

My 3-year-old loves letters. He points them out everywhere, like the obvious places: signs, shirts, books, mail, boxes, anywhere there is written word. But what has amazed me for many months is how he can recognize specific letters in random objects: the way a spaghetti noodle is lying on a plate or the shape of a clothespin both closed (A) and open (H) or how the blocks are lying on the floor or paint splatters during a project. He is drawn to the alphabet. I knew he would be excited to read a new book all about letters from WordsBright. 

S is for Smiling Sunrise was written by Vick Wadhwa for his daughter and is intended to be the first of many early learning and educational books. Like the tagline states, this is "an alphabet book of goodness, beauty, and wonder." Each letter is depicted with words that aren't the typical ABC book choices:

A is for Artwork
E is for Evening
K is for Kaleidoscope
T is for Tasty
V is for Virtues    

The words are followed by a cute little poem and picture.

C is for Colors
Speaking words of light
Red and blue, green and yellow
Pink and black and white!

My kids are always excited to get new books. When this one came in the mail, they all huddled on the couch to admire it. My oldest immediately offered to read it to the younger ones. Just as I anticipated, my 3-year-old enjoyed it the most. Each time the page would turn, he'd shout out the letter. "A! B! C!" Then he'd eagerly listen as the poems were read.

We've read the book together many times now, but my favorite is catching my little one reading it on his own. He flips through the pages and says what the letters and words are. I appreciate that the book uses more advanced words like brilliant, zesty, and fragrant. I believe it's important to read some things that are above a child's level in order to expose them to richer vocabulary and learning. The cutesy pictures paired with the word usage is a good combination.

There is also an MP3 that accompanies the book. It is the book itself set to music. Your child can listen and follow along as the song plays. Also included are teaching guides for both pre-K and K-3rd grade. They are filled with age-appropriate ideas for using the book for further learning.

If you're looking for a new, cute book to teach your little ones his ABCs, try S is for Smiling Sunrise.

Would you like to see how other homeschoolers used this book? You can read more reviews on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.