Vibrant illustrations of animals and objects that kids love attract budding readers and spellers to this nifty little set. Open up the velcro fastener and kids will find 6 stacks of cards bound right into the book. At the top, three columns of letter-cards bound in alphabetical order are designed to be flipped until real three-letter words are formed. At the bottom, there are three more columns of flippable cards featuring pictures to spell - 75 in all. After selecting an object, kids work their way through the lowercase letters on top until they arrive at its spelling. Then, they check their work by flipping the picture to reveal the correctly spelled word as well as a definition. It's a simple idea, with fun and educational results.
Words featured in this set include simple, phonetically-regular ones like cat and dog, as well as less intuitively spelled words like ace and eye. This range in difficulty makes this product appropriate for beginners as well as first-graders who can use it to practice spelling. Of course, children can come up with their own words as well - parents can even encourage kids to sound out nonsense words for a little exercise in phonics.
Advantages of this set are plentiful. Whether at home or on the go, children can "play" with letters of the alphabet, attempting to spell three-letter words inspired by colorful pictures. Parents can read definitions of the words kids have built. Also, when parents are busy, the option for children to do their own spell-checking allows them to work independently. With everything needed bound right into the book, there are no pieces to lose. As well, younger siblings not yet ready to attempt spelling words can flip through the alphabet and practice their lowercase letter recognition and alphabet sequencing skills.
Though fairly sturdy, kids will nonetheless have to take care of this book, as a ripped-out alphabet card could be a problem (unless you're lucky and it's a Q!).
Other books in the I Can series include I Can Spell Words With Four Letters, as well as early math editions entitled I Can Add and I Can Subtract. The series is gorgeously illustrated and immediately inviting - and successful at driving home the message that learning is fun.
