Loads of Letters!

Schuette, Sarah L.  Loads of Letters!  Capstone Publishers  2014  32p   $19.99  ISBN 978-1-4765-4013-9  all ages  series:  A+  Interactive     VG 

This colorful interactive book is really a game rather than a story book.  It is like a crossword puzzle book for the pre-school set, but any age can play!  Each page presents a new challenge for the person who is up for it, with a clutter of objects and letters strewn across each double-page spread and instructions for the reader to find certain words or letters.  The photography is excellent, and the games are very challenging.  In fact, in some cases the games were too challenging, as on page 14, where the reader is asked to find the word “you.”  Two sixty-somethings with numerous graduate degrees were unable to find the word.  The members of TriState had no luck either.  (Later I asked several thirty-somethings and several children.  No luck there, either!)  There are no “answer” pages in the book or on the Facthound web site.  This might prove to be a little frustrating to the person who cannot find a word or letter, and there is no answer page to help him/her. 
The concept is a very good one, with students looking hard for letters and words in a cluttered scene.  However, if some of the words and letters are too difficult to find, it makes for a frustrating experience, which is too bad.        

Others in the A+ series by Capstone are Colors and Patterns, So Many Shapes, and Tons of Numbers.  They are designed to help beginning readers with their visual and reading skills.    

Summary: This colorful interactive book is really a game rather than a story book.  It is a crossword puzzle book for the pre-school set, but any age can play!  Each page presents a new challenge for the person who is up for it!  But there should be an answer key.

Picture puzzles                                       --Carol Kennedy