A Pet: The Sound of P

by Alice K. Flanagan

Developed by a renowned team of experts, and described by critics as leading the field, these acclaimed books entice prereaders by using color photographs of children. The pictures provide clues to the simple words on the page, so when the students hear the repetitive sounds, they begin to associate sounds with letters With one sentence per page, the clean format builds critical confidence in recognizing consonants, vowels, blends, and digraphs.

24 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Alice K. Flanagan has written books on many subjects. Exploring Parks with Ranger Dockett is just one of her books about jobs. Many children enjoy her books about birds. She has also written books telling about different Native American groups.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: A Pet: The Sound of P
Author: Alice K. Flanagan
Publisher: The Child's World, Incorporated, 24 pp, 1999
Format: Early Reader (phonics)
Audience: Children, ages 5 to 8
Description: A Pet: The Sound of P is one of thirty-five books in the Wonder Books phonics series. Follow a little boy as he sets out on a mini adventure to find a pet.

Personal Review: This early reader book does an average job of presenting the sound of the letter “P.” The story is short and is about a young boy that goes on a journey by himself to find a pet. He sees the different types of animals and eventually he ends up choosing a frog and takes it home as a pet. Every page has a word that has begins with the letter “P” and there are even instances where there is rhyming. This early reader follows some of the major characteristics of an early reader book. It has text that is about 18 point font and each page is one sentence long. There is a lot of white space and the pictures are engaging and can offer hints to the reader if they don’t know what the word is. Ultimately I found that this book could have done a better overall job of presenting the letter “P.” It could have included different pets that began with the letter “P” like parrot. I do have to give this book some credit because at the very end of the book, there is a word list with all of the words that began with the letter “P” that the reader can reference after finishing the story.

Citation of two critical sources:
Children’s Literature’s review says how this book in the series is based on research that supports the idea that our brains are pattern detectors. This helps the reader of the review understand how this book in the series fits in with the rest of them. I found it to be helpful in that it pointed out how each book in the series allows the reader to practice and apply their knowledge of the sounds in the natural language.
Publisher’s Weekly’s review also mentions that this series is currently based on research. It mentions how the book was well-written, has engaging texts and colorful photographs.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eight "p" words covered in this book from phonics series. Boy takes his pack and finds options for pets. Girls really liked this title...had a story that they could relate to more than some of the other titles in the series.

[Azure]

I learned you can catch pets from outside.You have to have stuff to catch a animal.