The Vowel Family: A Tale of Lost Letters

by Sally M. Walker, Kevin Luthardt (Illustrator)

Meet an unusual family with some very special A l a n, E ll e n, I r i s, O tt o , and U rs u la. Sometimes they're visited by their very special aunt, C y nd y . As each child is born, the family becomes more complete―and each additional Vowel also makes the text easier to read! Because if you can imagine life without the Vowels, tlkng wld b vr hrd. Rdng wld b pzzlng. Are you ready to play the Vowel game?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Sally M. Walker has written science books for children, including Earthquakes, an NSTA/CBC Best Science Trade Book of 1997. She lives in DeKalb, IL.

Reviews

[Franci · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️
#2 of 2024

Sm nd Pm r mssng smthng....

[Chris Hays · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand they are coming up with unique ways of trying to teach about vowels and why we use them, but this book was tough to enjoy. It is a challenge as a read aloud, and a lot to expect when trying to get students to understand. I am sure some will find this book excellent, yet I was disappointed.

[Niesha Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not really a children’s book! It would be better as a tv series or illustrated picture book...it is too difficult to to follow along if a child does not know/or is still learning vowels. As an adult I found this book hilarious but my 6 year old reaction are the total opposite.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great way to introduce vowels

[Manpreet Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice story to teach

[Patricia J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

hard to read

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be good for kids who are learning about vowels and with kids having to learn these things earlier and earlier, the pictures, which seem a bit childish, would be right on target. What would be hard for the younger kids is the words that are missing the vowels, which are all of them at first. It took me a few seconds to recognize what some of the words were. Then twins come along and are named Alan and Ellen. There are now enough clues to figure out the words. There comes along enough people to add the rest of the vowels.

Something I've never seen in a child's book is "G_sh, darn _t". Parents and teachers will have to work with the kids to get anything out of it. I did like that they went to the library.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for showing students how important vowels are. The vowel family has difficulty understanding each other because there are no vowels in their language. Once they start having kids whose names start with a vowel, after that child is born then that vowel will start appearing in the text until all the vowels have been introduced. The vowel family can be used to introduce vowels, demonstrate the importance of vowels and why we have them, and is good for a laugh too. Although I enjoyed reading this book, it was incredibly difficult to read in the beginning without any vowels in the text.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, and I wasn't sure I would. At first glance, it seemed gimmicky...but, as a teacher, I can see how much fun and learning can come from sharing this book (yes, probably in smalll groups so that the kids can all see the words!)! The kids will have to figure out what is happening with the letters and words in this book...with a little prior knowledge about vowels and consonants, they will soon see the pattern and expectantly wait for the letters in the family to all be together, working together to form complete words and a complete family! Fun!

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story, but it doesn't lend itself to reading aloud too well, at least not for me. I went back and forth, naturally filling in the missing vowels and then occasionally trying to read it without the vowels, but it's really hard. I think it's better when read silently, but that's just me. Also, I found an error, they used a "u" befor Ursula was introduced. Oh, the horror!

Anyway, it's a fun and silly book, and our girls really liked it, even if I didn't read it the correct way.

[Jennifer Lutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This funny story presents to readers the understanding of vowels and the importance they hold on language and literacy. The understanding of vowels as open sounds, and consonants as closed sounds can be accentuated by the fun use of missing vowels. This book introduces a family, each character being a vowel from the alphabet. Through word bubbles where the characters are missing vowels in their sentences, the reader can learn to understand how vowels help us with language, but in a comical fashion.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book, but would be very difficult to use as a read aloud. For the first few pages of the book, there are no vowels. As the family has children each vowel is added (1st child's name starts with an "A" so the "A's" are now included in the words, and so on ...) It really makes you realize how important vowels are!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, especially for learning the concept of vowels vs consonants. I wonder how most people read it though. Since it is true that most words are recognizable only from their consonants, do you read this book phonetically that way or filling in their missing vowels? My husband and I did it both ways. Anyway, and ingenious way of teaching about writing and reading vowels.

[Katy Houseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really makes it`s point that life without vowels would not make sense. As you read through the story "The vowel Family" adds many additions to the family. As each baby is born a vowel appears in the words in the book. This makes the book easier and easier to read. This book is at times hard to understand, but I think this book will help them recognize the 5 and sometimes 6 vowels.

[Kyle Greenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be a great book when teaching students a lesson about vowels and language. Students can talk about the "Vowel Family" and how vowels are needed in words. It would be a great read-aloud book, but is not very realistic or has many connections to make. Otherwise, it is a great book while teaching a language and reading lesson.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pics look like they are for little kids, toddlers. They look like Fisher Price Little People. But you really have to be older, to understand the role of vowels in words, in order to understand the book.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

ack, this was so challenging to read. the vowels were missing. of course, the girls loved it...especially how the vowel children had names (e.g. U was Ursula). Not sure it would translate to a group unless one is quite brave and has practiced the title.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that introduces the vowels to kids. In the beginning the couple gets married and can't understand what they say since they have no vowels. Along come the kids and with each child that vowel is in their speech.

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A unique way of highlighting the significant role vowels play in our language. Unique, in the sense that several pages of the book are difficult to read because the vowels are missing.

Poor plot development.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book grows on you after the first reading. My girls chose it over and over and really enjoyed looking at the words without vowels as I was reading it to them. They loved it as the vowel babies were born and the words started to make more sense.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

This book is not as hard for me to read as I thought. However, it would frustrate a younger audience unless completely decipher.

Talking was hard for Pam and Sam Vowel until their vowel family became complete.

[Mariah Logsdon]

Interest Level: Grades 1 and up
Reading Level: For children who know concepts of letters and sounds

A book to remind children which letters are their vowels in a fun silly way. The story emphasizes what words would look like and not make sense if there were no vowels.

[Karrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wht ct bk! (What a cute book!) Funny, original and a terrific resource for teaching vowels. Very difficult to read out loud to a class, though!

[Wrigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

There aren't any vowels in this book until they born!

[This was pretty fun to read, because as W mentions, the words are missing their vowels until they are slowly born into the family.:]

[Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concept, introduces vowels and some interesting vocabulary, and who doesn't love a library plug?

[Cristina1961 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed in the one.

[Olivia Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is to teach about vowels. It shows the importance of vowels to reading and talking. Reviewing vowel sounds and how they function.

[Jasmine Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was hard for ME to read, so I don't expect any child on the EASY READER level to be able to read and COMPREHEND this book w/out a parents assistance.

[Mtp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little tough to read but I substituted clicks for words when necessary and cracked my 4 and 5 year old up!

[Rjgolden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will definitely use this book in my future classroom for students who are first learning about vowels. It's an interesting book and will keep students' attention!