Wednesday, November 24, 2010

RED TED AND THE LOST THINGS



By Chris Wilson
Editor-in-Geek


STORY SUMMARY
The cuddly and sweater-clad Red Ted finds himself in the lost-and-found at the train station. Unlike the other toys, he is not content to sit on the shelf and await rescue. He and his fearful crocodile inmate hopped off the shelf and sojourned through the busy city streets trying to get back to Stevie. Cat, who does as she pleases, decides she will help the two find Stevie.  On their way they meet an enormous barking dog –– enormous to them anyway –– Crocodile shows his teeth and scares the dog away. Eventually, Red Ted finds Stevie and everyone gets a new home that serves cheese, naturally.


REVIEW
RED TED is the COURDUROY-meets-PETER RABBIT for the 21st Century –– a timeless bear story that children will never tire of. RED TED is delicate and soft with the faintest hints of suspense and surprise that will imprint itself on the lives of future adults. It is a story that this generation’s children will buy for their children and their grandchildren.


ART REVIEW
The soft green, blue and red-brown colors of the characters are subtly accentuated by the monochromatic backgrounds. The ink work ever so delicately outlines only three characters: Red Ted, Crocodile and Stevie. Everything and everyone else is outlined with the same color as the background palette. Joel Stewart’s technique makes for the quaintest storytelling that humbly emphasizes the protagonists.


AGE RECOMMENDATION
Chris’ Rating: Emergent reader and older
Publisher’s Rating: Preschool and older


IN THE CLASSROOM
RED TED provides a solid story for teachers to build reading motivation, comprehension and fluency in emergent readers. The basic elements of fiction (setting, character and plot) along with basic reading strategies (inferences, predictions, etc.) are ripe for the emergent reader to learn and understand.


OTHER INFORMATION
Author: Michael Rosen
Illustrator: Joel Stewart
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Genre: Animal Fantasy

Pages: 40
Color: Full color
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978-0-7636-4537-3


CHRIS’ RECOMMENDATION:
Highly Recommended

No comments: