Title: Aunt Ida Clare
Author: Michele McCarthy
Major Themes: Wordss
Synopsis: When Aunt Ida Clare comes to babysit, things get exciting, and the children learn a lot about words!
Aunt Ida Clare was a shot in the dark. I had never heard of the author or seen anything about the book, but it looked interesting, so I signed up to review it. What a delight! I enjoyed reading it aloud to my 6-year-old daughter this afternoon. She loved it, too, and it gave us an opportunity to talk about some fun words.
Before Aunt Ida Clare came to visit for the first time, Daddy said she was flamboyant. Was she ever! She offered to babysit in a pinch, and Rosalina’s brother Roo caused the pinch. Today was not a normal day, in any way.
Aunt Ida Clare loved words. She knew the meanings of names, and she used big words that make this book great fun to read—words like bumfuzzle and gobbledygook. And then, she introduced her special silver item and taught the children about speaking life-giving words! The children ended up loving their new babysitter.
I’ll say it again: Aunt Ida Clare is a fun book! I enjoyed the pictures, and I loved reading the text, with all those big words. There is a glossary in the back defining the big words, which could be helpful. I also really liked the way this story illustrates the verse from the Bible about our words being seasoned with salt. This is a good book to read frequently, to remind children (and adults) about the impact our words have on those around us. I also loved the play on words that I noticed in the title!
I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
WARNING: Page 29 has “by cracky”.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9, 8 – 12
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