Huff and Puff's Hawaiian Rainbow (A Totline Teaching Tale) - Hardcover

PreS-Gr 1--Huff and Puff are two cumulus clouds that have a series of adventures, told in forced rhymes. In each book, the activities of the clouds and children are basically parallel, but it is up to readers to figure out that Huff and Puff are the clouds, since it is never stated and not always clear. Follow-up activities--snacks, songs, and crafts typical of the author's well-known TOTLINE--conclude the books. The illustrations are colorful but flat; black-and-white drawings accompany the craft sections. All try for political correctness in terms of depicting race, gender, and handicaps. Warren's teaching materials have been widely accepted and used by preschool teachers for years, but these books just don't make it. The stories are static, and the illustrations are pedestrian. The crafts are fine--but they don't make up for poor storytelling. This is a case in which a writer's skills and success at one format do not carry through to another.

Nancy A. Gifford, Schenectady County Public Library, NY

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