Puss in Boots is a whimsically illustrated retelling of the classic fairy tale for learning readers by Sue Purcell. Released Jan 15th 2022 by Rosen Publishing on their Windmill Books imprint, it's 24 pages and is available in paperback and library bound formats. This book is part of a series of classic fairy tales written for learning readers which have a similar format and focus.
Most kids will already be familiar with the classic fairy tale so will be able to concentrate on the lessons the author provides on literacy learning whilst listening to the story. There's an emphasis on the phonetics of the words in the text and the sounds with which they're made. Each page of the text has the relevant sound highlighted in the words and a highlighted text box at the foot of each page showing the words which are emphasized in the text.
The book includes keys for teachers/facilitators/caregivers helping them to present the material for learners optimally and comfortably. Small highlighted text areas on the pages also contain prompts for saying character names, finding objects, or practising pronunciations.
The art by Kay Widdowson is full of whimsy and small details which invite readers to take a closer look. It's rendered in a friendly naive style which is appealing and fun.
It should probably be mentioned that the fairy tale contains some outdated "fairy tale" tropes which might be problematic (giving a princess away to marry a strange young man they pulled out of a stream the day before without any hint of her consent is a little awkward to say the least). But in context with a fairy tale setting and talking cats and ogres, it can likely be ignored.
Four stars. Very nice for classroom use or homeschooling.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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