Our
founder, Randy
Houk, who was a reading curriculum
specialist, believes that different children
learn to read utilizing a combination of
three senses: auditory, kinaesthetic, and
visual. Some children rely much more on
one of the senses, but almost all children
learn through some combination of all three.
We
have therefore provided additional components
available
with every storybook we produce. The expressive
narration on audiocassette by Emmy and Peabody
winning musician, Tom
Chapin, enhanced with his original
music and authentic animal sound effects,
plunges a child into the
world of each animal. Younger children can
follow along in their books, listening to
the narration, and have the same warm, parental
experience of being read to that is missing
in so many homes in these busy, busy times.
The
lifelike plush toy goes a step further to
bring each
story 'to life' for a child. It has the
additional dimension of engaging a child's
heart: it softens the experience, and makes
that featured animal real. (Didn't we all
think our stuffed toys came to life when
we were children?)
Finally,
we've added even another dimension with
our videos. Along with nearly 100 additional
illustrations to animate the
adaptation of the book for video, we have
between ten and fifteen minutes of live
footage of the actual animals featured in
the stories. Children are invariably fascinated
when they discover each story really is
true - that the featured animal really does
exist. Watching the wolf pups receive their
first vaccinations in Yellowstone National
Park, while the black mother wolf paces
in a holding pen, can go a step farther
to making the story - and the entire history
of how gray wolves became endangered in
Yellowstone - come to life for a child.
Suggested Curriculum inclusion: reading,
science, nature, animals
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