Sylvan Dell is a young company on a serious mission to create picture books that excite children’s imaginations, are artistically spectacular, and have educational value.All of our books start with fun, warm stories, generally fiction with math, science, or nature themes and are brought to life by art. We have 74 wonderful authors and illustrators on our team. We then add a 3-6 page ?For Creative Minds? section that includes fun facts, crafts, vocabulary and games to reinforce the educational value and to support National Science and Math Standards. Finally, each book is carefully vetted by experts in the field including scientists and educators from NASA, NOAA, SeaWorld, Houston Zoo and various nature centers and aviaries.
Sylvan Dell Publishing has made education delightfully fun for children. Their large, beautifully illustrated books teach children about science, math, vocabulary and crafts through creative storytelling. I’ve had the pleasure to review their new Fall Titles, which include:
Compare and contrast different animals through predictable, rhyming analogies. Find the similarities between even the most incompatible animals . . . bat is to flit as eagle is to soar; dog is to bark as lion is to roar. Comparisons include sounds, physical adaptations, behaviors, and animals classes and are so fun, readers learn without even realizing it! Animals are to nature, as Animalogy is to fun!
?Hey Diddle Diddle? is a whimsical journey along a riparian food web through the songs and antics of eight interconnected species. From a shiny green beetle tappin his feet and singin? a song? to a smug bobcat that feels like the queen of the jungle, readers will observe several colorful characters moving through three food chains in a familiar North American habitat.
From pirate bugs to spittlebugs to lovely Luna moths, children will love learning about the world’s insects in Multiply on the Fly! Following in the footsteps of What’s New at the Zoo? and What’s the Difference, this rhythmic book teaches multiplication in a way that will make children bug you for more. Teeming with fun facts, readers will multiply a variety of insects, including daring dragonflies, hungry honeybees, and stealthy walking sticks. The ?For Creative Minds? section in the back of the book keeps the fun rolling with facts about the insect life cycle, matching insect activities, and multiplication guides to make anyone a multiplication master.?
Cozy up for this great rainy day read! Prairie Storms gives you a front row seat to learn about a year of ever-changing prairie weather, and how the animals living in these grasslands adapt and survive in this harsh climate. Each month, read about a new animal, and learn about everything from how a prairie grouse can survive the January snows to how an earless lizards escapes the harsh, unrelenting drought of August. Told in lyrical prose, this story is a celebration of the great American prairies.
Two friends take off on a butterfly hunt, only to find themselves tangled in a mathematics net! Written in rhyme, award-winning author Barbara Mariconda takes you along as the narrator Rose and her friend Ed race to see who can catch the most butterflies on this addition adventure. ?How many in all? Let’s add them again!? shout the butterfly hunters. Who will win? Ten for Me makes math fun, easy, and entertaining, while adding a touch of the natural world into cross-curricular education.
All of the books were wonderful, exquisitely illustrated and fun! My son’s favorites were Ten For Me and “Hey Diddle Diddle”, both of which have a very sing-song quality to them that get a little stuck in your head after reading it a few times over. I actually made a march from Ten For Me, where we stomp around the room reading the book. It turned out to be an incredible load of fun!? Out of all of them, however, Prairie Storms is the most beautiful. The artwork is so detailed with the animals that when reading the poetic words of the story, you can almost feel yourself there; standing in the storms with the animals in their habitats.
What we like to emphasize with parents and teachers using our books and eBooks is that we offer so much more than just a picturebook. We have developed a significant amount of value-added, teaching activities and interactive quizzes that are free on our website – if, folks want to use them. We view it as a sequenced process where trailers and eBooks are a fun tee-up for a much more in-depth, cross-curricular learning experience. Using Sylvan Dell books, or, the eBooks on your home computer is a great way to make learning fun. For parents and teachers wanting to work the science, math and other learning objectives, each book has a 3-5 page educational section in the back.
Sylvan Dell Publishing has many other resources on their website for teachers, home-schoolers, librarians and parents. There are crafts, calendars, ebook libraries, event planning, story-time events, literacy tips and interactive reading & math quizzes. There is no better way to creatively teach your children then through a good book and Sylvan Dell Publishing has given that abundantly. Check them out! Order one for yourself and see how amazing they are! My family loves these books and since they are filled with information on the back of each one, they will be useful long after my son outgrows marching and singing the song we made up for his favorites.
Connect:
You can connect with Sylvan Dell Publishing via Facebook and/or @sylvandell on Twitter.
Buy It:
You can purchase “Hey Diddle Diddle” , and most of the other books, for $16.95 in hardcover, $8.95 in paperback or 1-year ebook for $7.95. There is also a Personal eLibrary which is for single classroom or family use. It’s the functional equivalent of a Site License for $49.95 a year.
I received samples for the purpose of reviewing. Opinions expressed are my own or my families and are not influenced by any form of compensation. Take it or leave it. Click here to view my full acknowledgment policy.