As the title suggests, children learn about different colours in Elmer's Colours. For children who are learning to read in Arabic or who are learning Arabic and English simultaneously, this book has easy to read text that children may be able to read independently rather quickly...waallaahu a'lam.
The fact that the elephant itself is an array of colours certainly helps to reinforce the colour concept but I wonder if it will also be a distraction. What do you think? I can easily imagine students calling out the different colours they see on the elephant as the story is being read aloud. Often during storytime, we want students to be involved in the storytelling but there are limits (i.e. when it becomes so distracting to the storyteller and other children who are trying to listen to the story but can't due to the commotion). Maybe this book is best reserved for family storytime?
When reading the story aloud, the name of the elephant can easily be changed by the storyteller or if you are a parent/teacher who chooses to keep make-believe at bay until after your child(ren) has/have a firm understanding of reality vs. imaginary (as some parents/teachers wish to do), you can simply say elephant. This is one of the many benefits of reading aloud *smile*...you can alter the story to fit your family's needs and preferences. So Elmer becomes Ahmad, Ahmad becomes Nada, etc.
If you do not find this book in your local library and would like to order it, you can do so here insha'Allaah. You can also ask your library to add it to their collection insha'Allaah.
Also, you can find this at syraj.com in the states. I love the suggestion about asking your library to add the book to its collection. I know our local library has been really receptive to suggestions for both bilingual and Arabic-only books!
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