Judy Schachner's Skippyjon Jones is packed with literacy lessons. For example, this book plays with print. Our eyes are drawn to an enlarged font that rhymes as it dances on the page: "not a mouse or a grouse . . .not a moose or a goose . . .not a rat or a bat . . ." When Skippyjon bounce-bounce-bounces higher on his big-boy bed, the word for this action also grows in a new eye-catching font. A sneeze, "aaaaAAAAAAAHHCHOOOO_PICHU!" flows across two pages. "Yip, Yippee, Yippito! It's the end of Alfredo Buzzito!" and other rhyming verses turn up in italics. The way this story plays with space is dazzling. This book helps children pay attention to print on the page.
I was so mesmerized by this book that my Picture Book Talk had four lessons and 55 pages! Educate Engage Enrich has a "Skippyjon Jones Writing Lesson Plan" for grades 2-5; Mrs Mac and The Apples has a Skippyjon Jones Cutout Friend for the younger crowd. Teaching Talking is one of many resources that offer Fonts for Personal Use.
