Percy's neighborhood

Camille has to make several decisions throughout the day (Great Choice). Percy and his dad visit community helpers to put up posters for a Fun Run (Neighborhood). Featuring the same odd-looking animal characters as previous books in the series, these purposeful life-skills books feature accessible short sentences and pictures aimed at visual learners to help tell the didactic stories. [Review covers these Stuart J. Murphy's I See I Learn titles: Great Choice, Camille! and Percy's Neighborhood.] (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An openly didactic exploration of the concept of a neighborhood and its community helpers, part of the useful, if unsubtle I See I Learn series. Percy just wants to go to the park and play, but first, he and his dad have to distribute posters to "community helpers" for the Neighborhood Fun Run. "A community is a place where people live and work together," says his father. "A neighborhood is the part of the community nearest to you." Small circular insets on the lower left of each spread highlight a bird's-eye/map view of each building they visit (these can be matched to the large neighborhood map on the front endpapers), while a square on the lower right isolates and labels each community helper: Dr. Russo, Firefighter Bates, Officer Ruiz and Mr. Kim, the librarian. (Despite the multicultural names, all the characters are anthropomorphized animals, though Dr. Russo and Officer Ruiz are both apparently women.) In a few brief sentences, readers learn about the basic job of each community helper before Percy finally gets to the park so he can practice for the Fun Run with his friends, all of whom are part of his community. Backmatter includes a visual web of community helpers, some questions to recall and reinforce the lesson, and an author's note about visual learning. Pair with Paulette Bourgeois' In My Neighborhood series for a more in-depth look at some specific community helpers. (Picture book. 2-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Percy really wanted to go to the park.      "Not yet," said his daddy. "First we have work to do." Excerpted from Percy's Neighborhood by Stuart J. Murphy All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.