Opposites Attract
There are, for young children, lots of what we call "concept books" in the world. These are the books that introduce colours, shapes, patterns, and words like prepositions (up, down, and so on) that really need to be illustrated to be understood. These are great vocabulary builders, and work well as visual aids to reinforce learning that happens in the day as you talk and play with objects, as well. One of my favourite kind of concept books, though, are the opposite books. Think about this – how do you explain the idea of opposite without using the word opposite? With examples, of course!
Opposite books include a huge variety, from the lovely photographs to the sweetly drawn to the very humourous. We've all got our favourites styles, of course, and some are wordier than others. These are a few that I have particularly enjoyed. Maybe you will find something just right for you and your small people!
Dinsoaur Roar, by John Stickland
This fun book combines opposites with dinosaurs, a fascination for many kids, and is written in rhymes that really work. The dinosaurs are cute, not fierce, and some of the word pairs (and accompanying images) are pretty funny. It's a favourite of mine for reading with young kids, and contains some less typical words (slimy, for example), which is always good, adding to that vocabulary-building that these are so good for!
Emily & Alex: Plain and Fancy, Emily & Alex: Naughty and Nice, by Barroux
These very simple books star a pair of twins that like to get into a little mischief. As the opening page states, the two may have many things in common (a birthday, a last name), but they are very different. As different as… naughty and nice, and many others pairs besides, which they are happy to illustrate with their hijinks. These have enough humour for preschoolers and paren'ts, but are simple enough for younger kids, too, making them a nice followup to expand upon the kind of opposite books that you might find in the board book section, where books are shorter and more basic, befitting their very young audience.
Hello, Goodbye, by Arlene Alda
Arlene Alda specializes in photographs that seem less staged than stumbled upon, giving them an unusual quality in children's books: a picture of a someone running away to illustrate Goodbye, for example. This makes it a more interesting opposite book to use with older children, as there is more to talk about than simply the opposite words. It's a great conversation starter, allowing them to speculate on where that person is going, where they have been, or why they are in such a rush. She has found some opposite pairs that are off the beaten path, as well, which is something I always look for in books for older kids, especially, to expose them to more of the wonderful worlds to be found in these books.
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