Free Sense & Sensibility: A BabyLit® Opposites Primer Ebooks Online
Observe the life and loves of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, in Sense & Sensibility: A BabyLit Opposites Primer. Learn the difference between big Norland Park and little Barton Cottage, happy Mr. Willoughby and sad Colonel Brandon, while hoping that one day Elinor and Marianne will leave their single days behind them and celebrate worthy marriages.
Age Range: 1 - 3 years
Series: Baby Lit
Board book: 22 pages
Publisher: Gibbs Smith; Brdbk edition (February 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1423631706
ISBN-13: 978-1423631705
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6.8 x 7 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #12,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #4 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary Criticism & Collections #3726 in Books > Reference
I have several of the Baby Lit board books for my daughter and was very excited about the release of Sense and Sensibility. What was a good idea in theory was not very well executed. The opposites used were things that would be difficult to adequately illustrate on the page. For example "Quiet" showed a piano and "Noisy" showed a piano with several music notes around it. "New vs. old" showed two dresses that were very similar and we are supposed to understand that one is new and the other old. Don't even get me started on the fact that this baby book introduces "married vs. single".The illustrations are unbelievably beautiful as all of her books are, but if you are looking for a Baby Lit book I would recommend Pride and Prejudice or Alice in Wonderland.
The idea of opposites is a good one and the illustrations are nice. BUT, in order to show the opposites of single and married, they show an unhappy single girl and contrast it to a big, beautiful wedding cake with a jubilant couple on top. The message is clear: single is sad and married is happy. I'm not willing to pass that Cinderella philosophy to a child of the 21st century. Single doesn't mean unwhole. Marriage doesn't mean whole, happily ever after, end of story. I like fantasy, but not when it's judgemental.
I am quite fond of the BabyLit series in general. Most of all, I'm excited to introduce my baby to classic titles, authors, and themes. However, I expected something different from this book, which is subtitled "An Opposites Primer." Unfortunately, I think several of the opposites that are presented are hard to convey in a board book for children. For example, noisy vs. quiet, single vs. married, and hard vs. soft don't "come alive" for children very easily. Whereas I enjoy some humor for the adults reading the stories, I think there are a lot of other opposites that young children can comprehend and could have been included in the book. In this series, I prefer "Pride and Prejudice" and "Wuthering Heights."
I love Sense and Sensibility and was worried about ordering it because of some of the negative reviews. I went ahead and ordered it anyway and was pleasantly surprised. The first thing I looked for was the single vs. married page. Others had stated that the single girls looked sad and the married ones happy. In our book, the girls are smiling on the single page and smiling on the married page...basically the same face. I see no problem with how they were portrayed at all. Some concepts are hard to understand for a baby like the old vs. new but I didn't buy this book as a teaching book. I bought it because I love this story and this is a way for me to read it to my little girl and have her like it too.
We have a few of these BabyLit primers, including Sense & Sensibility. I like them because they give me a way to start training my children to love Jane Austen novels. These books are not as high contrast as the usual baby opposites book fare. Rather, they have enough subtlety to engage tots at slightly older ages, when they are learning to evaluate and express their emotions more. My daughter likes to ask me about the pictures in this book particularly, wanting to know why one gentleman is sad, for instance. I consider this book to be a sort of companion book to my literature campaign in our early childhood homeschool. My children like it, and I get to feel sneaky for planting the seeds of later book reading. Also, the graphics are just lovely.
I want to like this as we like the Pride and Prejudice primer and Emma primer, but it just doesn't seem to be up to the same level in its pictures.The pictures for many and few can be confusing for a young toddler because the background for "few" is so busy that it looks like there is more going on than on the opposing "many". Married and single can be explained by parents, but it is still a bit abstract for our little one (age 2).Otherwise, the primer is a charming example of opposites found in Sense & Sensibility without any plot.
BabyLit books are the CUTEST way to introduce little ones to the classics. They are super fun for adults who know the stories, too! This book is an opposites book. It shows opposites (big house, little house) with things that are in the book Sense and Sensibility. I love this one. I love that reading this to my baby will introduce her to classics that she will read and relate to someday. Added bonus: I enjoy reading this book, too!
We love this series for our little one! The colors are vivid and have lots of contrast for her little eyes. The books are words with pictures, not stories, per se. They take the major characters and players from each story that they focus on. Such a great way to introduce little ones to the themes of major literary writings. They are super fun for adults, too!
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