Like many other English and Literature teachers, I am easily amused by word play, so I was keen to read ‘Sarahbelle’s Playful Puns’, as I thought it would be fun to read the puns used by a 6-year-old. I thought it would be a good way to introduce N to puns, but as I suspected, he didn’t quite get it, even though he laughed at a few of them.
The inspiration for ‘Sarahbelle’s Playful Puns’ is none other than the 6-year-old daughter of the author herself. I thought it was sweet that Anastasia said that this book was her way of immortalising the precious things that Sarahbelle says, and was impressed that Sarahbelle knew how to use puns.
Puns basically make use of words which sound similar, but have different meanings. For young children, this can be rather difficult to explain/understand, as they tend to take everything literally, so I thought the illustrations in the book helped. After all, they are still rather visual learners, and often make use of pictures to understand the text.
Sarahbelle and her mother banter easily with each other, and the puns are tied loosely together by the general storyline of them going shopping for gifts. I would personally have appreciated a more well-defined plot, but N didn’t seem to mind, and was easily amused by the word play. He giggled at quite a few parts, which made me think he understood the puns (and oh how happy I was about it) but when I finished reading the book to him, he tried telling me some “jokes” based on what we had just read, and let’s just say he erm, didn’t make any sense at all wasn’t successful.
Sarahbelle’s Playful Puns
I think older children might be able to better appreciate this book, but then again, there’s no harm in exposing younger readers to the concept of word play. Books are timeless, and if your child is unable to appreciate the puns used, he can always reread this book again when he’s older, right? You never know, he might surprise you by being able to come up with a few puns of his own.
Happy reading!
Buy the Book ‘Sarahbelle’s Playful Puns’ can be purchased via this crowdfunding website, at Le Petit Pumm (Centrepoint #03-05), or online from Owl Readers Club
Check out the previous Friday Flips posts HERE. I’ve also created a photo album on Facebook with some other good reads, and will be updating it whenever I come across more books that we enjoy. Do pop by for a look HERE.
Disclaimer: We received a copy of ‘Sarahbelle’s Playful Puns’ for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are, as always, our own.
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