Thursday, March 20, 2014

Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Surfin' Turf by Melinda LaRose

Title: Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Surfin' Turf
Author: Melinda LaRose
Genre: Picture Book, Fantasy
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 5

In Surfin' Turf Jake and the Never Land Pirates go after Captain Hook who has stolen one of their surfboards.  The adventure includes swimming in the river, surfing over a waterfall, appearances by Tick Tock Croc and a mermaid, and some pixie dust.  As a World of Reading Level 1 reader, the text is simple and includes word repetition.

Like most Jake and the Never Land Pirates episodes and books, the features problem solving.  The book also encourages the reader to be involved in the plot and problem solving with promps in the bottom corner of many pages.  For example, one prompt asks who one of the mermaids looks like before revealing it on the next page.  This along with other prompts asking about colors, counting, and more also encourage readers to take a closer look at the illustrations.

Overall Surfin' Turf is a fun pirate adventure book for those that are beginning to read on their own.  It can also be a good read together book with the prompts allowing those that cannot read yet to participate through deeper exploring of the illustrations. It also has a pirate pledge about not taking other's things and provides a good example of helping others even when they are mean to you with the pirates offering to help Captain Hook.

Types of Readers Book Might Appeal To & Multiple Intelligence Categories
  • Fans of Jake and the Never Land Pirates
  • Those interesting in surfing.
  • Visual learners may enjoy how the prompts encourage problem solving and looking deeper at the illustrations. (Spatial-Visual, Logical-Mathematical)
Activities for Further Learning and Fun
Related Books I've Reviewed


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