Percy's Neighborhood
Stuart J. Murphy, author
Stuart J. Murphy, author of the award-winning MathStart books (HarperCollins), has developed a new series for Charlesbridge: I See I Learn®. The I See I Learn® books feature simple stories and visual learning strategies to help young children learn important social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills. Stuart, a visual learning specialist, has also served on the authorship teams of a number of major educational programs. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Stuart and his wife, Nancy, live in Boston, Massachusetts, near their children and three grandchildren, Jack, Madeleine, and Camille.
See more about the author.
Kirkus Reviews
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.
Puget Sound Reading Council
Percy and his father are walking around their neighborhood and visiting a few community helpers—a doctor, a firefighter, a police officer, and a librarian. Percy learns what a community and a neighborhood are, and how we can all be community helpers. This is part of Stuart J. Murphy's "I See I Learn" Knowing Your Community series. Bright illustrations of humanized animals accompany the clear explanatory text. Discussion questions at the end will be handy for classroom discussions. Since early primary grades cover communities in social studies this would be a good adjunct to those units.
Spirituality & Practice
Percy's dad wants to introduce his son to the community helpers in the neighborhood. These are people who serve others and deserve our respect. Percy meets a doctor, a firefighter, a librarian, and a police officer. Then he and his father join others in the park for a "fun run."
Stuart J. Murphy, a Visual Learning specialist calls this paperback an exercise in cognitive skills. Here the emphasis is on encouraging kids to think about ways they can help in their own community. The book also draws out our gratitude when we think of how many people are working hard to make our lives more secure, meaningful, and fulfilling. As a special added feature, Percy's Neighborhood includes "A Closer Look," which consists of two pages of activities and questions for further exploration.
Learn more about this series, visual learning, and Stuart J. Murphy at www.iseeilearn.com.
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-58089-480-7
Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-58089-481-4
E-book
ISBN: 978-1-60734-588-6 PDF
Ages: 2-5
Page count: 32
8 x 6 3/4