Geronimo Stilton Academy: Vocabulary Pawbooks product reviews

My kids have discovered the joy of Geronimo Stilton and all the branch off books in the series and so when I saw this pop up I thought that this would be a good addition to not only the series, but to add to our homeschooling venture with my six and very nearly eight year olds. I got this as a set of three books, though not sure if the $9 price tag applies to the three books combined or for each book on its own, but either way it is a good price for the content and quality of the three books.

Each book has twelve units to it with a glossary of words at the back of each book each separated by their unit so it's easy to follow along and makes it really easy to look them up. The illustrations are what the kids have come to know and love from the Stilton books so it keeps everything tied in well, as well as how the paragraphs themselves are written. The chapters used from the books are from the first twelve books such as the first four books are used in the first vocabulary book, books 5-8 in the next and books 9-12 in the third and has lead to my kids hoping we can get those books for their collection.

I read the story parts out to my eldest and that had him hooked, he wanted me to keep reading, skipping past the activities... This wasn't a book that I could leave him alone with, I did need to stick with him, as in I couldn't read the instructions, go and come back, I needed to stay with him and repeat the instructions, clarify things. These have helped though as my son is more interested in the meanings of words and its done in such a fun way that it keeps my son interested and wants to learn more.

We're slowly getting through these books and doing it in pencil so we might be able to re-use for his sister. These are great and they're a great addition to our schooling.

Since we started reading Geronimo Stilton books in our house, we have grown to seriously love them. I recently saw the Geronimo Stilton Academy books in the Scholastic brochure that Mr 5 brought home from school. I thought that they looked like lots of fun. The look and feel of the covers of the books are most definitely part of the same family of books as the Geronimo Stilton story books. I am sure that all children who love the books will have the same reaction as Mr 5 and I did when we saw them. I was really glad to see that the set of Vocabulary Pawbooks came up for review through KIWIreviews this month. This gave me the chance to share them with Mr 5.

As well as being a parent of two children, I am also a primary trained teacher. I know how important it is for children to be engaged in their learning and it is great to link the love of reading these books to the learning about the English language. Mr 5 was excited about the books, even though it is the first time he has tried anything like this before.

Pawbook 1 is at a Junior level, Pawbook 2 is for seniors and Pawbook 3 is at Master level. The three books cover a wide range of skills and activities. At the front of each book, there is a page to introduce the Geronimo Stilton Academy and it clearly outlines what is covered at each level. It also shows which Geromimo Stilton books are covered in the Pawbook. This could be a good reason to read the books either before or after doing the exercises in the book. Each book is specifically linked to a number of units of work and activities. This means that the Pawbook could be completed over the course of months as each book is read in turn and the relevant activities are done.

The answers section at the back of the book means that a child can complete the activities independently and check up on their own work or an adult who is working with a child can just check that the answers are correct. It certainly makes life easier for everyone to have this section!

Everything in the book follows the same look as the Geronimo books. The colourful, exciting text inspires fun as a child moves through the books. The books are designed to be written on, however, we put a plastic sheet over the top of each page and paperclipped it in place so that Mr 5 could do the activities now with me and then perhaps by himself when he is a little more able. It also allows Miss 3 the chance to do them at a later date when she is ready for such things. I like activity books but like the idea of them being reusable for subsequent children (same paper and money!!).

Mr 5 is a good reader (at a junior level), has a very good vocabulary and loves language. Pawbook 1 was too hard for him to do by himself, but with some guidance, he was able to achieve many of the activities with me by his side. Even though it was too difficult for him to do by himself, his love of Geronimo kept him interested in the activities. I was actually amazed at what he was able to achieve with some support.

Geronimo Stilton books are ones which span a wide age range of children. I have been reading them to Mr 5 for the past year and my nephew, who is 10, loves them too. This means that children are most likely to be interested in the books during their primary school years and that as long as they are at the right reading level for the pawbooks, they will be successful and have fun with a subject matter which it right for them. Quite often, subject matter for slow or gifted reader are not right for their maturity or interests. This is why this set will work so well.

I am looking forward to sharing more of the activities and knowledge with Mr 5 and I would highly recommend this set to any Geronimo loving family. (Just note that in general, these books would be aimed at children who are higher than 5 - I would think that they would need a couple of years older to be relatively independent with the activities).