AH-CHOO by Lana Kohler and Gloria Adams-Guest Post

AH-CHOO!

by Lana Kohler and Gloria Adams

Illustrated  by Ken Min

Published March 2016

Sterling Children's Books

40 Pages

Summary from Goodreads 

I asked my mom if I could have

a pet, or even two.

But every time I brought one home,

my sister went

Ah-Choo!

When hunting for his new best friend, a boy goes through an alphabetical menagerie of animals. From an antelope, to bobolink birds, to wolves and zebras—and of course, a cat and dog, too—he brings them all home. But each creature just makes his sister go AH-CHOO! Will he ever be able to have the perfect pet?

I would like to thank Lana Kohler and Gloria Adams for visiting today to discuss their fun new book, AH-CHOO.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to talk about our new book, “Ah-Choo!”. 

This book was inspired by my own allergies to pets. I’ve been sneezing most of my life! We wanted to write a fun book for kids who have allergies—or know someone who has them. 

Along the way, we were able to sneak in some important elements and skills to make this an educational book as well.

We started with the alphabet by listing the animals from Antelope to Zebra. By including some exotic animals with more familiar ones, we challenged our illustrator, Ken Min. He did a wonderful job of giving each animal a personality while maintaining accuracy!

Writing our story in rhyme, we used a familiar learning tool to help children with language and memory skills.

“Not only does the repetition of rhymes and stories teach children how language works, it also builds memory capabilities that can be applied to all sorts of activities.” Kay Vandergrift, Professor Emerita of Children’s Literature at Rutgers University

Repetition of the phrase, “Ah-choo!” engages the child as they listen for each opportunity to participate. They love to sneeze along!

Using the alphabet, rhyme, and repetition in “Ah-Choo!”, the parent or teacher enhances learning while offering up a fun way to connect with the child. And, who doesn’t like fun?

Thanks again, to the authors for stopping by today. I hope you will look for AH-CHOO at your local book store.