Dibble and Dabble

This picture book has been reviewed as being for preschool through Grade 2 age children. It is far too simple for any school age child, especially one that has graduated Kindergarten. However, it is great for toddlers and preschoolers because the language play that is used is just right for their age and it does not contain too many sentences per page. The suspense of this book is not "over-the-top," but just enough to keep a three year old wondering what is going to happen to our two main characters. When your child "solves the mystery" (and you may have to explain the joke once) they will smile or even laugh at the humor and demand you read it again. The surprise ending is very endearing to the little ones. The language in this book is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. On each page, in the first half of the ducks' dialog, they add an adjective to describe the "snake" that they saw, putting the newer adjective in front of the list of others. This sort of repetitive language keeps toddlers interest, builds their vocabulary, and even encourages them to read along with you. The second part of the ducks' dialog changes a little each page, increasing in urgency as the tail of the "snake's chase" grows larger with each telling. This builds suspense and keep the young ones listening for the variations. Again, good language play for toddlers and preschoolers--like an advanced form of big, bigger, and biggest language play. I checked this book out from the library; this is not a purchase-me book (especially at the price listed here.) If you do not get to a library often, this book might be a great purchase, used, for your two or three year old. If your child is older than that, you will not get your money's worth reading this book.