Edwin Speaks Up would be a great read aloud for young children ages 3 through 6. The baby of the family, Edwin, gibbers a lot throughout the story. There is a lot of dialogue between the family members. The mom talks about what she needs to do and the older children are fighting back and forth in the grocery store, the main setting of the story. Edwin, the baby, is frustrated because he can't make out real words and knows that the mom needs sugar at the store but forgets it. He is trying to communicate to the mom, but instead crawls and gets the sugar himself. At the end of the story the mom talks about how Edwin would be talking soon, which would've been nice for Edwin to already have been talking. The images are not the best, but they help to explain what is going on through the story. I thought this book was okay, but I thought it would've been a good read aloud for younger students who have just recently come out of the gibbering stage, because they could relate to that certain type of communication. I got this book because I love the work of the illustrator, Sophie Blackall. However, I didn't enjoy it. The story line just didn't grab me. I do think, though, that young children would really enjoy it for read aloud. The situations (grocery shopping, etc.) are familiar and I think they would love hearing a parent do Edwin talking. I'm not sure they would catch the humor on their own, though. The joke is that Edwin is talking but his mother is too distracted to understand him and thinks he's only babbling. If Sloane were about three, I think we might have loved this one.
Do You like book Edwin Speaks Up (2011)?
The Finnemore family makes a specal trip to the grocery to buy sugar for Baby Edwin's birthday cake.
—cyee
