The Little Man In The Map - With Clues To Remember All 50 States

The Little Man In The Map

By Schoolside Press
Written by E. Andrew Martonyi
Illustrated by Ed Olson
Click Here for The Little Man In the Map

The Little Man in the Map is an imaginary story about… the little man in the map.

Go get your map of the United States. Really, go get it.

Can you see him.. the little man? Look for him near the middle of the United States.

I’ll give you a hint. His hat is Minnesota. There now… you found his hat.

How about his face - did you find it? That’s right, it’s Iowa with his big nose profile.

Now you see him, don’t you?

What’s that you say? Yes, Missouri is his shirt and Arkansas, his pants. Good job!

Can you find his boots? Right there at the bottom—it’s Louisiana.

You found him – the little man in the map. You never knew he was there did you?

His name is MIM. He travels all over the map, (and this book), teaching you the names and locations of all 50 states.
From the day we got this book in the mail, my kids have been intrigued by it. It’s bright and colorful and full of fun illustrations. Before the younger ones even knew what the book was for, (basic U.S. geography) they liked it. JoJo, my three year old pumpkin, carries it around and asks, “Where’s the map?”, “Where’s Mim?”, and “Will you read it to me?”

MIM rhymes his way through these pages giving you clues and clever illustrations to remember all 50 states. It works great! My kids and myself have several of them memorized. Being a southern California girl, I’m still a little fuzzy in remembering the Northeastern states. I’ll work on it! I don’t want to give away all his secrets, but Andrew Martonyi’s MIM has me thinking about the Monster Montana, MAGS (the 4 table legs), and UCAN. You’ll have to buy the book to find out what I’m talking about.

Click Here for The Little Man In the Map

MOVING FORWARD WITH... RIME TO READ

I say to my son Joshua, "Want to learn Rime To Read?"

I sit with him on my lap and open up the first book - Pat. We say it together… “Pat.” We look at the cute girl in the blue dress with the long curly hair. She’s Pat. She’s really cute.

We click the arrow for the next page. We read… "Pat and cat." He smiles big and looks back at me. He likes the cat.

We click for the next page. I read… "Pat, cat, rat."

“No, no,” Joshua says, “I’ll do it.” And he does. And he reads it to me. And he reads, “Pat and cat and rat.” And he smiles big, and he’s proud of himself. And I’m proud of him. I tell him he’s a fantastic reader, and he agrees.

And he finishes reading the page, and then the book,

“Pat and a cat sat. The rat and the bat sat.”
They are all smiling at him from the pages of this little book. And he is smiling back, and happy.

So goes our first experience with Rime to Read. It was sweet...

I am pleased with the simplicity and gentleness of the pages and Joshua likes… to read them. We’ve come back many times to read Dan, and Dad, and Ned in Bed, and Nell, and Joshua’s favorite, The Pet. Each time we reap the rewards of this wonderful reading program.  My son, Joshua, is eight and he is learning to read. He’s a little behind, but we don’t focus on that. We focus on moving him forward. Rime to Read is doing just that. Moving him forward.

What is Rime to Read?
Rime to Read

Pat, Rat, Sat, Cat, Bat.

Pam, Sam, Am, Jam, Ham.

Pet, Met, Get, Wet, Let, Bet.

What do these words have in common?

They rhyme; and they’re rimes.  

Yes, that’s how it’s spelled. “Rimes” are words that rhyme and are also spelled the same way. Rat, cat, fat, splat, hat, - they are all in the same word family and sound alike, and look alike. Rhyming words such as “son, fun” or “care, hair, bear” are not spelled alike, thus they are not “rimes.” 

For me and Joshua, we look forward to sitting together and learning to Rime to Read by reading the sweet, simple stories that bring smiles to both our faces.

Rime to Read is a beginner’s reading program that uses “rimes” to teach reading, starting with basic, simple words and building upon them in their stories. See their web site for a more thorough explanation.

 Some highlights from their web site:

• A program for Beginning Readers is now available ONLINE!!
• Highly effective approach to beginning reading
• Emphasizing word families (rimes)
• Unique color-coded system
• Structured for success
• Having trouble reading a word? CLICK it and it will be read back to you.
• The cumulative 20 book program can be printed or read on your home computer monitor.

Rime to Read

Missing Link: Found Review

Vacations, fossil digs, the FBI, deadly diseases,
buried treasure, campouts, alligator attacks,
explosions, spying teenagers, family ties,
and God’s protection.

What do they all have in common?

They’re all in the book Missing Link: Found – the first book in the Truth Seekers Mystery Series.

Written by 17 year-old Christina Gerwitz and her mother Felice Gerwitz, this book blends an exciting story of adventurous teens with sound, science facts and descriptions, from a creation worldview.

From the book – “While on vacation in the Keys, a devious plot unfolds, and the Murphy’s find themselves in the middle of a full-speed boat chase and encounter with the FBI. Their vacation plans are then cut short by the arrival of a cryptic message from Dr. Murphy’s brother, requesting his immediate presence at an anthropological dig along the Peace River.”

This is such a fun adventure. I really enjoyed reading it aloud to my kids during their evening bedtime. My 16 year-old daughter, who is most recently gaining an appreciation for Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, finds Missing Link: Found to be exciting and down to earth.

She fondly compares it to the Mars Diaries series of books (which she read fervently), except Missing Link: Found is based in today’s reality and is an adventure story with characters like herself and her brothers. She relates well to the Murphy family and their Christian living. Mars Diaries are science-fiction and take place in the future, on Mars.

I had no idea what Missing Link: Found would be about based on the book’s cover. But the title gives a hint to the plot – finding the missing link in man’s evolutionary development.

Knowing this book is written from a creation viewpoint, I wasn’t sure how the missing link idea would fit in. After reading it, I see it fits perfectly, and I am pleased at how well it all works together –

the missing link, God’s creation, family ties, and the FBI.

Your teens and pre-teens will appreciate the author’s writing style, her use of everyday language and descriptions, and the realistic situations she places the main characters in. Girls and boys both will love it.