Thursday, April 19, 2012

MY FIRST GYMNASTICS CLASS by Alyssa Satin Capucilli



This adorable book with foldout pages takes children through a typical beginning gymastics class.  The photographs by photographer Laura Hanifin are wonderful!!!  Each page demonstrates some of the activities and techniques that children could encounter in a gymnastics class:


I love the fact that the book explains each activity so that you can try them at home.  The main story is on the double-pages.  Readers can get more detailed information by unfolding the pages:


My preschooler enjoyed trying out the different activities.  I love the combination of book and exercise.  The pages are a heavy weight so they are easy for little fingers to turn and will hold up to repeated use.   This would be a wonderful gift for any little girl getting ready to start gymnastics. 

My only complaint about the book is that there are no boys in it.  I love the diversity of the little girls but I was so disappointed that boys were not included!  I noticed that they are not included in another book in the series as well, "MY FIRST BALLET CLASS."  The series also has two other titles: "MY FIRST KARATE CLASS" and "MY FIRST SOCCER GAME."  I am happy to report that little girls are included in both of those books. That makes it all the more confusing why boys are excluded from ballet and gymnastics!  I believe that if there had been little boys in this book as well as girls in my son might be more interested in the book.  And in gymnastics!!!

BOTTOM LINE: Recommended! This is an adorable book with wonderful, clear photographs that take children step-by-step through the various activities they may encounter in a gymnastics class.   It also has the bonus of suggesting and explaining activities you can do at home!

1 comment:

Marie Cloutier said...

that looks cute but the gender bias is weird.