Funtastic Folder! J is for Japan

FUNtastic Folder! J is for Japan
Published at Sharon Crooks

I recently had the opportunity of reviewing one of the FUNtastic Folder! Titled J is for Japan. This title is available for preschool and elementary level. I was selected to review the elementary level ebook.

J is for Japan will bring you in the land of – yes you guessed it – Japan. What is interesting is that when we received this title to review, we had a friend who was in Japan. She has since came back and we have received a wonderful postcard from her with kingios on it (kingyo in japan are gold fish). So when my oldest saw the postcard and I told him it was from Japan he was all excited about it. Now we have some Japanese stamps as well.

So back to the J is for Japan FUNtastic Folder!... This special folder was released on Aug 6th which marks the anniversary of the A-Bomb which was unleashed on Hiroshima in 1945. Sharon Crooks has decided to release this title on the anniversary day in honor of the victims. Did you know that Aug 6th is also Peace Day and is recognized especially by Japanese descent people? I didn’t.

The FUNtastic Folder! J is for Japan exhibits pictures from Japan as well as some from items owned by the author herself. You will find recipes, other internet links, handwriting practice (however I would have like to have cursive handwriting practice in it), languages exercises like numbers from 1 to 10, geography, as well as learn about their flag and a reading comprehension exercise based on the book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes”.

My son enjoyed learning more about this country. To complete the study I also made him read a section of a book I have on the various countries in the world. The title is Disney Learning Our World. I wanted him to know more about life in Japan like who they are, their country, their communities, what they eat, what they study, that they do for fun, holidays and celebrations as well as something about bonsai. It was a good book to learn more about Japan. I like to complement with other literature so he can practice his reading at the same time.

While doing the FUNtastic Folder! J is for Japan I made him exercise his memory as well when it came to identifying the islands and for the numbers activities. At first he thought he wouldn’t be able to do it but with some encouragement he realized that he was indeed able to remember and write it down. As I write this we are waiting for the book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes”. We don’t own the book and I had to request a transfer from another library in the city. Since it takes time to get to me, I am a little bit disappointed in waiting for it. So I skipped through the reading comprehension exercises and I think it will be wonderful to sit down with my son and read this particular book. At the same time, it will introduce him on the fact that every decision brings consequences and sometimes the consequences are not apparent at the beginning but later on in life.

J is for Japan is also available for preschool level. Both FUNtastic Folder! J is for Japan are available at Currclick.com.