I recently received a book to review from Greene Bark Press called Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again, written by Ginger Pate. It is a fun little full-colored board book that the whole family can enjoy and retails for $8.50. Specifically written for kids ages 3-8, this book tackles the topic of safety.
With the summer behind us, and the kids starting school, I have seen so many kids crossing the street in ways that just screams unsafe!! Just yesterday, we almost hit 2 little boys out of a group of about 7 because they were erratically zig zagging in and out of oncoming traffic on their walk home from school. The group was comprised of kids about 7 or 8 years old.
For children, it’s hard to remember the countless rules related to, well, everything! This book addresses the subject of crossing the road safely. In it, Wally Waddlewater desperately wants to cross the street to mail a birthday card. He has to learn how to do so safely before he is allowed to go for it.
My Kids LOVE To Play Outdoors
Until we moved to our current neighborhood, my children never went outside unless I was right there with them. Now that we live in a small subdivision with lots of kids, I have gradually been allowing them more freedom to go outside and play. They both ride their bikes and walk.
There have been a few close calls where they have not made the safest or best decisions. It makes me so worried and scared knowing that all it takes is one wrong move and they could get flattened like a pancake!
Reading The Story
When we received the book, we immediately read it together as a family. My 8 year old was initially skeptical that she needed to listen to a board book, but once I started reading, she saw that it wasn’t written in “baby talk” at all. She and my other children, ages 6, 3, and 16 months, all sat and listened. They laughed at silly Wally.
When the story was over, we discussed street safety. I asked them why they thought this book was telling us to look left, right, and then left again. It was very interesting to hear their answers! Sometimes it’s a great reminder of just how little life experience they have with even these basic things. When I mentioned to them that people on the left might sneak up on them while they’re looking right, they acted like the thought had never occurred to them.
Putting It To The Test
For several days following our first readings of the book, the kids were extremely diligent in looking exaggeratedly over to the left, right, and then left again before crossing the street. The second they started getting lazy with it again, I casually added the book back to our nightly reading routine for a few nights. They got the message.
I may have to keep doing this periodically, because they truly just forget. I’m glad they have a character like Wally to think about when it’s time to cross the street!
How Do You Teach Your Children Safety Lessons?
Is it something that you revisit often to ensure that they’re continuing with what they’ve been taught?
I highly recommend this book from Greene Bark Press if you have preschool or early elementary children that are in situations where they cross the street on their own.
