Thursday, May 14, 2009


Ella Kazoo is an outlandish lass with wonderful unruly hair and simply refuses to do anything with it. In this likeable story the words She and Her are repeated in the way that is found in children's books which have a clever agenda that stress certain words.
A little child who hasn't sorted out the words she and her would often say: Her is playing with her doll. Or so I've noticed.

A look at this story book shows how much we take for granted and how it is not easy to sort out all the words we use. The clues must be scarce for a child....eg
Ella Kazoo will not brush her locks
She
stashes the brush in the draw with her socks
....She yells and she stomps and she gets in a tizz....
...her mother has called her a cunning wee fox....

However, a child doesn't need lessons and, I understand, they learn to speak automatically provided they are stimulated by hearing others speak. Chomsky has provided theories to explain the underlying magic. Reading and speech are not one and the same but these picture books must be good at enriching the learning experience.

One day when the child is old they may discover that she and he are subject pronouns while her and his are object or possessive prounouns or possessive determiners and some other points that can't be explained.

Ella Kazoo will not brush her hair. Lothian Books. Published by Hatchette Livre Australia P/L. 2006.

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