Ms. Elena N. Marcus

Devon: the Wild Adventures of Devon and Friends Ms. Elena N. Marcus

An illustrated storybook in verses for Kids 4 to10. Devon has several levels of understanding, and its format is amenable to staging or character reading. The 72-page, nearly 8000 words text is one long adventure story written in catchy rhyming verses, with more than 30 illustrations. It may be used by non-English speakers, children and adults, to study English, on account of its rhyming recall qualities. Reading this book to kids will be a fun adventure for both listeners and readers. Some of the vocabulary will be above the kids' levels but the meaning is understood from the context ('scaffolding' or ?zone of proximal development? learning). This heart-felt, humorous, suspense-rich book will be read again and again and every reading will bring new insight and understanding. Little boy Devon visits the Zoo with his friends Qi, the wise panda bear, and his hungry, not-so-wise mutt, Picco. The Panda and Picco get in trouble and Devon enlists Hot Trot and his army of strays to save them. Violence doesn't pay, and the strays are locked up as 'mean' dogs. A new friendship, a smart first grade girl will help Devon liberate all his furry friends from their scary plight. This book extols values such friendship, learning, peaceful solutions, at the expense of violence and vanity.