LANGUAGE THROUGH PLAY; WOOD PLAY Both by Ann Henderson. Advice on encouraging talking, listening, writing and reading during play activities is contained in the first of these small books from the Pre-School Learning Alliance. The second suggests ways of introducing children to woodwork.
Tips on how to set up a wood play area, on which tools are suitable for beginners and on how to obtain wood are included. Woodplay costs Pounds 2.50; Language Through Play: Pounds 2.75.
The Pre-School Learning Alliance Mailing House, 45-49 Union Road, Croydon, Surrey CR0 2XU. Tel: 0171 833 0991.
THE BALLOON DETECTIVES Story by Michael Jones; illustrations by Michael Bailey. This storybook for very young children comes in English and Urdu editions.
Designed for children to read themselves or with each other they are an adventure story but are also designed to illustrate to children why we need to read in many different ways. Maps, street signs, shop signs and lists are introduced. Pounds 4.95 for both.
Partnership Publishing, Bradford and Ilkley Community College, Gredat Horton Road, Bradford, W. Yorks BD7 1AY. Tel: 01274 751612.
SPLAT! Designed, say the publishers, so that even the youngest child can enjoy using a computer, this painting program has a huge range of brush effects, lots of interesting alphabets, hundreds of stamp figures and animated images that kids can include in the moving pictures they can create themselves.
For Macintosh and PCs. Single user: Pounds 39; primary site: Pounds 98; network16 users: Pounds 98 and secondary site: Pounds 147. SPA, PO Box 59, Tewkesbury GL20 6AB. Tel: 01684 833700.
