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Flip Flop!
Two best friends ponder over and partake in summer's seemingly endless possibilities. There's fun to be had at the sunny shore, fireworks to watch, and amusement parks to visit. This Step 1 story has big type and easy words, rhyme and rhythm, and picture clues.
24 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
34 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Dana Meachen Rau
485 books30 followersDana Meachen Rau is an author, editor, and illustrator of children's books. She has written more than 100 books for children, many of them nonfiction in subjects including astronomy, history, and geography, as well as numerous biographies. She lives in Burlington, Connecticut, with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 2, 2020
Two girls in flip flops have a hard time deciding what to do for summer: the swimming pool, or the beach? Cannonball into the pool, or just float? Ice cream cones or Slurpees? Flip flop shoes or would bare feet be just fine? Dana Rau is an encouraging kids lit author who empowers kids to have fun in summer, even if it means flipping out and flopping on your bed to read good books like, say, this one?
Three stars
Flip thru the floppy pages of this fun book!
Three stars
Flip thru the floppy pages of this fun book!
December 16, 2018
12/16/2018 ~ Adequate rhyme and pleasant rhythm will assist the earliest readers as they progress through this book. The lack of plot and weak picture clues will increase the difficulty. However, the illustrations are appealing, and the characters represent a range of ethnic groups. I will seriously consider adding this to my elementary library's early reader collection.
July 12, 2018
Not bad
A shoe story
Decent rhymes
Decent illustrations
A shoe story
Decent rhymes
Decent illustrations
September 23, 2019
A sweet early reader
May 18, 2021
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I need to write twenty words. I need to write twenty words. I need to write twenty words. I need to write twenty words. I need to w
September 13, 2023
A quick read for Maddie last night - sort of a nice remembrance of the summer that passed.
October 15, 2016
Flip Flop! is a Step 1 easy reader from the Step Into Reading series. Two girls, decked out in summer-wear, including flip-flops, have a lot of choices for how to spend their summer day. "Flip! Flop!" the story begins. "We can't decide." The girls explore 20 different summer activities they could participate in, including doing cannonballs into the pool, riding a rollercoaster, licking ice cream cones, and drinking from the garden hose. The girls are indecisive. "We flip, we flop," the text reads. But in the end they "toss" their flip-flops and head barefoot to the beach.
The concept for this book is so simple, but so well-executed. From the start, I loved the dual meaning of flip flop, referring both to the footwear and to the back-and-forth as the girls decide between each pair of activities. I haven't seen many easy readers that include that type of word play, and in other books, I might even advise against it, worrying that it might complicate the plot too much for the reader. Here, though, that double meaning is so clear, I have no doubt the reader would grasp it right away.
This book also includes some really colorful vocabulary words that will provide learning opportunities for beginning readers. Most of the words are fairly easy to sound out, so new readers have a chance of figuring them out independently, instead of needing to ask an adult, but they're also really rich, specific words that might not be found in everyday speech, or even in other books kids might be reading at this level. I love the use of verbs like sip, toss, watch, ride, fish, and sail, which add lots of action to the book, as well as bigger words like decide, cannonballs, straw, frozen, and garden.
The illustrations are filled with warm summer yellows, pinks, and reds, as well as cool blues and greens for water and grass that create contrast between hot and cold. As with the picture books new readers are hopefully familiar with, the illustrations tell much of the story, and even add some elements not present in the text, such as animals, background characters, and even a lemonade stand. The illustrations depict exactly what each sentence describes, which will help the reader decode new words, but they also have a lot happening in them that will appeal to a child listening to an adult read the story as well.
The more times I read this book, the more I love it. It evokes all the freedom and possibility of a summer afternoon and uses rhyme and rhythm to tell a simple story of two friends enjoying the summer sun. It's everything I want in an easy reader, and more importantly, everything a child could want (including free stickers in the back of the book!)
The concept for this book is so simple, but so well-executed. From the start, I loved the dual meaning of flip flop, referring both to the footwear and to the back-and-forth as the girls decide between each pair of activities. I haven't seen many easy readers that include that type of word play, and in other books, I might even advise against it, worrying that it might complicate the plot too much for the reader. Here, though, that double meaning is so clear, I have no doubt the reader would grasp it right away.
This book also includes some really colorful vocabulary words that will provide learning opportunities for beginning readers. Most of the words are fairly easy to sound out, so new readers have a chance of figuring them out independently, instead of needing to ask an adult, but they're also really rich, specific words that might not be found in everyday speech, or even in other books kids might be reading at this level. I love the use of verbs like sip, toss, watch, ride, fish, and sail, which add lots of action to the book, as well as bigger words like decide, cannonballs, straw, frozen, and garden.
The illustrations are filled with warm summer yellows, pinks, and reds, as well as cool blues and greens for water and grass that create contrast between hot and cold. As with the picture books new readers are hopefully familiar with, the illustrations tell much of the story, and even add some elements not present in the text, such as animals, background characters, and even a lemonade stand. The illustrations depict exactly what each sentence describes, which will help the reader decode new words, but they also have a lot happening in them that will appeal to a child listening to an adult read the story as well.
The more times I read this book, the more I love it. It evokes all the freedom and possibility of a summer afternoon and uses rhyme and rhythm to tell a simple story of two friends enjoying the summer sun. It's everything I want in an easy reader, and more importantly, everything a child could want (including free stickers in the back of the book!)
February 29, 2012
Flip Flop by Dana Rau is about two young girls who cannot decide what they want to do. It is a single poem picture book. The two girls cannot decide in the beginning whether to swim or just chase the tide or to do cannonballs or ride on the float. It is about a whole days adventure where the two girls can choose anything they want to do between swimming, watching fireworks, going on roller coasters, or help wash the car. In the end, the two girls decide to ditch their flip flops and go barefoot and swim.
The book states this this book is for "ready to read" children. The appropriate age group would be Nursery. It has big type with easy words. It rhymes and has rhythm and has a lot of pictures that help to understand the text. The content is very interesting and will intrigue the young reader.
This book is extremely colorful and bright. It looks like it was drawn with pastel colors. The design is full of shapes and designs. The lines are definite and somewhat realistic.
I would recommend anyone to read this book. The young children will realize that they have a lot of opportunities to engage in and the adult reader will enjoy teaching the young child these opportunities.
The book states this this book is for "ready to read" children. The appropriate age group would be Nursery. It has big type with easy words. It rhymes and has rhythm and has a lot of pictures that help to understand the text. The content is very interesting and will intrigue the young reader.
This book is extremely colorful and bright. It looks like it was drawn with pastel colors. The design is full of shapes and designs. The lines are definite and somewhat realistic.
I would recommend anyone to read this book. The young children will realize that they have a lot of opportunities to engage in and the adult reader will enjoy teaching the young child these opportunities.
June 27, 2016
Synopsis: "Two best friends ponder over and partake in summer's seemingly endless possibilities. There's fun to be had at the sunny shore, fireworks to watch, and amusement parks to visit. This Step 1 story has big type and easy words, rhyme and rhythm, picture clues and includes two sheets of stickers!"
My Review: We have been trying to convince Munchkin that he doesn't need to wear socks in the summer and can wear really cool sandals and flip flops. I thought this would be a great book. And yes while the girls are wearing flip flops, the book doesn't use that much, instead it does give some great ideas for summer fun. It is also a great level one book with easy words and sentences, it also has a little bit of a storyline to keep it interesting for those beginning to read.
My Review: We have been trying to convince Munchkin that he doesn't need to wear socks in the summer and can wear really cool sandals and flip flops. I thought this would be a great book. And yes while the girls are wearing flip flops, the book doesn't use that much, instead it does give some great ideas for summer fun. It is also a great level one book with easy words and sentences, it also has a little bit of a storyline to keep it interesting for those beginning to read.
January 7, 2013
This book is full of fun and it's about two girls who aren't able to decide what they want to do during their holidays. The book has colorful pictures. My son enjoys the pictures and says what he would like to do given a choice.
May 10, 2014
Highly recommended for emerging readers. I particularly like this one because it's about a black girl and a white girl who are friends. They have lots of fun together. It's nice to see a story where children from different racial backgrounds share ordinary childhood experiences.
May 19, 2016
Two friends want to play together, but they just can’t decide what to do: “Do cannonballs? Or ride the float? Fish from the dock? Or sail the boat?” Rhyming, short sentences give this beginning reader peppy zip, and soft, sweet illustrations create an appealing package.
August 7, 2011
Beginning reader that shows a variety of summer activities from pool to zoo to fireworks to beach. Fun to read.
December 31, 2012
Makes me wish for summer and all the fun things to do. Playful words to engage young readers and the pictures are colorful, light hearted and fun.
September 22, 2014
Aww cute!!!!
December 22, 2015
Mau ini atau itu? Semua pilihan yang ada membuat bingung. Flip or flop?
January 6, 2016
And easy to read book for my sons reading goal of 10 new to him books that he will practice reading outlet out to us. Easy words easy to decipher using his tools.
June 22, 2016
megan summer reading 2016, children's book, leveled reader, easy reader, level two, summertime, summer, friends, fun, first grade, kindergarten
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2012
Cute story :"> Cute illustrations!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews