M is For Maple Syrup: A Vermont Alphabet

Discover America State By State

by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds, Ginny Joyner (Illustrator)

In New England Vermonters will be welcoming its state alphabet book, titled M is for Maple Syrup. With colorful pages that focus the spotlight on the flora and fauna specific to Vermont (and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream), the book utilizes a two-tiered educational format where the rhyming verse appeals to younger readers the substantive expository text proves an engaging tool for older students. In Vermont this fall, as it always is, L is for Lake Champlain and R is for the Red Clover, H is for Hermit Thrush and D is for Dairy.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Geography, United States

40 pages, Hardcover

First published December 29, 2002

Reviews

[Evelyn Saenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I was browsing through a bookshop in Vermont I ran across M Is For Maple Syrup A Vermont Alphabet Edition 1.by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds. Beautifully illustrated with simple text, large print and few words per page, this is an ideal book for story hour, bedtime stories or as a beginning reader. A smaller, non-rhyming text is written for older children.

Learn about the unique flora and fauna of Vermont. L is for Lake Champlain and T is for Hermit Thrush.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

We got this in Montpelier, VT on our trip to New England in 2018.

The style is really formulaic (there's a book of this sort for every state, although they are written by different authors). I would rather get something more unique, but since we collect children's books from every state we visit, these types of books are our fall back if we can't find anything more interesting about that state.

The thing I like about these books is that they cover a lot of the more prominent features of the state which we are likely to have seen/experienced so it's fun to get the reminders of our time there. They also have little blurbs on each page that give more information about each feature.

In this particular book, I really did not enjoy the text for each of the letters of the alphabet. The rhyming was really forced, inconsistent and just strange. I don't feel like it added much to the page and it felt really awkward reading it out loud. Honestly, it's some of the worse rhyming I've seen in a children's book. The redeeming quality of the book is the illustrations, the breadth of topics and the educational blurbs (but you wouldn't necessarily sit down and read all the blurbs at once about 26 different topics so that's why I'm not rating it higher for that feature).

I have other books from this series and this is probably my least favorite, but I'm still glad I have it for reference and nostalgia's sake.

[Nikki Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all the different Alphabet books in this series. It not only has beautiful illustrations and quick segments to read to children but as an adult I enjoy reading the longer sections on the side of the page that go into more detail about the topic. I recommend all of the Alphabet books. They range in so many topics like locations to people.

[Amara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't for the life of me figure out what age groups these are for. Kids learning their ABCs are too young to read the history section. And kids old enough to read the history section are going to be affronted by the ABC and rhyming format.

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

maple syrup for all, oh we loved Vermont ... snowed when we visited in May i think it was??! great syrup ... we would agree. great read. enjoy pics.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not for younger children. Would not hold their interest. I didn't find it very appealing.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Vermont alphabet.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

pictures, history, facts, information and ideals about vermont

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Notes:
these learning-type books fall flat for me
pretty pictures are the redeeming quality
all this info can be learned in more interesting ways

[Emily Adams]

This was a book that went through the alphabet with different things about Vermont.

I would use this in a geography class when talking about the northeastern states. It has lots of cute pictures and fun facts about Vermont, and it could help kids see how different the various regions of the United States are.