Reviews & Endorsements

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database - June 2008

Packy the Packrat faces the problem of sorting out his pile of “stuff” in this delightful, rhyming book that is sure to grab the attention of youngsters. Watching Packy group things in different ways reinforces the concept of sorting, which is an important skill for young children. As gatherers of “stuff,” young listeners will easily relate to Packy’s dilemma of cleaning up. Colorful, amusing illustrations add to the text to make this a book children will want to look at over and over again. The rhyming text is easy to follow and will allow listeners to participate in the reading during repeated readings. What readers won’t expect, but will enjoy, is the surprise ending in which Packy’s sister makes off with some of his good loot to have a tea party of her own. Excellent end of book activities include a hidden picture exercise, a sorting, categorizing, and classifying card game, a chart to sort like scientists do, and a writing suggestion. This book is well worth adding to preschool and early grade shelves to reinforce science, math, and language lessons. - Nancy Attebury

School Library Journal - Sept 2008

When Pack rat comes home with a cart full of stuff–a locket, a book, an umbrella, a pinecone, and many more random items–his mother admonishes him to sort it all out and put it away. Packy does just that, cleverly sorting things with like characteristics such as where they’re found, their color, shape, etc. Children who like to collect may be inspired to bring some order to their own assortments. The illustrations are brightly colored, large, and very clear. Careful readers will notice a subplot in the pictures and find satisfaction in seeing its resolution on the final page. In addition, the rhyming text prompts them to guess the word that defines each collection. Back matter has activities to extend the experience. Most collections would benefit from this simple entry into the world of mathematics. –Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA

Stories for Children Magazine - Aug 2008

This is a very unique book, and I just loved it.  Packy the Pack Rat has many collections.  Mom has had enough of the messy house, so she orders Packy to sort his collections and put them all away.  What kinds of collections does Packy have?  Will he obey his mom, organize them, and then put them away?  Or, will the Packrat household remain in disarray forever? You'll just have to read this really cute book to find out!  Author Barbara Mariconda does a great job telling this charming story in rhyme in such a fun way that it invites readers to participate by guessing the next rhyming word. The illustrations are so cheerful and bright.  If you look carefully at the illustrations, you may spot Packy's sister up to some very interesting antics. I give this book a high five for fun while teaching your child critical thinking skills that will help them later in life for math, science and life skills; and for the plot, the very unique collections highlighted, and for the sub-plot illustrations.  This book is a keeper!

The author specifically wrote this book because when she was teaching second grade, she wanted to use books that made math and science fun. There were so few at the time, she decided to write them herself to share with her second graders and fellow teachers. I'm so glad she did!

As with all Sylvan Dell books, the end of the book contains a section called For Creative Minds that is also available online.  In this section is:  "Hidden Picture", "Sorting, Categorizing, and Classifying", "Scientists Sort Things Into Groups Too!" (contains a graph), "Packy's Sorting Cards" and "Writing Connection".

Epinions.com - May 2008
There comes a time early in a child’s life when they collect who knows what for who knows why but children do and collecting must happen. Then they classify and sort into groups for who knows why, but again they do and sorting must happen. It’s how they develop into thinking children. Barbara Mariconda’s book Sort It Out might nudge those young sorters with some new strategies.

Using a fast-paced, fun rhyme we meet a master sorter, young Packy the Pack Rat, who has just driven his mother to the end of her patience with his “collections” of discoveries. It is an ever-growing collection of trinkets and artifacts and they’re not in any order until she finally demands that he sort it out and now!

"Pack Rat collected a whole bag of stuff.
His mother said, Packy, enough is enough!
Empty that stuff you’ve collected today!
Then sort it all out and put it away.”

Today’s haul contained turtles, lockets, marbles, umbrellas, brushes, pinecones, clover, cherries and so much more. He looked and he looked and then began to group them. The sorting went something like this:

The turtle, the egg, and acorn that fell,
These are all things with a hard outer… shell

Rhyme and pictures help young readers predict the logic behind each of Packy’s groups. You guess,

The acorn, the pinecone, the cherry you see,
All of these things can be plucked from a ….

All the while he’s sorting and putting his treasures away, a mystery occurs. Items begin to disappear and all readers see is a small hand. It’s not until the end that we discover the humorous subplot and pilferer.

Barbara Mariconda’s strategy for teaching sorting is clever, creative and humorous. Sherry Rogers’ illustrations are bright and cheerful; her Pack Rat family is charming and will appeal to young children. The book and graphics are designed for three to five year olds. This book will enhance critical thinking skills, particularly in math. Children who are natural collectors will love the flow of the story as well as the strategy of Packy.

If your own children were pack rats ( I know mine were) and had strange little collections, for whatever reason, getting them to organize could be delightful and entertaining. What would be the logic behind a group that consisted of a dented tin kettle, a locket, or a needle? I liked watching Packy’s facial and body expressions as he pondered his choices such as the locket, book, and umbrella.

From Sylvan Dell
This book published by Sylvan Dell could simply stop with the story, but it doesn’t, there’s more. Creative Minds, a consistent feature in all of their books, dedicates five pages at the end to educational activities. Sylvan Dell invites readers back to the first page of the story to look for hidden items. Then they support sorting, categorizing, and classifying activities using “Packy’s Sorting Cards” that can be copied from the website (but also from the book). Another activity provides a sorting table to decide if something is non-living, animal, or plant.

Beyond the Book
Online at www.SylvanDellPublishing.com parents and teachers can further explore with a 22-page PDF of age-appropriate teaching activities. Question examples guide the reading while activities cover math, language art, science, and art. Learning Links enrich the curriculum and teaching with a few excellent online resources.

Rhyme clues build language skills and picture clues help with reading skills. The sorting and classifying combine to develop scientific thought and mental organization in very young children, but it’s appropriate. Picture clues support both and I found this such a valuable learning experience that I printed the teaching activities and promptly walked the book to my education department to use for preschool visits. The fun part is that nobody realizes how much they are learning because the story is so cute. That’s my kind of teaching!

Recommended:
Yes

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BookPleasures.com - Aug 2008

Sort it Out! makes early math concepts fun. It's an imaginative format that allows children to have fun and learn at the same time. Packy the Packrat has a chore to do. His mother is tired of the mess in his room. He sorts all his stuff by category and attributes. Barbara Mariconda manages to pull it all off in rhyme, no less.

There's room for a bit of reader participation, which adds to the fun. Watch Sherry Rogers' pictures—they're bright and colorful, but they also reveal a secret and if you're watching carefully, the anticipation will build.  

 All Slyvan Dell books come with additional activities in the back matter, so after the story, you can continue the fun and the learning. If you want to combine fun and learning, Sylvan Dell is your best bet.

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In the Pages - Aug 2008

Oh so sad to get to the bottom of a Sylvan Dell box!!!  Sort it Out by Barbara Mariconda and illustrated by Sherry Rogers was a fun find at the bottom!  I did a story hour just last year and needed books on sorting and this would have been great!  This fun story is told in rhyme but with a great way of letting the kids interact and add ideas while you are reading - so fun for reading aloud!  Sorting, graphing, attributes, even writing ideas - this one is another great find!Thank you Sylvan Dell - I can not tell you how much I give these books to parents AND teachers alike and ALWAYS send them to your website as well - you are REALLY leaving your mark in the education world!

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