fast-slow high-low: a book of opposites

by Peter Spier

Opposite concepts such as full-empty, strong-weak, more-less are illustrated by several pairs of contrasting pictures.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

46 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Peter Spier has established himself as one of the most gifted illustrators in this county. His Noah's Ark was the 1978 Caldecott Award winner, while The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night was a Caldecott Honor book in 1962. The firs two books in his widely acclaimed Mother Goose Library, London Bridge Is Falling Down! and To Market! To Market! were winner and runner-up respectively for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. The Erie Canal and Noah's Ark both won Christopher Awards, while Gobble, Growl, Grunt received Honorable Mention in the first Children's Science Book Award program, sponsored by the New York Academy of Science.

Born and educated in Amsterdam, Mr. Spier came to New York in 1952 after serving in the Royal Dutch Navy and working for a number of years as a reporter for Elsevier's Weekly, Holland's largest magazine. He has illustrated over a hundred books and has contributed a series of murals to the H. F. Du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

Reviews

[Missy LeBlanc Ivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m usually not a fan of wordless books, but this one could actually be fun with kids who are just learning. This is a book of opposites. It’s not completely wordless. Each page has a set of opposite words with lots of pictures to choose from. Great bonding and learning book.

[Caleb eliason]

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[Libby Erwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Reaction: Fast-Slow High-Low by Peter Spier would be considered a very, very beginner book in a students literature experience. All the book is is a book full of opposite words, about one pair of opposites on each page. Each page is accompanied by pictures that are representing that specific pair of words. For beginning readers, I think this book is a great read. Not only can it get them reading and making a connection between words and what the opposite of a word means, but the copious pictures on each page can allow them to make connections between what that pair actually means. For younger students, being able to make connections between school work and their lives outside of school make it easier for them to retain that information and connect it back to different lessons within the classroom.

Read Aloud: This book would be a good find when you are introducing students to what 'opposite pairs' of words means. They are at a level where they can read basic words, and this book would be a step up from what they already know and applying that to a new concept. The pictures on each page make students stay engaged and get excited when they are able to make and identify the connections on their own. When going through the book, you could also identify each picture and say what it is and what it is doing. This makes the reading go far beyond learning opposites and incorporate many different uses into this one book.

Independent Reading: Because this book is such an easy read, it is hard to make a connection with the material on a more independent level. So, independent reading could look more at if a student was struggling with making connections between words and pictures or with what is means for two words to be opposite of one another. Sitting down with a student and reading this book one on one can make all the difference in students gaining that understanding that others in the class already have, sometimes the more individualized attention can give them the missing piece of understanding that they once had.

[Kristie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Makes the point of opposites, but not all children will appreciate the cluttered illustrations.

[Scott Hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Youngsters can explore opposites in this book of colorful and interesting illustrations. Not all teh relationships are immediately obvious; thus facilitating sharing between adults and children.