There it is: that chorus of Shmoopers saying, “Obviously and/or duh, Shmoop.” Fair enough. Highlighting language and communication as a theme here might not be original on our part, but you’ve got to admit it’s appropriate. Hop on Pop is all about teaching youngsters words by way of phonics, and then setting them on the path of a lifelong love of reading and language acquisition. Everything about this book—from the tone to the writing style to the lack of definitive setting—is designed to help children learn to read and subsequently write. So we may not be telling you anything you didn’t already know, but, at the same time, it bears repeating, doesn’t it?
Questions and Answers
Q: Why are some words so big on the page?
A: Those are the key words. They’re so big because it’s their way of yelling, “Hey, pay attention to me. I’m important!”
Q: Why are they so important? They just rhyme. Lots of words rhyme, right?
A: The idea is to teach you how they rhyme. Notice how “SEE,” “BEE,” and “THREE” all rhyme because they end in a double E. Now we know that double E makes an eeeee sound, and whenever we see a double e at the end of a word, we’ll understand that it makes that same eeeee sound.
Q: Any word?
A: There are always exceptions to any rule, but just about any word ending in a double e should rhyme: tee, glee, knee, spree, banshee, and even apogee.
Q: What’s apogee mean?
A: … Let me go grab the dictionary.