Alpha-Mania Adventures: Captain Ray and the Rhyming Pirates: A Rhyming Book

Alpha-Mania Adventures is an innovative five-book series that ignites imagination and gives pre-reading children the foundation to become successful readers in the future. These exciting and colorful stories are the perfect tools to teach pre-reading skills through play. Storytime at home or in the classroom becomes fun and educational.

Each adventure combines the heroic quests of five spirited kids with phonological awareness and phonics, the first two components necessary to become a good reader.

Captain Ray and the Rhyming Pirates (Book 1 of 5) practices the first phonological awareness skill: rhyming. Rhyming words are words that have the same middle and end sounds. For example, bat rhymes with hat because they both end with the sounds /at/.


The story: Alex, Eddie, Izzy, Olly, and Umber are the Alpha-Maniacs, five adventurous friends who live in the magical Letter Lagoon. Out of the blue, a band of bumbling pirates sail ashore, seeking help with a treasure map they’ve found. The pirates speak only in rhyme, and they have no idea how to go about finding treasure. The clever kids jump at the chance to train the clumsy buccaneers in all aspects of being proper pirates, setting the stage for many exciting adventures to come.

Every Alpha-Mania Adventures book includes:

• An introduction to phonological awareness and tips to use the book to its maximum benefit
• An exciting story that will charm young audiences
• A Find the Hidden Objects phonics activity embedded in the illustrations
• Bonus Activities related to phonological awareness, phonics, and/or letter formation
• Easy-to-use guides on Letter Sounds and/or Letter Formation

Join the Alpha-Maniacs on their first of five phonological pirate adventures with Captain Ray and the Rhyming Pirates!

Jennifer Makwana is a certified teacher at Ruth Rumack's Learning Space, an educational support company based in Toronto, Canada. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), a Bachelor of Education, and a diploma in Early Childhood Education. Since 2008, she has instructed and expanded the Alpha-Mania(R) program at Ruth Rumack's Learning Space. Jennifer lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

Ruth Rumack is the founder and executive director of education of Ruth Rumack's Learning Space. She has a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Psychology and a Bachelor of Education. Ruth created the Alpha-Mania(r) program in 1996 with the aim of introducing emergent readers to the magic and excitement of the alphabet and phonological awareness. This series brings the Alpha-Mania(r) program to life through the adventures of the Alpha-Maniacs. Ruth lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

Ruth Rumack is the founder and executive director of education of Ruth Rumack's Learning Space. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Psychology and a Bachelor of Education. Ruth created the Alpha-Mania(R) program in 1996 with the aim of introducing emergent readers to the magic and excitement of the alphabet and phonological awareness. This series brings the Alpha-Mania(R) program to life through the adventures of the Alpha-Maniacs. Ruth lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.