I have noticed, as a bookseller and a parent (who is about to embark on the beginning to read voyage for the third time) the dismally boring state of beginning to read books. With this post, I hope to suggest some books and strategies that will keep you, as the parent who has to sit next to the new reader and listen/assist, relatively entertained and help your new reader make it through the tough beginning period with enthusiasm and love of literature.
There are three popular emerging reader book sets, two of which I find myself recommending often to parents who come into the bookstore looking to teach their child to read or to supplement what the child is learning in school. The first series, the BOB books, I rarely recommend, even though they have been on the market a long time and sell very well, because they are dead boring - to me. They don't have much bang for the buck. Also, I find these books very similar to those my older son "made" while learning to read in kindergarten. You could make these kind of books on your own, and, if you are so inclined, I highly suggest you do. There are several different work books on the market these days for kindergarten/first grade that focus on practicing sight words - high frequency words that children have to memorize, rather than sound out, in order to become fluent readers - that you can purchase so you can have a base of words to write into your books. Buy one of these books, or go to KidZone and print out their list of sight words. If you want to go on and make books based on these words with your child (after all, this is how Dr Seuss' The Cat in the Hat came into existence) check out this great sight for instructions on how to:Book Making with Kids.
If you choose to buy beginning reader sets, here are two of my favorites, both personally and professionally. The first is the Now I'm Reading Series by Innovative Kids. Each set includes ten leveled books, a parent guide and reward stickers. The illustrations are colorful and well done, the stories are fun and the size makes them easy to take along in the car. Also, there is a wide variety of sets to choose from, including sets that focus on math and science for independent readers.
Another series I like is focused more on the books themselves than the all encompassing teaching package. The Brand New Readers book sets include four books, each of which has an introduction page that gives the parent some prompts to discuss with the child before reading then suggestions for the parent at the end of the book. Each page contains one sentence of text, at least one word that is repeated throughout the book and picture clues. Candlewick Press is my favorite publishing house. They consistently publish quality picture books each year and have expanded their catalog of young reader and teen books. Some of their books you might know are the Nutbrown Hare story, Guess How Much I Love You, by McBrantley and Jeram, The Tale of Despereaux and Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo. They are also the publishers of this year's Newbery Winner, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies by Laura Amy Sclitz and the original OLOGIES books - Dragonology, Pirateology, Egyptology. I like their beginning reader books because they are the most low-key and also the most like a real picture book as far as illustration and story content. Candlewick Press draws on it's authors and illustrators for this series, which ensures quality work.
When your child moves beyond the super simple stage, you will move up into bigger sized, slightly longer books. The area of kid's publishing has exploded in the last few years, taking up twice the shelf space it used to. Most of it is boring or worse, but here are two publishers that I recommend with reservations.
Both of these publishers had a fabulous catalog of books but, in the effort to stay current with the industry, they began publishing movie tie-ins, which I abhor. Of course they have their place - if these movie related books will get a reluctant reader to crack a spine, great, but really, kids don't need more choices, they need better choices. That said, I like the I Can Read Series published by Harper Collins and the DK beginning to read books - actually, all the DK books that I look at are very high quality non-fiction and well worth every penny.
The I Can Read series includes the fabulous Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel, as well as a few of his other books published in a beginning to read format. These books are excellent, beyond their simple text that makes them a great asset to the I Can Read catalog. They are extremely well written children's books that explore relationships with others and with life in the way that William Steig does. This series also boasts one of my all-time favorites, A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban and the Amelia Bedelia books by Peggy Parish, which are full of word play and have been carried on by other authors and illustrators since her death. Also part of this sereis are Gene Zion's Harry and the Lady Next Door and the works of Syd Hoff, another great author/illustrator who first published Danny & the Dinosaur in 1958.
Finally, if you have the time and the inclination, ferret out good picture books for your emerging reader to cut his/her teeth on, or read my post Ook Book and other Really Great Easy Reading Picture Books. Here are a few to begin with and, hopefully over time I will find enough to warrant a whole separate post of picture books for beginning readers. Don't forget the five finger rule: if there are more than five words per page your child cannot read in a text, it is too difficult. However, since picture books are treat to begin with, you can relax this rule and teach them a few new words in the bargain. These books have a fairly simple text, but sometimes not simple vocabulary, and great picture clues to help readers.
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