NW Kid Chaser

Mo Willems does it again with his
'Cat the Cat' series for beginning readers!

        My young reader has enjoyed these books as they have repetition of sounds, lovable characters, simple drawings, and kind humor. Most days I put my son in charge of the main text, and I take the speech bubbles of all the characters. It's just one more book series that can help him practice, build confidence, and smile!

Much loved by my oldest son, these books are now
a regular favorite by handsome Obery boy #2.

And now, I've discovered the Henry & Mudge 'Ready to Read Level 1' Series which includes the same character, the same author, and the same good fun -- but in a format designed specifically for beginning readers.

      Ah, Mudge! Good dog!

    As a beginning reader- some books seem endlessly long. My youngest son often checks the number of pages before selecting the book he will read to me. I choose to take this as a sign that he likes to plan ahead -  rather than a sign he’s afraid of commitment, but whatever the motivation.... I often ease the blow of a longer book by offering to share the reading responsibilities.

    This ‘sharing’ often means reading every other sentence, or paragraph or page.... or character.

    Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie books are all conversations between the two friends. If the adult takes one friend and the child takes the other – they share the reading.

It’s a great compromise for beginning readers.

    I’m always on the lookout for books that beginning readers can successfully read on their own. These books offer clear photos that closely correspond to the text and offer enough repetition to build reader confidence, while also offering enough variety that the reader (and listening adult aren’t bored.

Hooray!

    It can be a tricky task to find reading material for beginning readers. You want to provide books with simple words for decoding, but not so simple that the storyline is  boring. You want to have simple pictures to help the reader understand the story, but not so simple that they aren’t interesting to explore with your eyes.

      

     Recently, our family hit upon these lovely Brand New Reader Books that fit the bill perfectly. Sitting down with the 'Ethan' series, I found that my son was able to practice the three basic skills for young readers and also get a good giggle from the storyline. Spoiler alert: In "Ethan's Bike" each new picture shows an additional band-aide on the new bike rider.

What are those three skills?
1) The link between letters and sounds.
         In fancy talk that’s called “Phonics.”
       In practice, it’s “Sound it out.”

2) Understanding the meaning and flow of the story.
     Teacher word= “Context Clues.”
     Mommy words= “Does that make sense?”

3) Understanding how the pictures correspond to the text
    “Visual Cues” or “Picture Clues”
     Saying “What is that?” while pointing to the picture.

How does this look in action?
    (Give or take the adorable toes that bounce to each spoken word.)

Where can your reader get these beautiful books?
The publisher sells them directly at:    
                    http://www.brandnewreaders.com/

Amazon gives you a discount at:
                    http://www.amazon.com

The public library has them for FREE:
                    http://catalog.ccrls.org

        One of the pieces of advice I give to parents of beginning readers is to find a book series your child enjoys … and follow it to the very end. The Biscuit books by Alyssa Satin Capucill are one such option.

        Colorful pictures, simple text, and large print make this series great for young children. Once they fall in love with Biscuit the puppy and learn the word patterns of the author, children will happily explore the next book, and the next book, and the next book with relative ease. Biscuit books can be found in board book format (for the youngest of children), in “I Can Read” formats (for beginning readers), with holiday/special event themes (for use at home and school) and now in Spanish (for children learning to read in two languages).  

        An added bonus: Author Capucill welcomes and encourages letters from readers – which means Biscuit can provide reading AND writing activities for young fans. Hooray!