The Big Green Book of Beginner Books

This great combination of six of Dr. Seuss' favorites are marketed as the "Beginner Books" series, a new approach to reading in 1957—the time of the publication of his first book "The Cat in the Hat." Minimal text, repetition of words, alliteration, and illustrations that lend clues to the words are strategies routinely used by publishers of beginning readers today. The six stories: "Great Day for Up" (1974), "Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?" (1975), "I Wish That I Had Duck Feet" (1965), "Wacky Wednesday" (1974), "Maybe You Should Fly a Jet," "Maybe You Should Be a Vet" (1980) and "I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today" (1987) all have the nonsense appeal of Dr. Seuss and similar, recognizable illustrations even though done by various illustrators over the years. They beg to be read out loud leading to the young child being able to easily mimic the words when attempting to read on their own. Packaged as an "I Can Read It All By Myself" children's book, it is a necessary addition to every beginning reader's library and now nicely combined as the perfect gift. Parents brought up on some of the older stories will enjoy passing their enjoyment on. This children's book is for kids reading levels ages 4-8. Leave us your comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let us know what other children's books you would like to have reviewed. Share this post with your friends. Remember to always praise your child.

The Big Green Book of Beginner Books

Fly With Poetry: An ABC of Poetry

Gr 3-5-Twenty-seven original short poems, generally one for each letter of the alphabet. Each selection illustrates a particular form or term, such as acrostics (two types), blank verse, cinquain, haiku, limerick, metaphor, onomatopoeia, and sonnet. The deceptively simple poetry conveys a wide variety of moods and images. The example of free verse in "Tree Dancers" is particularly effective: "Winds/sweeping over pines/shape limbs into/rigid images:/tree dancers/ locked/in frozen rhythm-/silent tango partners." A clear definition of the poetic device exemplified appears at the bottom of the page on which it appears. Brightly colored drawings, ranging from realistic to cartoon, accompany each poem. Unfortunately, a blank page designated for the letter "Y" ("Your Poem") asks readers to "write your poem in here." Still, this brief guide will make a good companion volume to more detailed introductions to creative writing, such as Myra Livingston's lucid Poem-Making (HarperCollins, 1991).-Karey Wehner, San Francisco Public Library Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. This children's book is for kids reading levels ages 9-12. Leave us your comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let us know what other children's books you would like to have reviewed. Share this post with your family and friends. Keep on praising your child. Keep them reading daily.

Fly With Poetry: An ABC of Poetry

Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown

"A Is for Amber" designates the series which takes place when the famous Amber Brown was younger and her parents were still together. In this adventure (perhaps her last; Ms. Danziger died in 2004), the seven-year-old Amber loves second grade and her unconventional teacher, Mrs. Light. She even likes the class rules till a new one pops up—all desks must be kept clean. Poor Amber, neatness is not her thing, until Mrs. Light tells the class about Deskarina, the Desk Fairy, who leaves treats for a neatly organized space. The lively story, Ambers' second-grade friends (including Justin, who now tells chicken jokes), and her amusing but realistically difficult struggle for neatness will undoubtedly resonate with beginning readers. What fun to see Amber, wearing at last her hard-earned blue ribbon from Deskarina! Tony Ross's wonderfully immediate ink and watercolor illustrations continue to capture the essence of Amber in all her untidy charm. Some of the best depict Amber's visualizations of the Desk Fairy and her Deskmobile, topped by the little girl's glowing pride when she wins the ribbon and then her rueful look as she sees her cluttered bulletin board at home. This latest, perfectly-pitched tale will appeal to beginning readers whether Amber is an old friend or this is a first encounter with the author's endearing creation. Paula Danziger will be missed. The title has been reissued a part of the "Penguin Young Readers" series and is designated a Level 3 and Guided Reading Level "K." The opening page contains a note to parents and educators about the series and tips for making best use of this quality children's book. This children's book is for kids reading levels ages 4-8. Leave us your comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let us know what other children's books you would like to have reviewed. Share this post with your friends. Remember to always praise your child. Keep on reading.

Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown

Sight Word Readers: Learning the First 50 Sight Words is a Snap!

I am homeschooling my son for Kindergarten this year and so far, none of the RAN boards,"Read in 100 lessons" books, Sight Word Flashcards, or even a Sight Word tablet app (that got great reviews from others) worked. My son would get bored after a couple of tries and not even an hour later would forget the words we went through.
Out of desperation and frustration, I went through Amazon trying to find a system that would actually work for him. Somehow I stumbled upon this product and started reading the reviews and descriptions of this system. The price looked reasonable (if it doesn't work then at least I didn't lose too much money) and the system itself seemed to make sense (story with sight words repeated throughout and a short quiz at the end).
2 days after ordering we got it in the mail and I immediately dove into it. Having read the parents workbook, I called my son over to see what the first two sight words (they, go) would do for him. We sat down like we do for our daily reading time and I first read the book out loud while pointing to the words. The book was entertaining enough for him to enjoy the illustrations and short enough that it didn't make him lose focus. After the first time he wanted me to read again so I did. The third time in a row, I asked him to try to read along with me. The fourth time, he was able remember the sight words on each page and even passed the "quiz" on the inside back cover. He was so proud of himself he wanted to do it again, including the quiz. Just to ensure he wasn't just memorizing a pattern, I would point to the words in different order when doing the quiz.
By this time he was so happy he wanted to "read to grandma" so we called my mom and as I pointed to the sight words on each page, he would read them. This children's book is for kids reading levels ages 4-8. Leave us your comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let us know what other children's books you would like to have reviewed. Share this post with your family and friends.

Sight Word Readers

Cursive Writing Practice Pages With a Twist!

I combined this cursive book with Cursive Writing Made Fun & Easy by Kama Einhorn for my 7 year old son. He does really well. We do 2 pages from the the other book and then one page of review from this kids book and so on. This children's book can stand alone for anyone who needs more practice. I would not recommend it for teaching unless it is in addition to her other book, but it is a great review and drill practice. Pages are in black and white for reproduction, but are creative enough to not bore the student. It even has teaching ideas to help you! This cursive book is for kids reading levels ages 9-12. Leave us your comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let us know what other kids books you would like to have reviewed. Share this post with your friends.

Cursive Writing Practice Pages With a Twist!

Children's World Atlas

While information is presented in a visually striking way, this children's atlas has some shortfalls in the text. The children's reading book is arranged by continent, with spreads focusing on specific areas such as "Western Canada and Alaska," and "The Caribbean." Some individual countries are also highlighted, but none for Africa. The plentiful maps form the centerpiece of the spreads. They show some topography while emphasizing man-made elements with limited coverage of physical features. They are surrounded by visual vignettes with clear, but mostly small photos and brief descriptions of a city, crop, product, holiday, sport, animal, natural resource, or a cultural attribute. While these chunks of facts may appeal to some young readers, others may find them distracting. Inaccuracies are evident in a few places. Students will want to use a complementary source such as Lands and Peoples (Grolier, 2003) with this atlas. This children's book is for kids reading levels ages 9-12. Leave us your comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let us know what other children's books you would like to have reviewed. Share this post with your family and friends.

Children's World Atlas

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together

This quality children's book contains many different short little stories that two people can read together. All containing positive lessons, each story has at least two characters that face a problem or experience an adventure. For example, in "The Dime," the pig finds a dime, but his friend the cat feels that the money belongs to him. Instead of the characters keeping the money and destroying their friendship, they decide to buy a kids book and take turns reading the story book to one another. Another great story that has a positive lesson is "I Hate My Hat." The characters in the story are raccoons, and one raccoon continually says, "I hate my hat." The other raccoon says that "hate" is not a nice word to say and compliments his friend for wearing the hat, so that no one needs to speak the word "hate" at all. This kids book also possesses characteristics of a play because the text offers a dual speaking part. One reader reads the purple colored sentences, the other reads the pink colored sentences and both readers read the blue sentences together. The color-coding also teaches the concept of following directions. Children of all ages need to know how to follow directions because they will encounter many areas in their lives that will require them to follow directions, both at school and at home. This children's book is for kids reading level ages 4-8. Leave us your comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let us know what other children's books you would like to have reviewed. Share this post with your friends.

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You