Emergent Reader Book Choices

Emergent readers are in that magic stage in reading development when all of the experiences with books, all of the practice singing the alphabet, all of the exposure to words, and the introduction of phonics skill finally come together.  Emergent readers are early readers with basic print knowledge, some site words, and some phonics skills.  Most children are entering into the emergent reader stage in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade.  I remember reading my early phonics readers.  Typically emergent reader books will be very decodable.  That means the words might be from a select word family or may follow an easy rhyme pattern.  In addition, emergent reader books will have very close print and illustration connections. Readers will be able to tell the stories via both simple text and pictures. 

All this to say: my Lil Guy is solidly in the emergent reader stage.  Some of the  This is more than just remembering a story or a few words to a story.  Cold reading an emergent reader text is a sign.  Being able to chunk words or use phonics skills to sound out longer unknown words is also a sign.  Remember that emergent readers are not independent readers by any means is important.  These readers will still need plenty of support.  My Lil Guy needs reminders to read every word on a page and is still learning some letter combinations: sh, th, ng, etc.

signs are reading and recognizing words within text.

Choosing appropriate books for emergent readers is crucial.  Great emergent reader book engage readers.  The text needs to be accessible for the reader, but can still require a bit of support.  Also the illustrations need to engage the reader and give picture clues for the readers.  Many emergent reader books will have reading levels listed.  Even early emergent readers will enjoy these books because of the predictable text patterns and easy to follow picture clues. 

 

Here are some emergent reader series:

I Can Read Series from Harper Collins Publishers.  These books are very popular and inexpensive.  The stories often have recurring characters and also include non-fiction books.  This particular series also features popular storybook characters such as Pete the Cat and Pinkalicious.  Look for “My First” and Level 1 books in this series for emergent readers.

Step Into Reading from Random House Publishers.  Again, these books are very popular and are found on the shelves at Wal-Mart and Target.  Some of the popular series in these books are Sesame Street, Disney Characters, and Barbie.  While those characters might not thrill parents there are other very engaging emergent reader books.  Lil Guy’s first book he read by himself was Hot Dog.  It’s still one of his favorites to read during storytime!  Look for Level 1 books in this series for emergent readers.

Ready to Read from Simon & Schuster Publishers.  These books showcase some of the same movie and cartoon characters, but also offer children’s favorite authors within the Emergent Reader books.  Eric Carle and Cynthia Rylant have books from Ready to Read.  Olivia is also featured as a series for emergent readers.  Look for Pre-Level 1 and Level 1 books.

One of our favorite book series lately has been I Like to Read by Holiday House Publishers.  These books we have borrowed from the library in hardback.  They tell simple but interesting stories.  I’ve seen some comments that the stories don’t feel complete, but my Lil Guy’s imagination fills in the details as he reads.  All of the I Like to Read series books fall solidly into the Emergent Reader level.  Here are a few of our favorites in the series.

So, What are YOUR favorite Emergent Reader books?  What activities do you do with YOUR Emergent Readers at home or at school?  Do you have suggestions for Lil Guy and me?

Prairie Somethings

I recently read two very different middle grade books with a connection in the title.  Prairie Evers by Ellen Airgood is a novel about a girl whose first name is Prairie.  This story is realistic fiction with themes of friendship and family.  It is set in modern day New York State.  Prairie Thief by Melissa Wiley had similar themes of friendship and family, but has a bit of magic and is set in the 1800’s.  There are other little connections between the stories as well.  

• Each story features glimpses of farm or pioneer life. Prairie Evers lives on a plot of open land that allows her to raise chickens.  Prairie Thief is set on the Kansas prairie where the main character, Louisa and her father keep cows, chickens, and more. 

• Both show a tender side of friendship.  Prairie Evers makes friends with a shy classmate.  The two share secrets and smiles and eventually become as close as sisters.  Louisa in Prairie Thief finds a friend during an unusual situation.   Louisa and her friend new friend, Jessamine, conspire to help each other and hide a magical creature, too.

• In an unusual connection, both stories critically look at the parenting skills of a minor character.  It’s Prairie’s best friend who has a mother who is disconnected.  It’s an unusual situation that creates friction between the two friends, but also brings them closer together.  Meanwhile, in Prairie Thief, Louisa’s neighbor, Jessamine, has a step-mother who is pure nasty.  While this character is quite unlikable, she provides some comical parts of the story with her arrogant attitude.

• Best of all, the main characters in each of these stories were smart, resourceful young women.  They each showed that caring for your family and friends can be a sign of strength.

I enjoyed both books for different reasons.  I liked the pioneer spirit in Prairie Thief.  I also thought the minor characters in Prairie Thief were fun to get to know.  One character is a judge who decides young Louisa’s father’s fate, and he really surprised me.  Prairie Evers on the other hand is such a modern and fun story that really appealed to me as a teacher who loves to see adolescents show their personality and get to know themselves.  Prairie’s unique situation of coming from homing schooling to entering into a public school put an interesting twist on this.  I would recommend both books for grades 4^th to 7^th grade and would be fun read together.

How about you?  Have you read any stories lately with an unusual connection like this?

Friends and Family

When readers connect books to their own lives it deepens understanding.  Young readers enjoy stories with friends and family, little adventures and discoveries, and daily life.  Children might even like it better when there is just a little bit of magic and make believe gluing together all the friends, adventures, and daily life.  For preschoolers reading books about childhood troubles may help teach about problem solving, expressing one’s self, and being a good friend.  These are important lessons and great for opening discussion with children.  Here are two books that offer such discussion starters for ages 3 to 8.

Monty and Milli, The Totally Amazing Magic Trick by Tracy Corderoy and Tim Warnes is a picture book about a brother and sister mouse.  Monty is the older brother who is into space, dinosaurs, artwork, and reading.  Milli is the younger sister who is annoyingly into pretty much anything that Monty likes.  Monty seems like a pretty patient mouse until it’s time for his birthday and he gets a totally amazing magic set.  The magic set is clearly for big kids only and Milli doesn’t take this well. 

The book is cute and the story is very believable for siblings.  I appreciated that the story showed the sibling both getting along and having problems.  The illustrations were very colorful with a bit of sparkle on some of the pages.  (I know some people are anti-sparkle in books but this was done in moderation and added to the magic.)  The scenes showing the mice’s home is really adorable, I even spotted a Lego-mini head in one of the illustrations.   (I like hidden Easter eggs like this for older readers.)

I think both younger and older siblings would really be able to relate to the story in this book.  If you have a young one who is into magic, there are a lot of little bits of magic throughout the book that they would enjoy too.   Recommended for ages 3 to 8, read alouds, big siblings, little siblings, and children who have an interest in magic.

Flabbersmashed about You by Rachel Vail, illustrated by Yumi Heo  is part of a series of books about Katie Honors.  Katie is a sweet and sensitive little girl (maybe preschool or kindergarten aged).  She has a best friend but feels betrayed when her friend chooses to play with (gasp!) a boy at recess time.  *spoilers* Katie feels very hurt and wants to yell at her friend.  Instead Katie blurts out that she feels flabersmashed!  She also unfortunately karate chops the friends hands apart in anger.  Another friend, a shy quiet girl comes and takes Katie’s hand dissipating the situation.

While I do appreciate giving children a chance to express their emotions, I was frustrated at how the author chose to deal with the problem.  Research supports that emotionally, children benefit from having an emotional vocabulary to express themselves.  We also didn’t see Katie making good decisions, coming up with solutions, or thinking about others.  These are all important steps in teaching students how to deal with problems.   Overall the book also lacked diversity even though an entire classroom full of students is shown.  I would check this one out at the library, but it doesn’t seem essential for a school or personal collection.

How about you?  Have you read any good books picture books about Family or Friends lately?  Feel free to share your suggestions in the comments section below.