Children & Young Adult

Learning to read is one of the greatest accomplishments in schooling and is foundational for education. The books I am reviewing are for the newest readers. These books are brightly illustrated, have few words and have subject matters that interest children. These books are best for ages four through six. Be sure to begin with the easiest level first.

I’ll begin with the Ready To Read series from Simon & Schuster.

• The stories are engaging and beginning with Pre-Level One. Here are my favorite newest books in this level: Nat the Cat Has a Snack by Jarrett Lerner, Critter-Cam: Monkey Cam by Margie Palatini, Monster OG, by Ame Dyckman, Zoom! Zoom! By Lola M. Schaefer, The Dog and Pony Show by Jeff Mack and The Adventures of Otto by David Milgrim. (Otto is a robot.) The books about Otto are part of a series.
• Three books in level one that are exceptional are: King of the Mountain by Susie Lee Jin, and Go! Go! Dino! By Kaz Windness. Bat, Cat & Rat is a beautifully new illustrated series by Mark Teague.

Scholastic has a wonderful series:

• BOB Books. These books include Phonics for Early Readers, Sight Readers and First Stories. The Phonics and Sight Readers are boxed sets with ten little books in each and are very effective in learning to read!

Kane Miller publishes the series:

• School of Monsters, by Sally Rippin. This is a fun series that youngsters enjoy reading. The stories are brightly illustrated, and the stories will hold the attention of new readers. Rippin’s newest books in this delightful series is Jack’s Many Moods and Dom’s Special Things.

Disney/Hyperion publishes a new series that kids will love to read again and again:

• Duck and Moose, by Kirk Reedstrom, are completely different from each other which helps present some fun adventures which includes Duck Moves In and Moose Blasts Off!

Toon Into Reading is an imprint from Astra Publishing and has the appearance of graphic books.

• This is a good motivation because the pictures are very bright and help move the story along. They also teach different concepts such as geography and science. Some of my favorite books in this series includes Shapes and Shapes by Ivan Brunetti, Caterpillars: What Will I Be When I Get to be Me?, by Kevin McCloskey, and A Trip to the Top of the Volcano with Mouse by Frank Viva.
• Hippo Park, another imprint of Astra Publishing, has a new series called One Cool Duck by Mike Petrik. This delightful series has a graphic display of bright, vibrant pictures that shows kindness and helping out. There are currently three books in this series: King of Cool, The Far-Out Fort and Summer Games. Graphic books help move new riders into becoming more independent. The picture-paneling and the interesting subject matter supports txt comprehension.

G.P. Putnam’s Sons Publishing has a new series with the first book, Pencil & Eraser:

• We Have a Dull-Emma! This planned series, by Jenny Alvarado, has Pencil as the adventurer and Eraser who is very cautious. This make makes for a perfect set up for many humorous situations. The next book set to be published early next year is Lost and Frown.

Chronicle Publishing has an interesting take on early readers:

• Sometimes some of the best new readers can come from a picture book that is not intended as an early reader. Go-Go Guys, by Rowboat Watkins, fits in this category. This comedic book is about three siblings, the Go-Go Guys, who don’t want to sleep and say they never sleep. Their brains are always on alert as they end up visiting the moon. The text repeats, rhymes and seems to explode off the page. And the open page illustrations will be visited over and over.