new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Reading Level 1, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 18 of 18
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Reading Level 1 in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
I don't usually have the time to review follow up books in a series, but Emma Virján's Pig In a Wig series of beginning to read books is such a find that I want to call it to your attention as often as possible. The illustrations are bright and colorful with fantastic picture clues and the gently rhyming stories are always entertaining and just silly enough to keep kids reading over and over.
In What This Story Needs is a Munch and a Crunch, the Pig in a Wig plans a picnic for all her friends. As before, the phrase, "What this story needs," appears often in the text, which is never more than a sentence per page. In fact, the book has only five sentences total! Emerging readers will find this book engaging and feel success at the end, which comes quickly. The story arc follow the picnicking animals as they eat and play and then, as the skies grow dark, find a new place to picnic. These books are a staple in my school library and I can't wait to see what the Pig in a Wig does next!
Source: Review Copy
I didn't intend to review Mo Willem's The Thank You Book, the 25th and final book in the Elephant & Piggie series that began in 2007. I first encountered these books as a bookseller and story-time-reader while working at Barnes & Noble. I wasn't a big fan of Willems's Pigeon books, mostly because I found them challenging to read out loud. I quickly discovered that Elephant & Piggie books were a joy to read out loud and had mass appeal, from little kids to parents to even teens! Then my youngest son started learning to read and my appreciation of what Willems was doing deepened immensely. You can read all about that experience HERE. I want to take this time to tell you what a deeply satisfying end to a series The Thank You Book is and share my experiences with Elephant & Piggie as an elementary school librarian and, of course, say THANK YOU to Mo Willems!
Willems's The Thank You Book is both a wrap-up and a genuine thank you to readers. While spending time with Gerald and Piggie is always a treat, I remember how exciting it was to pick up a new Elephant & Piggie book over the last nine years and find a new character in the story. Snake from Can I Play, Too? is probably my favorite. All these characters are back in The Thank You Book and on the endpapers! And, in a really awesome wink, Pigeon appears in the pages (and not just the endpapers) of The Thank You Book! Piggie apologizes for not including him in their books, to which Pigeon (in his own font) responds, "That is what you think!" The Thank You Book reads like the best ending to a long running television series possible. Readers get to revisit old friends and familiar story lines while also seeing their favorite characters do what they do best one last time.
I am finishing up my second full year as an elementary school librarian. More than 80% of the students at my school are socioeconomically disadvantaged, 65% of them are reading at grade level and 55% of them are English language learners. When I took over my library it had languished through more than a year of substitute librarians cycling in and out of the space and several years of a diminished or non-existent book buying budget. There were just a few Elephant & Piggie books on the shelves and they were not circulating. Taking advantage of my employee discount at Barnes & Noble one last time, and taking advantage of the generosity of my amazing principal, I bought a copy of every book in the series and began reading them out loud to my students - all grades. Gerald and Piggie became instant celebrities in the library. Today, we have at least three copies of each book in the series on the shelves (in their own special section) and they are always almost all checked out. They are a staple for my first graders, but I especially love checking them out to the kindergarteners. Technically, I'm not supposed to check books out to the kinders, but it's hard to say "no" to those adorable little faces. And I absolutely love telling them to look for Pigeon at the end of the book -and in all of Willems's books! Sometimes I have to nudge the second and third graders away from Elephant & Piggie, or encourage them to get one book at their reading level and one E&P. And, happily, I occasionally get older students checking these books out to read to younger siblings.
Willems's books have become a common thread for all of my students. As I read The Thank You Book over and over, about 25 times in all to all grades, I choked back more than a few tears. I explained to the students that this would be the last Elephant & Piggie book and their disappointment and shock was always audible. They didn't always understand why I was sad that this was the last book, but when I told them it was like saying, "Goodbye," to two good friends who were moving away, the lightbulbs went on - just like Piggie's often did. Having had two years now to inspire my students to read by hooking them with Willems's humor, I am looking forward to seeing our reading scores rise. And, while I am sad to think that there will be no more new books from Gerald and Piggie, I look forward to whatever it is Mo Willems does next, and I especially look forward to getting to share it with my students! THANK YOU, MO WILLEMS! Your books have made a difference in my life and the lives of my students.
Source: Purchased
A Pig, a Fox, and a Box by Jonathan Fenske is a great book for a reader who is just beginning to take off. One thing I especially like about the Puffin Young Readers books, of which A Pig, a Fox, and a Box is one, is the very detailed information in the book and on the website that lets parents know specifically what level this reader is. The are SO MANY leveled readers being published
First reviewed on 9/6/10, the Tashi books came into our lives at just the right time. My youngest was on the verge of learning to read and these books were the perfect in every way - length, difficulty, excellent stories and superb illustrations. We were all hooked! My husband and I ended up reading all 16 books out loud to our son, whowent on to read them on his own.
The Tashi Series
First reviewed on 7/31/09, Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales remains, by far, the best collection of fairy tales for the five and under crowd. And believe me, having read at story time for seventeen years and read to my own kids for even longer, little kids LOVE fairy tales - even the scary ones, and Cousins' have just the right amount of scary in them!
<!-- START INTERCHANGE - YUMMY -->if(!
I first posted this review in September of 2008, when my blog was barely a month old and I was racing to write reviews of all my favorite (and my children's) books. A new comment on these books reminded me how wonderful and rare they are and I decided to repost this review and hopefully introduce a whole new generation of emerging readers to these superb books! If you already know the DRAGON
Dragon Puncher by James Kochalka was the first book my son marked for purchase after reading A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics by Snow Wildsmith and Scott Robins.Without even reading the synopsis, I knew this was a book I needed to have. First of all, the title alone makes me laugh out loud. Secondly, Dragon Puncher is a cat. Finally, Dragon Puncher has Spoony-E. As if the Dragon
Maya Makes a Mess by Rutu Modan is my favorite new TOON Book. Honestly, though, every new book that TOON publishes is my favorite. However, Maya Makes a Mess has one of my all-time favorite things in it - spaghetti. The colophon has all the production notes printed on a giant pasta pot overflowing with spaghetti, à la Curious George and his kitchen job. From this pot, a tangle of pasta makes
TOON Books has done it again, maybe even giving Elephant and Piggie a bit of (much needed) competition. I mean, there is room for two more slightly subversive buddies in the world of emerging reader books, right? Chick & Chickie: Play All Day introduces us to the French author and illustrator of over sixty children's books Claude Ponti. As much as I love Mo Willems and what he has done for the
The Mercy Watson Series by Newbery Award Winner Kate Di Camillo with brilliantly crisp and colorful illustrations by Chris Van Dusen is a gem, a real treasure. I'll be honest, up to this point, I had only read one book by Kate DiCamillo, beloved to many adults and children, and had not enjoyed the experience. Because of this, and the fact that they were only published in hardcover, I avoided
For the complete, fascinating story on the creative people behind TOON BOOKS and the impetus for starting a line of graphic novels for beginning readers, check out my review from last year. With the release of a third Benny & Penny book, Benny & Penny and the Toy Breaker, I thought these books written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes deserved their own review. Also, TOON Books and Geoffrey
The one and only board book I bought for my son during his infancy was Leslie Patricelli's Blankie. By the time my third child arrived (seven years after my second and eleven years after my first) my husband and I decided to limit our purchases of baby related items in the interest of frugality and use. All baby clothing and gear that was not horribly stained would be leaving our house as
Author Bonny Becker and illustrator Katy MacDonald Denton introduced us to grumpy a Bear and a persistent Mouse in A Visitor for Bear, a picture book published in 2008 and winner of many awards, including the prestigious E.B. White Award given by the Association of Booksellers for Children. Bear and Mouse are back, proving that picture books can often make great reading primers as well. A
By: Tanya,
on 11/24/2009
Blog:
Children's Book Reviews and Then Some
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Picture Books,
Award Winner,
Beginning Readers,
Series,
humorous,
New in Hardcover,
Reading Level 1,
Animals as Characters,
aauthor: Willems,
Add a tag
Ok. I'll be honest. I am jealous of Mo Willem's talent. And sense of humor. And his illustration skills. I tell you that now to preface anything negative I may blurt out at any point during this review. He has a HUGE following of devoted parents and children and, while I don't always share their level of devotion, I do get it and I do think that it is deserved. I jumped on board the bus
Tedd Arnold is the author and illustrator of two of my favorite bedtime books to read out loud, No More Water in the Tub and No More Jumping on the Bed. His plausible but ultimately fanciful stories (I know that I definitely thought there was a chance I could crash through to the downstairs when I jumped on my bed as a kid) colorful illustrations and great character names (Patty Fuzzle who was
Level 1 (Grades K-1)Level 2 (Grades 1 -2)Level 3 (Grades 2-3)I realize that I am often going on about the lack of high quality, beginning to read books that have appealing content both visually and texturally, and believe me, every title published by TOON Books meets all my criteria for a great beginning reader book, but really, above all else, these are just spectacular picture books that happen
I know, the two amphibians REALLY worth knowing are Arnold Lobel's brilliant creations, Frog and Toad. However, I think there is enough room in the world of children's literature for a few more frogs on the shelf... A Froggy Fable , John Lechner's first pictue book, tells the story of a frog who is frustrated by the changes going on all around him. Without giving the whole story away, I can say
Lucy Cousins is the creator of the wonderful world of Maisy the mouse and friends. Her bright, playful illustrations appeal to babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. With Yummy, Cousins brings us a much needed collection of fairy tales for the pre-school and younger set. Big pictures and short stories make this a book that can be read from cover to cover for older listeners or one or two stories
Tanya I am so glad you and Griffin are enjoying Tashi! There is an old-fashioned episodic pace to them that really works for kids that age.<br /><br />In the same vein, I also recommend the Jenny and the Cat Club books, Nurse Matilda, and good old Frog and Toad!
thanks for the tips!! We love Frog & Toad already, but I haven't cracked Jenny & The Cat Club since I was a kid. Will definitely read that together and look for Nurse Matilda - that's a new one for us.