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Text of the page (random words):
in these books which feature crayon drawings of andy and sandy s adventures the text is large and placed against a white background each page has one or two short sentences yes would you the words will be familiar to children and the setting will help children sound out potentially tougher words like seesaw and tunnel i would feel comfortable handing this to a new beginning reader i did wonder how readers will view the different skin tones since it isn t specified in the text readers do not know if andy is a person of color or just has a different skin tone than sandy we may find out more if the series progresses i thought it was worth noting definitely worth purchasing a copy for most public libraries posted in reviews tagged andy and sandy simon schuster leave a comment may 5 2016 review biscuit feeds the pets the basics title biscuit feeds the pets author alyssa satin capucilli isbn 9780062236975 copyright date 2016 publisher harpercollins reader brand i can read level my first shared reading series biscuit biscuit biscuit finds a friend bathtime for biscuit biscuit s new trick biscuit wants to play biscuit s big friend biscuit goes to school biscuit wins a prize biscuit and the baby biscuit visits the big city biscuit s day at the farm biscuit and the little pup biscuit takes a walk biscuit meets the class pet biscuit and the lost teddy bear biscuit plays ball biscuit in the garden biscuit loves the library biscuit goes camping biscuit phonics fun and biscuit more phonics fun thoughts biscuit goes to help mrs gray feed the pets she owns but when biscuit help free some of the other animals things get pretty crazy will biscuit find a way to help easy text with a large font on a white or light tan background will give beginning readers easy access to the words of the story i noticed that this font was much bigger and bolder than the other ten or so beginning readers on my desk that makes this a superb choice for those just starting to read there are just a few two syllable words in this volume other than biscuit s name and the two syllable words kittens puppies water going are easy to decode with support from the illustrations this was believe it or not my first regular biscuit book i ve been recommending the series to very beginning beginning readers for years and i finally decided to sit down and read one myself i will continue to recommend this series to patrons in the library and look forward to reading more that being said there are a lot of volumes of biscuit and unless you need more easy beginning readers or have die hard biscuit fans this might be an additional purchase if you already have most of the other books posted in reviews tagged biscuit harpercollins leave a comment april 28 2016 review get a hit mo the basics title get a hit mo author david a adler isbn 9780670016327 copyright date 2016 publisher penguin random house reader brand penguin young readers level level 2 progressing reader series mo jackson don t throw it to mo thoughts mo never gets a hit and is stuck playing right field no balls ever come to right field but every time mo is at the plate he has a chance to help his team will mo ever get a hit this sequel to the 2016 geisel award don t throw it to mo continues the story of mo jackson the tiniest team member of both his football team and now his baseball team i connected personally with mo i played right field for three years of t ball and baseball and he s right no balls ever come to right field lucky for me i was so short that i basically didn t have a strike zone things i love about this book racial diversity and gender diversity mo s coach is a woman relatable series lots of repeated words and familiar words for sports fan things i don t love about this book the contrast between background green grass and black words was not enough for me to feel comfortable and the book ends with a neat bow again mo saves the day again that kind of a set up would bother me as a kid after a while i hope that if there are future mo books that he has to learn to lose as well even with the minor flaws recommended for public libraries posted in reviews tagged mo jackson penguin leave a comment april 21 2016 review dance dance underpants the basics title dance dance underpants author bob shea isbn 9781484713792 copyright date 2016 publisher disney hyperion reader brand n a level n a series ballet cat the totally secret secret thoughts ballet cat is ready to do some super high leaps to finish her show but her friend butter bear does not seem to want to leap is there a real reason that her friend doesn t want to leap the second ballet cat book in the series continued in the same fashion there is a secret to uncover in this beginning reader the back of the book says that it is a mystery and i can almost see this building as a friendship mystery series once again i had a little bit of problems with the color changes but i thought it was much improved over the first edition the background colors remain consistent for several pages in a row and both ballet cat and butter bear have their own dialogue box colors which largely do not change ballet cat s do once towards the end when the background becomes pink i was absolutely in love with the underwear though text is easy to understand and the illustrations are where this book really shines i love the expressions on ballet cat and butter bear s faces throughout the text definitely recommended for libraries in particular illinois libraries since the first book is on the 2018 monarch nominees list posted in reviews tagged ballet cat disney hyperion leave a comment april 14 2016 review splash the basics title splash author kallie george isbn 9781927018774 copyright date 2015 publisher simply read books reader brand n a level n a series tinytails spark flare thoughts splash is a sea serpent and she s supposed to be sneaky but every time she s in the water she can t help splashing her tail can grampa teach her to be quiet the text is mostly set against a white background making it easy for beginning readers to read the last page spread changes to be on light blue with enough contrast to see illustrations appear in every page spread to support the story illustrations are done by geneviève côté the book is divided into four chapters that tell a continuous story a table of contents can be found on page one overall the text is comprised of one or two syllable words many of the words have blended sounds twitched splished splashed sneaky shush shadows swam swim float etc which makes me want to give this to a more confident beginning reader there isn t a lot of fantasy books available for beginning readers this is a great series to know about to help fulfill the fantasy requirement if your patrons come in with a genre list for beginning readers yes ours do also great potential to use as a book to talk about quiet vs loud with a child posted in reviews tagged simply read books tinytails leave a comment april 7 2016 review amelia bedelia by the yard the basics title amelia bedelia by the yard author herman parish isbn 9780062334282 copyright date 2016 publisher harpercollins reader brand i can read level beginning reading 1 series amelia bedelia thoughts amelia bedelia s mother loves garage sales and when she stops by one the whole family decides that they need to clean out the clutter in their own house but will amelia s garage or yard actually get sold the text is mostly contained on white background with a good size beginning reader font most of the words are either one or two syllables though i counted about a dozen with three syllables every page has an illustration for text support providing context clues to the reader the illustrations are childlike and appropriate while amelia s family appears to be white there is some diversity in the other people that come to the garage sale as someone who grew up with classic amelia bedelia i was hesitant when the new versions began releasing a few years back would the charm of amelia bedelia follow into these editions i thought that it did it s a different kind of mix ups but one that today s kids may relate to better especially when garage sale and yard sale do sound like you re selling the area for libraries with a strong amelia bedelia crowd may be an additional purchase if you already have some amelias and do not have a core group of readers posted in reviews tagged amelia bedelia harpercollins leave a comment march 31 2016 review moo bird the basics title moo bird author david milgrim isbn 9781518204005 copyright date 2016 publisher scholastic reader brand scholastic reader level level 1 series n a thoughts moo bird is kicked out of the bird s nest when he says moo instead of tweet can moo bird find someone who will understand and appreciate him about half of moo bird s story in told in comic book style panels other page spreads do not have any panels and are more akin to the typical beginning reader picture book milgrim uses dialog clouds speech bubbles to show which character is speaking words are also occasionally emphasized by underlines or bold font the illustrations support the text and the story has a predictable pattern for beginning readers to follow beginning readers will find a friend in moo bird i am hugely supportive of readers that use animal sounds since they are easier words for readers to decode once they understand that animal sounds are being used but i think that milgrim s illustrations will also help readers to decode i really enjoyed watching the evolution of the puppy from the background to the foreground before he approached moo bird a worthwhile purchase for libraries looking to increase easy beginning readers or graphic readers posted in reviews tagged moo bird scholastic leave a comment march 24 2016 review pete the cat scuba cat the basics title pete the cat scuba cat author james dean isbn 9780062303899 copyright date 2016 publisher harpercollins reader brand i can read level my first shared reading series pete the cat pete s big lunch play ball pete at the beach too cool for school a pet for pete pete the cat and the bad banana pete the cat s train trip scuba cat sir pete the brave june 2016 thoughts pete the cat is on the lookout for a seahorse in this underwater adventure pete keeps meeting new ocean friends but can t find the elusive seahorse will they ever meet i thought that this pete the cat reader was a solid addition to the series i miss the magic of the first pete the cat picture books but i can t deny that pete s flexibility and attitude is great for a beginning reader to adopt and familiar friends are always a solid choice to start a reader transitioning from picture books this story is really an identification game for kids to name ocean animals as pete swims past the catch is that the seahorse is behind pete the whole time and i think that kids will really respond to that it s almost like an i spy game that pete keeps losing but that kids will keep winning as pete goes deeper into the ocean i felt like the text got a bit hard to read against the deeper blues not a deal breaker by any means but something to keep in mind other than that the text length was appropriate and potentially new animal vocabulary was supported by the illustrations for pete fans cat fans ocean fans and early beginning readers posted in reviews tagged harpercollins pete the cat leave a comment march 17 2016 review zach and lucy and the museum of natural wonders the basics title zach and lucy and the museum of wonders author the pifferson sisters jennifer bradley and stephanie guerra isbn 9781481439367 copyright date 2016 publisher simon schuster reader brand ready to read level level 3 series zach and lucy zach and lucy and the yoga zoo thoughts zach and lucy decide to start a museum of natural things in the basement of their apartment complex but when their grumpy neighbor mrs blankenship shows up can she find something that she likes in the museum first of all the positives zach and lucy appear to be a biracial or blended family and that is a huge positive in my books diverse beginning readers are one of the hardest requests to fill for our patrons i thought that the storyline was good and appropriate for a beginning reader new vocabulary like specimens are defined in the text in a kid friendly way the text is solidly a level 3 and is comparable to henry and mudge in terms of difficulty although zach and lucy in shorter in word count my only concern with the book is that the text varies significantly from page to page and that might frustrate a beginning reader who thinks the book is good for them on a one sentence page only to get the book home and find eight nine sentence page spreads hopefully parents caregivers will pay attention to the level three classification zach and lucy already have a second book on the publishing schedule and i hope more will follow posted in reviews tagged simon schuster zach and lucy leave a comment post navigation older posts follow blog via email enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email email address follow join 82 other subscribers archives archives select month march 2017 may 2016 april 2016 march 2016 february 2016 january 2016 december 2015 november 2015 october 2015 september 2015 august 2015 july 2015 june 2015 may 2015 april 2015 march 2015 february 2015 tags abrams amanda and oliver pig amelia bedelia ballet cat big dog and little dog bink and gollie biscuit blue apple books booklist brownie and pearl clara and clem cork and fuzz cowgirl kate and cocoa digger and daisy dinotrux disney hyperion doc mcstuffins dreamworks dragons elephant and piggie fancy nancy flip a word fly guy froggy geisel award george and martha gossie and friends growing minds hamster holmes harpercollins henry and mudge holiday house houghton mifflin harcourt katie fry kirkus lana s world ling and ting little brown and company little lucy max penguin mercy watson mittens mo jackson moo bird mouse and mole mr putter and tabby my little pony friendship is magic non fiction readers olivia on the radar pearl and wagner penguin penny pete the cat picture book windows pig and pug pig in a wig pinkalicious publishers brands random house resource review rocket scholastic simon schuster simply read books sleeping bear press sofia martinez splat the cat thingy things tinytails toon books tug the pup wild kratts world of eric carle zach and lucy zelda and ivy disclaimer the views expressed on this site are my own and do not reflect those of my employer or its patrons the content here belongs to step up readers unless otherwise expressed blog at wordpress com step up readers blog at wordpress com subscribe subscribed step up readers join 82 other subscribers sign me up already have a wordpress com account log in now privacy step up readers subscribe subscribed sign up log in report this content view site in reader manage 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