Holiday House I Like To Read Titles - Spring 2018

Today's guest blogger is Jamie Holcomb, a children's and adult librarian at the Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales branch of Denver Public Library. She became interested in beginning readers when she didn't know what books to bring home for her personal children once they started kindergarten. She'll be co-presenting on introducing beginning readers to storytime families at the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy conference this September.

Holiday House continues launching Fountas & Pinnell leveled readers in its successful I Like to Read series. This spring saw the publication of four titles aimed at kindergartners and first graders.

The very earliest is Jump by David McPhail. A level A reader, it offers strong repetition, with only the sentence related to the subject changing from one page to the next. Concrete picture support allows young readers to gain confidence. Oh, it's a cow! A cow can jump!

The pictures add some silliness and context while still matching the text--the kangaroo jumps with the children in her pocket, the cow jumps over the moon. Finally, it's always nice to see a beginning reader with diverse characters. Where it falls short is plot. The best level A readers build tension with very few words, while this one seems random. Animals follow one another, but there is no climactic moment. A secondary concern is that pronouns are not repeated and are hard to guess from the pictures.

At level C is Pig and Cat Are Pals by Douglas Florian. A pig and cat share many fun experiences together--swimming, reading, making art--but Cat becomes lonely when Pig meets Dog. Soon, though, all three play together. This blog's "What Kids Say" series found that child readers related to the crayon artwork. It's deceptively detailed and rewards kids who look closely and read again and again. The plot, too, is relatable--who hasn't felt lonely when their best friend makes a new friend? My primary concern is the placement of the text. I have watched very young readers struggle to locate words on the page, overlooking entire sentences. The placement is different from one page to the next and the words are located on the illustrations, adding further challenge.

The level D title is Hide! by Steve Henry. A fish escapes from his bowl while his elephant owner naps on a boat. Pat the fish has fun--but soon the fish are menaced by a shark! Not to worry, Mike the elephant comes to help and in turn, the fish help Mike back to the surface. This one will appeal both to kids who want a little scare and those who like slapstick.

The cartoony, full-page illustrations carry a lot of the drama and humor while still being supportive. Words are decodable with some slightly more advanced skills like silent "e," and useful sight words like "now" and "help" get plenty of repetition. It checks a lot of boxes. Repetition, check. Page-turning dynamic, check. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a late kindergartner or early first grader, and I think a lot of kids will enjoy it. But I simply wouldn't describe it as "distinguished."

The final title is Min Makes a Machine (level E) by Emily Arnold McCully. A young girl elephant creates a siphon device to get water out of an old well so she and her friend can swim on a hot day. Girl power, science skills and the power of persistence will appeal to a both kids and caregivers. The illustrations are a weak point--they get the job done, but they don't invite a closer look or repeated viewing. And while the plot is fine, I don’t imagine kids wanting to go back and read it over because there's just not a lot of narrative tension. Again, it checks boxes, but "distinguished" isn't one of them. 

That's the common theme for the spring offerings. They are competent, welcome additions to the paltry offerings available for very early readers. I think they will help many young children create positive early reading experiences, and I will continue to recommend the series. But none have that extra originality or freshness that sets an award winner apart.