What Kids Say - September 2018

It’s time for this year’s second What Kids Say post. This new series was created as a blogging equivalent of an essential part of many Geisel Committee members’ experience: observing while kids read Geisel contenders out loud. You can read more about the inspiration behind this series in the inaugural post.

This is how it works. Each month I send a list of four contenders to a half dozen of our guest contributors that are caregivers of or regularly work with K-2nd grade students. I do my best to select a variety of levels and topics for readers at different stages of the learning to read process. Each of the titles highlighted in this post will be or has been covered in separate, evaluative posts by our roster of bloggers. The focus of this series is on the experiences and observations from kid readers and their grown-up contributors.

Thanks to Jamie Holcomb, DaNae Leu, and Benji Martin for sharing and observing with the kids in your lives. This month eight kids from all over the country participated. Most read just one or two titles.

Peter and Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths by Graham Annable

Book cover of
Peter & Ernesto:
A Tale of Two Sloths
by Graham Annable

Three second graders opted for this title, which makes sense based on the appearance of the book (definitely the thickest and longest on this month’s list), as well as the complexity of the words and sentences.

The humor was easily the most notable feature, according to our readers. 

• “His face was funny.” 
• “I liked when they found each other. I think it’s long and kind of fun.” 
• “Liked the friendship, and all the yelling in the book.” 

 One grown up contributor said, “It reminded me of a longer Elephant and Piggie.”

All readers found the layout of panels and speech bubbles easy to follow. One reader said they would read it again, but the other two weren’t so sure. The amount of help readeres needed also varied. Some didn’t get stuck on any words, while another needed help sounding out “hibiscus”, “ambitious”, “stupendous”, “admirable”, sorrows”, and content.” Which is an intimidating list of multisyllabic words when you look at them all together.

Bark Park! by Trudy Krisher, illustrated by Brooke Boynton-Hughes

Book cover of Bark Park!
by Trudy Krisher,
illus. by Brooke Boynton-Hughes

Four kids picked up this picture book, which may say something about the cover appeal. “An easy sell for any kid who likes dogs”, commented one grown up contributor. The same contributor wrote, “My new first-grader reads fluently for his age, but reluctantly. He picked this right up, though, and was really engaged with the pictures and the text.” The contributor praised the book for incorporating stylistic elements (like matching bark size with dog size) while still creating an accessible book for very new readers.

The illustrations were a hit with readers and many noted their favorite details in their feedback: 

• “Liked the squirrel holding the ice cream cone.” 

• “Maybe the little dog made the little bark.” 

• “My favorite part was really in the mud.” 

• “I liked the dogs drinking from the toilet.”

The length of sentences and the “cute” (said one reader) pictures seem to target newer readers, however some of the vocabulary gave kindergarteners a bit of trouble including, “thump”, “through”, “heap”, “wait”, “blink”, “chewing”, “explored”, and “adored.” The first and second grade readers didn’t seem to have any  problems sounding out words. 

Our quartet of readers were split on quality of the story itself. Two readers said they wouldn’t read a sequel, while another reader gushed that there was nothing they didn’t like about the book. The final reader said they enjoyed it “a little”, but I heard from their grown-up that they’re a tough crowd.

Dance, Dance, Dance! by Ethan Long

Book cover of
Dance, Dance, Dance!
by Ethan Long

Two kids chose to read this title for this project. In a stroke of luck (for us!), they represent the bookends of the Geisel grade range: kindergarten and 2nd grade. Both readers found the layout easy to follow and needed little help sounding out words. The humor of the story was a notable quality and contributed much to the enjoyment of the book. 

On the other hand, the lack of plot was lamented. The 2nd grader “didn’t think that much happened”, although they said they’d read it again, and also a sequel. The kindergartener told their grown up, “I liked the part where he’s lying down on the ground with the drink. The middle is kind of boring. It’s a fun book. It’s good. I liked the pictures.” One grown-up contributor noted a similarity to Bob Shea’s Ballet Cat books in this new series. Hmmm, mixed feelings on this one for sure.

A Mammal is an Animal by Lizzy Rockwell

Book cover of
A Mammal is an Animal
by Lizzy Rockwell

Three readers choose to read this title, rating it high on their list to read again. One reader said, “It was awesome.” This book is an especially good fit for nonfiction animal book lovers, noted a grown up contributor. “The technical terms could be a struggle for some kids, but I think if the book and reader are appropriately matched--that is, for a reader motivated by nonfiction animal books in general--they will not be a problem”

Those technical terms did prove a little daunting for one reader, who stumbled over “vertebrae”, “suckles”, “amphibians”, and “womb.” However, as one grown up contributor noted, their first grader “stumbled over a few of the technical words, but was motivated to keep going.” That same first grader needed help once when they skipped over a text block at was at the bottom of the page under the illustrations.

One kindergartener had their mom read the book to them, so we weren’t able to glean what it might have been like as an independent reading title for them. However, this reader said their favorite thing about the book was the game within it. This was a common thread for all the readers. As one grown up contributor noted, “The book being ‘wrong’ over and over again in the first part as each animal turns out not to be a mammal adds a lot of kid appeal with the facts.”

A compelling case for the page-turning dynamic of nonfiction titles, although without adequate background knowledge this could be a challenging title for many new readers.
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So that’s what kids have to say this month! What are your kids saying about these books? Let us know in the comments. Also, you can use the comments to let us know if there are any titles you’d like us to cover in future installments of What Kids Say.