This series attempts to achieve a similar goal, but in a blog format. Each month I send a list of three or 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. While each of the titles highlighted in this post will be covered by guest contributors at some point this year, the focus of this series is on the experiences and observations from kid readers and their grown-up contributors.
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Image of two children reading Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier.
Image courtesy of Jayce Senter.
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And now, let’s get to the books and what kids have to say about them!
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I Will Race You Through
This Book! by Jonathan
Fenske book cover
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In her recent post, Kahla Gubanich writes that this book “calls back to both the endearing fable of the tortoise and the hare as well as the rich history of metafictional children’s literature, while still standing strong on its own (speedy) legs.” Let’s see what nearly fifty 1st and 2nd graders who read this title had to say.
Many kids liked that the rabbit broke the fourth wall to talk directly to the reader. One child said, “It’s like you can talk to him!” The racing element was much discussed by kids. One wrote that they liked, “that the bonee wos raceing [sic}.” and another wrote that they liked “that we won.” Some kids loved the cheating bunny, others weren’t so sure, “I did not like thet the bune chedid [sic].” Most kids loved the “funny bunny”, but one kid just wrote “winey!” when asked what they didn’t like about the book.
Most found the book interesting and easy to read and follow, but a few found it confusing and uninteresting. Unfortunately, none of them shared any comments about what they thought was lacking. “Through”, “now”, “even”, and “readers” were called out as difficult and one child wasn’t sure how to navigate “Wow” as a verb, but otherwise it seems the rest of the kids breezed through the text.
One grown up contributor wrote, “In my experience, kids this age really like to feel smarter than the book and enjoy humor that plays off of the characters knowing they're in a book, so this was right in their zone.”
Will this book win the Geisel race? We’ll have to wait to find out!
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Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride
and Other Stories by Sergio
Ruzzier book cover
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The second title in Ruzzier’s Fox + Chick series (book one received a 2019 Geisel Honor) was read by twenty 1st and 2nd graders. It really seemed to shine for these kids, who all said they enjoyed the book and would read another in the series. In addition to enjoying the book, the kids found it easy to follow and easy to read. The speech bubbles were a particular hit with a few children.
A few kids thought the book was long and one kid specifically pointed to the yellow water as something they didn’t like. Most kids only needed help 1-5 times. The following words were called out as difficult by various children:
- Received
- Shipwreck
- Stressful
- Plunder
- Captain
- Still
- Pirate
- Quiet
Chick was the most talked about character in this book. Here are a few kid comments (written exactly as kids wrote them):
- That chick did’in whant to opne the box
- Wen chic found the choclet cake
- Wen cick gode on the botride
- Chik was so silly
- How chik kepe asking qestens
Overall, it seems that despite some difficult vocabulary, that kids enjoyed the book enough to stick with it. Will that page turning dynamic equal a Geisel nod?
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Harold & Hog Pretend for
Real! by Dan Santat and
Mo Willems book cover
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In her review, guest blogger Sylvie Shaffer writes that this book “is the brain-bending story of Gerald and Piggie reading the story of Harold (an elephant who looks quite a bit like Gerald) and Hog (a pig resembling Piggie) pretending to be Gerald and Piggie, who are reading the book Harold and Hog Pretend for Real.” Over eighty 1st and 2nd graders read this title. Let’s see what they had to say.
A majority of the kids were able to read the book through without needing help sounding out words, although a handful needed help with 1-5 words, and another handful needed help 6-10 times. “Pretend” and “Real” were difficult words for one child, however the word that seven kids struggled with was “Carefree.”
The kids who found the book easy to read and follow also found the book interesting. On the flip side, of the dozen kids who found the book a challenge to read also found it to be confusing, uninteresting or both.
Unsurprisingly, the humor was a big hit with kids. One child wrote, “It is funny. It makes me happy. It is joyful.” The characters were much loved and written about by kids. Notably the characters pretending to be other characters, but also specific moments. Here are a few answers to the question, “What did you like about this book?” (again, written exactly as the kids wrote them):
- Its when Harold and Hog asked pigi to drive the bus.
- Harold and Hog looked so realistik.
- When Harold tride to fly.
It’s hard to deny the power of Elephant & Piggie. Will they have another brush with the Geisel Award? We shall see…
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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. We also invite you to share kid feedback on any of the titles we blog about via the comments.
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