Early Reader books for 1st grader

[rhianna813]

DS just started first grade and will be 7 in November. He is very interested in books he can read. We bought a few early reader books used. They are DK Readers series in Level 1: Beginning to read. But found the range of word/reading levels completely inconsistent.

Book A: Cat in the Hat theme – perfect! Short sentences, short words that rhyme.

Book B: Thomas the train – not great. First off the name Thomas isn’t pronounced with the “th” sound they are learning. Other words and sentences were harder, but doable in the near future.

Book C: Power Rangers – dear lord no. I can’t even pronounce most of the names, battle attire or powers in this book. Seems good for a 10 year old who is a great reader.

It boggled me that these were all the same level. Although I understand that if you buy a book themed it will include words/names/places that might be harder to pronounce. If you have any recommendations for a series of early readers or individual books to look for – that would be great!

Thanks!

Rhianna

[LuckyMommaToo]

We found the best bet was to go to the library, check out like 20 or 30 books that seemed likely, and then check out more of the ones that were winners. I actually went by myself at this stage and just brought the books home for him. Having he and his younger sister with me was too much of a distraction. The children's librarian was also really helpful.

DS really liked a series called Fly Guy at that stage.
http://www.amazon.com/Theodor-Seuss-...6225890&sr=1-1
I will be back if I can think of more. Oh, we also liked this Benny and Penny graphic novel series:
http://www.amazon.com/Benny-Penny-Pr.../dp/0979923808

Best of luck,
-e

[rhianna813]

Just wanted to add that I do not currently have a library card. I live just outside of town and would need to actually buy one for $100/year :-(

But I can still go and browse in the library.

I got a $25 Amazon.com giftcard from work and thought I might buy some books for DS.

Rhianna

[rhianna813]

Originally Posted by LuckyMommaToo

We found the best bet was to go to the library, check out like 20 or 30 books that seemed likely, and then check out more of the ones that were winners. I actually went by myself at this stage and just brought the books home for him. Having he and his younger sister with me was too much of a distraction. The children's librarian was also really helpful.

DS really liked a series called Fly Guy at that stage.
http://www.amazon.com/Theodor-Seuss-...6225890&sr=1-1
I will be back if I can think of more. Oh, we also liked this Benny and Penny graphic novel series:
http://www.amazon.com/Benny-Penny-Pr.../dp/0979923808

Best of luck,
-e

Thanks! Fly Guy looks really good and right level of reading. Thanks for the Amazon links

Rhianna

[pianojazzgirl]

At some point last year (for Christmas?) I set about to pick up some early reader books for dd. Holy cow are you right... some of them are perfectly fine (words that can be sounded out, words that rhyme, etc) and some just don't make any sense as a) early reader books (too difficult), and b) anything that anyone would be at all interested in reading, lol! The ones that we got that were ok were a Cat in the Hat cooking one (might be the one you have), one called "Loose Tooth", one that I *think* is called "Super Cat" by Ladybird books, and a couple of Usborne ones that my mom got her (Big Pig on a Dig, and I forget the other one - there's a whole series).

However, in general my dd tends to find the early reader books a bit boring. She's had more success (probably due to greater interest) in going through and starting to read through her picture books. The Dr Seus ones have been pretty good for that, but there are lots of others (for some reason the only one that's coming to my tired brain is "Olivia forms a band"...)

[augustjunebug]

Hi,

Smart choice with authentic Dr. Suess books.

I also love the Biscuit series of books for early readers, too. Even though yo can't get books out of the library, feel free to ask them suggested reading for 1st graders. Many school systems provide libraries lists. Good luck.

[ChetMC]

Elephant & Piggie

Elephant and Piggie books are easy readers, and we found them more engaging then beginner books. Our girls are reading at a grade 4 / 5 level, but still enjoy Elephant and Piggie. One thing you can do is have one person read the piggie parts and the other person read the elephant parts.

In the Guided Reading Level scheme, they run E to H depending on the particular book... so early to mid grade one.

[claras_mom]

The Little Bear books (there's five of them, illustrated by Maurice Sendak) are charming and I'm pretty sure they're for beginning readers (we've been reading them to dd1 for a few years, so it hasn't been an issue). She also loves the Toad and Frog books by Arnold Lobel, but I think they're a level 2. Owl at Home is also really good.

[Thalia the Muse]

Biscuit is great for beginning readers.

I love Mr. Putter and Tabby, Henry and Martha, and Cowboy Kate and Cocoa -- it sounds like they're a little more difficult than his current reading level, but if he's interested in learning he'll probably move along fairly quickly to slightly harder books. Slightly harder still, James Marshall's series about The Stupids are perfect for a seven-year-old boy. I enjoy those, and I'm 44 ...

[TEAK's Mom]

Jane Yolan's Commander Toad books are a lot of fun, too. They are actually engaging and full of puns while remaining very easy to read.

[eepster]

Those levels are extremely inconsistent. I've seen level 4s that are a pretty easy read and level 1s that looked very hard. Part of the problem is they don't seem to all be leveled using the same criteria. There are several facets to reading level, and kids are often inconsistent in those levels. For example; child A might be at level X for decoding, level Y for endurance and level Z for comprehension; at the same time child B is at level Y for decoding, level Z for endurace and level X for comprehension.

Even within a particular character series, the books are not necessarily going to be consistently the same level. Some Biscuit are at the same level as more advanced phonics books, but other are are much more difficult.

Books called "phonics" readers tend to be much more consistent in their leveling, but only go up to a pretty basic level, but they might work for now. Books that are sold together (boxed sets, several books bound together, or shrink wrapped sets) also tend to be much consistent in level than books marked the same level but sold separately.

[ChetMC]

Originally Posted by eepster

Those levels are extremely inconsistent. I've seen level 4s that are a pretty easy read and level 1s that looked very hard. Part of the problem is they don't seem to all be leveled using the same criteria. There are several facets to reading level, and kids are often inconsistent in those levels. For example; child A might be at level X for decoding, level Y for endurance and level Z for comprehension; at the same time child B is at level Y for decoding, level Z for endurace and level X for comprehension.

I found Guided Reading Levels (GRL) to be a more reliable scheme. It's not a phonics based system though. It's more about the number of words on a page, the amount of repetition in the words and phrases used, the number of cues from the pictures, complexity of the story, etc. The general concept is to encourage kids to use a lot of reading strategies, not just phonics.

Any kid can "read" a level A book because the text repeats and the pictures support the text so directly.

I found that the GRL DD's teacher assessed her at was completely consistent. When she was a level E or a level G I could look up the levels of the books we had at home, and she would reliably be able to read any book of at or below her level. The scheme is also so finely graded that the steps from one level to the next are very small. I couldn't look at an H book and a G book and tell the difference for example, though a trained eye probably could.

In Canada at least, scholastic codes most of their books with a GRL. I haven't checked the US site. I think that the system might be originally from England, I'm not sure. You can look up Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading.

[JudiAU]

Go to the library. They usually have a huge range of books.