Interesting Books for Beginning Readers

We have been doing lots and lots of reading this summer. I’m reading aloud to the girls as usual, but now they are both reading on their own, too. So exciting!

Delaney is a beginning reader – she can “sound-out” many words, she knows about 25 sight words, and she is good at using picture clues and context to help her with unknown words. Books with predictable stories, one or two sentences per page, and not too many difficult words are the best for her independent reading.

I have found that many “easy readers” are either 1) not very interesting or 2) not actually easy for beginning readers.  There are lots of good ones available, though – here are some of our favorites that are being read and re-read by our newest reader.

1. Elephant and Piggie Books

I have to start with Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggie books. While these are not technically easy-readers, the funny, engaging stories are highly motivating.  There’s just something about reading text in speech bubbles that makes it less intimidating!  When Delaney reads these books, she reads with fluency and inflection and lots of giggles.  I highly, highly recommend Elephant and Piggie!

2.  Miss Rhonda’s Readers

I bought this little set of readers from Miss Rhonda’s Readers when Natalie was beginning to read.  I couldn’t resist their sweet look!  They do have adorable illustrations and fun, clever stories.  Miss Rhonda’s Readers feature phonetically correct words (as in, words that your child can sound-out) in fresh, engaging stories.  And, as an added bonus, these readers are printed in the USA with soy-based inks and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council for using well-managed forests and recycled fibers for their paper.  We have Set 1, and I see that Set 2 is now available – more cute books to share with my new reader!  You can read more about these readers and purchase directly from the Miss Rhonda’s Readers website.

3.  Brand New Readers

My mom bought Delaney her first set of Brand New Readers and they were a hit.  We’ll definitely be adding more of these sets to our collection.  These early readers come in little four-packs featuring the same character(s).  They have super-sweet illustrations and fun little stories – which is not easy to do using such few words!  Brand New Readers has a great website as well, where you can read three sample books and get tips about helping your new reader be successful.

4.  Science Emergent Readers

If your child likes to read nonfiction, these Science Emergent Readers published by Scholastic are a great choice.  They have full-color photographs accompanied by simple, predictable text.  Delaney loves reading about animals and nature, so these are a good match for her.  These science readers are often sold in packs in the Scholastic school book orders and are also available individually at Amazon.

This stage of early reading is all about building confidence and maintaining interest – find some books your child is interested in and read, read, read!

What easy-reader books have been popular in your house?  Do you have any questions about helping your child with early reading skills?  Ask away and I can answer in a future post!

Tagged as: beginning readers, books, easy readers, literacy, phonics