It's true that the Leveled 1, 2, 3 books are sometimes not so great. A lot of them are retellings of Marvel Comics, made up stories for Ninjago, and simplistic Star Wars stories. The writing is painful and stilted, and they bore parents to death. The reality is that they draw kids into the library, and at this age we are just trying to give them amazing and positive feelings about reading. We want them to feel successful and confident about their ability to read a book independently. A few badly written early readers are not going to kill their chances for Harvard. Many Harvard grads started out with See Jane Run, I am sure. Henry came home from the school library a few weeks ago with a (horrible) Ninjago Early Reader, and he said..."MOM, this is a REALLY popular book, and I GOT TO CHECK IT OUT." Excited about going to the library and having control of his reading choices = mission accomplished.
There ARE great early readers out there. You can't beat Cynthia Rylant (Henry and Mudge) and Mo Willems (Elephant and Piggie, Pigeon). But if they drive you crazy, I refer you back to the kid who is crazy excited about reading. THAT is your goal. Keep thinking about that to distract yourself from wanting to set fire to the book.
Here are two Early Reader series that I really, honestly enjoy reading with Henry (kindergartener, Age 6).
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee. Illustrated by Tony Fucile.
I truly CANNOT wait for the next Bink & Gollie book to come out. These two girls are the funnest friends ever. (yes, I know that is not a word) I want to hang out with them and get in on their verbal exchanges. The dialogue is easy to read and snappy, yet unpredictable. The stories are random and SO unique. The drawings are original, and their facial expressions are just priceless. I love how Bink (tall, skinny, and so stylish) lives in a flat straight out of Mad Men, and Gollie (short, unpredictable, disheveled) lives in a little country cottage.
My absolute favorite part in the first book is when Bink has adopted a fish, and Gollie does not approve. Bink calls Gollie...
"Fred wants to roller-skate," said Bink."Fred longs for speed."
"Fish know nothing of longing," said Gollie.
"Some fish do." said Bink. "Some fish long."
And so they take the fish rollerskating.
Fabulous.
Do kids like it? Well, I took the first book to a kindergarten class a couple of months ago (I always take extra books for K), and they HOWLED with laughter. After the Winter Break, I was back in the same class, so I took the second book. When I pulled it out of my bag, a kid said, "She brought another one of the funny books!!!!," and they were all so excited that they sat in their spots on the carpet, got quiet, and waited for me to start. Case. closed.
The next Bink & Gollie comes out this Spring. Not that I'm clicking refresh on Amazon or anything. April 23rd, by the way.
Next suggestion.....
Aggie and Ben by Lori Ries. Illustrated by Frank W. Dormer.
This series starts with Ben's daddy taking him to the pet shop to let Ben choose whichever pet he would like. Ben very carefully considers all of his options (bird, fish, cat, etc), and chooses Aggie the dog. Aggie and Ben become best friends, and this lovely little series simply chronicles their life together. Aggie has to go to obedience school, Aggie needs to be spayed, Aggie gets lost, etc. The stories are realistic, Ben's words are authentic, and I CRIED when I read Henry the book where Aggie gets spayed!!! She has to stay at the vet's overnight, and oh my goodness there is never a happier moment than when they get to pick up that dog from the vet! I had to order these books on Amazon before we could return them to the library. And that is my testimony about the power of Aggie and Ben. :)
Early Readers do not have to be boring! There are lots of great series out there.
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