Are all early early readers so boring?

[madteaparty]

I don't remember from DS but it looks like we will be mired in "Bob" land a while. I hate all these books. I mean obviously I'm not expecting Wittgenstein but there are some cute ones, namely, Fat Cat. That's just one, where is the rest? Am I missing the trove of decent super early readers? Please let me in on it! :)

[Roadrunner]

Nope, that's it. I am so glad I don't need to do Bob Books ever again in my life.

I thought life got better once we hit Frog and Toad books.

[MerryAtHope]

Have you seen the AAR 1 readers? You can see samples on these pages to see if they would work. Run, Bug, Run!, The Runt Pig, and Cobweb the Cat.

 

Sonlight's Fun Tales came out just when my dd was at the tail end of that phase, and she enjoyed those. They're kind of Bob-bookish but a little cuter I thought.

 

We liked the DK Flip the Page Rhyme and Read books: Pat the Cat, Jen the Hen, Mig the Pig, Tog the Dog, and Zug the Bug.

 

If you don't mind Christian, there's also the Christian Liberty Press K readers, (It Is Fun to Read, Pals and Pets). Fairly simple stories but they had full color pictures. 

 

Progressive Phonics –  Free phonics books that can be read online or downloaded and used right away.

 

The I See Sam books--you can print these for free from online too.

 

The Nora Gaydos books

 

Hope you find something you like to get through this phase!

[Kalmia]

Big Bug Dug by Mary Surfozo

https://smile.amazon.com/Big-Bug-level-Hello-Reader/dp/0439179335/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1489708587&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Early+reader+big+bug+dug

 

Big Egg by Molly Coxe

https://smile.amazon.com/Big-Egg-Step-Into-Reading-Step-1/dp/0679881263/ref=sr_1_66?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1489708753&sr=1-66&keywords=Early+reader+books+level+1

 

Hot Dog by Molly Coxe

https://smile.amazon.com/Hot-Dog-Step-into-Reading-ebook/dp/B003IN4AOI/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1489708802&sr=1-9&keywords=Early+reader+books+level+1+step+into+reading

 

I Like Bugs by Margaret Wise Brown

https://smile.amazon.com/Like-Bugs-Step-Into-Reading-Step/dp/0307261077/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1489708802&sr=1-6&keywords=Early+reader+books+level+1+step+into+reading

 

Drop It Rocket by Tad Hills

https://smile.amazon.com/Drop-Rocket-Step-Into-Reading/dp/038537254X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1489708802&sr=1-1&keywords=Early+reader+books+level+1+step+into+reading

 

 

[MerryAtHope]

Oh, some more:

 

Usborne Very First Readers or My First Library

 

We Both Read books.  On the left hand pages there is text for the parent to read and on the right is text for the kids to read. Here’s an example.

Edited March 17, 2017 by MerryAtHope

[73349]

Another vote for the Nora Gaydos books, and then Arnold Lobel as soon as you can get there.

[Julie Smith]

I remember reading an article about a woman who worked with teens who couldn't read. She made a set of early reader phonic books for them. So instead of cat, red, bin, frog,... it had car, gas, ....

 

Not what you are looking for, but with youngest I went through so many phonic books, for so long, that I thought I would end up needing the easy readers for teens.

[blendergal]

We really like the "I Like to Read" series from Holiday House.

 

The GRL info is listed here:

 

http://www.holidayhouse.com/reading-levels.php

[Guest]

I don't know what's wrong with you. Sam, Mac, and Dot are THRILLING reads. I mean, serious page turners. How can you not agree? ;) 

 

j/k of course- we are deeply mired in Bob Territory over here too. I think I have at least one more year of it to look forward to, so reading this thread with interest. I have the Fun Tales books too, but my son is upset there aren't more dog stories in them.  :glare:

[Julie Smith]

I'm working on my French reading skills. So I try to read a French book or two every day. As in a French easy early reader book. The last book I read was, "I don't like to share". It had great character development. The dog Sam learned that life can be better if you share.

 

;p it was a page turner. I wasn't sure if he would end up not sharing his toy. But (spoiler alert) he did share his toy, and had fun with his friends.

[Squawky Acres]

Elephant and Piggie are really fun early readers -- although not as basic as Bob books or the Sonlight Fun Tales.  I agree that the AAR stories are actually quite entertaining.  It is a tough stage, though.  I remember my four-year-old reading from her early readers:  "Mat sat. Sam sat.  Mat sat on Sam. etc.," and remarking that "everyone seems to do a lot of sitting in these books!"

[Rachel]

Usborne has some better ones. There is a collection called Ted and Friends that is a pretty early reader. Your child probably needs to at least be through the first set of Bob Books before they are ready for those though.

 

I found a few very beginner books when my daughter was learning to read and held onto them for when my youngest finally learns, most early books are so boring!

[madteaparty]

I don't know, Fat Cat has raised the bar. I mean that cat persisted. Was it marking its territory in a power play owing to its bulk, OR was it because she just liked the mat, or was it because to the cat, it was just a mat, and it's just the way the cat carries itself in the world? So much nuance. We may never know.

Edited March 17, 2017 by madteaparty

[Guest]

my library still has some Margaret Hillert books...A House for Little Red, Yellow Boat

[eternallytired]

I second (or third?) the Usborne Phonics Readers.  At the very least I found them visually more interesting than Bob Books.  Elephant and Piggie are absolutely a breath of fresh air once you hit about 1st grade reading level.  I could listen to my kids read those all day!  Mo Willems has the undying love of many-a-parent!

[caayenne]

Both of my sons loved the "Let's Read Together" books. These are phonics-based early readers with actual plots and the writing is quite good. My husband and I both liked the books a lot, which is important with early readers. My younger DS especially loved the stories, and they were requested as bedtime stories for several years afterwards. There are books for each short and long vowel sound, as well as a few for blending sounds. These books are what I feel really got my boys reading, and were a great gateway to Frog and Toad and other readers.

 

http://www.kanepress.com/lets-read-together/

Edited March 17, 2017 by caayenne

[Peaceseeker]

All the ones I saw were horrible, and I thought to myself, "Wow, what a wonderful way to make children hate books and think reading is the most boring activity on the face of the earth." I just couldn't do it. It was like a form of torture inflicted on innocent children and parents.

 

We used Dr. Seuss instead at those stages, from the easiest ones to the longer ones. Because Dr. Seuss is awesome and no one will ever convince me otherwise. 😎

[domestic_engineer]

Brian Cleary has 2 books with short vowels here and here.  If nothing else, the pictures are colorful and entertaining.

 

Also another vote for Nora Gaydos, Willem's Elephant and Piggie, and Lobel.

 

[mamashark]

 

 

Progressive Phonics –  Free phonics books that can be read online or downloaded and used right away.

 

 

 

We are working through these and my DD finds the stories engaging and funny. We also take the time to stop and talk about each illustration, a throwback from our speech therapy days, and that helps the amusement factor.

[Guest]

I don't know, Fat Cat has raised the bar. I mean that cat persisted. Was it marking its territory in a power play owing to its bulk, OR was it because she just liked the mat, or was it because to the cat, it was just a mat, and it's just the way the cat carries itself in the world? So much nuance. We may never know.

 

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:

 

I shall never read it the same way again..........

Edited March 17, 2017 by texasmom33

[madteaparty]

We are working through these and my DD finds the stories engaging and funny. We also take the time to stop and talk about each illustration, a throwback from our speech therapy days, and that helps the amusement factor.

These seem so cute. And there's an activity. I think I'll print a few

[historically accurate]

It's a hard time. Fortunately, 2 out of 3 of my kids flew through that level, so I didn't know the pain until my last sat solidly in Kindergarten reading level for 2 years (I think she was making up for her sisters!).

 

She read (and I memorized):

 

Bob books (I think she went through 3 levels)

Progressive Phonics books (Sam?)

Hop on Pop

Biscuit books - these aren't too bad

Jenny's socks

A House for Little Red

various holiday readers I would print off of the internet

McRuffy readers

Dick and Jane

All About Reading readers

Fat Cat Sat on the Mat

The Day I Had to Play with my Sister

Every early reader in the library that had only 2 words per page

Edit: those readers with only 50 words - Can you Play? etc

 

I just about sang the hallelujah chorus when she graduated to 10 Apples Up on Top. That was the first book that really clicked with her. 

 

ETA: I got so excited every other Tuesday because she could go to the library and "read" to the therapy dogs that day!

Edited March 17, 2017 by beckyjo

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I'd rather read the McGuffey Primer and readers than read BOB books.  Ugh.  

 

Generally, we don't read any books at all until the child is ready for Lobel.  We just work through phonics pathways and then I read aloud from something worth reading.  

[Dmmetler]

My DD loved Margaret Hillert, especially Dear Dragon. She actually kept working through those even after she was solidly reading Magic Treehouse.

[Sk8ermaiden]

I scoured used book stores for the old scholastic leveled phonetic readers. They were so much better than Bob, and more actually phonetic than the readers you seem to find now. We liked Dick and Jane too, for fun, even though they're not necessarily phonetic. 

[lanalouwho]

I like the Progressive Phonics books. They're cute and a little bit silly. We actually have a good time with them

 

Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk

[vonfirmath]

I don't remember from DS but it looks like we will be mired in "Bob" land a while. I hate all these books. I mean obviously I'm not expecting Wittgenstein but there are some cute ones, namely, Fat Cat. That's just one, where is the rest? Am I missing the trove of decent super early readers? Please let me in on it! :)

 

My daughter has really loved the Dick and Jane books. She occasionally branches out to other books (and is finally to the point she can read some Dr. Seuss --like the red Fish, blue fish book). But for the longest time, the only thing she happily read was the three Dick and Jane anthologies we got from Barnes & Noble.  She did not read the ENTIRE book -- but it is broken up into short stories that build on the vocabulary, one to the next. So she didn't run into a lot of vocabulary she couldn't figure out. But she'd read 7 or 8 stories before she ran out of steam.  In other books, every page she'd be trying to figure out some word that was a name, or didn't match the pattern, etc. And left me wondering how they could be level 1 books at all!

[MyLife]

Mo Willems Piggie and Elephant are humorous. My son likes the Marley readers. They are not funny, but they are sweet.

[MyLife]

Mo Willems Piggie and Elephant are humorous. My son likes the Marley readers. They are not funny, but they are sweet.

Although these may be too advanced if you are looking for mainly CVC readers.

[fralala]

I actually got a bunch of blank books and have given this as a writing challenge to my 7 year old, who is an expert in the genre and is creating a subversive set of early readers for her younger siblings.

 

(Subversive because I've taken a peek and Mom is a dimwit and Dad a bit bad, always in a fit; and there's copious spit and snot, which really make learning consonant blends worthwhile.)

 

(Edited for mistakes because I evidently can't write as well as a 7 year old.)

Edited March 17, 2017 by fralala

[ElizaG]

My favorites are the ones from Catholic Heritage Curricula, but they do have some religious content (the first one is titled "At Mass"). 

 

We've also enjoyed the small-format Hooked on Phonics books, which I haven't seen mentioned yet.  There are a bunch of them at the early-early level:  Pig Wig, Pop Fox, etc.  They're less boring than the Bob books, and more straightforward than the Nora Gaydos books, which we found to be a bit confusing for younger beginners. 

 

I'm not sure if the HOP books are sold apart from the complete set, but I'd guess that they're easy to find used.  I just gave away a bunch that we had floating around.  This thread has me sort of regretting it already!   :001_smile:

[madteaparty]

Thanks so much, everyone. I've ordered some and placed more on hold at library.

I know Mo Williams is having a moment, and I keep trying, but we're not the biggest fans here. I think that's some sort of blasphemy

[Tawlas]

What?!  My kids roll on the floor over Mo Willems lol!  That IS blasphemy :P

 

Me and my oldest both died of boredom over Bob books  I was literally falling asleep next to him on the couch!  But that lead me to All About Reading Readers and I switched over the full program in level 2.  Love those stories! (As do many others I see upthread)

 

Another vote for Usborne early readers too.  Both the phonics readers (Frog on a Log comes to mind) and the little ones in their reading program - Very First Reading maybe?  It had a page for a more fluent reader and a page for a beginning reader to read, so they were a little more lively and interesting because of it.  Pirate Pat is the only title I can come up with offhand.

[Guest]

Thanks so much, everyone. I've ordered some and placed more on hold at library.

I know Mo Williams is having a moment, and I keep trying, but we're not the biggest fans here. I think that's some sort of blasphemy

 

Oh my word, I'm so glad it isn't just me. I just don't get it. 

[Barb_]

I am deeply grateful I never have to teach another child to read. I experience frissions of excitement every time I am reminded of that fact. For those of you still stuck in the trenches...

 

 

 

Neener neener neener

[Ellie]

I don't remember from DS but it looks like we will be mired in "Bob" land a while. I hate all these books. I mean obviously I'm not expecting Wittgenstein but there are some cute ones, namely, Fat Cat. That's just one, where is the rest? Am I missing the trove of decent super early readers? Please let me in on it! :)

 

That's the reason that Spalding doesn't recommend the use of vocabulary-controlled basal readers. :-) You go to the library and let your dc check out books that look interesting and go for it.

 

Here is a list of primary level books that might be helpful.

[Laura Corin]

I found the Oxford Reading Tree books to be bearable.  There are some free samples on this site:

 

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/starting-school/oxford-reading-tree-explained/

 

I also wrote books for Hobbes, based on his own life but using the phonics that he had learned.  I only wrote about five or six, but it piqued his interest when things started to flag.

[goldenecho]

I am basing this soley on ONE of their readers that I picked up used, but I thought the Usborn readers were really sweet.  All of them (I've heard) have a duck hidden on every page.  My son liked the story and I didn't mind the writing.  It was simple, but good. 

 

 

There's a few living books that I like for stretching reading (you'll need to help them with some words, but they'll get most of them).

 

Sheep on a Ship for the sh sound

Sheep in a Jeep for the EE sound.

James Goes Buzz Buzz for the Z sound (I don't like all the Thomas the Train readers, but that was was fun).

 

And of course, many Dr. Suess books are good. 

[vonfirmath]

I am basing this soley on ONE of their readers that I picked up used, but I thought the Usborn readers were really sweet.  All of them (I've heard) have a duck hidden on every page.  My son liked the story and I didn't mind the writing.  It was simple, but good. 

 

 

There's a few living books that I like for stretching reading (you'll need to help them with some words, but they'll get most of them).

 

Sheep on a Ship for the sh sound

Sheep in a Jeep for the EE sound.

James Goes Buzz Buzz for the Z sound (I don't like all the Thomas the Train readers, but that was was fun).

 

And of course, many Dr. Suess books are good. 

 

We have one combined book of Usborne phonics readers. Ted and Friends or something like it.  My daughter will read it and it is good from that standpoint. There are no words that become stumbling blocks - but she rarely chooses it. She seems to prefer Dick and Jane.

[ReadingMama1214]

I agree that Dr. Seuss is excellent. Although many are written at a 1st/2nd grade level. My daughter is seuss obsessed.

[PeachyDoodle]

We ran into the same problem here. And why does it seem that there's such a huge leap between the CVC readers and the so-called "easy readers"?

 

That said, Progressive Phonics has worked great for us. It's really our primary curriculum at this point. Also seconding Dick and Jane and Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series -- ds was literally in hysterics at We Are In A Book. (Curious for those who are Willems-averse: Are you Seuss fans? Because I can tolerate Willems, but put me within a quarter-mile of Seuss and I develop a twitch!)

 

I also found this list helpful: List of Easy Readers That Are Actually Easy. See Me Run was a big hit here. It's actually very cute.

 

[Critterfixer]

I am glad I don't have to do it again--I ended up making up some of my own little stories about the bad red ant that bit and so forth. But I admit I still have a certain fondness for the first three Abeka readers.

[ReadingMama1214]

We ran into the same problem here. And why does it seem that there's such a huge leap between the CVC readers and the so-called "easy readers"?

 

That said, Progressive Phonics has worked great for us. It's really our primary curriculum at this point. Also seconding Dick and Jane and Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series -- ds was literally in hysterics at We Are In A Book. (Curious for those who are Willems-averse: Are you Seuss fans? Because I can tolerate Willems, but put me within a quarter-mile of Seuss and I develop a twitch!)

 

I also found this list helpful: List of Easy Readers That Are Actually Easy. See Me Run was a big hit here. It's actually very cute.

I found the easy readers to be too sight word heavy. My daughter was reading on a second grade level phonetically before she could easily read most of the easy readers in the library. I hate that there's such a huge leap. We've had more success with British early readers such as Usborne. They have a more solid phonics approach to early readers.

[PeachyDoodle]

I found the easy readers to be too sight word heavy. My daughter was reading on a second grade level phonetically before she could easily read most of the easy readers in the library. I hate that there's such a huge leap. We've had more success with British early readers such as Usborne. They have a more solid phonics approach to early readers.

 

That was my experience too. I actually introduced the Dolch lists just so we could move on to something beyond the most basic phonics readers, mostly for my own sanity. It turned out to work fine; in the end it has encouraged him to stretch to decode sounds he hasn't officially learned yet. I just fill in the gaps as we go, telling him the sounds he hasn't learned, and we pick up the lessons as we come to them in the phonics curriculum.

 

[Ottakee]

The I See Sam Readers.

 

www.iseesam.com and www.3rsplus.com. You can Google them and get the first set or 2 to print off for free...Or read from the computer.

 

They teach the ee (long e) right away and that opens up a lot more words 😀

[vonfirmath]

The I See Sam Readers.

 

www.iseesam.com and www.3rsplus.com. You can Google them and get the first set or 2 to print off for free...Or read from the computer.

 

They teach the ee (long e) right away and that opens up a lot more words 😀

 

I believe this is what her teacher sends home (printed out). They are certainly better than most of the leveled readers we've picked up. And she likes coloring them sometimes.