#reading level 1

The one and only board book I bought for my son during his infancy was Leslie Patricelli's Blankie. By the time my third child arrived (seven years after my second and eleven years after my first) my husband and I decided to limit our purchases of baby related items in the interest of frugality and use. All baby clothing and gear that was not horribly stained would be leaving our house as donations. With number one and number two, to a lesser degree, our rational was always, "Well, the next kid can use it and we will get our money's worth..." Hardest for me, this has meant the curtailing of my children's book purchases, and the first place I had to learn to cut back was board books. Thus the one board book. Of course this wasn't his ONLY board book - we had leftovers from number one and two and he received a few as gifts, so his infancy was not a totally illiterate one.

Leslie Patricelli is a master of the board book format. Her first six books are a bite-sized visits to planet baby and extremely entertaining for parents to read. Like Eric Carle and Lucy Cousins, her artwork is full of bright colors and simple black lines that make her illustrations pop. You can guess the plot of each book by the title, but that doesn't make them any less readable. The baby star and narrator of the books is mischievous enough (without being a bad influence) that there are laugh out loud moments that can also be subtle teaching moments by focusing on one of the first concepts babies learn - opposites. Besides the obvious opposites, Patricelli sometimes has her text tell a story that is the opposite of her illustrations, like in Blankie when the baby says, "Blankie does everything with me...watches the same shows I do (over and over again), plays with kitty. and has time outs." "Playing with kitty," for baby, means covering kitty with Blankie and pulling on his tail, which is followed by a tearful time-out. While Patricelli does not shy away for the learning curve of toddlerhood that can make for frequent reprimands and time-outs, she also always includes those moments of sweetness that make it all worthwhile. The tantrums are always followed by love and hugs. Leslie Patricelli must have kids, or else a very intense memory of her infancy, because her books are vivid pictures of the day to day mundanities of babyhood that are also often, paradoxically, the bright spots of this time.

Leslie Patricelli has also written three picture books, the first two, The Birthday Box and Higher! Higher!, are definitely extensions of her series of board books. While they do have plots, their story lines are short enough that they are a great step up from board books for babies who have an expanding attention span. The Birthday Box takes a familiar theme - the baby who plays with the box more than the gift inside - and adds a bit of creative imagination for a great book. Higher! Higher!, imagines what a little girl can see as her obliging dad pushes her higher and higher...

Before I say anything about the paperback edition of The Cat on the Mat is Flat, I need to thank Andy Griffiths, Terry Denton and, most of all, the geniuses at Square Fish an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, for this unique book. I have been waiting for a book like this for years now, and here it is! What kind of book is it? It is an easy-to-read, first grade level book that LOOKS like an higher level chapter book as opposed to the raft of large format beginning reader books that kids reading at this level are relegated to. As a book seller I have noticed that new readers, especially those who have older siblings, want to read a book that looks like what the big kids are reading. Until now, there was almost nothing that fit this bill. The Andy Shane series by Jennifer Richard Jacobsen, illustrations by Abby Carter, is the only representative (I have come across thus far) of a first grade reading level book that looks like a Magic Tree House or Junie B Jones book in presentation.

Although I gave this book a first grade reading level, I am confident that The Cat on the Mat is Flat can be read by a kindergardener by the end of the school year. In the tradition of Dr Seuss, this book is one long rhyme and is broken into 9 chapters. In each chapter, the majority of the words end with the same sound, such as og, at, ed, uck, il, and so on. As Pat Leach describes The Cat on the Mat is Flat in her review for the School Library Journal, "Imagine the outcome if Dr Seuss, Dav Pilkey and Lane Smith were locked in a room until they came up with a book for beginning or reluctant readers." The rhyming stories definitely have the antic feel of a book by any one of these authors and the rhymes themselves sometimes mimic those from Suess's books, though never resorting to the use of nonsense words to make a rhyme or sheer absurdity as Seuss often does. The stories are all very funny, as anyone familiar with any of Andy Griffith's other books for young readers will expect, and they all have a small amount of cartoon violence. The cat of the title story becomes flat because the rat, tired of being harassed, finds a baseball bat and gets revenge. The final story in the book, "Andy G, Terry D, the Brave Tea Lady and the Evil Bee," finds the author and illustrator (the initials of their last names conveniently rhyming with "tea" and "bee") as characters in their own book. This book is great fun, but, more than that, it will give any new reader, especially those who are competitive, a great sense of accomplishment along with a good laugh.

Dont' miss the dynamic duo's second book, 

The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow!

Author Bonny Becker and illustrator Katy MacDonald Denton introduced us to grumpy a Bear and a persistent Mouse in A Visitor for Bear, a picture book published in 2008 and winner of many awards, including the prestigious E.B. White Award given by the Association of Booksellers for Children. Bear and Mouse are back, proving that picture books can often make great reading primers as well. A Birthday for Bear is part of the excellent new beginning to read series, Candlewick Sparks, which includes the wonderful foxes, Zelda & Ivy, as well as my cat and dog favorites, Houndsley and Catina.

Tedd Arnold is the author and illustrator of two of my favorite bedtime books to read out loud, No More Water in the Tub and No More Jumping on the Bed. His plausible but ultimately fanciful stories (I know that I definitely thought there was a chance I could crash through to the downstairs when I jumped on my bed as a kid) colorful illustrations and great character names (Patty Fuzzle who was doing a puzzle) have made these books a staple in my house and at the bookstore when I do story time. Add to these the hilarious (maybe a bit more so for parent than kids) Parts, More Parts and Even More Parts in which an uninformed child thinks that belly button fluff is his stuffing coming out and boogers are his brain leaking out through his nose - really, these books are more funny than gross, I swear - and so on, and you have very respectable contribution to the world of picture books. To top it off, Arnold has a very unique illustration style that gives depth to his sometimes cartoonish characters. I always wondered how he achieved this detail which, for lack of a more eloquent word, can be described as scribbles. A visit to his website provided a step-by-step view of his intensive illustration process and an answer to the scribble question!

In 2005 Tedd Arnold began writing a series for beginning readers that has since become hugely popular. In 2006, Hi! Fly Guy, the first book in the series, was given the Theodore Geisel Award honor award the year that the Amercian Library Association first gave out the award. This award recognizes literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading and is sort of the Caldecott award for beginning reader books. The Fly Guy books are broken into chapters but are shorter and easier to read than than the Frog and Toad or Poppleton books. These are genuinely first grade reading level books that are interesting and funny.

The premise of the Fly Guy books is simple but bottomless when it comes to silly situations. In the first book, a boy named Buzz goes hunting for a pet to enter into the "Best Pet" competition. He inadvertently captures a fly and is about to release him because he is not a good pet when the fly says, "Buzz." Convinced that the fly can say his name and is therefore a very smart pet, Buzz takes him home. His parents try to convince Buzz that a fly is a PEST not a PET, but Fly Guy proves his intelligence once again. The same thing happens at the Pet Show where the judges must admit that Buzz is a pet, not a pest and he is awarded the "Smartest Pet" prize. Visual humor and a tiny bit of the "ick" factor abound in these books. One of my favorite pictures from the first book is when Buzz feeds Fly Guy. He takes a whole hot dog, bun, mustard and all, and shoves it into the jar where he has been keeping Fly Guy, who is ecstatic. Other Fly Guy adventures include playing hide-and-seek in a garbage can, visiting the lunchroom at Buzz's school, going out for the football team, tagging along on a family road trip and, yes, being swallowed by an old lady - in this case, Buzz's grandma. Some of the books in this series are available in paperback, however, the hardcover Scholastic editions are a pretty reasonable $5.99.

I know, the two amphibians REALLY worth knowing are Arnold Lobel's brilliant creations, Frog and Toad. However, I think there is enough room in the world of children's literature for a few more frogs on the shelf...

A Froggy Fable , John Lechner's first pictue book, tells the story of a frog who is frustrated by the changes going on all around him. Without giving the whole story away, I can say that, in the end, he discovers that some changes aren't so bad after all. Simply told and elegantly voiced, A Froggy Fable works on many levels without being didactic once. I have never been a fan of children's books that claim to teach a lesson, celebrity authored picture books and The Berenstain Bears being at the top of my list, but John Lechner's book, just like Arnold Lobel's, can be used to "teach a lesson" - if you want it to. And, if you don't want it to, it's a great read out loud and one you will never tire of sharing.

John Lechner is also the author of the excellent forest based kind-of comic book Sticky Burr series as well as his second picture book, also set in a forest, the magical Clever Stick which, like A Froggy Fable, has a subtle lesson woven into a wonderful story.

On the surface, Algy Craig Hall's marvelous Fine As We Are reads like another parable to help children cope with change - especially the change brought about by the arrival of a new sibling. But really, I think the same important ideas that John Lechner presents in A Froggy Fable are also in action in Fine As We Are. We are all capable of learning to accept changes and change can be a good thing. It seems simple, but for little people who see the world in concrete, black and white divisions (read: happy as a clam or pitching a major hissy fit) I think that this concept bears repeating in as many soothing ways as possible and Algy Hall's book, in addition to fitting in with my frog theme, does just that.

Hall's book, his first for children, begins with a very happy Little Frog and his loving mother, and I have to tell you, the depictions of affection between Little Frog and his mother are very sweet. I don't know how Hall manages to convey such love with simple line drawings of frogs, but he does. One day, as mom and Little Frog sit on a rock by the pond she asks him (as most of us foolishly do at some point in our parenting careers), "Would you like a baby brother or a sister?" Little Frog responds, "No. We're just fine as we are." Mom begins to look worried, stricken even, and the reader notices the multitude of frog eggs floating gently at the surface of the water just beneath the rock upon which this conversation takes place. There is no turning back now, and the illustrations of the gaggle of joyously jumping froglets is enchantingly rendered, as are all the illustrations in this book, but these especially so. The pictures I could find do not do Hall's art justice at all.

Mom seems pleased with this hoard of newcomers, so Little Frog tries to adapt. However, they follow him everywhere, are really noisy and, worst of all, eat his breakfast before Little Frog has a chance to. "They only want to be like you," mom says, trying to get Little Frog to see the other side of the situation. "But it's not fair!" Little Frog responds. Mom can't hear him amidst the noise of the babies, though. Hall captures the reality of sibling rivalry and parenting more than one child sublimely. That he himself is a parent as well one of many siblings who grew up in a large family is evident in the precision with which he tells his tale. When Little Frog finally finds ways to love his siblings (playing Leap Frog, naturally) he says to his mom, "We are the biggest family in the world." She answers cautiously, "Do you think we are too big?" "No," says Little Frog, "We're just fine as we are." And this book is more than just fine as it is, it is worth buying and reading over and over again to each and every one of your children.

Stick is the first picture book by Steve Breen, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist (in 1998 and in 2009), and author of the strip Grand Avenue. First of all, I have to tell you how gorgeous this book is - both painterly and expressive by turns. The layout of Stick is evocative of David Wiesner's books and, like his Caldecott winners Tuesday, Flotsam and The Three Pigs, it is largely without words and needs to be added to my list of books in my article How to Read a Book Without Words (Out Loud).

Mary Ann Hoberman is a genius with rhymes. This may explain why, on the heels of Jack Prelutsky, another great children's poet, she is the new Children's Poet Laureate through 2010! She also happens to be the author of one of my all time favorite picture books about a harried mother trying to please all of her wonderful, deserving children, Seven Silly Eaters, illustrated by the incomparably magnificent Marla Frazee. And, she is the author of the classic National Book Award winning A House is a House for Me, published in 1974 and illustrated by Betty Fraser. Hoberman's You Read to Me, I'll Read to You is an ingenious series of rhyming picture books for two readers, to be read out loud, similar to Paul Fleischman's Newbery Award winning book, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, but for beginning readers. A portion of the profits from the book are donated to Literacy Volunteers of America, which makes perfect sense since you can't read these books alone.

Purple paragraphs on the left, orange paragraphs on the right and blue in the middle signal who's turn it is to read the rhyme, the blue being for both voices together. Hoberman begins her fairy tale book with an introduction to the style of writing and tips on how to read, as well as suggestion to grown-ups that they make sure children are familiar with the original versions of the fairy tales inside before reading as Hoberman makes some playful changes. These are very short fairy tales in which some two, some four pages, in which "wolves are tamed, trolls are transformed and peas are triumphant." A poem introduces the book and then eight fairy tales follow. The Three Bears, The Princess and the Pea, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Three Pigs, Little Red Hen and the Grain of Wheat and The Three Billy Goats Gruff are all turned into rhyming, two voiced poems in this clever book. The collection ends with a short poem that encourages children to seek out the original fairy tales and read them on their own.

Hoberman's rhymes and retellings are superb! As Child magazine wrote when they awarded it one of the Best Children's Book of 2004, "The content is as smart as the format with fresh takes on old plots." This is so true. Hoberman manages to end each story with friendship and cheer, the characters saying to each other, in one way or another, "And when our story is all through, You'll read to me and I'll read to you!" Since I discovered this series of books well after my second child was reading, I have not had the chance to read them out loud with a young friend. I suspect kids love them, though. The rhymes are hard to resist and you feel a little bit like an actor as you read out loud with someone else. Since I think I have a few years to wait before my youngest is ready to read out loud with me, I can't wait to give these books a test drive with my niece the next time I see her!

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa is a series of beginning reader books that any horse loving girl is sure to devour. These truly are first grade reading level books - there are no contractions and key words are repeated frequently. If you can teach your reader to sight-read "cowgirl" "Kate," and "cocoa," she'll be set. There aren't too many other long, odd words in the books. There are four chapters in each book, with each chapter telling a different story. These books are similar to the Poppleton in that they divided into chapter/stories and the words are fairly simple.

In the first book we meet Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa, a horse who talks, and learn how he was named. Cocoa is the color of chocolate with a mane the color of caramel, Cowgirl Kate's two favorite candies. We also learn that Cocoa loves to eat. But, as much as he loves to eat, he cannot wait for surprises. When Kate brings him his breakfast, a bucket of oats, and a surprise in a box, he kicks over the bucket of oats, rips open the package and takes a bite out of his surprise. It does not taste too good, and it doesn't look to good on Cocoa either, since he bit a hole in the front of it. Kate tells Cocoa, "Next time you should eat your breakfast and not your surprise." Kate plays Frog to Cocoa's Toad. She talks Cocoa through his loneliness and jealousy when Kate goes off to school in the fall and brings home a new friend. She convinces Cocoa that horseshoes are better than cowboy boots when he won't let the ferrier near him. And, it is Kate who convinces Cocoa, the cowhorse, to help her find Molly's calf before they play hide-and-seek.

Upstairs Mouse, Downstairs Mole is dedicated to, "Friends of Frog and Toad." And, while it is very much in the style of Frog and Toad, with two friends from the same species (rodent, not amphibian) who are thoughtful homebodies, neither has the neurosis of Toad nor the wisdom of Frog. Nevertheless, this is a great series of books that is perfect for a hungry new reader.

Mouse and Mole live in a tree. Mouse is upstairs in the trunk, Mole is downstairs under the roots. As they go about their days the encounter differences and conflicts but resolve them with care and understanding. Wong Herbert Yee, who is also the author and illustrator of the terrific Fireman Small picture books, draws rodents reminiscent of Kevin Henkes' Lilly and friends. Like his story, his illustrations are quiet, homey and simple, but not simplistic. And, the stories are funny and playful. Mishaps ensue when darkness-loving Mole visits Mouse's sunny kitchen and when Mouse gets a few bumps while dining at Mole's on lightly fried and raw worms. But, they each, in their own turn, realize that they are different creatures with different likes and dislikes and end the story by exchanging gifts to help out during subsequent visits - sunglasses and candles. In the last story in the book, Mouse and Mole have a grand time trying to row a boat with one oar and floating along in the rain.