It’s a beginning reader, with controlled and repetitive text, intended for beginning readers. The sentences are intentionally short, with a simple structure, and the danger in these type of books is trying to not let things get too stilted. Often authors will use rhythm or rhyme to avoid this. Instead, these books depend on the combination of illustrations with the text to give them humor and personality that lend voice to the short sentences.

This is a very real and relatable story. Set in New York City, it tells what it’s like when a beloved dog gets spooked and runs off, and the worry and efforts its family goes through in hope of bringing it home. Besides describing the family’s work to make and post fliers and conduct searches, it shows how the whole neighborhood community came together to help. Spoiler alert: after being missing for two nights and three days, there is indeed a happy ending, and a celebration including all those who cared. I particularly like the people in these illustrations: though drawn with a somewhat cartoonish style, they each include details that give them personality, making them seem very real and believable.

It’s a compilation of short stories, all with the same main characters. Each story focuses on introducing some “big word,” giving it context, along with a little side note actually defining it. The final story is one that incorporates all five of the words introduced in the previous stories. I wouldn’t say the stories show extreme literary merit, but they do the job they are setting out to do: introducing new vocabulary words within a context that goes beyond a plain definition.

I’m generally a fan of Kathleen Krull’s work anyway, and this one didn’t disappoint. She has a way of writing biographies in a very approachable manner, including lots of information while really just telling a story. I think this book is very timely these days, too, as it shares the story of someone on the forefront of the movement to empower women, and it also brings out the themes of righting the wrongs we see in our society. My whole life I’ve heard of the New Deal in conjunction with FDR, but this book showed me it wasn’t all his idea; he just agreed to back the ideas of Frances Perkins.

It’s a beautifully illustrated poem celebrating the seasons through color. Beginning with Spring, it proceeds through the seasons, focusing on a specific color attached to each season, partnered with the consistency of green throughout the year (yellow on green for spring, blue on green for summer, brown on green for autumn and white on green for winter). Between each season the text pauses for a two-page wordless spread with clues to what season comes next, offering readers an opportunity to make predictions. The illustrations are gorgeous!

I’m not saying it’s super strong on plot. It basically tells of a small group of kids who decide to fix up a derelict clock tower. But the language is fun, full of sound effects and rhyme and rhythm. And the illustrations are beautiful, showing the transformation through a lot of different perspectives. And I like that it instills in kids that notion of putting for the effort to fix problems in our community by pitching in with others. It kind of implies that three kids finished the whole job in one day by 5 o’clock quitting time, which could never really happen, but oh well. I liked it.

As beginning readers go, it’s got the repetition and rhyme that helps to make it predictable for young readers. It’s no so much a story as a list of different types of bug behavior. The cuteness of the illustrations add appeal as well as adding meaning to the limited text. For kids who get intrigued and want to know more about bug behaviors, there’s a list of facts in the back for stronger readers to read aloud with the emergent reader.

The only good things I have to say about this book are that it has a sturdy binding, and that kids like Spiderman. Other than that, I find nothing else to recommend it. I know they are making an effort to control the vocabulary as a beginning reader, and they do include repetition that might be helpful, but the language is much too stilted. We’ve learned over the years through the works of countless authors that it is possible to limit the vocabulary while still including a natural flow and rhythm to the language. We need not feed our young readers examples of poor writing.

It’s a little fish’s first day of school, and the simple text (limited to a sentence or two per page, in a large non-intimidating font) manages to capture the mix of excitement and anxiety that can hit a student on such a day. Though the text is simple, it manages to incorporate the rhythm and rhyme and repetition that are so helpful to emergent readers.

It’s got repetition and rhyme and rhythm, as good beginning readers should, along with a good story captured in the simple text. It tells of the anxieties and excitement that go along with a big competition, as well as offering a suggestion on dealing with those anxieties (close your eyes, deep breath, count to ten). And it reminds readers that coming in second is worthy of celebrating, too.