booksrfun.ca » Learning To Read

SpongeBob Squarepants The Halloween Scare -By Steven Banks

Tracy — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:49:11 +0000

I just don’t get what is so great about SpongeBob, but my son just thinks he is great.

This book is about how SpongeBob does not want to be scared this Halloween, but wants to be the person doing the scaring. He wants to be a ghost, and at first he looks more like a mattress than a ghost. He gets Patrick to shave his head into a round shape, and the fun continues from there.

My son (who is 3) wants me to read this book over and over. He loves the last page where SpongeBob brain is popping out and it scares everyone. I think it is the gross factor that my boy loves.

It is a Ready to Read Level 2 book.

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Make Way For Tooth Decay – by Bobbi Katz

Tracy — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:25:33 +0000

My daughter brought this book home from school today. She thought it was funny and even though she had read it all ready, wanted me to read it to her again.

It is a rhyming book about the bacteria that live in your mouth and how they want you to eat candy and not brush your teeth. That is about all it talks about.

It is a fun book with fun pictures. It is factual. The only problem I have with the book is it does not clearly say that the bacteria causes cavities, which are bad, and that flossing, brushing, etc. are a good way to keep teeth healthy.

If I was a dentist I would not put this book in my office.

As a parent who reads to my child I would say the book is ok, as long as you make sure they understand that tooth decay IS bad and how to prevent it.

Scholastic Reader Level 3

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Freckleface Strawberry – by Julianne Moore

Tracy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:45:39 +0000

A cute book by a famous freckleface.

Feckleface strawberry is tired of people bugging her about her freckles, she wants rid of them. She tries hard too. She decides if she can’t make her freckles go away she will hide. In the end she decides, “who cares about having a million freckles when you have a million friends.”

Personally, I have lots of freckles. I figure my daughter might too, and that is why I picked up this book. When I was young I never met anyone with as many freckles as me. I was always fascinated by magazines that had pictures of people with freckles. I know this book would have been a bit of a comfort to me as a kid, knowing that I was not alone.

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David Goes To School – By David Shannon

Tracy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:36:30 +0000

David is a mischievous boy, who always seems to find trouble. This time David finds trouble at school. He chews gum in class, forgets to come in from recess, gets in a food fight, forgets to wait his turn… you get the picture. For some reason I always feel sorry for David. I guess I think he is misunderstood.

This is one in the series of David books. I believe the first book is entitled “No, David”.

Very distinctive art work. David may look a little scary to some children. Very few worlds on each page, which may be great for children learning to read. The words are written like that of a child’s, and written on lined paper (like at school).

My kids love David’s adventures, and it has been an opportunity to talk about rules at school, and how does it feel when someone does (whatever David is doing in the book).

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The Christmas Penguin – by Mary Packard

Tracy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:00:33 +0000

Rollie the penguin writes a note to Santa asking to have an opportunity to fly. Santa does come on Christmas night to take Rollie for a ride in his sleigh. Santa looses a bag of toys in the water and Rollie is able to use the abilities he has to help Santa.

Nice story about appreciating who you are and the abilities you have.

This is a level 1 Scholastic Reader.

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Are You My Mother? – by P.D. Eastman

Tracy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:41:45 +0000

Great classic book.

A baby bird hatches while his mother is out getting food. The little bird then wanders around, meeting various animals and things, trying to figure out if they are his mother. Eventually he finds his mother with a little help.

I used this book to discuss what animal or thing is on each page, and is the animal/thing the bird’s mother?

For early readers; an example page: “He did not know what his mother looked like. He went right by her. He did not see her.”

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Never Take A Shark To The Dentist (and other things not to do) – by Judi Barrett

Tracy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:16:59 +0000

I picked this book up at the library thinking it would be a fun story. There really was no story, and it went WAY over my 3 year olds head. eg. “Never go shopping with a centipede.” and “Never hold hands with a lobster.”

The book never tells you why you should not do these things. That is a downfall for a smaller kid, but might work well for and older child who can look at the pictures and try to figure out why you might not want to take a giraffe to the movies.

Really fun, colourful pictures.

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The Magic School Bus Fights Germs – by Kate Egan

Tracy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:28:45 +0000

This is a level 2 book in the Scholastic Reader series.

My daughter (6 yrs. old) is a science nut, and loves this series. I love them too, as it really fun way to get kids interested in science.

This book is almost 30 pages long. An example of one page is ” Wanda is at the nurse’s office. The nurse looks at Wanda’s throat. “It doesn’t look good,’ she says. “You need to see a doctor.”

Each page has the children in the story saying things in cartoon style, with bubbles over their heads. There are also little reports that the children in the book have written. eg. What Are Antibodies? by Tim.

Great books for kids who are curious how things work.

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