Archive for the ‘Fiction’ Category

Book review: The Number Devil

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Author:Andrew  Rich
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 8 and up
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 8 and up
Genre:educational fiction
Year of publication:1997

I absolutely love the book, Andrew Rich, a young reader, tells us, "I absolutely love the book, The Number Devil : A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Rotraut Susanne Berner (Illustrator), Michael Henry Heim (Translator). I'm learning so much from it. It starts out easy, but then it's really big and new and hard!!!"

There's also a DVD:

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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Number Devil, The

Book review: Little Bear Books (series)

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Adventures of a young bear and his mom, who is always right.

Very beautiful illustrations in a very easy to read chapter book format.

Book review: Goodnight, Moon

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Author:Margaret Wise Brown
Reading Level (Conceptual):Learning to read
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Learning to read
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:1947

Cool pictures; not cutesy; some pretty hard words (night, air, house, everywhere for example) keep it interesting.
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Book review: Ready, Set, Read

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Author:Joanna Cole
Reading Level (Conceptual):Learning to read
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Learning to read
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:1990

A wonderful anthology of easy-to-read but not flimsy stories. The story Boris Gets a Cold is a family favorite.
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Ready, Set, Read

Book review: The Cat in the Hat

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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One of the books we liked when learning to read (and, actually, we still like to read them, although now we like to read them very fast and, sometimes, backwards).

Book review: A Fly Went By

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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A Fly Went By is in our list of books we liked when learning to read (and, actually, we still like to read them, although now we like to read them very fast and, sometimes, backwards):

  • Green Eggs and Ham
  • Angus and the Ducks
    Doesn’t rhyme so harder to memorize; funny; cool pictures; not cutesy

  • Harold and the Purple Crayon
    Doesn’t rhyme so harder to memorize; funny; cool pictures; not cutesy; some pretty hard words keep it interesting

  • A Fly Went By
  • Cat in the Hat
  • Ready, Set, Read
    A wonderful anthology of easy-to-read but not flimsy stories. The story Boris Gets a Cold is a family favorite.

  • Goodnight, Moon
    Cool pictures; not cutesy; some pretty hard words (\”night\”, \”air\”, \”house\”, \”everywhere\” for example) keep it interesting

  • Little Bear books
  • Nutshell Library by Maurice Sendak
    Very cool pictures; extremely non-cutesy. Tiny format is another draw. Can be taken anywhere.

  • The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown, Leonard Weisgard
    Doesn’t rhyme so harder to memorize; not cutesy; some pretty hard words in surprising configurations.

See also: Learning to Read.

Book review: Junie B. Jones (series)

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Grandpa strongly objects to the grammatically incorrect language used by the star and first-person narrator of this series of many volumes.

But our daughter delights in Junie’s adventures and loves reading the Junie B. books aloud, and she also enjoys observing to see adults’ reactions.

See also:

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus: Reviewed

Book review: Harold and the Purple Crayon

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Author:Crockett Johnson
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 5 and under
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 5 and under
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:1931

Doesn't rhyme so harder to memorize; funny; cool pictures; not cutesy; some pretty hard words keep it interesting
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Harold and the Purple Crayon

Book review: Green Eggs and Ham

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Author:Dr. Seuss
Reading Level (Conceptual):Learning to read
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Learning to read
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:1960
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Green Eggs and Ham

The stupendous thing about Green Eggs and Ham is that it is full of twisty sentences, each of which is slightly different, but each of which has many words similar to words in other sentences. So our daughter (thank goodness) could not memorize the whole book. And we tried to be finicky, very finicky, about her reading every single word and reading it correctly.

Another trick was to read Green Eggs and Ham backwards. Well, not invert every word. But start at the last page, read the whole page and then turn left toward the front cover rather than right toward the back cover. Messing with the logical progression does not interfere much with the meaning of the story, since it is doggerel. (And, actually, given how fussy an eater our daughter is, ending with refusal to try the proferred food is more appropriate for her than \”I will eat green eggs and ham…\”).

See also Learning to Read.

Book review: The Nutshell Library

Monday, March 13th, 2006

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Author:Maurice Sendak
Reading Level (Conceptual):Learning to read
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Learning to read
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:1962

very cool pictures; extremely non-cutesy
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Nutshell Library