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Five Faves: Simple Easy Readers

It can be an overwhelming experience trying to teach a child to read. Where do you start? What are the best resources? How do I get my child to want to read on their own? For anyone who has ever asked these questions, here are some of my favorite simple easy readers. Books with only a few words per page. Books that are well-illustrated, funny, and exciting and will make kids want to pick up the next one to try to read on their own. The Letter Setters in Bop! By Ethan Long New York: Holiday House, 2025. Easy Reader. This book, the first in a new series (the second one is also out now!) follows a canine crew in an adventure through town as they try to follow around their bone. What is unbelievably cool about this book is that it tells a story with only one word per page while using a word that changes by one letter on each spread. So the word can changes to ran, which changes to rap, and that trend continues throughout the book. Ethan Long somehow manages to tell a cohesive story with a ...
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Review: The Amazing Generation

The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World Written by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price  Illustrated by Cynthia Yuan Cheng New York: Rocky Pond Books, 2025. Informational. 226 pages.  In a kid-friendly adaptation of his best-selling book, The Anxious Generation , Jonathan Haidt teams up with Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up With Your Phone , to bring the power of good information directly to the hands of those that this issue affects most directly — kids on the cusp of getting their own smartphones. The book presents information about the drawbacks of having a smartphone and social media too soon in clear and easy-to-understand language, with eye-catching graphics and pop-outs. Throughout the book, quotes from real teens and young adults, called screen "rebels" by the authors, emphasize the points the authors are trying to make. Fictional characters are featured throughout in a graphic novel story, which further emphasizes the po...

Display: Love your community

  All are Welcome Written by Alexandra Penfold Illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. Picture book. Illustrations and simple, rhyming text introduce a school where diversity is celebrated and songs, stories, and talents are shared. Includes fold-out pages.—Publisher Love the World By Todd Parr New York, NY ; Boston, MA : Little, Brown and Company, 2017. Picture book. Whether looking at one's own nose and toes, helping others, or exploring the world, there is always something to love.—Publisher Peace Train By Cat Stevens New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2021. Picture book. Readers are invited to hop on the Peace train and join its growing group of passengers who are all ready to unite the world in peace and harmony. Featuring the timeless lyrics of Cat Stevens's legendary song and illustrations by New York Times bestselling artist Peter H. Reynolds, this hopeful picture book inspires tolerance and love for people of all cult...

De la hora del cuento: La letra "S"

  Cuentos ¡DeslĆ­zate, serpiente! Por Shelby Alinsky Washington, D.C. : National Geographic, 2019. FĆ”cil. "¡Conoce a distintos tipos de serpientes! Descubre dónde viven y quĆ© hacen. Usando herramientas interactivas, como el Ć”rbol de vocabulario y la actividad final, los niƱos aprenden vocabulario en grupos conceptuales - lo cual les ayuda a encontrar conexiones entre palabras y ampliar su comprensión del mundo." --Editor Cuentitos BebĆ© Beluga Por Ashley Wolff   New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2025. PequeƱo libro ilustrado. "AcompaƱa a esta adorable ballenita en uno de sus divertidos dĆ­as en el mar, que culmina cuando madre y bebĆ© se unen en un cĆ”lido arrullo a la hora de dormir. Bellamente ilustrada, Ć©sta es la canción ideal para toda una generación de nuevos lectores. El canto refuerza las destrezas del habla y la audición aĆŗn en los niƱos mĆ”s pequeƱos, lo que hace de BebĆ© beluga un instrumento perfecto para un temprano aprendizaje. Esta nueva edición bilingüe da vida a una ...

From Story Time: The Letter "S"

Preschool Time Sleepy Sheepy Written by Lucy Ruth Cummins Illustrated by Pete Oswald New York: Flamingo Books, 2023. Picture Book. Illustrations and simple, rhyming text follow Sleepy Sheepy, who despite his name is not sleepy. --Editor Preschool Time The Silver Shadow Written by Mariesa Dulak Illustrated by Alea Marley Somerville, MA: Walker Books, 2025. Picture Book. While searching for wonders in the tide pools, a little girl discovers a silver shark, stranded in the shallows--sleek and quick, but still just a baby. The sun is high and the tide is out. How will the shark find its way home? --Editor Toddler Time Silly Sally By Audrey Wood San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. Picture Book. A rhyming story of Silly Sally, who makes many friends as she travels to town--backwards and upside down. --Editor Book Babies Birds By Jill McDonald New York: Doubleday, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, 2017. Board Book Explores the types of birds that can be found in everyda...

5 Faves Highlighting Characters with Disabilities

Books that highlight characters with disabilities help young readers see the world through many different perspectives. They affirm that there is no single “right” way to move, think, communicate, or experience life. These stories center the disabled characters as full, complex people—friends, family members, and problem-solvers—rather than focusing only on challenges. By sharing everyday moments, emotions, and relationships, these books build empathy and understanding for all readers. Most importantly, they offer representation that allows disabled children to see themselves reflected with respect, joy, and possibility. Signs of Friendship By Annie Silvestro New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025 Signs of Friendship explores how friendships change when new people are introduced. Two close friends who communicate using sign language must work through feelings of jealousy and misunderstanding when a new neighbor joins their world. With patience and honest communi...

Review: The Lions' Run

The Lions' Run By Sara Pennypacker New York: Balzer + Bray, 2026. Fiction. 288 pgs. 13-year-old Lucas Dubois grew up in the abbey orphanage in the French village of Lamorlaye. Even as a young boy, Lucas never had a lot of friends. Called petit Ć©clair by the other abbey boys for his soft disposition, Lucas rescues a litter of kittens from being drowned at the beginning of the novel. It's World War II, Lamorlaye is under Nazi occupation and food is scarce. But still, Lucas can't bear to see the kittens killed so he sneaks them away to a deserted stable where he meets Alice, a wealthy British girl who is hiding her racehorse from the Nazis. Meeting Alice, who is defiant of the Nazi orders, and Lucas' own small act of resistance, saving the kittens, emboldens him to take another risk -- Lucas becomes a messenger for the French resistance. His job as a greengrocer delivery boy enables him to move through the village freely, including accessing the Lebensborn clinic where tee...