Best of All the Magical Mix That's You by Smriti Halls and Chaaya Prabhat

 

2025      

           

This book shows how we are all made up from what comes to us at birth and what we experience later.  In particular it show what happens to children from mixed-race parents.

It is particularly upbeat.  The topic may be a little complex for the early reader.  

As with picture books for younger readers, the pictures tell more of the story. In fact, much more of the story is told in the pictures than in the text. The pictures are very colourful.

The story is told in rhyming couplets that work well. The text is integrated into the pictures.

The text uses a simple font and has simple 'a's and 'g's.

Most of the text is in single lines though in the few places where there is more it tends to be centred.   

There is a short note form the author at the end of the book.  

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Our Wartime Street by Fiz Osbonre and Katie Kear

2025      

This book provides information about:

·         How World War II started

·         Evacuation

·         The Blitz

·         The RAF around the world

·         War in London and Liverpool

·         Air raid shelters – four sorts

·         Wartime food

·         Schooling during the war

·         Getting by

·         Children helping out

·         Wartime clothing

·         Women during the war,

·         Families during the war

·         The ending of the war

·         Remembering the war

 Note, the Holocaust is only mentioned in passing and in the context of liberation.

As with picture books for younger readers, the pictures tell more of the story.

The text uses a smile font but has difficult 'a's and 'g's.

The text is ragged right.  

There is a very short glossary at the end of the book 

Find your copy here  

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing 

Natascha's Story by Gill and Ashleigh James

 2024           

 

Natascha is forever falling off the piano and getting sucked up by the vacuum cleaner.

She is the smallest of a set of Russian dolls and envies her bigger sisters as they have more detail on them.

The family acquire a new vacuum cleaner and this time it takes Natascha to another world where she has an amazing adventure.  This seems very much like what happens in The Wizard of Oz. So is it all a dream and related to the story the mummy is reading to young Alfred? It’s left to the reader to decide.

She finds herself being sucked up by the new even more powerful vacuum cleaner and then returned to the piano to join her sisters. Young Alfred remarks that she has lace on her dress, pretty shoes and a tiny bracelet that he’s never noticed before.

The book is 53 pages long. The text is double spaced and ragged right. It uses a simple font that has easy ‘a’s and ‘g’s. There over twenty illustrations that both add to and clarify the story. 

 

Find your copy here 

 

 

      

Sigrid is Unique by Lotta Lundh and Nils Melander

2024           

Sigrid is indeed unique but she needs to work out why

She likes her room in a certain order. She finds it difficult to sit still in class.  She likes to read on her own. She’s good at drawing. There are only a few places she feels comfortable visiting. She doesn’t cope with noise well.  She isn’t all that comfortable with other people. There are only certain foods she likes. She needs help with many tasks that other people find easy. Her own thoughts bother her sometimes. She is very kind.

Is it any one of these qualities that makes her unique or is it all of them?

This book goes to great lengths to describe Sigrid’s predicament.

The illustrations work here as they would in a picture book for younger children: they show more of the story.

The text is set ragged right which makes it easier for an emergent reader. It also uses a font that resembles print and has simple ‘a’s and ‘g’s.   

There is information at the end of the book about the writer and the Illustrator.      

 

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We Don’t Eat This by Sue Graves and Alan Brown

 

2020    

emergent reader, ages 5-7,  lower primary, animals, Graves  Sue, Brown Alan, Reading Champion, Green   

Jack and Ben are on holiday at a farm. The farmer becomes ill and the two boys volunteer to feed the animals. However they give the wrong food to the animals.  The farmer has to come and help them to get it right.  

We have an engaging story here and also some hints about caring for farm animals.

This is Green Reading Champion book which the publisher designates as being for Age 5+ and having approximately 450 words.  “There is now more text on each page, than on earlier levels, with some pages having no illustration at all. (However, in this book there are pictures on every page. )This gives the child opportunity to read like a reader across longer passages of text. You will see that where there are pictures, they may only depict one aspect of what is going on in the story, as the plots become more complex. Talking to the child after they have read to ensure they have understood is important here as the stories become longer and more detailed.”

 

“Green” is important. This shows where the child is on all reading schemes and a parent and teacher can be confident of this book is suitable for a “green” reader.  

 

The story is 65 pages long but the book has four pages of other text at the end. The text is formatted ragged right. The font is large and plain with simple ‘a’s and ‘g’s.

Illustrations mainly reinforce meaning though there are a few instances of extra story in the some pictures.  The pictures are two dimensional in comic book style, something the child also needs to   learn how to decipher.    

At the end of the book a series of picture invites the reader to retell the story. There are also two pages of notes for parents or guardians.

Find on Amazon

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.