Karen at The Letterpress Project, has been hard-pressed to find a better series of Early Readers:
I find this series to be refreshingly upbeat and eventful compared to many other Early Reader books. I have reviewed a few of them previously and was delighted to recently receive another batch from Maverick Arts Publishing Ltd., this time from the pink band of guided reading capability, described as ’decodable at Letters and Sounds Phase 2’. It is good to see that their philosophy of providing well designed, inspirational picture books still underpins these ‘educational’ texts. There are two short stories in each little book, each with an emphasis on a particular letter shape plus key vocabulary, high incidence words and reinforcement activities before the story itself. The plentiful, energetic and colourful illustrations contribute to the stimulating reading experience and also leave spaces for imaginative and curious young children to ask questions. I was able to test them out with my four year old grand daughter who started school this term and she really loved them.
Learning to read can be a tricky skill to acquire and it takes many children a long time to become confident. Reading books used in schools and sent home for reinforcement are much more interesting than they ever used to be even though many of is learnt using the tedious ‘Janet and John‘ books and similar series where nothing remarkable ever happened. Some schemes are better than others and so I would strongly recommend trying this new series of books to help to make it an enjoyable experience.