My 6 year old is starting to want to read more independently. Reading hasn’t always come easily to her, and these books have been helpful with her building her skills and truly enjoying the experience. We go to these books over and over again so she can build her skills.
Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss and illustrated by Roy McKie is one of the first that she brought home from school and wanted to read 100% independently. The book uses mostly high frequency words so she is familiar with them from kindergarten, and others she’s able to sound out or figure out from the images, or a combination thereof. It’s also silly, which she loves, and my younger kid likes having it read to her, creating the cutest ever story times in our home.
You likely know that we worship Mo Willems. You’ll see him again here if you scroll down! The Pigeon Wants a Puppy is funny, teaching not only decoding skills but also fluency, through the Pigeon’s tone. My daughter uses the images and the text features to understand how to say the words, building her skills and our enjoyment of the book.
Elephant and Piggie are such hilarious and uplifting characters that we devour all their stories. That’s why we had to recommend the Elephant and Piggie Biggie here! It’s 5 of our favorite stories in one binding, and my kid feels really cool carrying around a huge book that she can read 100% herself. The stories and images are so funny- check out Elephant Gerald’s eyes in the “I will try” page and tell me you’ve not had that same reaction to a kid recently. Kids and adults alike will love this one.
What This Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig by Emma J. Virján is a bit more explicit in its use of word patterns for new readers, and that was really helpful for my kid. She was able to read a few words and then use those bases for many others in the book, which really added to her confidence. This book is also funny (I mean, a pig in a wig is enough to make me grin) and has a message about treating friends well, also. Win win!
The Step Into Reading level 1 books are great to build interest and confidence in reading. There are a ton of different books to choose from within that series. We capitalized on a dinosaur phase with Dancing Dinos go to School, which would also be a great back-to-school choice, and Big Snowman, Little Snowman, which focuses on opposites and features Princesses Elsa and Anna- perfect for a kid in the throes of Frozen 2.
We hope your early readers enjoy learning to read as much as we do with these great titles!