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Usborne are publishing a new series of books on 26 March – their Very First Reading books, specifically developed for young children learning to read.
The scheme is based on synthetic phonics and is designed to work alongside many of the reading methods that are used in school. The 15 books in the series follow a logical progression which allows children to build their confidence as they practise blending the sounds they have learned in school.
Each book has been designed so that parents can read one page of text and their child the next – a really clever idea, which allows the stories to unfold quickly – adding to your child’s overall sense of achievement.
We asked mum Anna B to take a look at the first book in the series, Pirate Pat. Read on to see how she got on…
“My daughter Daisy is half-way though her reception year and is bringing home books from the Oxford Reading Tree reading scheme, Stage 1+, so I was interested to see how this book would compare. At the back of this book (and in all of the titles in the series), are guidance notes for parents, which I read through beforehand.
Initially it appeared very simple, with only three or four one-syllable words for her to read. Parents read the first three lines, and then your child reads the last line. Pirate Pat introduces eight new letters - s a t p i n m d.
Daisy loved the fact that we were both reading it together, and even though I thought it looked a bit simple, it actually meant that she wasn’t put off by the appearance of any long words, which sometimes happens with her school books.
An example of a sentence for her to read would be ‘it is a man’ or ’sit Sam sit’. The story was lively and the rhythm and the rhyme of the lines encouraged Daisy to finish her bit. At the end of the book there are some good games to play which helped reinforce what she had read, e.g. finding rhyming words, or matching the correct word to a picture.
In the few days that we have had the book we have probably read it a good dozen times. Daisy enjoyed it and seemed very motivated by it – plus the additional bonus was that it was also more interesting for me to be involved as well. Having read this one, I would certainly look at other books in the series.”
Find out more…
All fifteen books in Usborne’s Very First Reading series are due to be published on 26th March 2010, priced £4.99 each (a boxset of all fifteen titles will also be available). The Parents’ Guide to Usborne Very First Reading will be available with any purchase from the series, and is included in the Usborne Very First Reading boxset.
For more information on the series, plus extensive online resources visit www.usborne.com/veryfirstreading
Win a complete set of all 15 books in our fantastic Very First Reading giveaway!
Tags: children's books, children's literacy, learning to read, synthetic phonics, tips to get kids reading, Usborne, Usborne Very First Reading books
