New Readers Should Start Right Here (Oxford Reading Tree: Stage 1+: My Dad - Monica Hughes)

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	Oxford Reading Tree: Stage 1+: My Dad - Monica Hughes
Date:	26/05/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Suitable for Total Beginners, Affordable Offers Available

Disadvantages: None

The Snapdragons series supports the Oxford Reading Tree so you know it's going to be decent quality before you even buy it. The RRP of these books is £2.99 each, and Amazon are selling the set of six Level 1 books for £13.99. I got a much better deal by purchasing them from the Book People online though. I paid £12.99 and got all six books from level 1 series along with levels 2 and 3, so 18 books in total.

The titles in this series are simple but varied, with something slightly different in each book. All the books are written in simple sentences using words and illustrations that young children should find easy to get to grips with. These books are recommended for children aged four to six years and the idea is that a child should be able to progress through to levels 2 then 3 quite quickly after finishing this level.

All the books include a little bit in the front that helps parents to get the most out of reading these books with their kids. There's a step-by-step guide for those who want it, on how best to use these books to get the most out of them. If you've never taught a child to read before, I could see this being really useful.

The books are:

Breakfast, is a story that practices the words "I, went, to, see, the, said" and follows a young lad feeding animals their breakfast on a farm.

Hello Grandma, is a story that features an Asian family meeting their Grandma at the airport. The story practices the words "we, a, went, on, the" and includes the foreign word "nanni-jii" in one of the speech bubbles to introduce the idea of some people having more than one language.

My Dad, is a book about a fireman Dad getting dressed. It practices the words "Dad, on, a, big, up" and is a really simple book to start learning to read with.

My Dog Needs a Bone, practices the words "I, my, dog, a" and is extremely simple for a total beginner to have a go at. There are lots of phonetically spelled words in this, and lots of easy repetitions too.

Going Up and Down, is another really simple book that's our grandson's firm favourite. I think he just likes the fact that he can identify with how much fun the little boy at the play park is having! This book practices the words "I, am, going, look, at, me, and".

Where is Baby? is a story that practices "I, can, see, on, the, is" and is another extremely simple book to follow for early readers. We go through the book finding simple clues that baby has left behind, such as jam on the bears and jam on the stairs, and eventually we find baby asleep on the rug at the end of the book. It's a simple book that leads to a sense of accomplishment and reward at the end, and even a total beginner can share in this.

This is the perfect place to start if your child is around four to six years old and looking to start learning to read. These books are suitable for absolute beginners, and will have young children reading by themselves in no time at all. I particular recommend that they're bought as part of the set including the next levels so that children have something to progress onto as soon as they're ready. Although the Step Into Reading books have been more popular with the grandson due to their using popular characters, I would have to say that Snapdragons are the slightly superior series for a beginner.

Summary: Perfection for Beginners