Beginners Books

my little sister was OBSESSED with bobby's zoo...and memorized the entire book. we must have had it checked out from the library for months. buy this book for your child..it will quickly become a classic favorite!

After checking this book out of the library for exactly one week, my kids (age 2) both haven't stopped talking about it. This is a must have for any child who loves to read!

Four weeks ago we checked this book (along with two other Rookie Reader books) out of the library for our 3 1/2 year old daughter. She loved them! Within two weeks she had them memorized to the point where she could read all three books cover to cover. Lately, she has been pointing to each word as she reads them and recognizes about 25% of the words in the word list in the back of the book (another wonderful feature).

An adorable story about Preston the Masked Avenger who sneaks throughout the town scaring his neighbors with his bellowing "Boo!" All is fun and games until Preston decides to scare his father and is sent to his room with out dinner. Children will love the suspense and comedy of the story. Adults will enjoy the subtle humor; such as Mr. Wolf's house having a posted sign "No Wood Cutters" or a red riding hood sticking out of his trash can. The illustrations are bright, colorful and eye-catching, perfect for storytime.

Although this book is recommeneded for younger children, my 5-years-old son really enjoys it. Simple and fun from beginning to end. When you think a mischievous piglet has learned his lesson, you better watch out. If you are not great at story-telling and still want to read with your child, this book is for you.

the pace is fast
the BOO!s are flying
the characters are super
will preston's dad be able to stop him from
scaring everyone in town? don't bet on it.
this one is a favorite any time of the day or night in our house.

These sets contain 10 books that each tell a very short story with a funny ending through repetition. Illustrations are done well, characters are memorable. Child feels a sense of accomplishment as the set contains a chart with stickers for each book completed, a certificate of completion and a "BLANK" book for the child to author/illustrate their own book. Set also contains a parent guide. Our son loves these books... highly motivated him into a reader. He is the top reader in his kindergarten class and now has the love of books/reading that will pull him along through his education at a heightened pace.

I bought these books for my grandson who is in Kindergarten. After changing schools mid-year he was slow to grasp reading. I thought these books might be just his level and because the adult reads a summery of the story first he has found books he can read. The confidence these books gave him to continue was amazing. He now has gone one to slightly harder books but he still loves these.

We have purchased other Brand New Readers sets, and have never been disappointed yet. Our kids (5 1/2 year old son and almost 3 year old daughter) love the simple stories and illustrations, and while our son is sounding out the words, his little sister is enthusiastically shouting out the story based on the picture clues and memorization. They both feel a huge sense of accomplishement when they read to us, and we all love the humor used in the stories. Move over Dick and Jane; Brand New Readers make learning how to read fun!

Simple and funny book that my 3 year old daughter loves. The lesson is simple, it teaches a preschooler how to be patient. Very easy to follow as my little one tries to "read" along.

We got this out of the library for our 3-year-old, and he loved it so much he wanted to read it every night. He very quickly knew the story well enough that he was "reading" it himself on each page. We're buying this for him for Christmas, and I fully expect it to be one of the books that teaches him how to read. The repetition is great for that, and it enables us to read it in a silly way, and read the "so everyone has to wait" pages in an mockingly exasperated, impatient voice that he has learned to mimic as well. Highly recommend.

Kirkus Reviews
This enthusiastic read begins, "The Bridge is up! The bus can't go, so everyone has to wait." Following the bus and joining the queue come various modes of transport, from a bike to a bulldozer. Each vehicle is tacked on to the end of the refrain, building repetition. When the bridge finally descends, everything is repeated again, only this time, the bus can go! Hefferan's illustrations have cottony edges with an oil-base crayon vibrancy to the colors. The drivers and passengers, animals all, are expressive and charming. The font is expansive and jaunty, part and parcel with the artwork. Slightly bothersome, though, are the perspectives. Throughout the story the automobiles shift, inexplicably, from forming a line to sitting side by side. However, children will enjoy identifying the vehicles and watching the bicycle-riding monkey wander about before joining the motorcyclist. Whether to a crowd of one or many, this read-aloud is sure to be a pleaser. (Picture book. 3-6)

The characters are Buddy, the first seeing eye dog, his master that was blind, the person who trained Buddy and the person who trained Buddy's master.

It took place in a big field, on a boat and in his master's home.

Buddy was trained to be a seeing eye dog. His master was trained to know how to take care of Buddy.

This book is awesome! It was exciting and fun and it had a dramatic ending.

The characters are Buddy, the first seeing eye dog, his master that was blind, the person who trained Buddy and the person who trained Buddy's master.

It took place in a big field, on a boat and in his master's home.

Buddy was trained to be a seeing eye dog. His master was trained to know how to take care of Buddy.

This book is awesome! It was exciting and fun and it had a dramatic ending.

This book is an excellent chronical of The Seeing Eye, yet written in language a child can understand. The examples of exciting events punctuate and enliven the text.

Ohhhh, brother! The worst HMO in the world wouldn't tolerate these shenanigans!

Amelia Bedelia is "helping out" again, in that special way that only Amelia can! Just imagine our favorite literal-minded thinker in the wonderful world of medicine -- and there you have it! They say laughter is the best medicine, and Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia is guaranteed to cure whatever ails 'ya!

Teens in the house were howling with laughter as they read it out loud to the younger kids. The whole family will enjoy this book.

Highly recommended!

My granddaughter, age 8, loves this book. We bought her the whole series and she was thrilled.

Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish, like all of his Amelia Bedelia books, is hysterically funny. Parish's use of expressions confuse Mr. Rogers' maid, Amelia Bedelia, throughout the entire story. Poor, silly, Amelia Bedelia never realizes how confused she really is. She takes everything anyone says literally, so when her boss Mr. Rogers says "jump in the car", she thinks that he actually means to sit in the car and jump.
In this story, Amelia Bedelia goes to the doctor. However, when she gets there the nurse asks for Amelia Bedelia's help with the patients. A woman who calls the doctor's office to complain that she has "caught a bug" is told to "let it go" by Amelia Bedelia. She proceeds to tell a woman who has hives to bring some honey to the doctor's office. She looks at a bank's clock to take a patient's temperature and she tells a boy to draw his own blood onto a piece of blank paper. A boy says that he is at the office for a test and Amelia Bedelia tells him that he must go to school.
No matter what Amelia Bedelia did for most of the book, she is a hit when she "treats" the patients to ice cream! This is not exactly what the nurse had in mind when she said to treat the patients, however, Amelia Bedelia comes out looking like a hero!
Amelia Bedelia is entertaining to the adults who read this story to children because we have an even better sense of Amelia Bedelia's silliness. I love reading this story to my second graders and they love hearing it!

What a fun book to read !! I didn't even realize I was learning about self esteem issues. It's so great to find a book that inspires kids in a good way without preaching and makes you excited about the story. This book is a great find !!
Pirate camp will be all the rage next summer.

I want to go to Camp Buccaneer too!This is a terrific book, funny and loads of fun. The illustrations are a riot! Argh!

Pam Smallcomb is sure to have a wonderful career in children's literature. My household of kids are looking forward to what she'll come up with next.Thanks Pam for writing a book for this age group that is NOT about a commercial product that my children have all enjoyed reading. This kind of imaginative fun is hard to find in early readers and Ms. Smallcomb has thrilled MY early chapter book readers!

I like books that appeal to boys, but are not so "dumbed down". This one has a clever plot and message, but still is about Pirates. My son (5) liked it a lot. Great illustrations too!

My 8 year old son Juxhino adores this book. He hopes to meet the author in person if this is possible. He would love to get his book signed by Mr Laurence, as he had a teacher at his school in England with the same name, who inspired and intriqued him with his stories of pirates. He talked about it with his learning support teacher (who was much better looking than Mr Laurence!} His best friends Rufus, Stinky and Naylor (the Mother Superior), would also like to recommend this fantastic book.

I have 2 children, ages 8 and 6 and they both enjoyed the book very much. This book is very funny, easy to read and my children spent much of the time reading the book laughing. The book is brilliantly and cleverly written and the illustrations are very enjoyable for the children to look at. My children and I highly recommend this book.

This is a lovely book for children. My girls took turns reading it to their brother. They appreciated the moral lesson of the story and their brother (2 1/2) enjoyed looking at the well drawn pictures.

This is a fun book that is easily read to kids of various ages. It is not only a great story but a great launching pad for discussions about how to treat others. This is a "Must-Have" for every home.

Carnella is a very special caterpillar with very special, loving and caring buggy friends. The adorable illustrations warm your heart as well as the story about Carnella's friends helping her when she has a huge need. A story of friendship, love and action.

This book really helped our seven-year-old son who was struggling to enjoy reading as a first grader. He got excited about the pictures of Legos and decided to read this out loud. He memorized most of the difficult words and this helped build his confidence as reader.

My six-year old son laughed out loud when he read this very funny book. It had an interesting and amusing plot about a good King and his family, and some nasty bad knights out to cause trouble. The book also has the little fact boxes on some pages which contain information about coats of arms, suits of armor, etc. I think any 6 or 7 year-old child would love this book. It's the best Dorling Kindersley Level 2 book of all.

I have two Lego fans in my house. This book with its level 3 rating is great for early readers. It is a "take to school for reading time" favorite.