Leveled Early Readers

Now that we have a child-reader in the house, I am amazed at the variety of leveled readers available.  Leveled readers are certainly not created equally.  Each publisher seems to have their own way of saying what is a good book for an early reader-and not always effectively.  Hameray books are especially written for children who are reading at or below grade level.

Hameray is a publisher who combines high interest stories with detailed levels of books for any educator to use.   The Joy Cowley Collection and the Mrs. Wishy Washy books that has been around for many years are especially well-known.  (Linked to review.)  I also shared about some of their biographies, too, a while back.  (Linked to my review.)

I was super excited to get a surprise package from Hameray a few months ago when M (then age 4) was really blossoming with her reading.  Right away she was drawn to the Kaleidoscopic Collection.  I love that this collection includes fiction and non-fiction.  The books have large pictures-sometimes illustrations and sometimes photographs.  I love the variety, and my kids seem to, too. M zoomed through the first couple of books, and she loved it!  (I think she also enjoyed the length...most are very short at 8 pages, helping a reader to have immediate success without the stress.)  I remember her looking up at me and informing me that she could read.  (She had been reading for a while, but didn't feel like a reader yet because it wasn't always easy.)

By far, the most popular book, and appropriately so, with both of my children is Ben, the Big Brother.  Ben loves to help his mom care for his sister.  But it's not long before he figures out that he is too little to change a diaper!  So cute!  Though short, this book helped my children know that they can help with some things, but not with others...while letting my 4 year old be successful at reading.  

From the new Joy  Cowley Collection, our favorite is probably Oscar Did It!  It reminds me of The Little Red Hen in it's repetitive nature.  Instead of the children in the story not helping, they blame their brother, Oscar, on all sorts of things.  In the end though Oscar really does do something, and it's rather amusing for the readers.

Hameray is definitely worth checking out, especially if you have a reluctant reader in your home or are looking for specialized leveled readers.  Here I have highlighted the early readers, but they have chapter books, too.  We (BOTH kids) love Fish, Not Fish with its gorgeous photographs and short chapters.