Easy Reader Round-Up #4

Back with another easy reader round-up cuz easy readers have been a real balm lately–usually funny, a quick read to reinvigorate my little brain, and helping me build my recommendations for easy readers when parents and teachers come in.

Hairy, Hairy Poodle by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Abigail Tompkins

This is a Level 1 Easy Reader. This is a simple, light-hearted easy reader about a Poodle who has a lot of hair and keeps getting more and more hair as the book progresses. It’s simple without a lot of characters and no dialogue, but it does have some interesting sentence structure, and kids will enjoy seeing the hair grow and grow and grow.

Big Bub, Small Tub by Alastair Heim, illustrated by Aaron Blecha

This is a “ready to go!” leveled easy reader, which is pre-pre level one, according to the back of the book. At the front of the book it also has some charts of word families and sight words that are included. This is about a purple monster who wants to take a bath, but the tub is too small. He tries comical things to take a bath and makes more of a wet mess until finally he gets all clean….and goes back outside to play in the mud.

Makeda Makes A Home For Subway by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, illustrated by Lydia Mba

This is a level 2 easy reader. The class pet, Subway, is quiet and reserved, and his cage is kind of boring, so Makeda decides that when she brings him home for the weekend, she’ll make him an exciting cage–with slides, and swings, etc. As she and her family and friends work on this, they realize that maybe Subway doesn’t want all that, but they can find out what Subway does enjoy. This is really wordy for a book that doesn’t really do much, but the illustrations are fun and engaging and a class pet is always an interesting plot point. This book releases in June 2024.

Vacation: Three and a Half Stories by Ame Dyckman and Mark Teague

This is an unleveled graphic novel style easy reader. Rat, Cat, and Bat want to go on vacation. First, they have to save for it by doing a series of odd jobs that they all kind of flail at, and then once they have the money, they have to make a decision about where to go: outer space, or the spa? Like the others in the series, it’s very repetitive, but cute enough for a quick developing reader. This book releases in May 2024.

Frank and Bean: Food Truck Fiasco by Jamie Michalak, illustrated by Bob Kolar

This is an unleveled easy reader that is probably closed to a 3 or 4, as it is very dialogue driven but not comic-style. The dialogue is written, not in speech bubbles. This is also longer–with about four chapters–and follows two friends, a bean and a hot dog, on a food truck adventure as they enter a competition against a long-time cupcake competitor. Bean runs a donut truck, Frank runs an oatmeal truck, and a competitive fiasco ensues.