Early First Grade
What do first graders love? Much like kindergarteners, playing with friends and family is still pivotal to kids at this age (typically six or seven years old). But throughout the year, first graders will increasingly grow into the world and try new things, challenge themselves, begin team sports and compete!
In the classroom, early first graders will capitalize on their expertise of short vowel words and will begin to tackle slightly more difficult words. Phonetically, these words will include blends, magic e, open vowel, y ending and glued sounds -all, -am and -an. They will continue to learn a growing list of sight words and master them for automatic recognition.
Quick stats listed for each book includes highly phonetic (words with short vowels, digraphs, blends, magic e, y ending, open vowel and glued sounds -am, -an, -all), sight words and challenge words (words with phonics not yet explicitly taught at this level, such as vowel teams, r-controlled vowels and other glued sounds and word families).
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Similar to the Red set recommended for kindergarten, the Green set of Primary Phonics includes ten books, which reinforce the -s ending digraph learned in kindergarten and extend phonics learning with words that include beginning and ending blends.
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This series includes 10 books:
Slide, The Plane Trip, Spot, The Prints, The Dream, The Best Gift, Mittens, The Sea Gull, The Lost Duck and Max and the Fox.
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Each of the Primary Phonics books focuses on short vowel words, mostly with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words and with some blends. There are also an increasing number of sight words. At the end of each book, there is a helpful page which lists all words in the book. The back of that page offers discussion questions and ways to extend thinking.
Young readers will love the relatable themes of this series. In Ren in a Mess, Ren can’t seem to keep her room clean. In the other books by Suzanne Marchers in this series, the main characters are all roughly first grade in age, which will of course resonate with readers. Young readers will also appreciate the large size of these books and the full color illustrations.
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The main character compares herself to others and is understandably upset when she fails. But instead of giving up, and thanks to a supportive friend, she perseveres. And through this perseverance, she succeeds! This message is incredibly crucial for young kids (we’re big believers in “grit”). Gymnastics or otherwise, kids have undeniably faced a situation in which they failed or succeeded, and chances are that if they succeeded it was not always on the first try.
Quick stats: 68 words total, 38 unique. 16 highly decodable words; 16 sight words; 6 challenge words (says, again, give, oh, don’t, eat).
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Parents may appreciate reading these two books or listening to a Ted Talk on the importance of grit.
Grit by Angela Duckworth
Mindset: The Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
Ted Talk by Angela Duckworth
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Cat devises creative plans to catch snacks and is not met with much luck until the very end. Readers will be motivated to keep reading to the very end to see if Cat has any luck, and fortunately, the story ends happily (and without any collateral carnage).
The plot lends itself well to thinking about cause and effect and follow-up questions to ensure young readers understood the text. For instance, what happened when the cat tried to set a mouse trap? Or fish? And why were these attempts unsuccessful?
Quick stats: 95 words total, 24 unique. 16 highly decodable, 4 sight and 4 challenge words (wants, chow, meow, ugh). Many words rhyme.
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The ball splashes into the water and is then picked up by a bird; the bird then drops it into the ocean where a whale scoops it up. The whale then spouts it back onto land, only for a lion to gulp it up!
Chasing the ball, the pups hilariously take a hot air balloon, a boat and a convertible. Readers will find themselves laughing and entertained at this “planes, trains and automobiles” story.
Quick stats: 54 words total, 18 unique. 8 highly decodable, 6 sight, 4 challenge words (bird, going, lion, wants).
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The bibliophilic pig reads so much, in fact, he finds there are no books left to read! In the end, Pig solves this problem by writing a book—and not just any book, but this very one! This story is a wonderful example of promoting problem solving and literacy.
This book is a great one to read before going to the library. It’s also a great retort to any reader who says there are no books to read—write one! Staple pages together or buy a small journal.
Quick stats: 71 total words, 34 unique. 13 highly decodable, 12 sight, 9 challenge words (small, school, read(s), book(s), looked, even, find).
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By the time he is sufficiently muddy, Bud remembers the race continued and was not the first to cross the finish line. Thankfully, Bud was ok with that outcome as he had fun.
This book tells a story from start to finish (pun intended) and will entertain young readers with the suspense of the race.
In terms of comprehension, readers can benefit from thinking about cause and effect as it relates to the mud pit stop as well as sequencing events.
Quick stats: 107 words total, 57 unique. 23 highly decodable, 21 sight, 13 challenge words (cars, want, zoom, cannot, high, ready, someone, start, three, vroom, vroomed, way, zoomed).
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Young readers will relate to the themes of friendship, perseverance, emotions and empathy. In the book For Otto, for example, Otto feels sad and lonely when no friends have reached out to him. By the end, however, a friend asks him to fly a kite. There is a sense of relief at the happy resolution.
Quick stats: 41 unique words. 23 highly decodable, 11 sight words, 7 challenge (feel, pie, poor, wait, even, oops, wants).
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In this story, lots of other kids have pets who can sing, jump, catch and perform tricks. Flubby cannot do any of them. But in the end when there is a loud clap of thunder and Flubby’s owner is scared, she realizes that Flubby is in fact a good pet. She needs Flubby and Flubby needs her. This is a heartwarming story about the importance of interconnectedness and the fact that everything has value in different ways.
Quick stats: 115 words total, 43 unique. 23 highly decodable, 12 sight, 8 challenge words (ka-boom, needs, boat, good, meow, uh-oh, wheels, yawn).
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Part of what makes this book a wonderful choice for readers is the back section of the book which includes a plethora of activities. One page is solely dedicated to the comprehension skill of cause and effect, and another page asks readers to sequence events from beginning to end. There is an additional page of dog facts and a highly entertaining page of dog jokes. Readers may recognize the humor of author Dav Pilkey, who also wrote the Captain Underpants books and the Dog Man and Cat Kid series, among others.
Quick stats: 103 total words, 38 unique. 16 highly decodable words, 12 sight, 9 challenge words (little, going, walk, puddles, another, clean, dirty, eat, play, want).
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Though birds are not known to “moo,” the protagonist bird of this story does, and the author’s message to us is that this is just fine! Young readers will undoubtedly feel empathy for Moo Bird right from the start. Moo Bird is the only bird who does not tweet and is at times mocked by other animals. Feeling ostracized, Moo Bird is just about to give up on finding an identity until Moo Dog comes along! This story underscores the important concept that it is okay to be different.
Quick stats: 86 total words, 43 unique. 14 highly decodable, 13 sight, 16 challenge words (moo, tweet, cow(s), birds, find, sorry, yeah, barn, boy, guy, huh, okay, oops, sort, wrong).
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Readers will go through a slew of emotions – from being afraid for Pat to laughing at how Mike saves the day, then worried for Mike to finally and eventually, a sense of relief. This suspenseful story provides an opportunity for readers to feel empathic for both Pat and Mike.
Quick stats: 67 total words, 31 unique. 17 highly decodable, 10 sight, 4 challenge words (needs, shark, coming, something).
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The text within Green Eggs in Ham is incredibly accessible to young readers, lush with beginning sight words and monosyllabic sight words. Readers will come to appreciate the persistence of Sam-I-Am who, by the end, is successful in convincing the man to try his green eggs and ham. At 62 pages, this book is long for young readers and can be read over several nights or alternatively read with a parent.
For a fun follow-up activity, try making this green eggs and ham recipe.
Quick stats: 810 total words, 50 unique. 20 highly decodable, 15 sight, 15 challenge words (eat, green, train, anywhere, house, mouse, car, dark, tree, goat, train, boat, good, thank, light).
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The other three books in the series follow one of Dr. Seuss’s beloved characters (Lorax, Grinch, Cat) as they cook up a storm for their friends. The rhyming words and playful pictures help to draw in and captivate the reader. Readers may need help in decoding some of the multi-syllabic words such as “anywhere” and “careful.”
Also recommended as a fun follow-up activity to Green Eggs and Ham, try making this green eggs and ham recipe. Otherwise, bake a favorite treat and deliver to friends just as the Grinch did!
Quick stats for Cooking with the Grinch: 128 total words, 66 unique. 26 highly decodable, 29 sight, 11 challenge words (treats, Cindy-Lou, oh, start, Christmas, eat, door, goes, town, don’t, cooks, hears).
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From a bee on the baseball field to a lost cleat on the soccer field, each book includes some suspense related to each sport.
Each book in the series also includes a useful page at the end which highlights vocabulary words.
Quick stats: 83 words total, 40 unique. 15 highly decodable, 12 sight, 13 challenge words (again, baseball, batter, bee, first, gone, oh, outfield, ready, really, team, wait).
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The big reveal at the end of Pig has a Plan turns out to be that Pig’s friends were busy setting up a birthday party for Pig!
Readers will delight in the humor along the way. Pig even resorts to snorkeling in a mud puddle to get some peace and quiet. The plot gives the opportunity to talk about cause and effect. Why couldn’t pig nap when rat mixed or hen was sawing? And why were the animals doing those individual jobs?
Holiday House has some fun follow-up activities here: holidayhouse.com/I-Like-to-Read/
Quick stats: 50 words total, 27 unique. 18 highly decodable, 4, sight words, 5 challenge (cow, cannot, birthday, saw, wants).
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Throughout this box set, Puppy Mudge is lovable but persistent. He finds a way to cajole Henry into giving him snacks, to play outside, and to track down his lost blanket. Each book has a simple theme with lively illustrations that show off Henry and Mudge’s unique personalities and vivid expressions.
Consider reading a Henry and Mudge book before or after this series to compare and contrast the characters and how they have evolved.
Quick stats for Puppy Mudge Has a Snack: 97 total words, 38 unique. 31 highly decodable and sight words, 7 challenge words (crackers, drools, head, Mudge, Henry).
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By the third part of this book, Max is about to lose his cool until he comes up with a very crafty solution in protest. Readers may also like that this book is divided into three sections and feels like a chapter book.
Quick stats: 273 total words, 89 unique. 71 combined highly decodable and sight words, 18 challenge words (blue, book, going, green, hippo, leave, shoo, unicorn, again, baby, embarrassed, read(s), riding, sleep, tail, under, wait).
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Soccer players (and parent coaches) will likely also find familiar a part of the book when the coaches shout to the team to spread out!
The words in this book rhyme from page to page, which helps to build phonemic awareness. There are several trickier words and soccer terminology that readers will need to carefully sound out.
Quick stats: 128 words total, 75 unique. 61 highly decodable, 14 other words (dribble, soccer, spread, tweet, again, bye, coach, coaches, done, goal, goalie, hey, shout, shouts).
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This story offers a wonderful way to discuss the comprehension component of cause and effect. Why did the boy’s gigantic ice cream cake turn to ice cream soup by the end? The text also includes playful rhymes.
Quick stats: 236 total words, 87 unique. 68 total highly decodable and sight words, 20 challenge words (pour, scoop(s), room, blue, cream, know, something, don’t, everywhere, first, four, goop, green, need, seen, soup, spoon, three, yellow).
Middle of First Grade
By the middle of first grade, many kids have formed new friendships and are continuing to evolve their older friendships. They are learning to increasingly give and take and navigate these friendships on their own. As they gain these more complex social skills, they are often losing teeth! And for this reason, many books catering to first grade revolve around these two topics.
While also working on more complex friendships, they will be working on more complex words! Phonetically, this is a critical juncture where many new phonics rules will be introduced, like vowel teams, r-controlled vowels and glued sounds.
Quick stats listed for each book will reflect highly phonetic words (short vowel, digraphs, blends, magic e, open vowel, y ending, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels and glued sounds ending in -ng and -nk), sight words and challenge words (words with phonics not yet explicitly taught such as suffixes -ed and -ing, contractions and more challenging word families)
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Like the Primary Phonics series we recommend for kindergarten and early first grade, Set 2 includes ten books. The first five offer a review of phonics learned previously, while books five through ten include vowel teams (or “vowel digraphs” as Primary Phonics calls them).
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Similar to Clifford, Tiny doesn’t always appreciate his own size while going on a series of adventures. The Tiny series includes visits to the movies, a parade, the library, various holidays and more.
Readers who have dreamed of camping will love Tiny Goes Camping. In this book, Tiny and his friend gather supplies for their big camping trip which turns out to be in the remote wilderness of… their own backyard! When Tiny is ready for bed, he slips into his tent but it pops because of his size!
Quick stats: 123 total words, 66 unique. 57 combined highly decodable and sight words, 9 challenge (camping, fireflies, flashlight, goes, goodnight, nightlight, oh, okay, something).
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Fox pretends to be a tiger because they have many attributes which he admires. He introduces himself to Turtle and Rabbit, who playfully take on new identities as well. By the end, all three return to themselves with a newfound love and appreciation of their own talents and attributes. Author Corey Tabor won the Theodor Seuss Geisel award for two of the books in this series. Additionally, Fox the Tiger was chosen as the Cybils Award easy reader winner.
Quick stats: 222 total words. 76 unique. 68 combined highly decodable and sight words, 8 challenge (idea, oh, robot, hello, tiger(s), turtle, foxes).
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Because this set is part of the overall Biscuit literary universe (32 books), readers will have familiarity with the main characters and their various personalities. Biscuit’s playful nature shines through in each book and is sure to entertain readers.
Biscuit Loves the Library, in particular, is a great book to read before or after visiting the library. Readers will love the last picture of the book which shows a set of adorable hamsters at the library as part of a “Read to a Pet Day” event.
Another advantage of reading books as part of a series is the familiarity of language. Readers will be able to easily recognize the name Biscuit or sight words like “woof” or “snack” with increased automaticity (the ability to do something without thinking, or in this case reading words without sounding them out) as these words are peppered across each book and throughout the series.
Most of these Biscuit books include pages with three simple sentences and more challenging words (special, which, everyone) compared to the set recommended for early first grade.
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The Really Silly Animals Collection features swimming sheep, dogs who run a diner, roller skating bears and space cows. In Space Cows, author Brad Meltzer introduces all different kinds of cows. He then describes where they sleep and what they eat – chips, of course!
This book is excellent for building phonemic awareness that readers will hear in the rhymes when reading aloud. They will notice words like row and low predictably rhyme but also that words with different spellings – such as moo and blue or toys and noise – also rhyme.
These books are also excellent for fluency. The sentences provide much repetitio, which allows readers to leverage their growing decoding skills toward the more demanding tasks of challenging words.
Space Cows and Sea Sheep fall within the middle of first grade; readers may find Party Pigs an easier read and Diner Dogs, Roller Bears and Knight Owls slightly more difficult. This set is ideal for readers who love animals and creativity, and are ready to try out more challenging materials.
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The yellow bird is Rocket’s teacher, and together they set out to find objects for their word tree. Rocket finds and then appropriately drops several objects until they come across a boot, which Rocket doesn’t want to let go. In this sweet story, owl creatively problem solves and works out a deal with Rocket to recover the boot.
Quick stats: 197 total words; 55 unique. This book is incredibly highly decodable for mid-first grade: 53 of the 55 words are highly decodable or sight words, with only 2 challenge words (ready, yellow).
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We are In a Book is similar to Press Here and Don’t Push the Button in how the book breaks the fourth wall and invites a sort of relationship and interaction with the reader. Elephant and Piggie will ask readers to say the word “banana” and find it to be so funny that they can make such a request and get a result from being in a book!
Quick stats: 228 total words, 84 unique. 71 are highly decodable and sight words; 13 challenge words (again, banana(s), before , bubbles, going, hello, idea, monster, oh, reader, someone, whisper).
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In What’s that Mittens?, Mittens the cat feels lonely until she hears noise coming from the other side of a fence. After much suspense (and digging), she finds a giant dog whom she quickly befriends.
Check out all titles in the series (listed below), but specifically around Halloween time, readers will enjoy Happy Halloween Mittens!
Quick stats: 146 total words, 66 unique. 58 are highly decodable and sight words; 8 challenge words (behind, eye, meow, under, alone, meows, rough, scratches).
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Foxes are well-known to be tricky, and in A Pig, a Fox, and a Box, the Fox fits the stereotype. Fox will trick Pig using a wig and young readers will be there to witness! In addition to being entertained, young readers will enjoy the rhyme and repetition of text.
Quick stats: 133 total words, 77 unique. 64 highly decodable and sight words. 13 challenge words (oh, little, today, always, around, foxes, beware, enough, goodbye, high, inside, perfect, unlock).
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In this book, Pete the Kitty’s friend named Bob teaches Pete how to wash his hands in sequential steps. Each step creates a different sound—splish, scrub,. splash, rub—and these words become a sort of chant to remember the process. Bob then proceeds to outline all of the times hands should be washed. Readers will laugh when Bob cites “after you go” in reference to the bathroom.
Many pages rhyme and readers will especially begin to hear the rhythm after reading this story a few times. There are also repeated words that will help make this book a fun and fluent read. The usage of sounds is unique to this book and makes this an excellent example of onomatopoeia (a word kids are also intrigued by)!
Parents and teachers alike may also like this book for the lesson of handwashing, especially around cold and flu season!
Quick stats: 209 total words, 78 unique. 71 highly decodable and sight words; 7 challenge words ( away, before, cough, I’ll, I’m, I’ve, someone).
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At the very beginning of My Friends Make Me Happy, Sheep asks the other animals if they can guess what makes him/her happy. Sheep gives the hint that the word starts with “F” and the guessing begins. Readers can try to make a prediction along with the animals. Hint: they should use the title as a clue! No animals are able to guess but there are plenty of laughs along the way, especially when duck guesses turnip!
This book has the feel of a graphic novel in that the text is solely on dialogue between characters in speech bubbles. Because there is conversation between animals, readers will encounter more informal speech with contractions like it’s, that’s, don’t. This not only provides an excellent opportunity to decode, but also asks readers to extrapolate based on two words joined together. Readers will also have a chance to practice reading with expression as there are many question marks and exclamation marks!
Quick stats: 135 words total, 52 unique. 41 highly decodable and sight words, 11 challenge (doesn’t, don’t, donkey, guess, happiest, I’ll, letter, oh, okay, that’s, turnips).
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Throughout Goat Wants to Eat, cat finds several places to set up for a nap. Unfortunately, goat comes along and eats everything that cat tries to nap on! Goat eats until feeling sick and so cat ultimately helps goat find a place where they can both nap happily.
This is an excellent text to work on vowel teams – words with “oa” (like goat and coat) and words with “ea” (seat and eat). The word feels, with team “ee” appears in this book a total of 29 times. Other words are highly decodable VC or CVC words with only a few sight words.
Quick stats: 93 words total; 22 unique. All 22 are highly decodable. 8 of the 22 words are vowel teams (goat, eat, boat, coat, feels, float, seat, moat).
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Loose Tooth, in particular, will be a relatable read for any child who has lost a tooth or is soon to hit that milestone. In this story, the protagonist has a lose tooth and it’s just about all he can talk about. The young boy tries to bite into apples and carrots, wiggles it, pushes and pulls it, until it eventually comes out at the very end.
Quick stats: 133 total words, 55 unique. 46 are highly decodable and sight words, 9 challenge words (apple, brother, carrot, guess, let’s, won’t, pull, sister, there’s).
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In Big Shark, Little Shark and the Missing Teeth, big shark has lost a ton of teeth over his lifetime - sharks continually shed and sprout new teeth. Little shark is envious until big shark suggests biting into an apple which does the trick! This book is the longest of the books in the Big Shark, Little Shark series and will provide a good challenge for readers who are ready for more sentences per page.
Quick stats: 175 words total, 75 unique; 65 highly decodable and sight words and 10 challenge words (apple, goes, gone, idea, little, oh, over, stingray, taking, wanted).
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Whether it’s baby ducks or puppies or kittens, Carl finds a way to lend a helping paw in each story. In Carl and the Sick Puppy, Carl revives the puppy back to health with water, rest, a blanket and more. The text includes a wonderful combination of known sight words as well as two-syllable words that can be easily decoded phonetically.
For discussion, ask your reader for an example of a time when he or she helped someone. How did they feel after helping?
Quick stats: 154 total words, 71 unique; 66 are highly decodable and sight words and 5 challenge (better, blanket, puppies, walk, what’s).
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Together, Brownie and Pearl do simple things and enjoy each other’s company every step of the way. Pearl needs a little coaxing at times, and is easily lured by snacks. Readers will appreciate that each book is simply focused on getting ready for bed, walking around, going for a drive and dressing up together.
The pages of each book contains one or two sentences with text that is highly decodable by the end of first grade. There are words with vowel teams and magic e that are mostly one syllable and easy to decode phonetically. Each book is relatively short and can be read in a single sitting. Readers can reread for fluency and try to read with expression when a character speaks.
Quick stats: 83 words total, 50 unique. 44 are highly decodable and sight words, 6 challenge (saltines, apple(s), else, salty, something).
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Author Jonathan Fenske again delights readers with a fun and suspenseful plot twist in The Bug in the Bog. Readers interested in the natural world will especially enjoy the life-cycle of predator and prey. Fenske’s illustrations are animated, entertaining and humorous. One picture even shows the frog picturing a meal with a shaker sprinkling a little salt on top of the bug for added taste!
The text in this book is a nice balance of decodable, short vowel words with digraphs and/or blends. There are some trickier words with the vowel team “ou” that readers may not have yet seen (double and trouble). The “ea” vowel team should also be reviewed as it will appear in hear, leave and dreaming. Many pages of the book rhyme which will help to build phonemic awareness.
Readers will gain or reinforce some valuable science vocabulary in this book (bog, swamp, hollow). The Bug in the Bog will encourage readers to go out into nature and do further research on bogs and frogs.
Quick stats: 168 words total, 66 unique. 60 are highly decodable and sight words, 6 are challenge (bubbles, double, hollow, never, swallow, trouble).
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End of First Grade
By the end of first grade, students are often increasingly social and increasingly adventurous. They begin to want to explore their world more with the friends and family. Kids at this time of year also look forward to summer adventures involving the pool, beach, fun trips like going to the zoo or even just exploring the backyard!
In addition to first graders thinking about the end of the school year, they will also start to think about the common endings of words! First graders will learn to decode words with -er, -ed and -ing suffix endings. They will also learn more challenging word families, compound words and contractions.
The Quick Stats for each book will list highly phonetic (short vowel, long vowel, r-controlled, compound words, contractions, -er, -ed, -ing suffixes), sight words and challenge words (words with ly, le, en, em endings, -ild, -ost, -ight word families and trickier contractions).
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Pete the Cat needs to cool off, but there is just one problem. Though it’s hot at the beach and his brother Bob is surfing the waves, Pete is hesitant to go in the water. As it turns out, Pete is afraid. The story slowly unravels and the reader will have a chance to begin putting clues together and thinking inferentially about why Pete is not going in the water. By the end, Pete overcomes his fears and joins his brother surfing. Author James Dean reinforces the idea that it is okay to feel afraid sometimes, and with a little perseverance, it’s possible to overcome fears.
Many of the pages contain sentences that are displayed in one line, making it easier for the reader to read fluently. Each page has about three sentences per, so this book will be a good fit for a reader who is ready for longer content.
The Pete the Cat website is lush with activities, songs and videos (petethecatbooks.com).
Quick stats: 342 words total, 132 unique. 121 highly decodable, 11 challenge (later, again, goes, okay, afraid, brother, castle, coming, lemonade, sandcastle, seagulls).
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Rocket and his (also adorable) friends Bella the Squirrel and Owl decide to play a game of hide-and-seek. But Rocket soon becomes discouraged because every time he hides he is found instantly. His friends explain that they can see him easily because of his size. So, in a creative problem solving way, Owl and Bella camouflage Rocket with leaves. Now they can’t find him anywhere!
This book is a particularly good choice for practicing vowel teams. For comprehension, this book lends itself well to thinking about problems and solutions. What is the main problem of the story and how is it resolved? Readers can reread this story for fluency, and as an extension, they can go outside and play hide-and-seek!
Quick stats: 154 words total, 71 unique. 55 are highly decodable and 16 challenge (away, behind, bigger, cover, every, find(s), flowers,, hider, idea, places, ready, right, together, under).
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This particular book, Waiting is not Easy, won one of the numerous Theodor Seuss Geisel awards within the Elephant and Piggie series. It will be a quick read with the valuable lesson of patience and how difficult it can be to wait at times.
After reading, ask your reader for one example of a time when it was challenging to wait. What strategies were used to help deploy patience?
Quick stats: 177 words total, 71 unique. 64 highly decodable and 7 challenge (anymore, anything, darker, okay, pretty, surprise, wasted).
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It’s summer time and the animals are hot! They obviously need a pool with a diving board. But when it’s the cow’s turn to jump in to the pool, it resists in its typical high-maintenance way, saying that the pool is too crowded and they do not like to be splashed. Ultimately, all of the animals and the two farmers end up together, nice and cool, in the pool.
Quick stats: 473 total words, 107 unique, 97 highly decodable, 10 challenge (animals, brothers, chickens, divers, diving, excellent, goggles, swim, together, towel).
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Digger the Dinosaur and Dadasaurus are set out to pick up the cake from the cake shop. When they can’t find the shop, Dadasaurus asks Digger to call Mamasaurus on the phone for directions. But on the phone Digger hears shark instead of park and new instead of blue! Readers will find themselves laughing along the way and will be happy and relieved when they do procure the cake in the end.
Quick stats: 240 words total, 99 different. 94 highly decodable, 5 challenging (dadasaur, dialed, dinosaur, mamasaur, raced). Some are written in past tense which gives extra practice with the -ed suffix.
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Readers will find themselves laughing out loud when reading this book. Morris the Moose finds himself in a heated debate with a cow, deer and horse over what types of animals they are. The animals discuss, compare and contrast themselves. This slapstick deliberation continues with every animal they find along the way until, ultimately, Moose sees his reflection in the water. After seeing himself, he realizes the animals don’t look like him at all and that he must have made a “moosetake.”
Quick stats: 355 total words, 103 unique. 98 highly decodable, 5 other (cried, mistake, moosetake, mother, sighed).
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Throughout these adventures, Digger and Daisy are mostly supportive of each other but as in most sibling relationships – not all the time. Sometimes there is a sliver of competition or even one laughing at the other. Ultimately, they come back together.
In this particular book, when the siblings go to the zoo, readers will laugh as Digger tries to do what some of the animals do. Young readers may also love seeing the giraffe’s blue tongue!
The books in this series in the aggregate contain around 450-500 words that are highly decodable for this age group. The text has some repetition but the relatively simple sentences will make this series an excellent choice for readers to work on fluent reading by scooping phrases together instead of reading word by word. There is much dialogue between Digger and Daisy as well and so readers can work to read with expression.
The book topics are fun and child-friendly and lend themselves well to embarking on the same adventures as Digger and Daisy. One idea - after reading about the zoo, go to the zoo!
Quick stats: 472 total words, 115 unique. 110 of 115 are highly decodable, 5 challenge (giraffe, goes, monkeys, wiggles, wobbles).
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A young and energetic Ty is the main character in each book. He is very close to his family and the text often includes dialogue between family members. Each page contains about three sentences of varying sentence structure. The texts sometimes include wonderful examples of beginning metaphor and simile.
Quick stats: 311 total words, 122 unique. 106 highly decodable, 16 challenge (about, almost, Ari, cameras, can’t, didn’t, finish, focus, I’m, racing, ready, scooter, we’re, wobble, you’ve).
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In all five books in the series, Max and Mo collaborate to devise solutions to their problems. As classroom hamsters, they have access to glue, tape, pencils and more. They use these supplies and other various tools to problem solve through trial and error. Readers will love these books for both the adorableness and the creativity. The text is lush with dialogue and will give readers an opportunity to read with expression.
The last pages of each book include fun activities related to each story which readers will love.
Quick stats: 242 total words, 104 unique. 97 highly decodable, 7 challenge (climbed, cottage, cried, moving, school, taped, tomorrow).
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Buzz first meets his pet fly in this opening book and begins their adventurous friendship. Readers will love this book (and the books to follow in the series) because of the situations in which they find themselves and the humor to go along with it. The illustrations are engaging and there is much dialogue between characters that sometimes includes speech bubbles.
The text and may prove to be slightly difficult for this age, but if the reader is ready for a challenge (perhaps over the summer) this series will be a good fit. Check out the books below for books around this level or buy the whole set if your reader would like to grow with the increasingly challenging texts.
Quick stats: 297 total words, 110 unique. 98 highly decodable, 12 challenge (balancing, didn’t, family, he’s, it’s, let’s, museum, picnic, planet, saved, wanted, yeah).
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Young readers adore this book because it is a highly entertaining book with funny pictures, rhyming words and wacky scenarios throughout. Each page cites how many wacky things should be found, readers will search the illustration to find, for example, a tiger in a stroller or an umbrella getting cooked on the stove. To make things even more wacky Theo is the only one who sees the wackiness. Readers will feel an allegiance to this character.
Readers will also appreciate the rhyming words and the accessible text. Alongside The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss wrote the book with text geared toward early readers with simpler words and sight words.
Quick stats: 293 total words, 128 unique. 107 highly decodable, 21 challenge (along, around, away, before, began, believe, couldn’t, don’t, eight, kitchen, McGann, nothing, oh, patrolman, scared, school, shouldn’t, Sutherland, Wednesday, window, you’re).
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This suspenseful story follows the clock as Brother and Sister continue to snooze as the bus grows closer. Readers will be relieved to find they do in fact make the bus, but they will have to move extremely quickly through getting dressed, brushing teeth and eating breakfast.
This book is an excellent source of rhyming for fluency and phonemic awareness.
The publisher Random House labeled this book as a “math reader” because of the analog and digital clock on each page of the story. Many first and second graders have begun to tell time or may have expressed interest in it, which is an added benefit of Catch the Bus.
Quick stats: 283 words total, 128 unique, 111 highly decodable, 17 challenge words ( after, alarm, almost, angry, around, asleep, breakfast, brother, coffee, downstairs, driver, eight, minutes, o’clock, school, seven, single).
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When Pete goes home to rest and still doesn’t feel better, his dad announces that its time to go see the doctor. But Pete doesn’t want to go; he’s scared of the doctor! Reluctantly, Pete goes and gets checked out. The process is not scary at all. His doctor is so nice and even lets Pete listen to her heart. It turns out to be just a bellyache and Pete returns home to rest.
Quick stats: 270 total words, 113 unique. 101 highly decodable and 12 challenge (again, bellyache, better, covers, doctor, fever, listens, office, picture, scared, scary, school).
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This set includes 5 of the 140 books in the Little Critter series. In Critter Who Care, Little Critter visits the firehouse and a sea park, and helps a neighbor. Young readers will love the cartoon style of Mayer’s illustrations. The text is large and clear with about two sentences per page.
Quick stats for Critter Who Care: 258 total words, 129 unique. 114 highly decodable and 15 challenge words (away, cookies, critters, don’t, everyone, flies, idea, juice, leaves, monster, parents, picture, shutter, sister, tiger’s).
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Readers will even learn that “tri” is a prefix that means three, hence the “tri” in “triceratops” owing to their three horns. The situations and illustrations are humorous and entertaining. The text rhymes from page to page which builds phonemic awareness and creates a nice rhythm when reading aloud fluently.
Quick stats: 161 total words, 91 unique. 81 highly decodable and 10 challenge words (triceratops, dinosaur, gentler, herbivore, pretty, protect, rough, tough).
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Whether debating which bunk bed is best or who is going go get the most ice cream, the two foxes can’t help but compete. Throughout each competitive feat lies an adventure and it’s typically a quite creative one.
Be sure to check out the last page of the book which includes a step by step drawing of how to draw Fritz the Fox.
Quick stats: 300 total words, 113 unique. 101 highly decodable and 12 challenge words (away, bottom, castle, diving, I’m, okay, pajamas, party, ready, story, submarine, volcano).
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Readers will join along with the students at Robin Hill as they learn what it takes to be part of a classroom and be kind to others. Students at the Robin Hill School often have to demonstrate flexibility and resilience. The books include events to which first graders can very much relate – from the first day of school to picture day to big feelings on the playground.
Every title in the Robin Hill School collection is worth a read. The book First Day of School is analyzed below.
Quick stats: 228 total words, 110 unique. 86 highly decodable words and 24 challenge (allowed, always, because, before, belong, Charles, Connor, cookie, every, everyone, guess, morning, Mrs., night, nobody, playground, school, summer, teacher, thought, tightly, together, told, tomorrow)
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Non-Fiction
National Geographic Kids
These National Geographic Kids books are so dynamic that they feel interactive. In addition to the factual text each page, there are labeled diagrams, photographs and jokes! And, of course, the animals they feature are adorable! This Level 1 series (the books on Sea Otters and Koalas were family favorites) also has books about other animals, plants and nature that are well-suited for the end of first grade.
“All About” Series by Little Pebble
In this series, author Christina Gardeski invites young readers into the fascinating worlds within the ocean, mountains, rain forests, and north and south poles. By the end of first grade, the text will be highly decodable for young readers. There are beautiful photographs in each book as well as a glossary at the end and recommended sites for further research.
Bullfrog Books
There is a topic of interest for everyone within the Bullfrog Book series. The series is divided into themes such as community helpers, holidays, first pets, transportation, animal classification and even money smarts. Within these themes, there are numerous books which are child-friendly, informative and engaging. The books have a table of contents and a review page and glossary at the end.