Truth and Story in Easy Readers
Beginning readers are another area,
like picture books, in which it's hard to pinpoint Truth
as opposed to truth. Even the Story sometimes borders on story. What do
we look for in this oh, so important category of literature that, by its
very nature, must be rather spare in text?
As we mentioned in our musings over
Truth and Story in picture books,
there is more involved than a mere break down of "Truth" or "Story,"
especially in these books for emerging readers.
In perhaps no other category of books is the quality of language and
story as important. Why?
- These are often the first books children
remember vividly.
- These are the books that help set the tone for the
rest of their independent reading adventures.
- These books provide the
landscape for children's first forays into discovering Truth and Story
on their own terms.
Basal readers certainly can have a place in this landscape of easy
readers, but please do not let your children spend all their time there.
Gaining fluency is very important, and basal readers can aid this
development. But by and large, most basal readers are abysmally lacking
in "Story." Don't let your child get bored!!! Don't let him or her think
that
this is what we're all so excited about.
It's like riding a bicycle. At first, you ride a tricycle. Then, you
graduate to a "real" bicycle with training wheels. Finally, you start
that painful process of riding without training wheels. You can do this
entire process in a driveway or parking lot. Or, you can find a bike
trail near your house and let your children begin to experience the
reward of bike riding--even while using training wheels. The reward is
the first real feeling of flying as the new rider picks up speed and
sails down a hill. Working hard on those pedals to scale the next hill,
feeling the breeze, taking in the scenery. This can be done with
training wheels still on. Is it as good as the real deal? No. But it's a
very nice teaser to encourage that child--he or she will begin to
realize how much
more fun bike riding is going to be when they get better at
it
and that there is a purpose to riding (to get somewhere, to have fun, etc.).
Easy readers are the training wheels in the reading world. Basal readers are the
parking lot:
highly structured, predictable, and kind of boring. Take your child to
the fun trails--the exciting beginning readers at the local library--and
let them get a taste of Story, of quality characterization, of the
subtleties of plot, of interesting settings, and of variety. The scenery
is better, too (the illustrations are half the charm of those quality
beginning readers!).
Thus, easy or beginning readers are helping give your child a taste of
what's to come when they're independent readers themselves. Let them
experience good Story, strong writing, beautiful illustrations even at
this training stage. Don't confine them to the parking lot even if you
need to start there at first.
We try to review and highlight easy readers on Literaritea that are
great literature in beginning reader form (one of the hardest things to
achieve!). You may check out
those lists, or you can start with one of
the series below (listed in no particular order):
Hi! Fly Guy (series; Tedd Arnold; current)
Frog and Toad (series; Arnold Lobel; 1970s)
Elephant and Piggie (series; Mo Willems; current/ongoing)
Mouse and Mole (series; Wong Herbert Yee; current)
Henry and Mudge (series; many others also by Cynthia Rylant; 1990s and on)
Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop, etc. (Dr. Seuss)
Cover images from goodreads
