Don't Be Fooled By Books Labeled "I Can Read"

I'm sure you have seen these labels on books....

 

    

They are great books for young readers, but they are definitely NOT first readers!! Very beginning readers should have such simple text that it is actually easily memorized. Here is a sample of a beginning reader. It is published by Rigby/Houghton Mifflin. Every page says, "Mom is..." Beginning books should use sentence structures that are similar to the way we talk. So, although there are not many words on the page, Dr. Suess' Foot Book is NOT an early reader. "Up in the air feet, over a chair feet" is not how we talk. It is not at all predictable. Save it for when your child is a stronger reader!