At School. (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9522-3 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9497-4 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Schools-Juvenile literature. School day-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4
	My Funny Cat. (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9525-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9500-1 (RLB.). Subject Heading: Cats-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4
	Can It Fly? (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9527-8 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9502-5 (RLB.). Subject Heading: Animal flight-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4
	Santa Claus. (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9530-8 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9505-6 (RLB.). Subject Heading: Santa Claus-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4
	What is a Hatchling? (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9534-6 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9509-4 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Eggs-Incubation-Juvenile literature. Animals-Infancy-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4
	Reptile Rap. (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9537-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9512-4 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Rap (Music)-Juvenile literature. Reptiles-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4
	What Are Dinosaurs? (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9539-1 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9514-8 (RLB.). Subject Heading: Dinosaurs-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4
	My Culture. (My World). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 16 pp., pbk. & hc., $6.95 (pbk.), $15.16 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9543-8 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9518-6 (RLB.). Subject Heading: Cultures-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6. Review by Suzanne Pierson. ** /4

excerpts:

Yummy foods!
Food is part of culture. I like tasting foods from different countries. Which of these foods have you tasted? (From My Culture.)

This review looks at eight books in the “My World” series of Bobbie Kalman’s Leveled Readers. Currently there appear to be 48 books in this series, six at each of eight levels. This review looks at one book from each level of the books most recently added to the series.

      The book covers are colour coded to indicate the level, from A to H. This will help beginning readers know what books they can read now and which books they can look forward to reading next.

      Six of the books at the lowest levels, A, B, C, D, E, and F, begin with a page titled “Words to know.” The “Words to know” page includes words or phrases with pictures. Some pictures may do little to clarify the meaning of the words to beginning readers, such as the picture of a winged horse with the word “horse” in “Can it fly?” The two books at the highest levels, G and H, begin with a table of contents (“What is in this book?”) and end with “Words to know” and “Index” page which also includes pictures. Beginning readers may find the pictures helpful to remind them of the page they are trying to find.

      All eight books end with a final page of “Notes for adults” that explain the objectives of the book and give pre and post reading discussion questions. There are no higher level thinking questions, but they will get adults who aren’t comfortable working with young children started. Included at the bottom of the page is a notation sending the adults to on-line teacher’s guides. Unfortunately, the eight books that are reviewed here are not included on the website. The teacher’s guides for the other books in the series are more impressive than the eight books being reviewed here.

      Each of these titles is worth a look, but most have something that concerns me and prevents me from giving any of them a “Highly Recommended” rating.

Level A

      At School uses simple sentences and colourful photos to identify things that children do at school, such as “I read at school.” The pictures show a multicultural diversity of students, representative of many school populations. If you need a book about starting school, you may want to consider this one. The disappointment in this book is the “Notes for adults.” Is it really necessary to give suggested answers to questions like, “Why are you at school? (to learn).” And what would a pre-schooler answer when you ask, “How do you find out how many of an object there is? “The answer is “(count)”

Level B

      My Funny Cat uses repetitive text (“My funny cat likes to…”) and pictures of cats doing unusual things, such as dancing, to help beginning readers practice reading sentences.

Level C

      Can It Fly? uses a question and answer format to engage young readers in a discussion of what animals need to fly. Unfortunately, the book confuses the connection between wings and flying. First, it states: “If it has wings, it can fly!” Penguins would be interested to know that. Second, the lovely pictures of butterflies, ducks, bats, beetles, and ladybugs are combined with a picture of a dog with large ears extended like wings set against a backdrop of blue sky, and a horse with wings. The picture of the horse with wings even appears on the “Words to know” page with the label “horse”. Why?

Level D

      Santa Claus is written with rhyming words. The rhymes are unimaginative and contrived.

Up above Earth his reindeer fly!
They fly very high in the sky.

Level E

      What is Hatching? introduces young readers to the concept of hatching. Pictures show birds, snakes, crocodiles and alligators hatching from eggs and then shows them as young animals. A final activity asks the readers to look at four pictures and identify which of the four hatch from eggs and which do not. One of the pictures is baby wearing a diaper appearing to crawl out of an egg. Could be some interesting questions about where babies do come from.

Level F

      Reptile Rap is intended “to introduce children to animals called reptiles through rhyming rap verses and funny pictures”. The “Notes for adults” at the back suggests that you read Reptile rap, line by line, to the class and have the students repeat each line after you “keeping the rap beat”.

Level G

      What are Dinosaurs? concludes with a matching activity where readers are asked to match three modern day animals with three dinosaurs, and explain how each pair is alike. The answers, given upside down on the page, identify physical characteristics that the pairs have in common.

Level H

      My Culture introduces young readers to some differences in the ways that people from different places in the world eat, dress, talk, play sports and celebrate special occasions. Young readers with connections to different countries around the world will see their culture represented in the pictures.

     While none of these eight books is outstanding, none of them is so bad that it is not recommended. If you need leveled readers, you might choose to purchase some of these to supplement your collection. Just be aware that you will be adding quantity, not quality.

Recommended with reservations.

Dr. Suzanne Pierson is a retired teacher-librarian, currently instructing Librarianship courses at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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