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[[Category:New Reviews|Emerging Readers]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|titleauthor=Horrid Henry's WeddingNigel Baines|authortitle=Francesca Simon and Tony RossA Tricky Kind of Magic|rating=4.5

|summary=What on earth Cooper loves to perform magic tricks. His father was Prissy Polly thinking? If she had wanted her wedding to Pimply Paul to go without a hitchmagician, whyand named Cooper after the great Tommy Cooper. But sadly Cooper's father died suddenly, oh why had she insisted on asking her awful cousin Horrid Henry and now Cooper doesn't quite know who to be, or how to be a page boy? One thing is for certain: . And when you take a certain horrid boy with a reputation for mischief and force his dad's prop rabbit starts talking to him to wear a lilac shirt, green satin knickerbockers, tights, a pink cummerbund and white satin shoes with gold buckles, you are just asking for trouble...he ''really'' doesn't know what's going on anymore!|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1444001213</amazonuk>1444960261

 {{newreviewFrontpage|titleauthor=Foxy Tales - The Cunning PlanJane Lightbourne|authortitle=Caryl Hart and Alex T SmithMy Cat Called Red|rating=4

|summary=Foxy DuBois is on a mission to get rich quick Robin has red hair. He hates it, and to get rid of that pest, Alphonso the Alligator for good, otherwise the greedy alligator is going to eat Foxy for breakfast. However she needs Alphonso’s help to ensure freckles that her plan will succeed. In order for the scheme to work Alphonso must dress as a lady dog walker and distract a rich old lady while Foxy kidnaps her small dogsgo along with it. Alphonso will then pretend to find the dogs He's been bullied and the rich old lady, full mocked at school because of gratitude, will give them a generous rewardit. ''Ginger Minger! Carrots!'' Kids are mean. How could this possibly go wrong? Very, very easily But red hair is not Robin's only misery in life.He's already lost his dad to a mountaineering accident when his mum gets ill and is taken into hospital.She doesn't come home again.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1444909312</amazonuk>1838216812

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Angela BannerFrancesca Simon and Steve May|title=Ant and Bee and Kind DogTwo Terrible Vikings

|summary=When you learn to read it has In a small Viking village there live two twins, Hack and Whack, who are eager to be fun. You have to master the skill but it mustn't be ''too'' daunting or you're ''not'' going to enjoy it and - very worst of all - you might be put off reading for life. Vikings ever! It's best if you Nothing can share the reading until you get to grips with decoding what's on the pagestop their mad marauding, as they cause havoc at a birthday party, chaos whilst tracking a troll, so if an adult could read most of the words but you read others to which you've already been introduced and which are in undertake a different colour then that is going grand journey to be a help. If the words are introduced raid Bad Island with a nice big picture and if they appear in alphabetical order, then that's going to be fun, isn't it? their friends! It's going They get up to make reading easier too if the book is the right size for your hands all kinds of mischief and has a nice firm cover which is easy to hold naughty behaviour, along with their wolf-cub Bitey- Bitey, and wipes clean if there's an accidenttheir crazy cast of friends.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1405270756</amazonuk>0571349498

 {{newreviewFrontpage|titleisbn=Famous Five Colour Reads: A Lazy Afternoon|author=Enid Blyton|rating=5|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Perhaps the only thing better than a favourite author publishing a new book, is one of their old works that you missed first time around being re-released. The Famous Five, you see, didn’t just feature in their most well-known tales. They also had some short story adventures that were first seen in albums and magazines and whatnot, but are now being published as books in their own right. Hurrah!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444916297</amazonuk>}} {{newreview1838593187|title=Blamehounds (Little Gems)|author=Ross Collins|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=The idea began with Mr Lime’s bodily explosions (didn’t Guess What I put that nicely?) After three of them it was Norman the dog (who was entirely blameless Found in this matter so long as you’re willing to overlook the fact that he was having a lovely dream about dropping cats off bridges) who got the kick to speed him from the room. There were a couple more occasions when something similar happened but instead of getting a complex about what was happening, Norman saw an opportunity. A business opportunity. If dogs were going to get the blame then there should be something in it for them and he went into partnership with his best mate, Ringo (who does seem to be obsessed with sausages) and Blamehounds was born.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781123926</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=Barbapapa's Ark|author=Annette Tison and Talus Taylor|rating=5|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=''Barbapapa’s Ark'' is the fourth book in the popular series about a shape-shifting pink blob, his wife and seven children. It follows on from the previous book, in which Barbapapa and his family built themselves a beautiful house in a peaceful valley. One day, after a picnic, the family decide to take a leisurely ride along the river, but are horrified to see sick and injured animals suffering from the effects of pollution. Over time, more and more animals come to Barbapapa for help. He decides that the only way to teach the humans a lesson is to take the animals to a new, green planet where they will be safe.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408331381</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=Convertible SpaceshipPlayground!|author=Claire Philip and Belinda GallagherVictoria Thompson

|summary=When Tilly is excited. She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a bookbig grin on her face. Dad's come to collect her and her brother and he ''has'' to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guess. Dad wants to know how school was, but ''obviously'' that's not important. Could Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box? (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap ''book''? ) When it is also a playmat and also a spaceshipWell, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuff. With ‘Convertible Spaceship’ you get There are sequins, glittered paper and all three; a book sorts of other things in her pocket, but that folds out into a playmat or into a spaceship's not what she wants Dad to guess. Can I hear the excitement from here?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782094970</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|titleauthor=Mr Monkey and the Birthday Party (Early Reader)Innosanto Nagara|authortitle=Linda Chapman and Sam HearnM is for Movement

|summary=What Set in Indonesia, in the not too distant past, this is a young girl to do? story about social change. Anya wants to go Dealing with the rest of her primary school class to a swimming partysome difficult issues, but she's worried of being laughed at for staying at toddlers' depthsuch as political corruption and nepotism, for she the book is not a confident swimmerneither boring nor preachy. As luck would have It educates gently, with vibrant, challenging illustrations, and it portrays how social movements need people who will try, even when itseems that they will fail. The message is a positive one; that in an increasingly uncertain world, she we do still have the power to instigate change.|isbn=1609809351}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1949471004|title=Dog on a Log Chapter Books: Step 1|author=Pamela Brookes|rating=4|genre=Dyslexia Friendly|summary=What do you do when your child has been picked dyslexia and you need books which will help them to take home achieve the class 'pet'wonder that is reading? You can risk buying early readers, but the sounds in the cuddly toy called Mr Monkey, for book might not be the week, ones you've been working on and encountering words which are just as luck would too challenging can have itmore of a negative effect on the young dyslexic than a child without that problem. You need to be able to buy books at a reasonable price which concentrate on what you've been working on, he's actually without anything else being thrown into the mix. You need a secretly magical story which engages the young mind and you need stages which progress steadily through the learning process without there beingany large jumps. Some online support and games wouldn't go amiss, either. But could even he get Anya out of her jam Reading - and make ''learning'' to read - should be a Cinderella moment come true?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444009850</amazonuk>pleasure. It should be ''fun''.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=099334030X|title=Chocolate Porridge (Early Reader)Can You Draw the Dragosaur?|author=Margaret Mahy Peter Lynas and Terry MilneCharlie Roberts

|genre=For SharingCrafts|summary=Young Timothy has been drummed You're going to get a hint of what this book's about very quickly. When you see the title page, you'll find out of his motherwhat the book's called and that it's kitchen been written by her and his sisters, so he cannot join in with their bakingPeter Lynas. Instead he goes Then we move on to who has done the garden illustration - and devises chocolate porridge – there's a lot of mud, plus some other ingredientsgap. ''You'' are going to put your name there. But only when heIt's happy with his craft does he begin ''your'' responsibility to realise that not even calling mud chocolate porridge makes it edibleprovide the pictures for this book about one of the largest creatures ever to roam the earth. Oh what There's some help available, but your name is a boy on the title page - and you have work to do?!}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1609809335|title=The Lizard|author= Jose Saramago, J Borges, Nick Caistor (translator) and Lucia Caistor (translator)|rating=2|genre=Emerging Readers |amazonuksummary=<amazonuk>1444011308</amazonuk>One day a giant lizard appears in the city. We don't even get told how it arrived, but it certainly appeared. People took against it, and if they weren't shrugging it off as a hallucination brought on by tiredness just as they fled it, they wanted something done about it. Can something be done about it, though?

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1789016320|title=Fleatectives: Case of Tadcaster and the Stolen NectarBullies|author=Jonny ZuckerRichard Rutherford

|genre=Confident Emerging Readers|summary=Someone has been stealing all the nectarIn some ways it was a gentler time: video games were around, but children usually went outside to enjoy themselves. They flew kites and went sledging if there was snow around. The bees are Tim and Mary's great-grandfather started a business in 1899 so our story is probably set in a buzz! the nineteen seventies. One hive Something which hasn't changed, unfortunately, is blaming another hive bullying and although the Sheriff is investigating, Buzz two lads are making life miserable not just for Tim and Itch decide to take Mary but for other children who gather in the case on themselves to try and figure out what exactly is going onplayground. How will they manage to figure out Tim's probably about ten - just at the truth of whatstage where he's happened? And will they manage beginning to do it without being crushed feel responsible for his younger sister, who's two years younger than him, but he's not yet at the stage where he knows how to death by the bees?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407136941</amazonuk>deal with bullies.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=B01N0OZQOD|title=The Dragon's DentistNickerbacher|author=Terry John McLayBarto|rating=4.5|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Harry would like to be a knight. It seems like everyone else in Nickerbacher is doing his family is a knightdragonly duty as all dragons do. Nobody takes Harry very seriously though because Harry That dragonly duty is quite small, of course, princess-guarding. HeThat's very determined, howeverwhat dragons are for, after all. But Gwendolyn isn't any princess. She finds the whole princessing thing quite boring really and so he decides that he will go she is much less interested in fairy tales than she is in watching comedy on a mission to prove his worth as a knight''The Late Knight Show''. Nickerbacher likes ''The mission that Late Knight Show'' too - in fact, it's his favourite TV show because he sets himself is wants to catch be a dragon!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444011049</amazonuk>stand-up comedian himself. He tries out his jokes on Princess Gwendolyn but they don't always come off quite as Nickerbacher intended.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=0008265836|title=A Walk In ParisRory Branagan Detective|author=Salvatore RubbinoAndrew Clover and Ralph Lazar

|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Welcome to the City of Lights! Come join Ten-year-old Rory Branagan isn't just a normal kid. He's a little girl detective and her grandad as they spend he has a magical day exploring the sights mystery to solve – why did his dad disappear when he was three? Rory doesn't know where to start but, then, Cassidy moves in next door and he discovers he has an accomplice who is full of Parisideas. Follow them This is just as they see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Sit down with them in the bistro well as they tuck into lunch, soon discover a very serious crime: Corner Boy's dad has been poisoned and then look longingly alongside them as they gaze is at the delicious treats risk of dying but no-one else will believe he's in danger. It's up to Rory and Cassidy to uncover the window of the pâtisserietruth and save a life.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406341525</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=0192758748|title=Mi and Museum CityHorace & Harriet Take on the Town|author=Linda SarahClare Elsom|rating=4.5|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Mi lives in Museum CityWhen Harriet, but he is lonely aged seven and boreda quarter, decides to go to Princes Park to practise 'Going to the Park on Her Own' (i.e. with her Grandad walking at least thirty steps behind) she can't believe her eyes. Most The statue of Lord Commander Horatio Fredrick Wallington Nincompoop Maximus Pimpleberry the museums there are dull Third (or Horace for short) starts to move. He not only moves but stamps his foot, shouts something that would get him in serious trouble with Harriet's mum, and climbs down from his pillar. Understandably Harriet can't resist following and grey quickly finds herself dragged all around the town as Horace searches for a new – and uninterestingmore suitable – home. It is only when he meets Yu one day His sights are firmly set on the Mayor's mansion and it, therefore, falls to Harriet to persuade him that he starts there must be a better alternative. Sadly, Horace's visits to have funthe museum, cinema, train station, playground, bank and he wonders if the mayor will let them open up their ownlibrary all cause mayhem. Luckily, newhowever, fun museum?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907912282</amazonuk>a competition in the park reveals the perfect answer.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Saulles_Bee|title=Old Possum's Book Bee Boy: Clash of Practical Catsthe Killer Queens|author=T S Eliot and Rebecca Ashdown (Illustrator)Tony De Saulles

|genre=Children's Rhymes and VerseEmerging Readers |summary=It Young Mel's friend has always struck me to be left and the very definition of disappointment beehive is now his to think you're going to study Eliot's poetry at college or universitylook after. Unfortunately, only to find Mel lives in a tower block and not all of his neighbours agree that it is some errant dross like 'The Four Quartets'the correct place for a hive. His book of Cats poems is in the strictest of verse, it's bursting with levity, it's surely great fun to share – what's not to prefer here? If I were you, I'd just ignore what kind of show these pages once inspired, and turn or return to them, Prufrock be damnedThings change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a bee.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571311865</amazonuk>

{{newreview|title=Squishy McFluff: Joshua Davidson has written about the Night Zookeeper before and there are online cartoons devoted to the Invisible Cat!|author=Pip Jones|rating=3.5|genre=Children's Rhymes character but this marks a new launch and Verse|summary=Meet Avaa new series. She's This is not just a book but a girl of great imagination whole online event with huge educational tie-ins and a big heart, who brings an invisible cat home push to mum one day, who humours Ava by feeding it invisible food and letting the two bondget children using their own imagination. But when mess gets made, and mistakes about The story itself mirrors what the house happen, Ava declares innocence, and blames it all on author is trying to achieve in real life; the cat – and you'd be surprised how many accidents can be power of the result of having an invisible kitten indoors…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571302505</amazonuk>imagination makes everything better.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|titleisbn=A Book is a Book|author=Jenny Bornholdt and Sarah Wilkins|rating=4|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Yes, children – adults lie to you. Sometimes, even in the titles of the books they make for you, like this one. A book is a door, it's great for boredom, it's fine for time up a tree, or in the bath (just not the shower). It can be borrowed, and then lent if it's a great one you enjoyed. It's certainly never the case that a book is just a book, as the title of this book would have you believe.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1877579920</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewSeuss_Read|title=I am Cat (mini edition)|author=Jackie Morris|rating=4|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=You're always supposed to tell when a dog is dreaming – the twitching limbs and jerking joints allegedly proving the sleeping Fido is imagining himself on the chase. Cats are, as always, a bit more secretive, but [[:Category:Jackie Morris|Jackie Morris]] offers evidence here that they are more or less thinking the same thing – even the domestic moggy, curled up and closed in, is picturing a different self – one sleeking through snows, relaxing on the savannah or alertly moving through its territory. It's a very pleasant view into the mindset of cats.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847805078</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=Choosing CrumbleCan Read With My Eyes Shut|author=Michael Rosen and Tony Ross (Illustrator)Dr Seuss

|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Terri- Lee wants a dog. She is positive ''The more that a dog will be the perfect pet for her and you read,''<br>''The more things you will settle for nothing elseknow. When Terri-Lee and her mum visit the pet shop together they think ''<br>''The more that they will be choosing a dog however, Crumbleyou learn, the dog, has very different ideas. He wants to be sure that his prospective owner is the perfect match for him and has a few questions of his own. Will Terri- Lee be able to convince Crumble that she should be his owner?|amazonuk=''<amazonuk>1849395284</amazonukbr>}}''The more places you'll go.''

{{newreview|title=The Christmas Present (Hello Kitty and Friends)|author=Linda Chapman and Michelle Misra|rating=4|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Hello Kitty and her friends have This is a series of books but you don’t need to know about their previous adventures to enjoy classic Dr Seuss quote from this book, and one. There’s a helpful illustration that I painstakingly stickered onto the wall of the whole gang at the beginningmy children's school library! The book is very silly, including Grandpa and Grandma who don’t feature in these two storiesas Dr Seuss always is, and you but is also get a good rhyming ode to see all the friends with their mixed up names: Hello Kitty’s twin is Mimmy (why not Hi Mimmy?!) and then there’s Tammy, Fifi and the slightly odd Dear Danieljoys of reading.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007515812</amazonuk>

 {{newreview<!-- 13/12 -->Frontpage|isbn=Neal_Words|authortitle=Dom Conlon Words and Carl PughYour Heart|titleauthor=Tommy Tickletail: A Tall TaleKate Jane Neal

|genre=For SharingEmerging Readers |summary=Sophie Trolling, bullying, cyber-shaming, whatever-it's-called-this-week-ing – all act as proof that the adage about sticks and Sam are on stones is actually a midnight missionlot of piffle. It's In a long time since supper and they're both hungry. Obviously world where we all have hearts, we should have a trip heart that what we say to see what's in the fridge (they've got high expectations) other people is essential but there are dangers to overcomepositive. It's darkWe can examine our world and the sound it makes through communication, we can make each other smile, laugh, sing and be happy together, and bit by bit the world can be a better place. They really And hang the 'no, after you'shouldnattitude some people would have in response. There, I't'' be raiding ve given the fridge and - most frightening entire plot of all - therethis book away in my summary, but that's Tommy Tickletail who has a body twelve feet long and sleeps under the kitchen tablenot really an issue. They've got to get to the fridge without waking the monster - or who knows what the consequences will be?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00H53FGMM</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Tavares_Red|authortitle=Dom Conlon Red and Nicola AndersonLulu|titleauthor=I Am A Giant (Tiny the Giant)Matt Tavares

|genre=For SharingEmerging Readers |summary=Tiny knew that he was a giantMeet Red and Lulu. In fact you couldnThey't help thinking that he was re a little bit cross about the fact that he had to keep telling people. He'd shake his fists committed couple of cardinals and roar '''I AM A GIANT''they have lived for some time in someone's garden, safely in an evergreen tree. Proof was important, of course and the first step was It seems to measure his shadowthem that every year people mention their home in a lovely song, which he did when tells the sun was low - but it wasn't tree thy leaves are so unchanging. But one year, just one step. It was many and his shadow still ran on ahead as the seasons turn for the cold of him. Off he went to tell the worldwinter, but the mountains weretree vanishes, well, dismissive and the tall trees whispered about it amongst themselves before they rejected what he had to say. The wind didn't agree either - and went on and on about it until Tiny ran away to the sea.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00H3PYDC6</amazonuk>taking Lulu with it…

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Dickens_Search|title=The Secret Staircase (Brambly Hedge)Search and Find A Christmas Carol|author=Jill BarklemCharles Dickens, Sarah Powell and Louise Pigott

|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Primrose and Wilfred have Recently I got to applaud a poem to rehearse as part of book that branched away from the mouse communityWhere's midwinter celebrationsWally? style volume, and taught the explorer about a non-fiction subject as they went a-searching. Well, but nowhere it seems tweaking the form is going to practicebe a big thing, until they are shunted up for this book tries yet another different approach – to an atticteach us about a fictional story. But once there chance discoveries lead them They've started at the deep end, with a book hastening towards being two centuries old, and one that has been adapted countless times before now, yet always has people returning to find it at a new world that they could hardly have imagined – luxurious rooms carved into certain time of the year for its ageless lesson. But does the upper reaches rich content of the oak treeDickens, even at his most populist, where nobody has gone for years…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0001840851</amazonuk>survive this quirky variation?

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Seuss_Eggs|title=Alice Through the Looking GlassScrambled Eggs Super|author=Emma Chichester ClarkDr Seuss

|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=As a child, I found the Alice stories weird and a bit darkPeter T. Helena Bonham Carter in book form, perhaps. Not for everyone, no matter how many times the word Hooper doesn''Classic'' was bandied around, identifying them as a Very Good Thing that everyone should have read. If this was your experience of the original Lewis Carroll, then put those thoughts t mean to one side for a moment and let me tell you about this book. It’s the original story, re-told and re-illustratedshow off, and what a difference it makes.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007425082</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=Mr Wuffles|author=David Wiesner|rating=4|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=Mr Wuffles (a name I cannot help but imagine being said in a Chinese American accent) he is a feline. Not a kitty. Definitely not a pussy. Barely even a cat, he’s so fierce. Look at him glaring out at you from the cover. He looks like trouble, not so much in a cheeky, mischievous way but in a dirty, rotten scoundrel one. Mr Wuffles’ owner clearly does not know her pet ''very well. She offers him a typical, pet store toy but he simply turns up his nose '' good at it and stalks off.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849397805</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=Horrid Henry's Christmas Play ( Horrid Henry Early Reader)|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Horrid Henry is one of those characters that parents either love or hatecooking. Some parents feel Henry sets a very bad example - and at times would say he does, but what child doesnis ''t love a bad example? Other parents love Henry simply because their children love him. Horrid Henry Books not only help children learn to read, they encourage them to read for pleasure, and children who read for pleasure invariably become better readers.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444001108</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=The DragonsitterBest's Castle|author=Josh Lacey and Garry Parsons|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=When Edward finds his Uncle Morton's dragons at the doorcapital T, he capital B. And his signature dish is quite happy to take a shift at dragon sitting, along with his little sister Emilyscrambled eggs. His parents however are far less happy, and the fact You might think that they are recently divorced only makes things more complicated. It seems that the dragons visit was completely unplanned, and the adults are completely unprepared for the event. The story is told in letters from Eddie to his Uncle, the former detailing the dragons' latest escapades quite an easy dish, and the latter writing about one delay after the other. Eddiewith which it's mother is getting ready a little hard to go away on a yoga retreat and Dadshowcase one's new girlfriend says absolutely no dragonsprowess, but not so. For Peter T. What are the children to do? Dad finally gives inHooper, taking the dragons and children to the castle he what makes his scrambled eggs so super is renovating in the hopes choice of striking it rich. Needless to say nothing goes to plan where dragons are involved and the grown ups are in for quite a few problemsegg itself, but things work and he will go out quite well from of his way to procure the children's point best of viewthe best from whatever nest.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849397694</amazonuk>

{{newreview|title=Twit|author=Steve Cole|rating=3.5|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=If I asked you Move on to name a clever animal, you’d quite likely choose an owl. After all, they are known to be the wisest of birds, aren’t they? There’s one exception to that rule, though. Meet Twit. He’s rather cute with his big round eyes, and he’s polite and kind… but he’s not very wise.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444009699</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=Bob Books First|author=Bobby Lynn Maslen and John Maslen|rating=5|genre=Emerging Readers|summary=As a home educator, this simple set of books is one of the most essential educational items I own. I've ended up buying 4 sets, as one was given away to a family in desperate straights, one was water damaged, and most recently a few books out of the last set have disappeared. It is the one thing I just can not manage without, so even though I'm sure they'll turn up eventually, I simply can not wait and ordered a fourth set. I have literally invested hundreds of pounds in phonics programmes, and I have some wonderful resources, but as simple as these books are, they are the one set I can not manage without. They break everything down into such simple terms that even the youngest child can easily get a grasp of how to use phonics to decode new words. It is not even necessary for the child to know their alphabet first, although I would recommend waiting until the child not only knows their alphabet, but also can recognise basic shapes and patterns, knows text is read from left to right, and can recognise a couple of words in print, such as their own name. It is possible to teach a very young child, even as young as two or three to read a few of these books, but it really is best to achieve some degree of reading readiness first.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0439845009</amazonuk>}}[[Newest Entertainment Reviews]]