Very Short Stories to Read Together

by Mary Ann Hoberman, Michael Emberley (Illustrator)

Overview

A New York Times bestseller! This collection of stories from former children's poet laureate Mary Ann Hoberman provides endless read-aloud fun.

Here's a book with something new—you read to me! I'll read to you! We'll read each page to one another—you'll read one side, I the other.

The first in the award-winning You Read to Me, I'll Read to You series, this unique book "in two voices" uses traditional reading teaching techniques (alliteration, rhyme, repetition, short sentences) to invite young children to read along with an adult. Each of the twelve short stories fits on one spread and features child-friendly themes such as family, friendship, pets, and seasons. With clear, color-coded typography and delightful illustrations, this collection is sure to entertain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316267199
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	07/21/2015
Series:	You Read to Me, I'll Read to You Series , #1
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mary Ann Hoberman is a children's poet and author. The former children's poet laureate, she is also a National Book Award recipient. She has published over forty books for children.

Editorial Reviews

"Here's a book / With something new -- / You read to me! / I'll read to you!" With an invitation that every book lover can endorse, Mary Ann Hoberman unfolds an exuberant read-aloud experience for children and their reading partners. The book's brief, rhythmic stories and Michael Emberley's lighthearted pastel cartoons gently coax beginning readers into the sheer joy of words and rhymes.

Playful rhymes celebrate the sheer joy of reading in this exuberant read-aloud collection. Designed for two readers, the poems are laid out with verses in place-specific positions and printed in a trio of colors to indicate the different voices; purple on the left, pink on the right, and the blue sections in the center indicating that the text should be read in unison. Hoberman (It's Simple, Said Simon, 2001, etc.) draws upon such universally kid-pleasing themes as frolicking in the snow and frisky puppies, liberally infusing them with copious amounts of silliness. The result: rambunctious poems to tickle funny bones. Whatever the theme, each poem concludes with the rousing chorus, "You read to me. / I'll read to you." Hoberman's verses draw the readers into a delightful verbal sparring match of dueling rhymes. The humorous bandying keeps the laughs coming while the actual vocabulary is manageable for fledgling readers. The poems run the gamut from a pair of dogs scolding a cat for chasing mice to the wonderfully insouciant poem, "Hop and Skip." Emberley's pen-and-watercolor illustrations capture the liveliness of the poems; small vignettes revel in the absurdities, beckoning readers to join in and relish the fun. In "The Two Mice," Hoberman sums up the philosophy of the collection quite nicely. "Two readers reading / Make a game. / It's twice as nice / When there are two." And what fun this is for readers and listeners alike. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews