Love Stinks!

by Diana Murray, Gal Weizman (Illustrator)

Overview

Can a skunk find love? Kids will LOVE reading this sweet and funny Comic Reader—combining the trusted learning tools of Step into Reading with the kid favorite comic panels and word balloons—perfect for Valentine's Day and everyday!

Frog love.
Fly love.
Where is my love?

Everywhere he goes it seems like all the other animals have someone to love . . . except for Skunk. Even gnats and snails and bats and whales have partners by their sides. Will Skunk find love?

Comic readers are told almost entirely in action-packed dialogue! Simple, graphic, paneled layouts introduce emergent readers to the joy of comics.

Step 1 Readers feature big type and easy words for children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading. Rhyme and rhythmic text paired picture clues help children decode the story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593488454
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	12/13/2022
Series:	Step into Reading: Step into Read/ComicRdr(Step1)
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	50L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

DIANA MURRAY is the author of many beginning readers and picture books for kids, and her poems have appeared in children's magazines such as Highlights, High Five, Spider, and Ladybug. She grew up in New York City and still lives nearby with her husband, two very messy children, and a goldfish named Pickle.

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2022

K-Gr 2—Children will root for a young skunk searching for love in this comic reader full of visual support for emerging readers. Many pages feature an animal pair and a two-word sentence, such as "Frog love," that rhymes with the text on the preceding spread. While some of the visuals clearly support a heteronormative view of love, there is enough representation of animals without any gender clues that allow for the diversity of love in the world to be included. At the conclusion of the story, a piece of stinky cheese connects two skunks, and "stinky love" wins in the end. Some of the animals will be easier for children to read than others: "Gnat love," for example, seems a challenging choice for a level one reader. However, the visual clues will make this a pleasant read for animal lovers or on Valentine's Day. VERDICT Larger collections seeking comic readers for young elementary age students will find this a loveable choice.—John Scott

School Library Journal