Customer Reviews

Election Day (Ready-to-Read. Level 1)

5 star:		(1)
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3 star:		(1)
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I feel that the "Robin Hill School" Ready-to-read books are somewhat advanced despite being categorized as Level 1 books. According to the description at the back of the book, Level 1 is "starting to read - simple stories, increased vocabulary, and longer sentences". Well, my 5-year-old is reading and can manage other readers at level 1 such as Barron's First Book series, e.g. A Mop for Pop (Get Ready Get Set Read) and also the Step Into Reading Ready to Read series, e.g. The Snowball (Step-Into-Reading, Step 1). She could not however read the Robin Hill School books fluently and independently (compared to the other readers I listed). I personally found them to be more advanced than other early readers categorized as Level 1 (sentences are much longer and the vocabulary used is also a bit more advanced, e.g. election, president, speeches). This is what confuses parents (as attested to by some of my friends) - some early readers appear to be too easy and some too difficult though they are labeled under the same level. However, I do understand that children also progress at different paces in reading.

Anyway, the stories in the Robin Hill School series are actually quite engaging and interesting. This particular story focuses on new student Becky who decides to run for class president despite being the new kid in class. I do like the series (we checked the entire set out from our local library) as the stories are engaging and visually appealing. I plan to reintroduce these books to my daughter in a couple of months as she builds her vocabulary and reading skills.

This book was good for my son who is in 1st grade, but not an early reader. The story line, as in the entire series, is slightly different from other early readers. In this case, a new girl runs for class president. My son loved the campaign promises and the eyes covered secret vote. He was proud to be able to read the book and used it for an optional book report. The illustrations are good and there is a lot of detail worthy of discussion. At the same time, it is relatively simple and may not be one a child would want to read over and over. Get free shipping and share the book with other children or donate to the class. I highly recommend the Robin Hill School series by Margaret McNamara.