Customer Reviews

Now I'm Reading!: Phonics Wheels - Short Vowels (Now I'm Reading!: Level 1)

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3 star:		(1)
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I love these book sets from the Now I'm Reading series. There is a parent guide included and a set of stickers so that when your child finishes a book she can put a sticker in it. There are several stickers for each book so it encourages reading and re-reading the books which is an important key to learning. My daughter loves the whimsical and colorful illustrations and she is very motivated to read from her experiences with these books.

This set says it is "pre-reader" but I'm not sure what that means. It is very appropriate for a beginning reader and is challenging enough for kindergarten or grade 1 level reading.

Nora Gaydos produces great tools for making learning fun and enticing. She's done it again with these child-sized science books (about 5"x5").

The ten paperback books come in a slipcover (not the CD storage-like book that her "Now I'm Reading" series comes in) and offer the following topics (quoted from the parent's guide):
Blast Off!: Covers the heavenly bodies that make up space, including the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars; Bones: Discusses your skeleton and why bones are important to you; Lots of Rocks: Talks about the variety of rocks around us and how we use them; All Wet: Tells how water comes in different forms and discusses water conservation; Week of Wild Weather: Covers the different types of weather conditions; Our Planet: Discusses the topography of our planet Earth; The Changing Caterpillar: Shows the life cycle of a butterfly; Watch It Grow: Shows parts of a plant and how plants grow; and What Are You? Covers the basic classification of animals. There is also a Parent Guide which gives an overview of the materials and discusses how to use the books, and includes 40 reading incentive stickers.

At the back of each book there is a science experiment to do together with your child to illustrate the lesson. Instructions are very easy & they utilize items commonly found in most households. There are also small sections at the back which highlight some basic facts of the lesson, and some questions which focus on reading comprehension.

The books were written as independent readers, but are completely appropriate for curious toddlers who like to be read to as well. The recommended ages printed on the box says 4-7. I like the books because they are short (11 pages of story) yet they convey concepts in an interesting and not too simplistic way (a tough feat for 11 pages with 1-3 short sentences per page). These are great tools for home and school. My 3.5 year old thinks they are great fun and asks to do the experiments again & again. The books definitely provide entertaining learning and are well worth the price. They can also be a great way of spending quality time together with your child.

We've used the Bob books, Diego phonics, Curious George phonics and by far this is the best "set" of books for my 4 year old boy. Each book focuses on a different phrase, so the repetition of certain words builds confidence.

The stickers have been a great reward system, for us. Generally I am selective about when using rewards - I'd prefer my son learn to read simply for the enjoyment of reading, and not for the sticker - but I have to say that stickers work! I volunteer for 1st & 2nd graders who are "behind" their classmates (something I really don't agree with in our public schools) and stickers motivate them to read, even at that age. It also becomes a quick way for them to see how many books they've read.

I commend the teacher who started this set, and hope more educators are able to put their real-life expertise out for parents like me!

This is a review of the boxed set of Snack Attack (Level 2) which contains an activity pad, 5 books containing 2 stories each (so please be aware when you're purchasing through third party sellers).There is also a version which comes with 10 individual smaller paperback books.

My daughter is almost 5 years-old and I've been working on her reading skills the past year. We had tried the BOB books, and though they are helpful in encouraging kids to read whilst teaching the core skills of reading, both of us found the stories uninspiring and boring. Also, the BOB books can be rather confusing at times. When I came across the "Now I'm Reading!" series of readers, I was impressed by the thought that went into designing these books. The illustrations are in full-color (unlike the BOB books) and the stories are actually fun and interesting to read. My daughter latched on to these books immediately and has been requesting to read them over and over.

This set consists of 5 individual hardcover books (please check on the edition, especially if you're purchasing through a third-party seller here) in an attractive boxed set. Each book in turn contains 2 stories, so you will be getting 10 stories in all - "A Whale Tale", "Ape Shake", "A Sweet Treat", "Three for Tea", "Five Pies" ,"Mice on Ice", "Time for Toast", "Toad's Lost Roast", "Mule on a Cruise", and No Plum for Lunch". The Level Two readers focus on long vowel and short vowel sounds, more simple consonants, and beginning sight word reinforcement. The difficulty level is pitched just right so as not to make it too easy nor too difficult, and there's a sense of accomplishment for a child when he/she is able to read the entire story on his/her own.

The bonus with this set is that it comes with an activity pad that can be written on, consisting of activities related to the stories in the set. Highly recommended for beginning readers.

We tried the BOB books in addition to tons of other early reading books and we were always disappointed! They were too hard or easy and not progressive. The stories were boring.

We started this series of Books while my daughter was in Kindergarten. She loved them!!! Earning a sticker every time she correctly read a story was a HUGE incentive because after 3 stickers she moved on to the next story! The repetition was incredibly helpful with word recognition and the comprehension questions are a great tool that we now do with every story we read! We read this series all summer long and now my daughter is in an advanced reading group in first grade! I recommend them to anyone who has a child with a basic sight word list.

My daughter LOVED this series!!! One comment though, the description has preschol readers as the reading level.. but actually the INDEPENDENT level is about a second grade level book. Nice pictures, easy text, graduated vocabulary, and high interest topics. I only wish they had MORE on the independent level than they do.

My son loves to take this to bed with him so he can read it to himself before going to sleep. Fun pictures and great themes.

This is a really cute book, just be warned: It is only about 5x5. I've looked at all of the NIR books, and will probably purchase the higher levels in the near future. I was under the impression that this book had the removable books and stickers like the higher levels are supposed to have (I don't own them, so I'm not sure if they really do or not). This is just one little book, maybe about 1/2 inch thick, that has five stories in it and a couple pages at the end to explain to the parents how to use this book in helping their child read.

I bought this book for my 5 yr old who starts Kindergarten later this year. I figured it would help her learn to read and maybe get a good head-start for school. I still think this will be a great tool. Amazon needs to update the description, as it states that it has 10 books and stickers.

My daughter who turned 3 in April loves this book; she received it as a gift last Christmas. It's 10 little books that pull out of clear plastic sleeves. She likes to pretend to read,and the way these stories are written and illustrated, it is very easy for her to do so. I just bought a couple more in the series; I hope they're as good.

I recommend this book to anyone with a child ready to read. It is a step by step phonics based system. Other books I've looked at have black and white pictures or boring stories. The colorful pictures add to the story and I often hear my son laughing while he reads even the simplest books. I have both sets that are in Level One, and both sets for Level two. I'm sure I will be purchasing Level Three.