Hey! I'm Reading!

Miles, Betty

ISBN 10: 0679956441 ISBN 13: 9780679956440

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1995

Synopsis

Best-selling children's author Betty Miles reveals the secrets behind one of life's most important and enjoyable skills in the first-ever "how to" book for children who are just getting ready to read--and for the parents, relatives, teachers, and friends who want to help them.  

About this title

Review:

For many kids, there's nothing quite so exciting as realizing that the ABCs are more than just a song. In parts 1 and 2 of Betty Miles's very accessible book--written not just for parents, but for beginner readers themselves--she helps children discover how much they already know about reading, and shows them some fun ways to learn to read. By telling young readers some things they already know (that letters are part of writing, they know how to talk--talking is good practice for reading, they know about books, and they know about many of the things they will read about--dogs, cats, the moon, stars, tying shoes, zipping zippers...), Miles encourages kids to take the next steps. She suggests that beginning readers learn to read by getting help from pictures, remembering words, sounding out letters, expecting what comes next, writing words themselves, and trying to figure out if what they're reading makes sense. She uses recognizable examples, with some silly ones thrown in for a giggle. Part 3 consists of 20 pages of short-short stories for kids to read themselves (or with help). Sylvie Wickstrom's cartoonish illustrations of pudgy children and animals are tremendously appealing, without being distracting. This is a reassuring resource for any child on the verge of reading, by an educator and author of 30 books for young readers, including The Secret Life of the Underwear Champ. (Ages 3 to 6) --Emilie Coulter

About the Author:

*  Betty Miles is a graduate of Antioch College.  She is a former Associate Editor of the Bank Street Readers, and has taught both kindergarten and graduate students, led workshops with parents, teachers, and librarians, and talked about books and reading with children and their parents around the country.

* Betty hated her first day of elementary school because she was the only kid who knew how to read!  Since then, Betty has turned her love of reading into a how-to book for beginning readers called "Hey! I'm Reading" .
*  She would like to be many things, if she weren't an author:  a musician, architect, city planner and even a stand-up comedian!

* Betty's books are a mix of things that have really happened to her and things she's completely made up.  But after she's worked on a book for a long time, a funny thing happens:  everything in it becomes real to her, and even her invented characters start to seem like real friends!  

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0679956441
• ISBN 13: 9780679956440
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 59