My daughter has loved books and reading since she was a toddler. At 2, she would turn pages and create a story from the pictures, and at 3, she memorized most of the books we owned. In preschool, my little one was happily reading simple sentences from her school reader, and we loved our evening reading time snuggling together. However, all of that changed after she spent the night at a friend’s house in Kindergarten. The night she came home, she wasn’t excited to read to me. She said, “No, Mommy. I don’t like reading. I read too slow.” She told me that she had picked a new book at her sleepover, but her friend took the book away after a few pages and read it aloud herself because “she was much better at reading”. I reassured her that she was a strong reader, but she insisted that I do all the reading that night and several nights to follow. I was heartbroken. What happened to my daughter’s confidence in her reading and in herself?
After searching different books and programs online and talking with friends, I found I Can Read! books, specifically made for children who are learning to read. Each I Can Read! book focuses attention on simple sentence structure, engaging stories, and words that children can sound out and read themselves. I recognized characters like The Berenstain Bears and Little Critter that I knew from my childhood, as well as some of my daughter’s favorites, like Pete the Cat, Flat Stanley, Biscuit, and Pinkalicious! What I loved most about the books was the I Can Read! color-coded levels. They started with “My First: Shared Reading” (yellow) and moved through “Level 1: Beginning Reading” (blue), “Level 2: Reading with Help” (red), “Level 3: Reading Alone” (green), and “Level 4: Advanced Reading” (purple). I liked that I didn’t have to read every book on the shelf to determine if my little one could read it or not. I was able to quickly grab several books that were right for her.
That night, I gave my daughter the books, and she excitedly flipped through the bright and colorful illustrations. She started with a Biscuit book, and before creating her own story, she noticed she could read the first several pages. Before she knew it, she had read through 3 of the books! It was overwhelming and wonderful to see my daughter quickly regain her confidence and her love of books and reading. I felt her happiness and experienced pride through her eyes, and it was amazing!
I was so happy when I Can Read! invited us to have an anniversary party to celebrate 60 years of I Can Read! books. We had a story time, where the kids ages 4-7 read to each other. The kids excitedly looked through the books and volunteered to read to the group. Then, they continued trading books and reading to their parents, younger siblings, and one another. It was awesome to see how much fun and excitement could revolve around books!
Children move at different paces when learning how to read, and it’s up to us to give them the right tools to instill confidence and make reading fun! If you have a young reader at home, check out this free e-book 100 Tips for Beginning Reading https://www.icanread.com/printables/i-can-read-100-tips as well as the over 400 I Can Read! books available for your child to choose from.
I received promotional items and compensation for the purpose of this honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
