House for Little Red (Modern Curriculum Press Beginning ... (ISBN 0813655137)

Margaret Hillert Rocks!:
What can I say; without Ms. Hillert's books my just-turned 5 year old would still not be reading. (Not that she is *all that* advanced, but she can read these pre-primer books) I credit her reading to Ms. Hillert and her collection. We tried Dick and Jane, but despite my favorable memories of that series, my daughter found them boring and we made zero progress. Margaret Hillert's stories though were an immediate hit. The story in this book is about how a dad helps his son to build a dog house for 'Little Red', but not before the dog and his friend try several unsuccessful attempts with baskets and boxes. Sample text follows: "Father, Father. Can you make a house? Can you make a house for Little Red?" "I can. I can. Come and see. I can work. You can help me." According to the back of the book there are 49 pre-primer words in this story including: something, one, two, three, cookie, to, me, run, want, play,... etc. Four stars. Good primer, but for us not as interesting as the books that retell the classic fairytales. It's just personal preference but we liked "The Three Bears" and "The Three Goats" better.

Easy Reading For Young Children:
This book was the first book my 5 year old ever read all the way through by himself. It has a good subject that children will enjoy and is very simple to read.