Now I’m Reading! Level 1: Playful Pals (NIR! Leveled Readers) Hardcover – July 1, 2003

Playful Pals Beginning Readers are for kids who are starting to sound out and read words. The repetitive sentence structures and limiting each book to one short vowel enables a gradual and supportive approach to learning to read.I suggest that the child already know their alphabet both capital and lowercase, know the sound each letter makes, and have done a lesson on the particular vowel sound (or word family/blend if appropriate) before jumping into the book.Each book repeats a short sentence and adds extra words each page. Eventually the sentences change completely so there is a sense of plot and story. For example, the first book is "A hat." then "A tan hat." which over many pages results in "A tan hat sat on a rat by a fan." which then changes to other sentences like "A fan taps." and "No nap!"This set includes 10 story books and 40 stickers. There is a parent guide.Level 1 books very carefully control the phonetic sounds so as to not introduce too much at once... however blends do pop up in the text so make sure you teach those sounds before reading the books with blends. I think the Level 1 books should be read in this order: Animal Antics, Playful Pals, Big Fun, and Clever Critters. I think you could intermix them a bit IF you need to (in order to select the right book for the phonic sounds being learned for the week). However, I would not read the books out of order because they are designed to gradually get harder and build upon prior learning. In other words, I could read the first book in Animal Antics and the first two books in Playful Pals then jump back to Animal Antics book 2 - but I would not read book 10 then book 1.

I got these for my 4.5 year old son because I was looking for emergent / beginning reader books that were mostly CVC words. We tried the BOB books, and different emergent readers from the library. My son already knows many sight words and can sound out CVC words, but he gets overwhelmed at some of the readers out there that have a lot of words or that use a lot of blends or long vowels. He also doesn't have a lot of innate stick-with-it-ness or an internal drive to accomplish things when they get tricky. Even though he can read many words and has a lot of exposure to literacy at home, he doesn't approach reading as something he is dying to accomplish. So, although he could read the first handful of BOB books, they weren't holding his attention.I read the reviews of this set, and I immediately ordered it. I am glad I did. They really are a joy to share with my new reader! He feels successful (He was familiar with many of the words already and the books use a lot of repetition), he seems to like the pictures, and he is actually motivated to put the stickers inside each book when he reads them. I like them better than the BOB books, because they are funnier.We've only sat down with these books maybe 6 or 7 times, but most of the time he is the one who asks to read them. In the past, I always felt like I was on eggshells asking him to read the "other" books since it seemed to him like it was a "task" that I was bugging him to do. At his age, I certainly don't want to pressure him into learning to read!Overall the packaging is nice; it comes sort of in a binder with sleeves for each book, and there is a parent's guide. The pictures are colorful and the storylines are enhanced by the pictures. My son likes that they are typeset in "grown up words" (an actual font) rather than handwritten like the BOB books. I would definitely recommend having these books around when your child is learning to read.

I highly recommend these books by Nora Gaydos for parents who are teaching their child to read at home. My son has known the sounds of all the letters and has been able to sound out three and four letter words with short vowel sounds since he was three. I thought he would be an early reader, but at age 5 now he has not liked any books we have tried as beginning readers until now. He became so bored with the Bob Books, McGuffey's primer, Step into Reading books, etc... that he started pretending he didn't know the sounds anymore. He still loved me to read to him, though, but he would not try to read by himself.Then I ordered these books a few days ago and amazingly, he was so intrigued by the illustrations, he sat down and read three of them straight through to me. He has never been a fan of stickers, but for some reason, the incentive to place a sticker inside each book when you finish reading it really has appealed to him. We got the Animal Antics and the Playful Pals sets two days ago and he has already read five of the books three times each by himself! I am so amazed and excited that he is happy about reading again.These books are very well done. They follow a good phonics program, with funny stories that actually make sense. The illustrations are superb and really get the child interested in what is happening in the story. I wish I could give these more than five stars! I also recommend the other Level 1 books called Animal Antics. The books are a little bigger but the stories are different and continue in the same vein as these Playful Pals. Both sets contain 10 readers each. You could do the first five of each set first, which are easier, and then the second five of each set. Happy Reading!

Each page has a picture and builds from the previous. Well done reader. My six year old son loved it.

My 5 year old loved reading these & went through the whole set in just a few days. They fitted in perfectly with the level of phonics he was learning at school.

Nora Gaydos' books are the best ones I have found for introducing reading to preschoolers. My 4yo learned reading with these books.

My son showed and interest in reading so we picked up these books for him. He loves them, the books are the perfect level for early reading and he finds them challenging but rewarding. The stickers are great and he is motivated to read the book by himself to get a new sticker. There are 10 short books and they are held in a larger booklet with plastic sleeves. It also has a parents book to show how to encourage reading skills and each story has a bunch of questions at the end to work on reading comprehension.

On ne se troupe pas. Vraiment un ouvrage pour lecteurs débutans.

Perfect for teaching your kids to read and because it is all silly stuff even my son was interested plus you get stickers!