Snake Cake

October 1, 2019
Preschool-G What do you get when you mix a green tree python with a red velvet layer cake? A recipe for some silly rhymes. This entry in the Read and Rhyme: Level 2 series (8 titles) takes on the -ake word family by crafting a short narrative about Jake, who bakes a cake that gets eaten by his pet snake. Beginning readers can really cut their teeth on this story, which prints one simple sentence per double-page spread, with the -ake word always appearing in bold. The photo illustrations boast bright, cheerful scenes of Jake moving about his day, and the images always directly support the text. Appended teaching tips for before, during, and after reading are designed to foster early literacy skills, making this an entertaining and educational choice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 1-This "Read and Rhyme" series is available at three differentiated levels for developing readers. Level 1 titles use a repetitive sentence structure to share six rhyming words and are written at guided reading levels A-B. Level 2 titles, written at levels C-D, use more rhyming words in simple, often silly narratives to explore the word family, sometimes using several rhymes on a page. The rhyming stories get delightfully quirky and fun to read aloud as the text increases in complexity in Level 3 (levels E-F). Vivid, full-page photographs accompany the text, providing visual prompts for developing readers. Rhyming words are bolded and easy to identify. These titles could be used independently by emerging readers, as well as in a classroom setting. Teaching tips for using this series are shared at the end. VERDICT A first purchase for libraries in need of titles on rhyming concepts and word families.

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.