Two great early readers and one terrible one.

It's probably obvious if you've been following my blog that I enjoy early readers, those simple books aimed at kids learning how to read. But to a few of my friends, I've had to explain why I enjoy early readers. First of all, I enjoy the challenge of keeping my writing simple and the story engaging. I also find the work very rewarding. The thought that my stories might help kids learn to read and enjoy reading is motivation for me to keep writing. And, contrary to snobby belief, writing early readers is an art that takes skill. Mo Willems has a knack for it. As does Jane Yolen. There's plenty of work out there to learn from and admire. Just think of ancient Greek poetry. It was incredibly simple and the Greeks influenced modern civilization so much. As Nathaniel Hawthorne said, "Easy reading is damn hard writing." There are great early readers and there are bad ones. There are ones that make me laugh and ones that make me wonder how they ever got published in the first place.

I remember when I was in the first grade, my horrible first grade teacher, Ms. Michelle, told kids they were stupid. She divided the class into two groups: slow readers and fast readers, as if reading quickly were more important than enjoyment or comprehension. I still get mad when I think about Ms. Michelle. I feel I need to make up for some terrible teachers' destructive "teaching" methods by writing early readers.

I recently sat down to coffee with children's book author Susan Blackaby. She gave me feedback on a couple of my manuscripts and said editors and writers sometimes don't understand the guidelines of early readers. She gave one example of a terrible early reader, written at a 5th grade reading level but marketed as preschool-grade 1. That book is "Bookstore Cat," by Cindy Wheeler. The author uses words like "pigeon" and named her main character Mulligan. Finding a preschooler who can read the word "pigeon" is like finding a pigeon who can read the word "preschooler." These are ridiculous expectations.

But since I like to keep things positive, I'll end this blog entry by telling you about two fabulous early readers.

"Shampoodle," by Joan Holub. The text rhymes and the illustrations show dogs with funny hairdos. What more do I need to say?

"Yeti Spaghetti," by Samantha Hay. This book is for kids who are ready to move beyond the basics. Pete, the main character, enters a cooking competition, but his only problem is the yetis who sneak up and eat his culinary creations before they can be judged. The illustrations are similar to those of Quentin Blake, who illustrated Roald Dahl's books. It's a hilarious story that will capture kids' interest till the end. I loved it. Love love loved it!

The Demise of the 5 lb Gummy Bear

I've been slowly devouring a 5 lb green gummy bear I got for Christmas. Both his ears and part of his forehead are gone. If he had been a red gummy bear I probably would have finished him off by now, but his less appealing lime flavor has guaranteed him a slow demise. Tonight he will go untouched because I'm making peanut butter cookies. At the rate I'm going, I will probably have to leave his headless body to someone in my will.