It's Fall, Dear Dragon

It’s sort of silly to pretend I was uncertain whether I was going to buy this before I read it. I have kids who discover Margaret Hillert and refuse to read anything else until they’ve read all the books we have by her. There’s no way I wouldn’t buy this book.

The Dear Dragon series is made up of several books that are easy readers. They use site vocabulary that is printed in the back of the book. It reminds me of the books I learned to read with.

In this book, it is fall and Dear Dragon and his boy have typical fall things to do. The boy goes to school, but Dragon has to wait outside. They walk home talking about the sky and the leaves. They even rake leaves and jump into them. Next mom and the boy go shopping and see the fruits and vegetables that we associate with fall (apples, pears and pumpkins) After carving a Jack-O-Lantern with dad, Dragon and his boy go to bed. All this is told in simple, repetitive, easy vocabulary. These Beginning-to-Read books capture the imaginations of beginning readers and help them on their way to independent reading. They could also be read aloud to young children who are not able to read yet. A great addition to a family library or a primary classroom.

Thank you to Netgalley and Norwood House Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Another book in Margaret Hillert's beginning reader series, It's Fall, Dear Dragon explores the activities associated with Autumn. While a boy attends school, his pet dragon must wait outside, but on their walk home they spy some geese flying south for the winter. Once home, they rake the autumn leaves having fun jumping into the pile they have created. Afterwards, while accompanying Mother to the grocery store, they stop to scrutinize a display of seasonable fruit and vegetables. Before bed, Father helps his son carve a Jack O'Lantern from the recently purchased pumpkin. At the end of the day, the boy and his pet look out the window and spy a full moon causing the boy to gush that he is so glad he has a friend like Dear Dragon.

Using easily recognizable sight vocabulary featuring the phonemes f and v, there is an alphabetical list of the 75 vocabulary words as well as suggestions for parents to assist in reading with their child including questions for comprehension and reading strategies for fluency. These useful activity pages were created by Shannon Cannon while the charming illustrations visually enhancing the text are drawn by David Schimmel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Norwood House Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Four stars.

I love the Dear Dragon books paired with the non-fiction counterpart. I have purchased a few sets to use in centers in my classroom.