Leaves, Migration, Hibernation ~ Seasonal Books for Emergent Readers

 This is the perfect season to check out these new books from Lerner publishing that focus on why leaves change color, why birds migrate, and why animals hibernate. These “First Look” titles are part of Lerner’s Read About Science series (Read for a Better World) and aimed at emergent readers. Written by Candice Ransom, each book spans 24 pages with a first-grade readability level and seasonal science facts that will appeal to ages 5-8.

My grand-kiddo is three fingers away from beginning-to-read, but here’s what I like about these books:

 

For emerging readers, each book poses a question at the beginning and then presents information to help answer the question. For these books, the first page questions are:

Why do birds migrate?
Why do leaves change color in the fall?
Where do animals go as days get cooler and nights get longer?

The information is simple and focused on answering the question.

The words are appropriate for the reading age, and I think will give emerging readers a feeling of success and satisfaction. And – one can hope – help them develop the habit of including nonfiction books in their library bookbag. 

Plus, the photographs are engaging.

 

For parents, homeschoolers, teachers, and librarians there is embedded family and educator support, starting with page two. A bright yellow-on-green “educator toolbox” presents three questions an adult can ask before diving into the book. For example, what do you think this book is about? 

A “let’s read together” section presents handy tips such as encouraging the child to use pictures to understand the text. As a former high school science teacher I just want to point out that this is an important skill, and one I reminded my students about constantly! “Look at the chart/graph/photo,” I would say. “What information can you glean from that?” 

Each book has a “You Connect” page where readers are asked three questions including what else they might want to learn about the topic. This is such a great question to ask kids and gets them thinking like a scientist. A “STEM snapshot” page asks them to think a bit more deeply about the topic. Additional back matter includes a photo glossary, suggested books to read, and a simple – and useful – index.

 

Beyond the Books:

What colors do the leaves turn where you live? If it’s not too late to collect a few, bring them in and make some crayon leaf-rubbings using the colors of the leaves.

Have the summer birds left your area already? Which ones fly south? And where are they going?

What to the animals who live in your area do in the winter? Do they migrate? Hibernate? Or stay active all year round?