The Lonely Yet Lovely Firefly

The Very Lonely Firefly
Written and Illustrated by Eric Carle
Published by Philomel Books
ISBN: 0-339-22774-1
Rating: 10/10

The Very Lonely Firefly is a classic by Eric Carle. The story of the lonely firefly is told not only with words, but with beautiful illustrations as well. Carle is known for his specific artistic style. The pictures are so vivid and detailed, but with a jagged-cartoon-like quality. Seeing the journey of this firefly doesn't even need words- can be shown through the pictures alone. The illustrations of this book make you really feel for the firefly, and enjoy his excitement at the end when he unites with all the other fireflies.

A Bit Hit was a Hit!

A Big Hit
By Emily Hutchinson
Illustrated by Valeria Pertone
Published by Harcourt School Publishers
ISBN: 0-15-364088-X
Rating: 8/10

A Big Hit is a cute one. It is about four animal friends- a dog, pig, cat, and elephant- who are playing baseball together. This decodable book has a quick story-line that is easy to follow. Each character has a name and a specific role in the baseball game. There are high-frequency words, but mainly decodable ones with the short vowel sound /i/.

I liked this one because of the narrative aspect. Although the book is only eight pages, the reader gets to know the names and genders of the few characters. It is simple, but still personable and hits the vowels sounds that it needs to.

"Awing" Over Max

Max Cat
By Nancy Furstinger
Illustrated by Laura Logan

Published by Harcourt School Publishers 
ISBN: 0-15-364086-3
Rating: 10/10

This book is about an orange cat at named Max. The story follows him through his day and the little adventures he has. This story subtly utilizes words with the vowel sound /a/. Very detailed and colorful illustrations go right along with the text.

I thought this was a great example of a decodable book. Though the the sentence structure is very simple and straightforward, it has a clear narrative that makes reading this book more enjoyable than other decodables that I have seen. I love the illustrations and I believe they pull the reader into the story. It is a short, sweet, and adorable way to teach children learn the phonetics of  the vowel /a/ .

Sappy Sounds

Sam and the Sap
 Written by Lili Henderson
Illustrated by Fred Volke
Published  by Learning Page, Inc.
www.readinga-z.com
Rating: 5/10


Sam and the Sap is an online decodable book that focuses on the /s/ consonant sound. There is not really much to the story: a man and cute puppies are getting sap from a tree. It was not something I would enjoy reading, and I do not see children enjoying it either. However, it does its job working with phonetics!

Time Isn't the Only Thing That Flies

Time Flies
Illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Published by Crown Publishers Inc. New York 1994
ISBN: 0-517-59598-2
Rating: 8/10

Time Flies is a very intriguing  wordless picture book. It shows the adventure of  a bird flying around a dinosaur exhibit in a museum when it suddenly finds itself back in time with real dinosaurs.

I enjoyed this book because not only does it evoke the reader's interest in the bird's travels, but also the history and time of the dinosaurs. Children are always fascinated by these extinct creatures so I felt this was a fun and different approach to show their lives.

The illustrations tell the story effortlessly. They are realistic pictures with a colorful painted like quality. It is fun watching the colors brighten while the bird flies back in time. When it comes back to reality the colors darken, however knowing that the bird has returned to our time and watching it fly into the night was a comforting image regardless of the dark tones.

Frogs Going Up On a Tuesday

Tuesday
Illustrated by David Wiesner
Published by Clarion Books 1991
ISBN: 0-395-55113-7
Rating: 5/10

This wordless picture book was cute, but kind of odd. Wiesner uses illustrations to tell a story of the explorations of frogs on a casual Tuesday night.

The watercolor illustrations are beautiful and show the different unrealistic adventures of the frogs in a vivid manner. The details of even the frogs themselves are so precise. Although the pictures were fun to look at, I was not the biggest fan of the story line. It consisted of frogs floating around at night on lily pads while the rest of the world sleeps. Not my cup of tea, but if any reader is a huge frog fan they might get some enjoyment out of it.

Swiper No Swiping?

Fox's Garden 

Illustrated by Princesse Camcam
Published by Enchanted Lions Book New York
ISBN: 978-1-59270-167-4
Rating: 10/10

I may be a little biased to the Fox's Garden because foxes are my favorite animal, but I still believe that this is an excellent example of a wordless picture book. From the moment I looked at the cover I knew I would fall in love. Foxes are often portrayed as the "bad guys" in children's literature and television, but this book shows children the true side of these beautiful creatures.

Through the illustrations in this book, the reader is shown the story of a mother fox in the bitterness of winter and a little boy who is kind and eager to help. This story line is very clear throughout. With the detailed images you can see the intentions and conflict of the story- the mother fox struggling to keep her kit warm and fed and how the little boy wants to help. The illustrations are soft but detailed enough to still see the wind blowing and the texture of the fox's fur. The reader sees that the boy is able to enter the fox's "garden" (his family's green house) and provide the foxes with food and they return the favor in the end by giving him flowers.

It is an adorable story for children and gives awareness and empathy for different animals in nature. A definite recommendation for wordless picture books from Nat.