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Tabor, Corey R. Fox the Tiger. 2018. 32 pages. LP: $4.99, ISBN: 9780062398697. Ages: 4-8.
Fox the Tiger is part of the popular "I Can Read" series of books published by HarperKids. These books are organized by reading levels, starting with "My Very First," which are book sets, and continuing on through level 4:
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Fox the Tiger is classified as "My First/Shared Reading which consists of basic language, word repetition, and whimsical illustrations, ideal for sharing with your emergent reader" (Fox and Tiger, cover page).
Using Horning's classifications, Fox and Tiger falls best into Level One. While some lines do have more than 5 words, most lines are 5 and under. Sentences are also mainly under 7 words, and the ones that go over (like this one pictured, which has 8 words) include short sight words:
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The sentence is "I wish I were a tiger." says Fox, and although it is contains 8 words, 6 of them are sight words. In fact, many of the words in this book are sight words and words with 1-3 syllables. Finally, all pages have fewer than 7 lines, in fact, no page has more than 3 lines. So Fox and Tiger falls neatly into Horning's Level One classification.
In addition to being appropriate for a nascent reader, Fox and Tiger's pastel and line illustrations and simple moral should be compelling to young children. Fox longs to be "big and fast and sneaky" like a tiger, and a bit of paint helps him to achieve this wish. Soon other woodland animals are using paint to transform themselves, but a rain storm returns them to their original forms. In the end, they are happy to be who there are.
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LaRochelle, David. See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog. Illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka, 2020. 64 pages. LP: $8.99, ISBN: 978–1536204278. Preschool through grade 3.
This humorous book, made up of 3 stories, falls somewhere between Horning's Level One and Two categories. Its type is large and most lines have 3, 4, or 5 words. Most sentences have 3-4 words, however a some have over 7 words and one sentence consists of 19 words. These longer sentences include cumulative phrases that have come in the pages that precede for example:
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While this page has a 19-word sentence, the phrases "run and jump" and "spin and fly" have come before.
In addition to 11 pages (out of 64) with sentences over 7 words long, there are 2 multi-syllabic words including "unicorn" and "embarrassed." Many words are sight words, but this book also has some longer, more sophisticated vocabulary.
Compared to Fox and Tiger which I consider above, See the Cat is a bit more complex. It is still beginner-level in many ways. Its clever concept with the book talking on one page and the dog responding on the facing page, keeps the lines brief with ample white space and funny illustrations dominating the dog's page. Using Horning's classifications, if we take Fox and Tiger as a baseline for Level One, I would classify See the Cat as a Level 1.5.
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English, Karen. Nikki & Deja. Illustrated by Laura Freeman, 2007. 80 pages. LP: $9.99, ISBN: 9780547133621. Ages 4-7.
"Transitional books serve as a bridge...that some children will cross very quickly; others will linger for a while. The best transitional books will suggest that the trip across is worth it and great things await them on the other side." (Horning, 137)
Nikki & Deja brings readers beyond the first three classification levels, bridging the gap to more text-heavy chapter books. It is classified as a transition book, as Horning describes in the quote above. While slim at 76 pages, it covers a far more involved plot over several chapters than do the first three levels. The following picture and analysis show why it fits comfortably in the transition book category:
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Pages 16 and 17 illustrate how Nikki & Deja qualifies as a transitional book. First, the typeface is relatively large--I believe this is 14 point. Secondly, the number of lines per page is 23 if you count full lines; 26 if you count lines made up of 1 or 2 words. Thirdly, the number of words per line runs from 7 to 10. Margins are quite generous, and there are full-page black and white illustrations throughout--at least one per chapter and sometimes more. There are also partial-page illustrations scattered across chapters. Chapters are short and episodic, each one conveying a particular plot point (in the case of Chapter 4, the arrival of Antonia, the new neighbor, in school and the main characters' conflict with her on the playground).
As is important in transitional books, the vocabulary is kept simple with descriptive words, but not too many. Some nouns are unmodified: "backpack, cubby, ruler" whereas adjectives modify others: "perfectly good seat, pink plastic pencil case, small stapler". These adjectives help create images of the scene in readers' minds, without being too unfamiliar or complex. Sentences are short, direct and uncomplicated: "All heads bend toward their blank pages" and "A few take time to stare into space". Perhaps in a chapter book for more advanced readers, these two sentences would be combined with "while" linking them and perhaps even more phrases. As it is, these shorter sentences are easier to digest and still convey an idea of what is going on in the classroom.
Nikki & Deja is an interesting book with tension surrounding a new neighbor and classmate, leading to a friendship breakup, resolving in best friends coming back together. Compared to the first three levels of beginning readers, there is more here across many variables--words, descriptors, sentences, plot, chapters. These work together to tell a compelling, not too complicated story.
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Bruchac, Joseph. rez dogs. 2022. 192 pages. LP: $8.99, ISBN: 9780593326220. ages 8-12.
"Novels in verse have earned their place in the mainstream of children’s and young adult literature...and this is good news for reluctant readers, especially reluctant middle-grade and middle-school readers. Compared to a conventional novel, a novel in verse has perhaps half the number of words per page — and isn’t that half the battle with reluctant readers?" (The Horn Book, 2015)
rez dogs by Joseph Bruchac, author of the acclaimed YA book Code Talker, does not quite fit neatly in
the categories Horning presents in her chapter on easy readers and transition books. It comes closest to being a transition book, but rather than serving as a bridge between easier titles and longer chapter books, I think it exists unselfconsciously as its own category--the novel in verse.
Across several variables, rez dogs appears to be a transition book. Its type is relatively large, there are typically 20 or less lines per page with each line typically containing 5 or fewer words. Each page has plenty of white space and chapters are short. Consider pages 50-51:
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This is a novel in verse, which Horning covers in Chapter 4 and describes as "full length fiction written as a series of connected poems, generally free verse" (page 82). The sparseness of its text laser-focuses the reader on the themes of the book, just like poetry conveys worlds within a few, beautifully-evocative lines. As The Horn Book article quoted above emphasizes, not only does this genre serve an artistic purpose, it can be especially appealing to reluctant readers. Rather than being faced with overwhelming, dense lines of text, books like rez dogs keep their text spartan and collected toward one side of the page, reserving plenty of white space throughout. Each stanza contains few lines and each line, few words such as from the above photo:
"The ironic thing,
Malian thought,
about her mom being
taken away,
is that it was
almost the same
as what happened
to her grandparents"
(Bruchac, page 51)
Why not classify it as a transition book and be done with it? Because I feel rez dogs does not sit comfortably in this category. While its chapters are not long, they convey more nuanced content than the episodic chapters of a transition or bridge book. They are not illustrated. Word choice is surgical, but words are not necessarily simple for example:
whilst
goldarn
intelligence
rippling
ironic
eugenics.
One criterion is that transition books have content that is compelling enough to hold interest, but not too complicated or hard to follow. rez dogs is not complicated, but it does move the reader between times, considering incidents that happened to the main character's grandparents and parents. On pages 50-51 above, the existence of the Indian Boarding Schools and the forced removals of native children to foster families are broached. While rez dogs does not change points of view or voices, it brings the reader along so they can understand the complexity underlying the Penacook heritage and how it affects modern-day tribal members. Chapters are short, but cover deeper topics more thoughtfully than do the chapters in Nikki & Deja, for example.
While not explicitly considered a "hi-lo" title either, rez dogs shares some of the benefits of these high interest, low readability books. It covers topics more interesting for middle grade and middle school students but in a less intimidating way due to its format. It is not coded as young as a book like Nikki & Deja is. Even its cover art work is less cartoonish. Its vocabulary is accessible but more sophisticated. Overall, it is a good entry for all readers, reluctant or not, into the genre of novels in verse.
Sources
Bruchac, Joseph. Rez Dogs. Playaway Products, LLC, 2024.
English, Karen. Nikki & Deja. Clarion Books, 2013.
Horning, Kathleen T. From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books. Collins, 2010.
Joe Bruchac. Joe Bruchac, joebruchac.com/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2024.
LaRochelle David, and Mike Wohnoutka. See the Cat David Larochelle. Candlewick Press, 2021.
Raybuck, Dorie. “Field Notes: ‘This Is Too Much!’ Why Verse Novels Work for Reluctant Readers.” The Horn Book, www.hbook.com/story/field-notes-this-is-too-much-why-verse-novels-work-for-reluctant-readers. Accessed 26 Oct. 2024.
Tabor, Corey R. Fox the Tiger. Scholastic Inc, 2019.
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