In the Forest (Penguin Young Readers, Level 1)

In the Forest- Lexile: unknown"In The Forest" written by Alexa Andrews and Illustrated by Candice Keimig did not impress me. There was no actual "story" or plot and I would describe this "emergent reader" as a nothing more than a collection of flashcards that are divided into 3 sections.Section 1: See What Lives In The ForestThis section has sentences based on what "animal" is highlighted in the illustration.Example:• Squirrels live in the forest.• Skunks live in the forest.Besides the lack of any plot in this section, the text passages contain irregular plural noun forms.Example:• Moose live in the forest.• Deer live in the forest.While using these irregular noun forms might be useful in an ESL setting, I do not see the use of these irregular noun forms as beneficial to the emergent reader.Section 2: See What Grows In the ForestThe next section is much like the first section with the first word of each text passage changing.Example:• Flowers grow in the forest• Nuts grow in the forestThere is one exception, again a grammatical change, on page 23:• Grass grows in the forestSection 3: See What Is In the ForestThis is the final section and it continues on the same dull track as the previous two sections.Example:• Rocks are in the forest.• Rivers are in the forestThe only rays of sunshine, in this otherwise dreary and tedious reader, are the peaceful forest illustrations by Candice Keimig.___________Book LevelI was unable to find any "lexile measure" for "In the Forest" and unable to verify a DRA level of "1a" from any source other than the publisher and that took some digging.It is possible the DRA level for this title is available in Pearson's DRA Online Management system. However, unlike the Lexile Measure database (referenced in some of my other book reviews) which was created by Meta Metrics and access is available free of charge, the online DRA database created by Pearson is not available free of charge and requires a subscription.A common work around for this issue is Scholastic's free "book wizard" search engine. Despite using this "work around", I was unable to verify any level information for this title by Ms. Andrews or her other similar readers (both published by Penguin Young Readers):• On the Farm• At the BeachThe only entry I could find for any of Ms. Andrews books was an entry for an emergent reader titled, "Cat Traps.""Cat Traps" appears to be a re-make of one of the old SRA reading cards. "The Cat Sat on the Mat". However, I have only "previewed" Cat Traps and I do not plan on purchasing the book.___________In closing, I am finding it rather difficult to justify even the meager price tag for this title by Alexa Andrews and I am slightly hesitant to purchase more books from the Penguin Young Reader Series.Update: Writing this review was a difficult process for me because I do not enjoy writing such a negative review. And while I stand by my initial review, I have posted an article on my personal blog detailing the ways I believe this emergent reader could be useful in a classroom setting. A link to my personal blog can be found on my profile page.

Perfect book for my 6 yr old to read on her own. Highly Recommend to anyone with kiddos that are learning to read or have started to read.

This book and the others in this series are truly beginning readers. They are rated a DRA Level 1 A. What a wonderful series for my Kindergartener who knows his letters and sounds but is just starting to learn words.