Learning to Read – Maverick Early Readers Band 1

Maverick Books have adapted five of their existing picture books into Early Readers to support a young child on their early reading journey. Learning to read is a huge milestone in a child’s life and some children find it more difficult than others. There are various methods of learning to read but, however a child learns, it is important that they are encouraged to practise their reading skills with interesting, stimulating and fun reading materials that are relevant to their ability.

We are really impressed with the Maverick Early Readers which have been edited by educational consultant, Catherine Baker, to fit into industry standard book bands. They are the perfect size for Key Stage One readers, have lovely shiny covers and the text is printed in an easy to read black font on a white background. My daughter was immediately drawn to the fact that they were the same shape as a ‘chapter book’ and was very excited that the pack included one of our favourite stories, Preposterous Rhinoceros,

My daughter enjoys the multiple choice quizzes at the end of each story which are designed to consolidate a child’s understanding of what they have read. The books are grouped into three colour bands according to difficulty and you can download a Learning Pack for each book on Maverick’s website. The Learning Packs include learning objectives, ideas for lessons and examples of language and linguistic features (e.g. alliteration, onomatopoeia, sight words and consonant clusters). There are also activity and colouring sheets to help extend children’s understanding of the text and stimulate further learning, the packs are a great resource for the classroom.

Green Band

Yuck! said the Yak by Alex English and Emma Levey tells the story of when Alfie met a Yak. This fun, first Early Reader incorporates rhyme, repetition and alliteration into the text.

Orange Band

The Black and White Club by Alice Hemming and Kimberley Scott tells the story of George the Giraffe’s attempts to join a club for black and white animals. We particularly like the activity sheets that come with this Early Reader, one encourages a child to think about George’s feelings and emotions throughout the story.

A Scarf and a Half by Amanda Brandon and Catalina Echeverri tells the story of Little Lionel’s extra long scarf and includes some great examples of onomatopoeia and alliteration.

Turquoise Band

Hocus Pocus Diplodocus by Steve Howson and Kate Daubney is a fun story for all dinosaur lovers which will also introduce and / or consolidate children’s understanding of adjectives.

Preposterous Rhinoceros by Tracy Gunaratnam and Marta Costa is already a well loved picture book in our house. The process of learning to read is shown in a humorous way, it’s the perfect subject for an Early Reader.

Thank you to Maverick for sending us review copies of your Early Readers. They are really attractive for beginner readers and the learning packs are very useful for giving parents and teachers ideas to consolidate children’s literacy learning. We hope that there will be more, they would make a great addition to a class reading scheme or a home library. You can read more about the Early Readers and see reviews of the original picture books on Maverick’s website.