My Handprints leveled books received a wonderful commendation from a colleague last week. This man is an early literacy professional par excellence, with many years’ experience teaching not only children, but teachers, as well.

After I told him that I am self-publishing now, through Teachers Pay Teachers, he remarked that the Handprints books were highly successful with young readers, and then he told me why.

He allowed that there are a lot of good leveled books out there by other authors, but that the Handprints stories, in particular, elicit a positive emotional response from children. He gave several examples, including:

• When Dee finally jumps in the pool in The Pool (D/6)
• When the cake appears at the end of At Grandma’s House (E/8)

His examples reminded me of my own favorite Handprints stories:

• The simple yet significant character change in Cat’s Dream (A/1)
• The funny ending based on something that really happened to me in Where is Joker? (D/5)
• The humor, irony, and characterization in Zip Me Up (E/7)
• The Storm (G/12), with its endearing ending

 

 

Another comment that my colleague made was that the Handprints books are good for students’ cognitive development. This meant a lot to me, too, because I tried hard to take my students’ competencies and needs into consideration when I wrote the books. I paid close attention to the demands that would be placed on students:

• To cope with language structure
• To decode phonetic words
• To use their sight vocabulary
• To practice fluency
• To learn about increasingly complex word parts (morphemes)
• And more!

I hope that my Handprints books have not only delighted children, but also helped them to become more competent as readers. If this is the case, then the books are a success!

My, my! Reflecting on my years of creating these books is inspiring me to go write some more leveled books to upload to Teachers Pay Teachers! I’d like to enable more children to take delight in learning to read!