Dianne White

I’ve been holding off on this post because I still haven’t finished reading all the books I’m going to mention here.  But then the whole point of bringing up Babymouse, Geronimo Stilton, and Phonics Comics is that these are three series that have become hits with my students.

In the best case scenario, I keep up on all the books my students are reading.  But really?… it’s impossible!  So I do the best that I can and read as many books as I can manage.

I’m always searching for *the one book* that will hook students so seriously on reading, that the love of books will stay with them for the rest of their lives.  A tall order, to be sure…

And because I’m teaching a new grade level, I’m always on the lookout for books and series to add my collection – books that will meet the needs of the broader ability and age-range of the readers I now teach.

Not unlike most 3rd grade classrooms, I have students who are reading books anywhere between a year or two below grade level, and those who read several years above grade level.  These children are as diverse as any: some are second language learners, others are gifted, some have learning disabilities, others have average ability.

Just thinking about what I, and so many other public school teachers, do to meet the needs of such a wide range of abilities, makes me appreciate anew the enormity of the task before us.

While teaching first grade, I hadn’t needed to add much in the way of graphic-type novels to my classroom library.  It’s not that I didn’t have students who wouldn’t have enjoyed them, it’s just that I already had a huge collection of books, and didn’t really need to search for new ways to spend my hard-earned cash.

But then I changed grade levels and I wanted to build up my library to meet a new set of needs: older students, representing a wider range of ability and interest.

Here are 3 series that we’re enjoying:

Phonics Comics:  This series, published by innovativeKids, includes books at three levels: Early Readers, Developing Readers, and Confident Readers.  The books are 24 pages long, with a short list of sight and non-decodable words at the back.

I initially bought four of the Level 3 books for one of my reluctant readers,  currently working at the early 2nd grade level.  But these books have been requested by some of the higher (at and above grade level) readers, as well.

The titles hint at why these books are real winners: “Hiro Dragon Warrier,” “Meet the Sparkplugs,”  and “Spooky Sara.”

BabyMouse (by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm): Babymouse was not unfamiliar to me prior to moving up to 3rd grade.  It’s just that I’d never actually read any of the books, and didn’t have any copies in my classroom library.

But when one of the students picked up the series in the school library and the books began circulating, I, too, got hooked.  Who wouldn’t enjoy reading about an adorable mouse gallivanting across pages of pink, black, and white? I was smitten!  I’ve added 3 copies to the class library and feel like it won’t be complete until we put at least one copy of each of the books in the series on our library shelves.

Geronimo Stilton (by Geronimo Stilton, a pseudonym) is a series that’s neither graphic novel nor comic book.

Instead, it finds a happy medium smack dab in the middle of it all by combining a bit of the best of both formats within the framework of a traditional chapter book/novel.

This decidedly 3rd grade series plays with text size and font, as well as spot illustrations, maps, recipes, and more to divide up the text into manageable chunks.

I have yet to read past the first 3 pages of even one of these books, but students tell me they’re lots of fun, and judging by the large number of books in the series, these books have a large following.  Suffice it to say that I’ve already cleared another spot in our class library for *this* series.

What series/books are your students enjoying this year?