The six Meg and Pug beginning readers in the Level 1 set were carefully crafted for use with most intensive phonics programs once children have learned the five short vowel sounds. They were written by Marie Rippel, creator of All About Reading, one of my Top Picks. The back covers of the books indicate that there will eventually be six levels in this series.
Within this first level, the readers progress very gradually. The first reader uses only two- and three-letter words with short vowels, along with the sight word a. The second reader adds the sight word the. Readers three through six add only a few more short vowel words.
Each of these 29-page readers is printed in full color and features Meg the cat and Pug the dog. The readers have more pages than some other popular beginning readers, but words are on only one page of each two-page spread. Each reader tells a simple story. The illustrations and storylines might help children guess words from context. However, the words used in each reader are on one page at the end, and parents might have children practice the word list before beginning each reader to avoid them guessing. While some might say that colorful illustrations might be distracting, in my experience, most children are motivated to read when books are colorful and appealing.
The readers use short sentences, occasionally with commas, and sometimes ending with a question mark or an exclamation point. These aspects help introduce varied sentence structures.
Because of the length of these readers, they are able to convey simple stories. Some of the stories are playfully imaginative, especially The Box, the fifth reader. Meg and Pug take turns decorating the box and turning it into a bus, a hot dog stand, and a pirate ship. (The word pirate isn’t used at this level, but the illustrations convey the idea of a pirate ship.) My point is that the stories are a little more imaginative than we usually find in beginning readers.
A child who picks up reading skills easily might not need the entire set, so you can purchase books individually. Most children benefit from plenty of repetition, and using the entire set makes sense in most situations.
Free Activity Pages
The publisher's website has free optional activity pages for each reader that include flashcards and instructions for several activities, plus three pages with word search puzzles. The flashcards need to be printed on cardstock and cut out.
Summary
The Meg and Pug readers are lengthier and more colorful than many beginning readers, and they should work well alongside any program for practice reading words with only short vowel sounds. I look forward to seeing additional levels as they are published.
