Little Critter 12-Book Phonics Fun!: A Box of 12 Mini-Books Featuring Short and Long Vowel Sounds (My First I Can Read) Paperback – Illustrated, September 11, 2012

I purchased these for my Kindergarten classroom. The reading is advanced for this age group. I used these with my advanced readers during the last quarter of the school year. I could not find a DRA level for these books but I estimate them to be DRA level 8-10. Many schools have some type of reading system they use such as AR or Lexile. Our school is choosing to use the DRA leveling. Upon leaving Kindergarten, students should be at a DRA level 6 or higher. By the end of 1st grade, they should be at a level 18-20. End of 2nd grade, DRA 28-30. Each year they should increase about 10 levels. The biggest jump happens during their first grade year. When you purchase books for your child, try to stay within their reading levels so they don't get frustrated. You can easily go up a level or 2 as long as you help them with the words they don't know. They more practice they get, the faster they will master fluency and comprehension.PROS: Colorful picturesInteresting topics for students (ie Sharks, Firefighters etc)Love the Little Critter characterssmaller sized books perfect for little handscute carrying case (but I took mine out and put in a basket)my students are naturally drawn to choose these books (perhaps since I read Little Critter books in class?)Reasonably priced considering so many come in the setPrime shippingCONS: the binding on the books is simple and can come apart in little hands that are being too rough (pretty much true for all kids books except board books) Found clear packaging tape (Duck brand) is a teacher's best friend and can extend the life of books (rips, tears, etc)the font is not a kid friendly font. Being a teacher I like fonts that are similar to what they learn in school such as Comic Sans and not that old typewriter font. Just a little pet peeve of mine.teacher tip: ask your child to read out loud to you, tracking the words as they read (pointing with their finger). If they get to a word they don't know, watch what they do. Good readers should look at the word, look at the picture, think about what they just read and figure out what would make sense. Stick to the 5 second Think Time rule. Count to 5 in your head and then help them with the word. Write down each word your child struggled with on a Post-it, (or they can write it). Keep the Post-it in the book and cross off the words as your child masters them. Children love to see their progress and it challenges them!

I know when many people review these phonics fun books, they are really critical and complain that these books are too short or don't do an adequate job teaching phonics but I believe these books are meant for very young children, as just an introduction to reading and phonics, to get them interested in reading for the future.That being said, I own the Batman Phonics Fun and now The Little Critter phonics fun and I am one satisfied customer!My son is two and these feature characters he loves, in a short enough format for him to enjoy and with colorful pictures. Whats not to love about that?He also loves having his own little books that he can carry and take with him wherever he goes. 12 little books for around 10 dollars? I am one happy mama. I foresee a Spiderman phonics fun purchase in our near future as well :)

Love Little Critter books! So cute!

Age appropriate easy to read for early readers

Did not read the comments lol. SO, did not realize they were not full books until I recieved them but was okay with it as they are great books for my son who is learning to read. They are just the right length, keep his attention span and build his confidence in reading. Wish they were a little bigger dimension wise. They are small books but good quality.

I purchased this set of books for my 15 month old niece and she absolutely loves them. We read each one several times a day and there is not one that she likes better than the others because she loves them all equally. She will even sit by herself somewhere and I find her looking at one of the books and talking to it while turning the pages in it. I sat for several hours laminating each book by hand one by one so that they would last longer. I do wish they were pre-laminated but that is nothing against the books themselves.These individual books are for full of fun, laughs, life, and color that I catch myself sitting when my niece goes to bed and marveling over these remarkable and silly stories. I would HIGHLY recommend this set of books to anyone with children between the ages of 0-3 years old. You and your child will fall in love with them over and over again. A really remarkable set of amazing books.

Yes, these books are small (as noted in previous reviews), but that is exactly why wanted them. I bought these for some long airplane trips and road trips we had planned and they delivered. The pictures have all the detail of the full-sized Little Critter books. My my kids like listening to the stories or looking at the detailed pictures on their own. My 3-year-old also likes the humor and sounding out the words, whereas my younger one is enjoys taking the books in and out of the box. I absolutely love "My First I Can Read" books for travel, and this set may be my favorite so far.

My first grader loves these! They stick to short/long vowel sounds, but also throw in some words that follow other rules, which is nice.