How to Teach a Slug to Read
K-Gr 2 This charming and funny manual is also informative for older siblings or parents who are beginning the teaching process themselves. The bits of advice include: Attach labels to Little Slug s favorite things, Read out loud to him, Point out words that repeat, Sound out words, Make a vocabulary list, and Be patient. Everything is made amusing by adding the slug perspective ( underline favorite words in slug slime ). Presented in a combination of bold text and speech bubbles, Pearson s text is simple and appealing. Illustrations are cartoonish with plenty of bug appeal, humor, and a scintilla of grossness. Beyond its cleverness, this is a terrific bookfomercial for READING. The final pages share some of the joys to be found in books in an unpreachy way. And that is no small achievement. --School Library Journal, May, 2011Gr K-3 Pearson is a slug intimate, having previously charted the course of two Slugs in Love (illustrated by Kevin O'Malley, 2006), so who better to explain, exactly, the best way to teach a slug to read? It is really quite elementary, starting with opening the book (make sure it has slug characters), read it to the slug, point out repeating words, help sound them out, get a vocabulary list going, underline favorite words and, you bet, [r]ead your slug s favorite poems to him as many times as he wants. Read him other books too! This slug s favorite is Mother Slug s book of poetry, with such old gems as Mary had a little slug, / His skin was smooth as silk and Whatever can the matter be? / Sally Slug has climbed a tree and Sweet Sammy Slug / Slides through the town. Slonim s upbeat illustrations give readers a sense that they are there with the slugs, flipping the pages, while the interjections from the slugs Sl-uh-uh-g! Hey, I can read SLUG! convey, with a light hand, the joys of reading. And though it isn t cricket to diminish a slug s capabilities, readers can t help but feel that if a slug is up to the task, well then, maybe someone else in the room is, too. --Kirkus January 15, 2011