posted on 05 Oct 2020

Maverick Early Readers: Blue Band

I was pleased to receive another batch of little books that continue to challenge emerging decoding skills and comprehension and to stimulate the imagination of young readers. I have already reviewed examples from other levels - an example of which you can see here.  This next set of readers comes from the Blue Band, which is the fourth level in this excellent reading scheme

Astro Cat by Clare Helen Walsh, illustrated by Junissa Bianda

Everyone probably knows that pets have secret lives that go far beyond their owners expectations. When Star’s owner Ella leaves her at home to sleep, little does she realise that her cat has super powers! She even has a superhero costume ready and leaps into action as soon as the door closes. A rogue ball of wool needs to be tamed, the hamster must be rescued from the bowl of milk and a dastardly enemy defeated when he dares to invade the house. Just in time, she manages to return to her basket to respond with a stretch and a purr when Ella checks that she has had a good sleep.

Monster Mayhem by Katie Dale, illustrated by Dean Gray

Even little monsters don’t seem to settle down to sleep easily so when their parents say goodnight, the five cheeky faces peep out from the covers with the promise of mayhem. The problem is that dad has made them think about biting bed bugs. Little Sniff is very anxious so his brothers try to reassure him that they will fight him off if necessary – after all they are scary monsters. The competitive racket gets so loud that mum returns to tell them off and they all agree that she is the most scary monster.

Dinosaurs in Wellies by Lou Treleaven, illustrated by Paul Nicholls

Stomp the Dinosaur has an unusual obsession – he collects wellies and just loves wearing them when he is at home and out and about. His greatest wish is to be able to wear them all at once. But not everyone agrees that they are the most suitable footwear and so he constantly has to persuade others that he has pairs to fit every possible occasion. One day he is delighted to be proved right when the rainfall is so heavy and persistent that he has to lend pairs of wellies to all his classmates so that they can walk through the floodwater without getting their feet wet.  

Get Your Skates On! By Katie Dale, illustrated by Gareth Robinson

This one had a bit more text including speech bubbles to convey a more complex narrative. Ron is a boy who isn’t very good at allowing enough time to get things done. He gets up too late, almost misses the school bus, and is nearly late for hockey practice. Luckily his nan decides to give him a pair of skates to speed him up a bit. Now he can zoom everywhere and never takes them off – even in bed! As young readers might probably point out, this isn’t such a great idea, but it takes a rather frightening episode to convince him that he doesn’t need to wear them all the time.

As ever, this selection of books combines simple repetitive text with lively and detailed illustrations. I like the decision to use a rage of illustrators because, too often, reading schemes rely on one particular style. I believe that even the youngest readers need to see and learn to respond to a wide range of illustrative styles as part of developing their own aesthetic preferences.

Strongly recommended.

 

Karen Argent

October 2020