See Me Run

November 1, 2011

PreS-Gr 1-These books deftly combine text and art to create a positive experience for new readers. They are larger than typical easy readers, leaving plenty of room for uncluttered, colorful cartoon illustrations and clear, large fonts. The sequencing of events in the uncomplicated plots leads to satisfying conclusions. In the first book, Bjorkman uses repetitive text and playful pictures to introduce appropriate behavior. "Dinosaurs don't run here" is demonstrated by a dismayed dinosaur in front of glassware falling from a china cabinet; opposite, "Dinosaurs do run here" shows two smiling creatures running through a playground. McPhail introduces the concept of up and down in the second title. "Boy saw Bird. Bird was up. Boy went up." When Dog wants to join them in the tree house but can't climb up, the boy comes down and solves the problem by hauling the pup up in a pail. And in Meisel's fun See Me Run, a game of follow the leader gets a pack of dogs running through mud and water and then stopping to dig up a big skeletal surprise. The lines "I run and run./See them come./They come and come./Will they get me?/No, no, no!/We go and go" are accompanied by playful pups of every variety shown running through a park. These titles have similar-sounding vowels and consonants, popular sight words, and short, simple sentences with clear punctuation, making them successful entries in the beginning-reader canon.-Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2011

A dog set free to run and roam in a dog park uncovers an archeological surprise.

In a manner reminiscent of a Dick and Jane reader, Meisel begins his minimal, patterned text with the simple and repetitive "See me run. / I run and run." Hearing the story from the dog's point of view, newly minted readers will work through each page's basic sentence structure with plenty of opportunity to decipher the story's action through words and pictures. Several word-family patterns are incorporated as the star pooch of this canine adventure leads a group of romping dogs across a great lawn: "Will they get me? / No, no, no! / We go and go," through a large mud puddle. Finally, they pursue some serious digging: "We dig and dig and dig and dig. // What is this? // It is big." A large dinosaur skeleton rises and gives chase, resulting in dogs frantically running once again. Cartoon drawings done in acrylic ink, pen and colored pencils offer a variety of dog breeds; eyes are wide and tongues hang out in their expressive faces as they frolic through the pale green, grassy park.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012
In this easy-reader picture book, a dog is having fun playing chase with his canine friends. Soon they start digging, only to uncover an entire dinosaur skeleton--which then gets up, gets mad, and starts chasing the dogs: "And now we run again!" New readers will appreciate the repetition in the easy-to-read text and the humorous pictures of the playful pups.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)