BrillKids Forum

Dear All,

Several people have mentioned the Ladybird series, of which I was unfamiliar with.  I found the following site and wanted to ask everyone's thoughts and experiences with the various series,  Below is an introduction to "Learn to Read":

http://www.ladybird.co.uk/ladybirdworldwide/learntoread.html

Thanks.
Sincerely,
Ayesha

I also would like to hear everyone's thoughts and experiences.

I bought several of the LadyBird "Read It Yourself" books for Felicity some time ago, at Levels 1 and 2.  They are good, and Felicity likes them.  The good thing is that it has many 'famous' stories, and it's in levels.

But then, many books are similar and serve the same purpose, and which she likes just as much or more.  Her favorite ones are actually those by Disney since the cast of characters are often those she is already familiar with (you can see her reading the Level 2 Cinderella book here:

http://www.brillbaby.com/teach-baby/baby-reading-videos/Page-4.php#flick4

Her latest fav is "Tinkerbell" (Disney level 3), which I bought recently not long after she watched the movie.

My suggestion would be to buy a variety of books, at the appropriate level.  If it's a topic that she'd be more interested in (eg., because of the characters involved), then that would be better as their interest level would be higher.

Eg., Felicity would naturally like the LadyBird's "Beauty and a Beast" Read it Yourself book because she knows the story from the Disney movie.  But then, if it was the real Disney version where the characters also look the same, she would like it even more, since she's already been playing with the exact same toy "Belle".

Hi
I taught my two older kids  reading with Ladybird Key Words books. I just got 1-4 a and b, as I used A Beka for phonics. The books are good as they teach the words that are often hard to illustrate. After getting through the 4th  one they moved on to just reading books. I am using my set again now  with  younger two.  :)
Here are their words, they could be useful if you are making your own readers too.
"The first 100 Key Words:
a and he I in is it of that the to was all as at be but are for had have him his not on one said so they we with you about an back been before big by call came can come could did do down first from get go has her here if into just like little look made make me more much must my no new now off only or out over other out right see she same their them then there this two up want well went who were what when where which will your old"

My mother used the Ladybird Key Word series up to level 3 as far as I remember to teach my sister to read many years ago - I would certainly not advise buying further than about level 6 at the most (I believe it goes to level 12) as by then children should be reading pretty much anything.

Accompanying the Key Words Reading Scheme books are the Read it Yourself stories which are traditional stories written in easy to read format and follow the vocabulary of the original key words books (the older books even give you a list the new words introduced, but it seems the newer versions don't which is a bit of a pain) I plan on using a few of these early on with my daughter as they can give a boost to children's reading when they find that they can read a familiar story with limited vocabulary. Again I would not buy the stories past about level 2/3 as by then they should be able to read the same stories in what I feel would be a more interesting format than continued Ladybird books - I would want to introduce different sizes and feels of books by then.

As for the "C" books in the series - they are about phonics and writing and I do not plan to use them with my child as by the time she got to being able to write she should be past the same level in the reading books and it would be a bit pointless but if your child reaches this stage at age 3 or 4 then they might be a good idea.

i try to find lady bird books but thers none in any of the book shop here.  :huh:

We have a full set of these readers and I used them with all my children (except the baby). They have all learned to read and are strong readers. With older dd I also incorporated some Doman method and she learned easier and faster than the boys with very little effort. Most importantly she enjoyed it.

With both of my boys I started about kindergarten level and didn't use the Doman method but just the readers. I think it was both too late and not enough. They struggled to learn to read and we did not enjoy the process.

I will use the readers for ydd but I will teach her the words early and incorporate Doman methods to teach.

I had some of them as a kid and I found them very boring. I remember one went something like this... Here is Peter.  Here is jane. Peter likes Jane.  Jane likes Peter. Peter and jane like the dog. The dog likes Peter and Jane....
RIVETTING! What a storyline! Dry as dust.
Get a variety of books, as some are for the same reading level yet are so much more interesting, even funny. It didnt take ladybird any skill to write those sort of readers.  Writing good entertaining early readers using not many words or pages is a real skill. I like Joy Cowley books (she's an aussie) that you find in early primary schools here.  If I spot any 2nd-hand I grab them.

Well, it may be dead boring for us, but depending on the illustrations, it could be very effective for the child. Very young children probably won't find it boring either, and because it's so simple, it would be easier for them to pick up the meanings of the words.

They have expanded their repertoire since then... I do remember I did like one Ladybird book as a kid.. it was about an enormoUs Turnip That took lots of people and animals to pull out of the ground. Those sort of Ladybird books are enjoyable. And the very young baby ones have a picture and a word per page or per 2 page spread. A bit like flashcards... I noticed someone did a download involving words from Peter and Jane.

hi,
I use Peter and Jane series for my kids (I only have first 4 books a and b), so I was the one to make .cat word flashes for them. :)
BTW my kids like them and esp. it gives the sense of achievement as they can read the whole book alone very quickly.

Hello! And where you can learn more about these books?

I have a ladybird book bedtime rhymes printed in 1946 in mint condition could you value it?

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