Books in The Bear Books series

Imagine you’re learning to read a new language. How would you do it? First you’d learn the alphabet, if it has one. Then you’d string letters into simple words and read stories to get familiar with the words and how they’re used. That seems hard to me. But it would be even harder if you’d never learned a language before. And what if you were only a little kid? That would be a big challenge. But—think about it—that’s what we expect children to do routinely to learn reading. I think we should do whatever we can to make this big leap easier for kids. We as adults have experience with reading, and we’re older; we should take the burden off kids and do the hard work of WRITING stories so they’ll be easy for kids to READ. How? Well, using short words might help. They’re probably easier to learn than long words. But children’s books are often peppered with long words like “elephant” and “xylophone”, which is fine if adults are reading TO children. But though I like elephants and xylophones, and even elephants playing xylophones, for kids to learn how to read, long words are probably not ideal. When I was teaching my own children to read, I looked for books with only short words. But I had trouble finding books like that. Could I write one myself? If I limited word length to 3 letters, could I write a story? Sure. What about 2 letters? That would be a challenge. There are so few 2-letter words to work with. But I juggled them until I came up with a story, with characters, action, and even humor. I found Joanna Pasek, who beautifully illustrates children’s books in a semi-realistic style I liked, so we set to work, eventually producing our book, “WE GO TO BO”: wegotobo.com. Teachers who saw it told me it would be even easier for children to read if I used only the simplest sounds, and consistently used one sound for each letter. Should I write another 2-letter word book following that advice? Meanwhile, at a public reading of “WE GO TO BO”, I asked the children if someone could write a book with only 3-letter words, and they said yes. 2-letter words? Again yes. And then one smart aleck said 1-letter. My first impulse was to ignore him, but then I thought, “Why not 1-letter?” If I use the letter “C” to mean “S-E-E” and the letter “U” for “Y-O-U”, maybe. And if I write both a 1-letter word book and a new 2-letter book, maybe I can add a 3-letter book for a 1-2-3 series. Joanna and I finished the 3 books: “Y”, “BO, GO UP!”, and “Cat Egg”. They comprise “The Bo Books” series: bobooks.org. You can get the e-books for free and the paperback books at about my cost. The 1-letter word book is about a curious kid, asking her dad “why?” about things in the park. Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? He doesn’t know, but she opens his eyes to the world. With only 1-letter “words”, Joanna’s illustrations do the heavy lifting of telling this story. The 2-letter word book starts with children playing with a ball and ends with a much larger ball, because one kid’s mom runs a hot air balloon company and gives them a ride. Using all capital letters avoids confusing children about when to use upper case or lower case. In the 3-letter word book, one kid has a cat, and when her friends play with it, they think it’s laid an egg. Once children can read the alphabet, they can read the 1-letter word book, “Y”. That accomplishment gives them pride in reading a whole book, and gives them confidence to continue reading. Then they can read the 2-letter word book, “BO, GO UP!”. I used very simple vocabulary: less than half the alphabet, and only 11 different words. That makes it easy for kids to feel good that they can read a real book. Next, the 3-letter word book, “Cat Egg”, teaches 39 words, including 17 of the 100 most common words. Millions of people worldwide take a long time to learn reading, or never learn. Let’s remove obstacles to reading. Get The Bo Books, and tell your friends about them. Thank you.

A perfect middle-grade adventure for the same fans as Alex Rider readers.Tim Malt; his parents; his dog, Grk; and his friends Natascha and Max Raffifi have just arrived in India. They are all set to see the famous sights and watch Max compete in a tennis tournament. But after meeting a boy named Krishnan, they learn about the Blue Rat Gang, a group that enslaves children. Krishnan needs help to rescue his sister from a cruel life of forced labor, and Tim and Grk are up to the challenge. Racing against time, Tim and Grk are chased through dark alleys only to find themselves face-to-face with the infamous leader inside the Blue Rats’ headquarters. Can they foil his evil plans before it’s too late?Praise for the Grk books:“Pure adventure fun.”—Kirkus Reviews“Crackles with Doder’s crisp prose and absurdist sensibility . . . [a] wildly engaging story.”—Time Out NY Kids

Written by Brianna Lisa Smith when she was eight years old, and edited by her Uncle Danny. In this sweet children's story, Ali the Bear decides to go on an adventure with his best friends Camel and Snuggles. During their adventure, they discover the Great Backyard, as well as some unexpected surprises. They also learn how to work together as friends.

Mother and Baby Bear go to the zoo, where Baby Bear follows a pretty butterfly and loses his mother. He keeps hearing someone calling 'Baby Bear! Baby Bear! and follows the sound, only to find that it is the mother Brown Bear calling her baby, then the mother Panda, then the mother Polar Bear, and so on. Just when he is getting very upset, not too mention very hungry for his lunch, he hears someone calling 'Baby Bear! Baby Bear! and runs to find his mother, waiting for him with open arms and a big basket full of lunch! Melbourne-based graphic artist Lorette Broekstra wrote this, her first book, for her two young children.

Readers will enjoy double the amount of exotic locales, intrigue, and fast-paced adventure in this paperback omnibus edition.Grk: Operation TortoiseWhen Tim discovers a man badly hurt on a beach, his relaxing holiday in the Seychelles takes on a dangerous twist. He and Grk find themselves speeding towards a well guarded private island in the hopes of foiling a dastardly plot threatening the local endangered giant tortoises.Grk Smells a RatWhile in India to see the famous sites and cheer on Max in a championship tennis tournament, Tim, Natasha, and Grk meet a boy named Krishnan who enlists their help to rescue his sister from a life of forced labor. Racing against time, they find themselves face to face with the Blue Rat Gang's infamous leader. Can they foil his evil plans before it's too late?

"Early one fine morning, not so long ago, a handsome young chicken named Lyle set off to seek fame and fortune as a pirate on the Seven Seas. Along the way he met a ghostly pirate-bear who warned him that there were more important things in life than gold and fame. After many adventures, Lyle had to make the choice between fame and fortune or family and friends. (The story of Lyle and the choice he made is told in the book: "The Legend of Yellowbeak the Pirate.") But advice was not all the pirate-bear gave Lyle; he also gave him a book of Geography to help him on his way. What he didn’t tell Lyle was that it was a magic book and whoever read it would become part of the story the book told........ This is that book....." The long-awaited companion book to "The Legend of Yellowbeak the Pirate" is told in verse and illustrated with sumptuous full colour and full-page pictures. It contains valuable information concerning the Bears of many countries as well as interesting insights into the countries themselves. There is also some Geography.