I started writing about Read Together Books last summer. I just adore these books that are easy enough for emergent readers to read with only a little bit of encouragement from an adult or even an older child. I especially love finding these books on the shelf of a book store not in an elementary school. There are tons of books written with the emergent reader in mind but most are created by publishers who sell to the school market only.

Fortunately, with a bit of attention, books that aren’t intended to teach children to read, can also be used for this purpose. Because the books that I put in this category don’t look like school books, they are also an easier sell to an older reluctant reader.

I have a client right now who is struggling to decode even the simplest of words. Enter the Read Together Book. With these books, my client can read independently and happily to herself, to younger children in her school and to her younger brother. The little kids are happy to hear her read and she is able to feel like the big kid she is.

Her current favorite is Tuck Me In by Dean Hacohen and Sherry Scharschmidt. In this story. multiple animals are put to bed with the same repeating refrain. After I read the first two pages, my client was able to read the rest of the book by using the strong picture clues and by following the pattern I established.

She brought Tuck Me In home to read to her younger brother over the weekend. I bet it was a win-win for the whole family.