READING GROWS

Using sharp, cheerful, full-color photographs of young people, from toddlers to teenagers, Senisi (Just Kids, 1998, etc.) illustrates her premise that “Reading grows—bit by bit.” Included are pictograms everyone recognizes: deer crossing, wheelchair access. Colors are presented, then shapes, letters, words, signs, sentences. Throughout, children are read to, read to each other, or read by themselves, while books are everywhere—on home shelves and library tables. The children and adults photographed are very real, and are delightfully varied in age, build, and ethnicity; few will be able to resist the tiny bespectacled blonde with chipped nail polish and a festoon of ribbons in her hair, the Latina toddler with the gold earrings, or the Hanson-handsome pre-teen. Senisi makes the act of learning to read as natural as the blossoming of a flower while acknowledging that it takes time and patience. A note for parents and caregivers offers concise instructions for turning children into readers—a practical primer that concludes the book perfectly. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-9)