Adventurous Meg and Greg spend a busy, fun-filled summer helping animals in their neighborhood. The first book in a well-designed phonics series crafted to engage learning or reluctant readers with a shared reading experience between the learner and an experienced reader. An instructional offering made humorous and entertaining makes reading together time well spent. ( )

Our elementary students check this book out quite often. The book is good for readers that are reluctant. Not too much writing and great illustrations.

Neat concept. Each spread has a page for a grown-up or more confident reader to read and a page for a beginning reader to read.

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from ALA Virtual 2020. ( )

Short story chapters about Meg and Greg, two friends. Their phonetic adventures have them finding a duck in a sock, a fish in a dish, a sloth and a ranch. The book is broken into 4 short stories consisting of 5 or 6 chapters, 6 pages long each. Each short story focuses on a different phonetic concept - ck, sh, ch, or th. The layout of the pages alternates between text on one side and comic on the alternate. The illustrations are black and white line drawing and pleasing to the eye.

It's a cute book that emphasizes learning concepts. I love the little touches it adds like labeling things on pages and phonetic puzzles between stories to emphasize the concept learned. The authors also added a guide on how to use the book as an educational tool as well as before each short story. ( )

A lot of phonics based books are written for a very young age range. What do you do if you have an older child who needs to work on these skills? This book is a great resource for older students who are learning or practicing phonics skills. The lay out is part chapter book, part graphic novel which makes it more appealing to older students, I’d recommend it for ages 6-11 depending on the student’s individual needs. There are multiple books in the series, this book (book 1) focuses on the letter consonant combinations: ck, sh, ch, and th.

The perfectly fun book perfect for that often missed age group in literature - the just too literate for picture books, but not a strong enough reader for middle grade fiction. Highly recommend! ( )

This book is divided into 4 short stories, each with several chapters. It is designed for two readers - a stronger reader and a reader with dyslexia or another reading difficulty - to read together. The language in the learner's text is carefully selected to learn the ck, sh, ch, and th patterns with early sight words and short vowel words mixed in. The stories are charming - the characters rescue an injured duck, cope with the consequences of a fish tank cleaning mishap, move animals off a ranch in a wildfire, and chase after a runaway sloth. A light amount of potty humor, themes of animals and adventuring, and fun word activities for after reading should make this a popular book for this age group (6-9 years). I appreciated that Meg often takes the lead in the adventures, with Greg a more timid follower. I plan to gift it to the resource room at my school. ( )

Invested!

" 'Could we pay for the half of the fish and work for the other half? The shopkeeper smiled. 'Well,' she said, 'which half will you pay for, and which half will you work for?' ' - Rae & Rae

Meg and Greg's adventures got me to laugh and I wasn't expecting that. I don't have children myself but I'd recommend this book to those that do! This is book 1 in what will be an incredible series. The co-authors are a sibling duo: one educator and one biologist. You can see both of their professions at work here. The (4) stories are well written and well illustrated. The illustrations carefully highlight the words being reviewed in each chapter. Although the book is for children with neurological/ neurodevelopmental disabilities it's fun in its own right for all children between the ages of 6-9. Rae and Rae thoughtfully placed review activities at the end of each "story" for an interactive reading.

Nicky Sams
experiencethisbook
experienceslikethese on Instagram ( )

With fun stories, tons of illustrations and animal adventures, this book helps readers with language-based learning difficulties find their way to master some words.

This is a book with a purpose—to help kids with dyslexia and other reading difficulties learn to read. Focusing on words with 'ck', 'sh', 'ch', and 'th', each story presents words with these sounds in a fashion, which should make it easier for these types of readers to learn.

The book starts out with a foreword, addressing how each story is to be read. The four stories are based on a two-reader system, with the adult/buddy reader taking the left side of the page (which holds heavier text and words), leaving the fun, graphic novel form on the right side for the child to read. Both sides have the focused on words in large, black font. The spacing of the words, coloring and such take a form, which is centered around making reading easier for kids with these difficulties. Each story is divided into chapters, making it simple to do the reading in small sections. At the end of each story, are several activities, which help readers to revisit the words and work with them. At the end of the book, there is more information surrounding the methodology and useage of this system.

As to the stories, they center around a brother and sister (Meg and Greg), who come across as very natural kids. They run across various animals, are always helpful, and run into some sticky situations...all which are gentle in nature while still holding a little bit of excitement. There's even a smidgen of humor built in, which creates an enjoyable read. There are twists and turns, which make it hard to guess where the tale is headed, and this also guarantees that readers will be curious enough to want to read the stories to the end.

The graphic novel like set-up is something I can only give a thumbs-up to. This form is very popular among young readers and allows the idea of reading a story come across more gently, than chucking a book at these kids. The illustrations support the text and keep it broken up enough to steer clear of becoming overwhelming. And the two-reader system insures that kids don't have to tackle this alone.

Summed up, this is a lovely way to approach young readers with reading problems without scaring them off. It offers support, fun, and practice with a duo, which readers are sure to connect to. And those who love animals are going to enjoy this one even more.

I received an ARC and was surprised at how well this is done. ( )

I'm greatly impressed with this cleverly written educational book. Too often important books to enhance a student's learning are written in a design as much for the teacher as for the student. Those who should be enjoying as well as learning can find the books more challenging than a fun story. This book takes a fun, lighthearted, attention-getting story that puts it in a format that makes it seem more like reading a comic book for pleasure rather than creatively teaching phonics that will enhance learning that will last a lifetime. Great book! ( )

Although this might be too easy for children who are already reading well, they might still enjoy the comic-book style stories. For children who are still learning or who are having difficulty, it will provide invaluable help with those tricky letter combinations such as ck, sh, ch and th. Pairing the lesson with a partner as the book suggests, makes learning to read fun, an important component of any lesson. While the stories are intended for 6 to 9 year olds, they are not too childish so that an older ESL student might find them of use. ( )

I am so excited for this book series! I teach reading to 7-10 year olds and this book (and the ones to come, I hope) are perfect. They are thick like a novel, so older readers who need remediation feel like they are reading books that fit in with their more-advanced peers. Inside are four stories and a variety of small puzzles and activities, each one focusing on a particular aspect of phonics (in this case, consonant blends). It really helps support the acquisition of word attack skills. There is a mix of text and comic-book style visuals, much like other early novels out there right now (e.g. Dogman). There are also instructional tips in the back for teachers/parents/reading buddies. I am looking forward to more!

I shared this book with a neighbor who has a 6 and a 9 year old. I wanted to see how children reacted to the stories and the teaching/learning aspect of the book. They have not completed the book, right now they have completed the first section (A Duck in a Sock) and have begun the second (Swish, the Pet Fish).
The 9 year old is working with his little sister, and they are enjoying the stories and lessons. The little 6 year old giggled through the first section, especially when the dog fell off the dock (they have a boat and know what a dock is so she understood the idea).
I don't know how much leaning is being accomplished but the book has definitely accomplished one thing: the siblings are working together, they are reading beyond the online curriculum that they are focused on 8 hours a day during the pandemic school shutdown. ( )

This is a book with a clever idea for struggling readers who are a little older than most early readers: it's a book designed for shared reading, with an experienced reader and a struggling reader each reading a side of the page. Meg and Greg have lots of adventures including assisting a baby duck who has been hurt, replacing a lost pet fish, rescuing farm animals during a wildfire, and recapturing an escaped sloth. Each chapter focuses on a consonant digraph: ck, sh, ch, and th.

I'd love to see this in action. ( )

What a blessing this book is for children with dyslexia. My son is 11 and we have been working on his reading for years. It’s been a daily struggle. This year has been a breakthrough year and when we received this book to review he was actually thrilled to try it. He loved that I was reading alongside him and that he got the graphic novel side. I loved how it helped reinforce the special sounds that we were currently working on. He got through the first chapter with ease and it gave him great confidence. It is rare for him to be willing to pick up a book on his own but this time he asked me when we could read chapter 2. As a homeschool mom and a former Special Education teacher, I am thrilled that this “Orca Two Read” series was created and I am eager to see the next books in the series. These will be on my shelves for years to come. ( )

This is the first of a series of books designed for helping those with reading issues learn with a partner. The book is divided into four sections which tackle the sounds ck, sh, ch, and th with each story building on the preceding learning. The book is designed to be read with a more advanced partner who will read the left hand text while the dyslexic reader focuses on the right hand side which is written comic book style. I think the basic idea for helping those with reading problems is a good one. My eight year old daughter who has no reading problems found the book too basic and boring. The book is for ages 6-9 but the stories' contents are definitely aimed at the lower end of that range. ESL students would also find the book useful. ( )

The authors have created a beginner's reading book featuring a two-read approach. Each page has a buddy-text for the advanced reader paired with a graphics page for the beginner or struggling reader. There are four short stories in which adventure builds on the previous theme with the addition of a new letter combination. The pairing allows the child to lose any sense of overwhelming difficulty and teaches several basic consonant combinations: ck, sh, ch, th.

The stories are engaging for children who enjoy the out of doors in an urban park-type setting and relate to animals as pets. In that regard, such a background could present an unfamiliar environment for inner city kids. How widely would the tales be relevant for children who may live in such a different world?

Personally, I found the themes slightly contrived, but that may pass over the child's head. I also wondered if there would be problems with the busy graphics, rather than the storylines. The graphics felt very dominating in stark black, greys and white. Without having access to trying out the stories with a 6 to 9 year-old child, I couldn't evaluate how effective the presentation might be. The activities in each section were great, however. A very engaging aspect to encourage reading.

The idea of paired reading was a good thought. It may have been more effective had the simpler text been interleaved with the adult's portion, so that the story flowed smoothly. Perhaps having the beginner's sentences in a different colour might make it easier to switch back and forth with the black text for the buddy-reader. I would have chosen the picture page to have some labels but no conversation bubbles.

Granted I am not an expert in teaching or in the business of writing children's educational material. However, I did wonder how much the narratives would go over successfully in classrooms beyond the limits shown in the book. I live in a city where these stories would leave many of our 6 to 9 y.o inner-city kids gazing out the windows, waiting for recess. That particular audience desperately needs engagement in reading, if that was the authors' objective. ( )

As an educator, this book is for sure an awesome resource I could see myself using in the classroom when reading with individual students, or in a guided reading session! I love that it focuses on specific endings - broken up in each chapter. I also think kids will love the comic style illustrations, and the fact that it looks like a young reader chapter book. I am especially appreciative of the activities at the end of each chapter which can help to reinforce specific endings. The story lines are also cute and relatable to children. I really think this would be an appealing book to have in a future classroom as it would be beneficial to students and help boost confidence in reading! I would love to explore more in this series!

Thank you Library Thing and Orca Book Publishers for the review copy! ( )