Benefits of Emergent Readers for Early Learners

Emergent reader books typically have strong picture support, repetitive
patterns, and limited text on each page. They encourage beginning readers to read or “read.”

What are the benefits of emergent readers?

Emergent Reader Books Are Important for Early Learners

One of my nieces, Penelope, is just about ready to learn how to read. After chatting with her mom about kids who are on the edge of reading readiness, but don’t want to read, I gave Penelope one of the emergent readers I’d written, Ice Cream Scoops.

I visited their house about a week after I gave Sweet P. the book. As I knocked on their door, she greeted me with the completed book. She had carefully colored it and cut out the pages, and her mom had helped her put it together.

Penelope was proud of her little reader. I asked her to read it to me. She protested, “I can’t read.”

And I told her, “I bet you can read this book. Let me read a few pages to you, and then you can read it back to me.” She nodded.

I began to read the first two pages. As I read, I pointed at the words. “Yum. Yum. Yum. I want one.”

Then I handed Penelope the book and asked her again, “Will you read it to me?” She opened the book and moved her head to the syllables. “Yum. Yum. Yum. I want one.” Her eyes and her smile were wide, and she was proud of herself. She was reading.

We continued with pages three and four. By the time I left her house that day, she had read the pages over and over and over again.

I know some skeptics will say, “But she wasn’t really reading.”

Okay. True. But that’s not the point. That’s not what matters. This is a kid who is on the fence about wanting to read. And a kid who lacked confidence.

But, after reading (or “reading”) the book, Penelope is having a positive experience with literacy. She is starting to believe that she can read. And this attitude paves the way to becoming a reader.

The next time I saw her, she informed me that she had read SEVEN books. She is excited about learning to read.

Emergent reader books are fantastic for those kids on the verge. They provide children with a sense of accomplishment as they read and finish an entire book.

What Makes Emergent Reader Books Effective?

Emergent Reader Books Build Interest in Reading

Emergent reader books can be used as a teaching tool to help children become more interested in reading. If a child doesn’t care about reading, why would they want to read?

Emergent Reader Books Provide Children with Print Exposure

Did you know that there is a relationship between print exposure and later reading development? This is why we need to read, read, read to our kids. There is a connection between children who have literacy experiences and children who have strong comprehension and decoding skills later in school.

You can use the emergent readers as a way to read to your child, and then your child can turn around and “read” that same book back to you. This is providing your young learner with gobs of print exposure.

Emergent Books Make Reading Easy

Emergent readers are also effective for beginning readers because they are made with predictable text and sentence structures.

We Dig for Bones is a good example of this. The first two pages repeat the same sentence structure:

(first page): We dig in sand.
(second page): We dig in rock.

Emergent readers are also effective because the text is often repetitive, which helps young children learn sight words and remember the words.

In my Dinosaur, Dinosaur Emergent Reader, words are repeated to help children remember the words:

(first page): Dinosaur, dinosaur, hunt.
(second page): Dinosaur, dinosaur, chomp.

The predictable patterns and repetition make the emergent readers easy for children to read. Engaging emergent readers also have illustrations that make the stories interesting.

Experience the Benefits of Emergent Readers

Grab one of my emergent readers, Who Has a Pet?, for free. This reader uses rhyme within the sentences and a predictable pattern to give your student a positive experience with literacy.

Read the book with your student until he is confident “reading” it on his own. This is a great way to buy some time for kids who aren’t ready to process phonics; it is also a wonderful way to provide confidence and interest.

You can grab your free emergent reader by using the form below.