25 Read and Write Mini-Books That Teach Word Families

We've been using these for almost a year now, so I feel I can give a fair review. Overall a great product. We bought these for my then-3 yr old early reader as his very first 'books' to read by himself. Although most of the word families were perfect for his level (vowel-consonent-vowel words), some of the sight words were way too hard! Wants, said, played, through...we were doing a lot of "this is a sight word, not a word you can sound out," which frustrated him and was too difficult for his early level. We switched to the Bob books for a few months, and then came back to these...and voila! Totally ready for the harder sight words. He just turned 4 and can read almost all of these with little assistance. It's a great tool for teaching common, weird combos like "-ing" as well as blending consonants (br, sl, ch, sh, etc.) and long vowel sounds when the word ends in e (gate). It's repetitive enough that he picks up on the rhyming most of the time...although he still has to sound them out. Downsides: - You have to rip or very carefully cut the pages out of the book. Why didn't they perforate the edges??!! My first few attempts ripped the pages. - Uncreative stories...or rather, they aren't 'stories' at all. But my kid doesn't care! When they're this young, they think it's funny when things don't make sense (a mop driving a car? Hilarious!). - Pictures give away the words. A kid can easily guess the word for most of these. I combatted this by having him tell me all the rhyming words on the second to last page; when the words are taken out of the sentence he had to sound the harder ones out instead of remembering from the pictures or story. The last page is also for spelling the words, which makes the kids think about the sounds, not just the pictures. My son has no problem doing these, but it's a great practice level for him.

These are perfect word family mini-books to help young children to read. The books build on each word introduced, as you can probably see in the Look Inside feature. So that you can easily reuse the books, I would just point to the blanks for letters on the back to prompt a response from the child. However, the first time I tried to copy them, I could not figure out how to copy them double-sided properly to make the pages in the right sequence. I put them aside for a while and tried again recently. It took me a while but I figured it out. I am using an HP all-in-one type printer. I copy the first side, and my copy comes out facing up with the front page of the mini-book (e.g. "A Cat) on the bottom left of the page as it comes out. I insert the page back into the paper slot without changing the orientation at all. I turn the page in the book to the second side and I place it on the glass so that the "other" side of the book is hanging on the same side of the copier as the other side was for the first page. So if for my first copy the other side of the book was hanging on my side, over the paper slot, then the other side of the book is hanging on that same side when I copy the second page (as opposed to it hanging over the back of the printer). The "other" side of the book will be a different side of the book each time, it is the opposite side of the book than the page you are copying. I know that is confusing, but hopefully it will help if you are having trouble.

So, it matters what you are looking for. These aren't books, they are worksheets and coloring pages. That is why it is so inexpensive. If you are looking for books, put the money into buying bob books or other phonics books, or head to your local library because most systems have sets of phonics books to check out. My preschool/kindergarten daughter loves these. They are simple to put together. Cut them out, put them in order, staple three times at the end to make them a little book. My daughter helped me. She just picks them out of a basket and colors them and fills them in. She either writes the missing letters or uses our letter stamps to complete them. If your kids don't like coloring and such, maybe they won't like them. So, each day, she and my first grade son each choose a Bob book or a book from a phonics program we bought a couple of years ago and read it to us. We added these to the basket after she finished them and they get a mini m-n-m for reading us a book each day. They are an extra in our reading school work.

This was bought for a five year old who will be starting kindergarten in the fall. She knows her letters and most letter sounds, but we wanted to give her some additional solid practice with rhyming words, word families and some sight words. Ideally you should have access to a double sided printer before using this, but it is not absolutely required. Instructions for printing and assembling the books (very MINI BOOKS ! ) are somewhat confusing at first, but they do make cute little book(lets). I would suggest encouraging the child to color each page before assembly. The pages are perforated and numbered. There is a picture to go with each new word, but make sure the child has a good understanding of the initial letter sound before guessing the word. An example is : a picture of a boy...but the word is Jack. Jack ended up with a pack...a pack on his back...that said quack (shows a picture of a duck inside the pack). Another book had a duck in a truck with a buck that got stuck...so these are not words that a child can easily guess at, without a little guidance and knowledge of letter sounds. But most children will easily catch on and will enjoy the rhyming. The sight words are some of the basic ones like in, the, a, with, etc. I would recommend this to anyone who loves the look on their child's face when they "get it" and enjoys working with them. The mini books are not really designed for a permanent spot on the bookshelf any more than your basic coloring book, but will help the child in building their word recognition. Only rating it 4 stars because of the assembly and lack of durability, otherwise it is a really good set. Price may be a little high for what you actually get. I like it, don't love it and probably wouldn't purchase again, to be perfectly honest. No disclosure needed - I am a “reviewer” of Amazon products and often get things at a discount, however this item I have bought at FULL price for my own personal use. Thank you for reading my review!

As an Early ELED teacher I’m now teaching my guy due to the COVID pandemic. One thing I found I’m missing insanely is the decodable readers which are simple readers teaching sight words and letter skills. I bought this thinking it would be much cheaper to buy this rather than constantly print readers. I think it’s a great value. Not difficult or irritating to assemble, guess everyone is different. I wouldn’t have my little guy tear it from the book, just to keep it nice. Maybe he can try later once we get used them a little more. Not in teaching order as far as kindergarten skills go. I will disassemble and re-order according to short vowels, long vowels, blends etc. Rhyming pattern (“a cat with a rat in a hat”), not repetitious phrasing pattern so much. (I see the bat ... I see the man... I see the cat) etc. Assembly: 1-fold on perforation- not as bad as other reviews state 2- cut on the solid line (long wise/hot dog style) I thought this was odd as in early ELED we teach to cut the dotted lines, but again I am doing the assembly, not my little one. 3- order pages from cover,2,3 etc. They just tuck right into each other in order, so long as you cut appropriately. 4- staple “spine” to keep pages in order. Another assembly way: 1- fold hot dog style 2- fold hamburger style 3- staple spine so pages stay together 4- cut along the top lines (where scissors are sitting in photo of folded book) to the spine line Done! Simple!

Love this..it helps with reading

This booklet of 25 rhyming, family- word booklets is great practice for little ones just starting out on the road to reading. There are easy instructions, a few pages of flash cards if the rhyming words and then 25 sheets that pull out to make into booklets. The kids can color the illustrations and trace/ fill in to help learn the new rhyming families.

The idea between word families is a good start but unfortunately these books are building sentences in a repetitive way that they are easier to memorize than actually learn to sound out. My 3 year old can “read” the “Jack” book just from hearing his brother work through it. This may work for some kids but my son is more interested in smiling up at me a reciting the book, racing to the end rather than actually reading the words.

Uma decepção … folhas do tamanho A4, da gramatura de jornal (que é ruim até para colorir), flash card para cortar, e as folhas para cortar em 4 e grampear… um fracasso, uma decepção com a editora.

Great to develop early reading and spelling.

These are great for phonics/phonetics learning. There is reading and a little bit of writing and the added bonus of it being a little book that kids can colour. The child I am using them with thinks they are super easy and uses the pictures for clues. Simple to put together (takes time if you make them all at once). Also if your child likes rhyming these are fun to read.

I just love this book. First I bought it from my homeschool kids later on I bought it for my English students. It is super useful. It has good quality. Many mini books to be creative coloring them and putting them together.

Really nice! It motivates kids to read n write...I can see the difference in reading confidence of my child after 5 or 6 mini books...she loves to create her own book, colour, write and read them again n again!