You Read to Me, I'll Read to You, Very Short Stories to Read Together

by: Mary Ann Hoberman; Illustrated by: Michael Emberley

Published by: Megan Tingley Books; Little, Brown and Company

Reviewed by Liz Sagui

You Read to Me; I'll Read to You, Very Short Stories to Read Together teaches many lessons. The reader will enjoy a group of two-page rhyming stories about animals, hop & skip, the telephone and a snowman. It is written in a rhyming style that, at times, may remind the reader of Dr. Seuss.

The illustrations by Michael Emberley are detailed, funny and endearing. Some have a cartoon quality that may remind the reader of TV cartoons, which lends a certain familiarity to this edition. The illustrations are often humorous and entertaining, with detail that may elude initial readings, but that give it a multiple-readability quality.

This book's rhyming stories include subjects that children will find interesting. But, the way the book is designed also teaches a lesson on following patterns, by reading lines on the left or right sides of the page or both readers reading the text in the page center, thus also teaching waiting for one's turn, and working as part of a team--important life skills.

The most important lesson in this book is teaching the reader to learn to read and to consider reading a valid form of entertainment. However, it also teaches the joy that activity holds and in some of the stories, the reader learns additional skills such as empathy. A favorite line in The Snowman (referring to the snowman), "And if he starts to melt, He'll cry!"

The author is a veteran member of the Literacy Volunteers of America and this book, also part of a series, is a result of her generous and important volunteer experience teaching reading.

Armchair Interviews says: Anything that helps children appreciate the joy and value of reading is great.