Page 38 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464
P. 38

REVIEWS           .



         INNOVA READING BOOKSHELF SERIES
         Innova Press, 2018                                                                                         PIXABAY
         innovapress.com

                  hat a delight it was to open
                  this series of books for younger
                  learners. Containing seven
        Wtitles at four levels, each
        of the twenty-eight is an easily-portable,
        slim, colourful booklet containing a single
        classic tale, one that many us, although
        from various cultural backgrounds, have
        memories of, as both a child and parent.
        I must admit to having feasted on reading
        and re-reading them all over the next few
        days, calling up memories of, to choose
        among many examples, the boy who cried
        “wolf” too often, how the steady tortoise
        outran the rabbit, and how Goldilocks
        survived her meeting with the three bears.
        Absolutely smashing!
          Innova readers are clearly designed by
        a team with vast experience in the ELT
        field. As early as page one in any title, the
        teacher as reader will notice the complete
        absence of the comprehension questions
        many of us were brought up to answer before
        moving onto the next text. In their place
        we see shorter, much more encouraging   Among the titles you can fi nd on the Innova Reading Bookshelf is a new version of the
        activities that ask the younger reader   old tale - the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
        to choose the correct option, from two
        possibilities, of what happens next. This was
        a delight for me personally when reading
        colour illustrations that contain speech  Absolutely
        titles with which I was unfamiliar; I quite
        often got it wrong.
          The text is fully supported with full-
        and thought bubbles which enable even
        children with limited ability in reading to
        follow and enjoy the activity. Captions also
        appear from time to time for a small number   enchanting
        of new nouns in the illustration. Another
        delightful aspect is the reappearance of
        characters across the grades, something
        additional to activate the minds of young
        readers. The Fox, for example appears              Children’s tales are irresistible
        in tales with a bird, a dog and even
        some grapes. The picture dictionary at           to readers, says Wayne Trotman
        the end of each story provides excellent
        reader support.
          Several other enjoyable tasks appear   safely; mine seem to be a bit mixed up   and Parents, which offers tips on how
        throughout the series, especially those   already! Grammar is not at all neglected,   to engage with the stories by means of
        relating to vocabulary, such as finding   by the way. The Piper of Hamelin, for   role-play and flashcards, reading aloud
        words in a snake, matching                      example, asks the reader   to children and asking them to listen and
        antonyms like angry                              to choose the best way   point. All good fun, I think you’ll agree.
        and happy, identifying        Another             to complete sentences   All stories are accompanied online by fully
        true/false statements                             based on singular/plural   dramatised audio-recordings, enabling
        and correctly ordering   delightful aspect is     nouns. Each title in   the young reader to listen and follow,
        sentences that tell                               Grade Four ends with   thus connecting sound to individual
        the story. Perhaps   the reappearance             a fairly lengthy and   written words. Visit innovapress.com/
        the most unique                                   easily-comprehended   readers to locate samples of interactive
        feature of the whole   of characters across       poem. Young children   digital readers and to browse the full
        series, and certainly                             will, I am convinced,   range in the series.
        my own favourite,         the grades.             love to work on
        are the pop-out                                   memorising parts
        characters, which                               of each.                Wayne Trotman is a teacher
        appear with different expressions on each   Sets of stories at each level are delivered   educator at Izmir Katip
        side. These will help the reader build an   in an attractive slipcase in which they   Çelebi University, Izmir,
        oral version of the text while manipulating   can be safely stored. Also available is   Turkey.
        them. Be careful to store the characters   the very helpful Guide for Teachers

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