Introduction

Easy readers are tailored for children learning to read. They have simple stories with shorter sentences, limited vocabulary, picture cues, and large font. Because reading levels are determined by publishers and can vary across companies, we recommend that you consider individual readers and what feels right for them. For example, if they can read 3 out of 5 words in an easy reader book, that might be an appropriate book to gain fluency and expand their vocabulary.

Easy readers are sometimes referred to as early readers, emerging readers, beginning readers, juvenile readers, and other related terms. To learn how to search for easy readers on the UBC Library website, please see the “Finding More Resources” section below.

The following list has some English and French easy readers at varying levels that we have available at the Education Library.

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Easy Readers

Fish for Supper by Terri Mack

Strong Readers Level 1. Repetitive 3-word sentences are written in large font on each page about animals fishing for their supper.

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Shapes by Brenda Boreham

Strong Readers Level 5. 5-10 word sentences about finding circles, rectangles, triangles, and squares around you.

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Let’s Go for a Paddle by Donna Klockars

Strong Readers Level 10. 3-4 sentences on each page about animals that go for a paddle in their canoe. What happens when the fog rolls in?

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The Old Cedar Tree by Brenda Boreham

Strong Readers Level 15. 2-7 sentences on each spread about an old cedar tree grows deep in the forest. What do you think you would see in the forest?

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We Greet the Four Seasons by Terri Mack

Strong Readers Level 20. The Medicine Wheel is a guide to living a healthy life and its four parts teach us many different things. We learn from everything that is around us! What do you already know about the four seasons? 7 sentences on each page with a repetitive structure.

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The Lake of Stars by Jamila Gavin

PYP Readers: Level 3 Fiction. A simple story with lovely watercolour illustrations about a mother duck and a little duck. Text on both sides with each page having 3-4 sentences.

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Camping by Sarah Russell

PYP Readers: Level 3 Non-fiction. A family goes camping in the summer. Can you guess what they did? 5 sentences on each spread with camping vocabulary and interactive questions.

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We Are In A Book! by Mo Willems

When Gerald the elephant and Piggie realize that they are in a book, they decide to have some fun with the reader. Each page have big, bold, and spare text in speech bubbles with plenty of silliness and humour.

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Duck, Duck, Dinosaur: Perfect Pumpkin by Kallie George

I Can Read: My first shared reading. Feather, Flap, and Spike go picking for pumpkins. What is a pumpkin perfect for? Very short and simple 2-3 sentences on each page.

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Panda Kisses by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Step Into Reading: Step 1. Baby Bear wants a kiss! A soft kiss. A sweet kiss. A sticky bamboo treat kiss. Which is the perfect panda kiss? 3-7 words on each page with large font.

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Wild Reptiles: Snakes, Crocodiles, Lizards, and Turtles! by Martin Kratt and Chris Kratt

Step Into Reading: Step 2. The Kratt brothers activate their creature powers to introduce readers to different types of reptiles and what they can do. 1-5 sentences on each page with large font.

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Cats by Joan Marie Galat

National Geographic Kids: Level 1. Learn about small and big cats in this “You read, I read” format. Simple sentences and further details are paired so that the adult and child can take turns reading.

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Fly Guy presents: Space by Tedd Arnold

Scholastic Readers: Level 2. During a visit to a space museum, Fly Guy and Buzz learn all about planets, space crafts, space suits, and even dirty snowballs (i.e. comets)! Each page is filled with vibrant and engaging images with text spread throughout. Some longer words have the pronunciation in brackets.

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A Whale of a Tale! by Bonnie Worth

Join the Cat in the Hat to explore porpoises, dolphins, and whales in this introductory nonfiction book. Each page has multiple sentences with labels, captions, and many illustrations.

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French Easy Readers

Quel est ton métier ? par Robert Cutting

Les échos de l’île de la tortue : Niveau C. Daniel présente les membres de sa famille élargie et chacun de leurs emplois. Présenté dans le style d’un album de photos familial, chaque page comprend des photos des membres de la famille et des objets associés à chacune de leurs professions. 1 à 3 phrases courtes par page. Comprend une activité de réflexion permettant aux jeunes lecteurs de faire des liens avec leur vies quotidiens passées, présentes et futures.

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C’était une farce par Robert Cutting

Les échos de l’île de la tortue : Niveau I. Sara aime faire des farces à tous ses amis. Elle les trouve amusantes, mais est-ce que les autres la croiront lorsqu’elle essaiera de les avertir d’un réel danger ? Dans un style bande dessinée, ce livre comprend une page d’enseignements sur le thème de l’honnêteté. Comprend une activité de réflexion permettant aux jeunes lecteurs d’établir des liens avec leur vies quotidiens. 4 à 6 phrases courtes par page.

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Le camouflage par Julie Haydon

Zap sciences : Niveaux 12 à 14. Un livre d’information au sujet des animaux et des insectes qui se camouflent avec leur environnement. Les avantages et les processus du camouflage sont expliqués en 6 mini-chapitres avec des photos sur chaque page. Les termes figurant dans le glossaire du livre sont écrits en caractères gras. Le livre comprend une table des matières et un index. 1 à 4 phrases par page avec une grande police.

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Le navet géant par Jenny Giles

GB+ Contes et théâtre : Niveau 16. Un navet géant a poussé dans le jardin ! Il est si gros que le cueillir semble impossible. Récit simplifié d’un conte traditionnel occidental, le livre utilise la répétition et le texte lyrique pour raconter l’histoire d’un village qui travaille ensemble. 1 à 8 phrases par page utilisant une grande police de caractères. Comprend un scénario de théâtre destiné à une activité interactive pour les jeunes. Le scénario est codifié en couleur en fonction des paroles de chaque personnage.

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Easy Readers with Chapters

The School Concert by Angela Shelf Medearis

PYP Readers: Level 6 Fiction. Jazz had been dreading the school concert where she had to perform a song on the piano. When her teacher asks her to announce each performer, she discovers a new skill she didn’t know she had. 2 short chapters in 24 pages.

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Ling & Ting Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin

Join the twins Ling and Ting for some fun as they get a haircut, do magic tricks, make dumplings, and visit the library! Includes 6 silly stories with 1-7 sentences on each page.

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Mr. Putter & Tabby Spin the Yarn by Cynthia Rylant

Trying to be neighbourly, Mr. Putter decides to serve tea to Mrs. Teaberry’s knitting club but chaos ensues when Tabby the cat and Zeke the dog find the party irresistible. This book has 4 chapters with a few sentences spaced out on each page.

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Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo

Oh no! Mr. and Mrs. Watson’s bed is falling through the floor! How will their pet pig Mercy save them? This book has 12 short chapters with spaced out text suitable for readers transitioning to chapter books.

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Princess Pistachio and the Pest by Marie-Louise Gay

Forced to abandon exciting plans with her friends and take baby Penny to the park, Pistachio is sure her first day of summer holidays will be boring. But keeping Penny out of trouble proves to be more exciting than Pistachio expected. This book has 4 chapters with half pages of text suitable for readers transitioning to chapter books.

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Finding More Resources

To find more resources in this area, try the following:

• Search using the General tab on the UBC Library website to look for material in all UBC Library branches.
• Search using “Search Education Resources” box in the left hand bar on the Education Library website to limit your results to physical materials in the Education Library.
• To browse English easy readers at the Education Library, see the Pearson Baccalaureate PYP Readers theme packs or Alphakids in the PE1119 section downstairs.
• For more Indigenous easy readers level 1-20 published by Strong Nations, search “Strong Readers” on the library website.
• For more Indigenous French easy readers, browse or search “Les échos de l’île de la tortue”.
• For more French easy readers, browse or search “GB: Contes et théâtre” or “Zap sciences”.
• For more easy readers, try searching the terms below on the library website.
  • “Scholastic reader”
  • “Step into reading”
  • “National Geographic” reader level
  • “Strong Readers”
  • “PYP Theme Pack”
• Use specific search terms to narrow down your results, such as “Strong Readers” Level 6 or “Strong Readers” raven.
• To find lesson plans, include “lesson plans”, “lesson planning”, or “activity programs” in your search terms.

For more help with searching, please visit the Library Service Desk or e-mail ed.lib@ubc.ca.