Dig, Scoop, Ka-Boom! by Joan Holub, illustrated by David Gordon

Sometimes simple is the best. It can be difficult to find really simple, basic easy readers. Apart from Mo Willems and Ethan Long, they tend to be bland, boring, or the vocabulary is way too advanced. I am getting more and more parents asking for really simple easy readers with just a few words per page (thank you 4k and your push to make all the kids read earlier) so I am looking even harder for level 1 easy readers that are truly easy.

I was delighted when this showed up on my desk and I discovered that not only is it super easy, it's a subject kids will enjoy with attractive pictures. Each page has one to two short sentences that rhyme with the sentences on the facing page, "Rocks are big. They can't stay./Loader lifts them all away."

As you can tell from the cover, it's all about construction machines, with a different machine illustrated in bold colors on each spread. In the final pages, the reader sees the construction vehicles are actually toys being used by kids in a sandbox.One of the five children and one of the two parents have darker skin and two of the children are girls. The adults change (clothes and skin colors) in the next spread, so presumably there's more parents off-scene in the first picture, but it's a little confusing. Stickers are included in the paperback version I received for review, but I'm assuming they wouldn't be in the hardcover or library bound editions.

Verdict: A good simple reader for kids who like machines and construction. Nice bold text and illustrations, simple vocabulary with some new words for the kids to try. An excellent addition to your easy reader collection. Buy it!

ISBN: 9780375869105 (pb edition); Published June 2013 by Random House; Review copy provided by publisher; Added to my order list for the library