Born to Read

This book is written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown. It was published in 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf

Lexile Level: AD670L      Ages: 3-5

Summary:

     Born to Read is about a boy named Sam who knows from the time he is a little baby he is "born to read". Sam has a patient mother that reads him a book after book. When he is slightly older Sam reads everywhere he goes, he reads in bed, in the hall, in the tub, at the mall, and while playing basketball. Later, he attends a bike race, he wins. Back home Grudaloon comes to town and steals the children's toys. Sam saves the day by bringing Grudaloon books so he can collect the stolen toys. "Yes, readers can go anyplace!"

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     The illustration in this book are effectively executed Marc Brown creates the adorable main character Sam. He has red hair that sticks up into a cowlick and big blue eyes. Also in his illustrations, Marc Brown puts picture books throughout, specific books. We see the books "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", "The Cat in the Hat", and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". Overall, the illustrations are gorgeous and tell the story well.

     This book is great because it encourages reading, but I do think it is a bit heavy-handed. Sam entered a bike race which was against much older, more experienced cyclists. Sam is never shown practicing for the race, only reading a book about bike repair and the message seems to be that if you read enough books about the sport/activity you will win. I felt the bike race was disconnected from the rest of the book. Without this section the book may have been more believable.

 Literary Elements:

     The main character is Sam we follow him on his adventures through reading. In this story Judy Sierra has similes. One of those is "Uphill, downhill, like a rocket". Judy uses throughout this story Rhythm. Constantly there are sentences such as "passing by the pizza place, Sam spied a poster: Cycle Race!" On every page there is rhyming.

1. Character: Sam
2. Simile: "Uphill, Downhill, like a rocket"
3. Rhyming: There is rhyming on every page

In the Classroom:

     I would use this book for a lesson on rhyming. Judy Sierra constantly rhymes in Born to Read. I would have students write words that rhyme and eventually turn those words into a short paragraph or poem.


Sierra, J., & Brown, M. T. (2008). Born to read. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.