This is a guest testimonial by Donna Rominger.
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Hidden in Paris is the latest series from Phonic Books that will engage the reader from the very beginning. Join three friends as they comb the streets of Paris searching for symbolic clues presented to them on a treasure like map that was left to them from a late uncle. The three friends work in harmony to decipher the clues, but they soon realize that they are not the only ones searching. There is a hooded figure who seems to be competing with them and even sabotaging their efforts. Who is this figure, friend or foe?
There are several aspects of the Phonic Books series that I appreciate. The first being the set-up of each book within this series. Each book begins with a reading practice page that displays multiple spellings for a single phoneme. Not only is each spelling displayed in a list with multiple words, but the graphemes used to spell the phoneme are highlighted in red in each list. Highlighting the different spellings of a particular phoneme makes it easy for a struggling reader to identify patterns and/or positions in which that spelling may emerge. Just as the three friends search for clues to decipher the map, the first page allows you and your students to be sleuths and search for clues to how our spelling systems works. After the reading page is the vocabulary page. It is ripe with challenging vocabulary. Some of the vocabulary words follow the phoneme focus, while others do not, but all have easy to understand and concise definitions.
Another aspect that I appreciate about Phonic Books is the shortened but engaging paragraph/s of text that are encapsulated in beautifully illustrated pages. It’s a nice bridge between graphic novels and early chapter books with fewer drawings. This helps with endurance, yet doesn’t overwhelm the reader. Each book within the series is like reading a chapter of a book, but students feel they are accomplishing something big by completing one book at a time and then completing the entire series.
Find out more about Hidden in Paris now.