Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends

Book suck so much. Don’t buy this book.

Oh, Oh.Look, look!See, see!Look what Mother found at the bookstore.See Baby read to Mother.Clever, clever Baby!I remember my teacher reading a few of these stories in 1966. When I saw this book at our local bookstore, I immediately snatched it up. That night at bedtime, I marched my 4 & 3/4 year-old daughter upstairs, pulled out this book and said, "I am tired of reading to you, so tonight you will read to me!" After helping her sound out the word "Oh Oh" and "Look and See" imagine her surprise and mine when my daughter reads the first story all by herself and with her new-found confidence, began to devour the following stories over the next sixty pages! I was so stunned by this success, I could not believe it. Playing an active role in teaching your child to read is an absolute thrill! This book is a true gem. My daughter loves the pictures that go with the stories, gentle pieces of Americana artwork in themselves, not like the flat, highly-stylized cartoons in children's books today that may satisfy the whimsy of adults, but don't capture the attention or spark the imagination of children. Our favorite stories are when Baby Sally puts too much of Mother's powder on Tim, Spot and Puff and when Dick and Jane race Baby Sally to the market and overturn their wagon. Please buy this book for all your little loved ones in your life. I am excited to see there are other books in this series, too.

I used to be a little chagrined to admit I learned to read in Kindergarten (1964) with Dick and Jane! It was almost "out of fashion" then -- in Grade 1 I remember the teacher introducing something "new" called phonics that was much more difficult to master than "sight reading" had been. (By Grade 1 I was already reading chapter books such as "Honey Takes a Trip" using my D & J skills.) So, when my own Kindergartener was not having much success with "Bob Books" and was in fact expressing great frustration, I was worried. I thought it was her "readiness" -- I never dreamed it might be the approach I'd selected. That became instantly apparent when she got her yellow D & J anthology. By the end of the first night she was reading stories. When Grandma later gave her the blue D & J anthology, she read the entire book that night out loud to Grandma! She still resists the Bob Books but night after night she's in her bed reading and re-reading D & J to her animals. Guess success feels good to her, too. And, her reading vocabulary is bigger than her school-mates. It's a shame that School Boards have still not put D & J back in the classroom!

One of my daughters has been having a terribly hard time learning to read in school (and at home). It seems to be very hard for her to remember words that she's seen before, even "knew." She has come to resist reading practice as a form of torture. The book she loves the most is this "Dick and Jane" compilation. The simple phrases, the often-mocked repetition of words, the bright and pleasant drawings--they have been perfect for her. We were amazed when she eventually proved able to read it all from cover to cover. She was so proud of herself, and loves the pretty yellow book so much, that she brought it to school to read to her teacher. Whenever we ask her to "read a book," her new but already-beloved Dick and Jane book is the one she reaches for. It's not Shakespeare and I guess the D & J series fell out of favor with the educational establishment, but if the choice is between a child proudly reading "See Spot run! Run, Spot, run!" or gloomily reading nothing at all, I'll gladly go with Spot (and Dick and Jane and Sally and the perfectly-dressed mother and father!)I feel like the publisher has a winner here and I would buy every reprint compilation that it chose to sell. I'm going to buy all the other D & J texts that I can find. They've certainly been a success in our home.

I cannot think of a better way for children to learn to read. My son just turned 5, and for whatever reason they have not been teaching reading or even much phonics in his 4-K classroom. Prior to our starting, he did have some sight-reading ability, particularly with color words and some other words. But he has made very quick progress, and in one month's time is almost finished with the book. Each time a new word is introduced it is repeated again and again, to help the children to learn to recognize it with ease. Another reviewer made the point that the book can't be used straight-through, and she is correct. It's best to start at the beginning and go to halfway through book two, then skip to the start of book three. After finishing book three, go back to the middle of book two and finish. I really wish they put a teaching guide in the back of the book, and made workbooks keyed to the book. Apparently the publishers don't understand that many of us are desperate to use these types of books to teach our children to read, and not merely something to own as a bit of nostalgia. Modern reading texts tend to feature city parents with all types of modern lifestyles that don't reflect how the average American lives. So this book is a real breath of fresh air, and a great way to teach children to read. By the way, my son jumps up and down and screams "Dick and Jane" every night when I tell him it's time to read. I've had to limit him to four stories a night, two re-reads and two new stories, as I'm afraid to go any faster will leave him not remembering the new words. So the book is a hit, at least with my son.