Remember the infamous Dick and Jane books?  Even though there have been hundreds of books since then, for whatever reason, we use the Dick and Jane series to describe that category of books called Easy Readers.  The titles are synonomous with books for kids learning to read, which is pretty amazing given that many Dr. Seuss books are, in fact, designed to be Easy Readers.

So what makes a book an Easy Reader?  I'm so glad you asked!  You already know these are the books for children learning to read.  Here are a couple of other traits that they may have:

-The majority of them have a banner or label that says "learning to read" in some form.  But some of them, like picture books for toddlers, may not have that banner.
-The books are sized for the reader's comfort, usually 6 inches by 9 inches.
-There is a lot of white space on each page and the font is larger. 
-The content comprises short, simple sentences.
-There are illustrations or images that match up with the text so kids can "decode" the words in the story.
-If there are chapters, they are usually no longer than three pages.

At the beginning, Easy Readers usually have full-page illustrations (either picture or drawing), and just a word or two.  As the reader develops, the illustrations shift from taking up a half-page on every page to one illustration every page-and-a-half.  All Easy Readers are highly illustrated.  Sometimes self-published authors call their books "Easy Readers," but if there are small margins and only a handful of illustrations, then they aren't Easy Readers! 

The transition from Easy Readers to short-chapter books and then novels is a structured process.  PLEASE don't rush it!  Yes, you should move them into Easy Readers with more text, but don't push them beyond that too soon.  Those short sentences, big margins, and illustrations help kids gain confidence as readers.  Remember your college days and those text-heavy books we all had to read?  How many times did we count the pages in a chapter because it looked like "too much?"  Well, we got that page-counting habit when we were learning to read! 

When new readers feel overwhelmed by all those words staring up from the text, they start pushing back and "fighting" the need to read.  It is better to keep them in a comfort zone and reading than to lose them before they've even had a chance to discover just how far books and reading can take them.

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Easy Readers, you can check out my post at Booklights, the PBS Parents blog: http://www.pbs.org/parents/booklights/archives/2009/10/dr-seuss-and-learning-to-read.html

I have also created a new online book carnival to help parents find books for new readers.  Check out the January 2010 "I Can Read Carnival" to get some great ideas on books to share with your new reader: http://childrens-literacy.com/2010/01/13/i-can-read-a-carnival-celebrating-new-readers-january-2010/