Hooray for Reading Day! (2008)

I liked this book for two reasons. This book pushes readers to think about their own fears of reading aloud, and methods they can use to get over them. In addition I liked the characters in the story because they are relateable. For example, Jessica’s reading teacher Mr. Martin is like many other good teachers who have faith and push their student’s abilities. The message of this story is for readers to acknowledge their inner Jessica and conquer their fears of reading aloud. And realize that most of their concerns about reading can be overcome.

Review: "Hooray for Reading Day" is a story about a young girl named Jessica who has anxiety about reading aloud in front of her class. Her stress level rises as she is informed that she needs to read aloud for her whole class and her parents one day. With support from her family and teacher, Jessica realizes that she can be a good reader too.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Genre Critique: This book is a great example of realistic fiction because many children struggle with the anxiety of reading out loud in front of their peers and making mistakes. I think that this text is very relatable because it can resonate with so many students who are learning to read. ( )

This is a cute book about a young girl named Jessica who is incredibly fearful of reading in front of her class because of the idea of making a mistake. After much stress and small determination, she realizes how comfortable she is reading to her dog. When it's her turn to read in front of the class and parents, she just pictures her dog and reads her portion perfectly. This creates a new found love for reading.

Jessica worries about everything including reading aloud to the class. In first grade she still gets mixed up while reading aloud in her small group. But when Mr. Martin says she has to dress up as a book topic and read aloud to students and parents she becomes terrified. She finds that reading to her dog calms her down so when she reads aloud to the audience she pictures her dog and does a wonderful job.

A great book for struggling readers to identify that everyone struggles with something. Also great for a first grade classroom. A good book! ( )

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Review: This is a good example of realistic fiction because many kids worry about not being able to read. This story could happen in real life but is about a fictional character. Jessica could represent any individual who struggles to read, however, she is a made up character. ( )