Jessica is feeling the pressure of reading out loud. She's worried she will make a mistake on the big Readers Theater day and embarrass herself in front of all of the other parents. Luckily, her floppy dog helps her out by listening to her practice beforehand. Reading to her dog is a piece of cake!

Jessica worries all the time about little things especially reading aloud in class and she often stutters and makes mistakes and it makes her very upset with herself. Then the teacher tells Jessica and the rest of the class that they will have a Reading Day in the theater where they have to read aloud on stage. Jessica dreaded that day then when she would have to read aloud to everyone then her mom tells her she used to have trouble reading too and encouraged Jessica to keep trying and practicing. So Jessica went up stairs and practiced reading to her dog wiggles. Then when reading day came around and Jessica read aloud with no mistakes.

I really enjoyed this book.

Talk about fears and share reading experiences and troubles this would be a great book to read with beginning readers.

Jessica stumbles when she reads out loud, and this makes her very unhappy at school. With patience on the part of her teacher and parents, and the loving attention of her dog, she learns to read aloud by practicing with Wiggles. ( )

A good example of realistic fiction because this idea of anxiety surrounding reading in front of people rings true with many, young and old. Here, Jessica is able to find a way to overcome her anxiety, or work around it anyway. This struggle involving students making fun of others who are slower or have difficulties is an unfortunate truth, and the teacher is depicted supporting Jessica. The plot is sequential and easy to follow, introducing the problem of worry early in the story. Jessica worries about reading and this anxiety affects her performance, but through hard work and finding out that she feels comfortable reading to her dog and reads flawlessly to him, Jessica thinks about this and performs well at reading theater. It may not have come easily, but Jessica feels a sense of accomplishment and pride when she improves her reading and finds courage to read in front of an audience of strangers.

Media: ink and wash

This is the story of a girl who is learning to read. She is a worrier by nature so when she has trouble figuring out words in front of her class, she gets very embarrassed. Her teacher tells them about Reading Day, where they will all have to read a line aloud…in front of classmates & parents! She realizes that she can read to her dog and it doesn’t embarrass her so she begins to practice that way (Puppy Tales, anyone???) She practices and practices and when Reading Day comes she is prepared and does a wonderful job! ( )