Phoebe Sounds It Out (Phoebe, 1)

It is refreshing to see a book that addresses positive and real progression in literacy development. In the states, we are pressured to have our children reading, writing and comprehending too soon. Daycares, preschools, and kindergartens are littered in letter and word worksheets, as well as letters plastered on the walls. Our television shows, even the more progressive ones, are pushing letter recognition earlier and earlier. Research has shown, especially in places like Finland, that by the age of 7, reading comprehension levels level out amongst all children whether or not they've started studying at 3, or at 7. The message is that literacy is a developmental milestone. At age 15, in Finland where they don't teach literacy until the age of 7, outperforms all other countries in the world in literacy. Unfortunately, not all of us can afford to follow Finland's standards and America's schools' standards for reading are high. Phoebe Sounds It Out allows for children to make phonemic discoveries without shame. In fact, there is research to show that when allowing children to develop phonemic awareness before grammatical awareness, they are more likely to read faster and understand better the material being studied. I would recommend this book, not only for beginning writers, but also for teachers that are worried for their students to jump on the writing bandwagon too soon. Also, kudos for making the hero a young black girl. We need more representation of minorities and females in our books; especially in educational settings.

I have given this book, as a gift, to several children. Their parents love it! Recently, I also sent this to my niece, who works with children with dyslexia. It's a great addition to her arsenal! Sounding out words is a universal building block to reading and writing. This book is well written, and is accompanied by sweet illustrations.

Perfect for young kids, great message

Phoebe Sounds It Out is a delightful story that I enjoyed sharing with my kids (and my babysitter's kids, who demanded it be read repeatedly). What I liked most about it is that it's not a "teaching" book in the sense of the teacher showing Phoebe how to spell her name, but more of a discovery - letting Phoebe go through the process of trying to figure out the spelling herself by applying what she knows, along with some creativity. The story does a great job of capturing the tangled pathways in younger kids' thought processes. It makes it fun to read, and something young kids will easily identify with.

Callie's Kid Review: 5 stars. I would recommend it to my friends. The reading level was just about right. I really liked the pictures and the glitter glue part. I thought the story was great because it was just really fun. I liked it when she said "We forgot to put glitter glue on the names". I thought she was going to yell at Phoebe for spelling her name wrong but she didn't. I liked it.My Mommy Review: PHOEBE SOUNDS IT OUT by Julie Zwillich is a good book to let children entering kindergarten know that the first step to spelling is learning to sound things out. As a parent, it's sometimes hard to not over correct your child as they learn to do this, especially with their name. Phoebe is a great name to use for the example in this book as my 1st grader kept stumbling all over the PH combo like Phoebe did. The teacher focuses on getting her focused and through the exercise and not about whether it's right or wrong. It also reminds the parent reading with the child that their child has a short attention span like with the boots and the pencil and not to spend too much time forcing it early on. For children concerned about their school performance or just facing this area of learning, it's a good read to assist.I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My five year old loved this book! Phoebe is such a cute character and my daughter totally related to both her sense of fashion and her sense of spelling. English spelling can be hard to learn, but Phoebe shows that with the right attitude and a little bit of logic (and sun boots of course!) you can take the first basic steps in learning to spell even the hardest of words. Go FEEBY!

This book is so much fun! Kids and Adults will both enjoy little Phoebes first adventure trying to write her name! All children can relate to those silly rules when it comes to sounding out letters that sometimes just don't make any sense. This is a happy book that understands the humor that children like hear in a story! Great book, 2 thumbs up and 5 stars!

What a wonderful book for littlies. I read this with my five year old niece and she loved it. She wanted to read it again immediately. It's now become a nightly favourite at home. A really sweet story with gorgeous illustrations. Great to read to the kids and have them help you along the way.

Phoebe Sounds It Out is a wonderful story which helps to give kids like mine the confidence to grow their reading and spelling skills with a story that they can relate to. The book doesn't preach, as the message is subtle enough to encourage kids to try their best to sound out words without worrying about getting it wrong. Kudos!

I love the quirky personality of Phoebe in Phoebe Sounds it Out as we follow her in her first attempt at writing out her (phonetically challenging) name. One of those books that let's you have fun and be creative as you read it out loud to your kiddo.

Kids loved it! Good motivator!