Many good features for adult learners
I have been using this book with adult ESL students who never had an opportunity to attend school in this native countries. They're learning to read for the first time. Some are also beginners in English, while others speak English quite well but can't read or write in any language. I appreciate the adult orientation of the book; the pictures show cars, vans and grown-up people instead of the usual puppies and kids. Most of the sentences are constructed for phonics practice, but there is an attempt to convey meaning while limiting the words to one or two syllables. My students read so slowly that I'm not always sure if they can retain the meaning of a sentence as they slog through text. This book's format -- plentiful exercises and frequent assessments -- allows me to assess each student's ability to construct meaning from letters and sounds. Clear drawings and lots of energy make this book useful and even fun (sometimes) to use. For students who don't know much English, the illustrations on the top of each page comprise a picture dictionary. Others can just dive into the exercises, using the words under the top-margin pictures for spelling guidance..
