Tuesday, May 30, 2017

#road2reading Challenge - Fegus and Zeke 5.30.17


All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools 
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.


Fergus and Zeke
Fergus and Zeke
written by Kate Messner
illustrated by Heather Ross
published by Candlewick Press
June 13th


I'm really excited about this new transitional chapter book!  It has so many aspects that appeal to young readers:

  • has an animal as a main character
  • there is adventure
  • realistic setting (school and then a museum)
  • universal themes of friendship and a sense of belonging
  • chapter title names
  • illustrations to help support vocabulary, characters and the setting of the scene
Goodreads summary
Meet Fergus and Zeke a lovable classroom mouse and his streetwise buddy in a brand-new series perfect for early readers. 
Fergus loves being the class pet in Miss Maxwell s classroom. He does everything the students do, until the teacher plans a field trip to the museum without Fergus! He doesn t want to miss the fun, so he stows away in a backpack and sets off for an adventure. When he arrives at the museum, Fergus finds it a little overwhelming huge and full of exciting things to see. Luckily, he meets a new friend, Zeke, who knows the ropes, and together they explore everything from moon rocks to butterflies to a giant dinosaur skeleton ("A playground!" says Zeke). But when the time comes for the bus to leave, Fergus is worried that he ll be left behind. Will he make it back to school to take his place as class pet once more?"

My quick thoughts
Readers who are ready for chapters and a story that takes place across a longer story are going to enjoy this book.  The realistic setting will appeal to readers and help them feel comfortable.  Young readers will enjoy the mice's voices and like that the story revolves around their adventures - after all, it's not too easy for humans to jump on the statues in a museum undetected!  Kids will understand Fergus' desire for a friend and the way Fergus and Zeke find each other and stay together.  Most of the content vocabulary is supported by the illustrations and the text has a lot of sight words and decodable text.  
I am really excited to get this book into the hands of readers next fall.  Messner has created another hit and I'm really glad we have more Fergus and Zeke adventures coming our way.  What is even better is it's going to be a series!  Next up is Fergus and Zeke at the Science Fair!

Be sure to look for this book on June 13th!

Every week Alyson Beecher and I are sharing new posts about being on the #road2reading.  Check out Alyson's post here.

Thinking about books that encourage readers on the #road2reading?  Link up here!

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