The Blueberry Hill leveled storybooks empower emergent readers by ensuring their first attempts at
reading are a success! The storybooks are unique among leveled books because of their emphasis
on character development and comprehension. Children get to know and love the recurring characters
as they meet them in each new story, on up through the levels. Teachers choose Blueberry Hill books because they work! Children choose them because they are fun to read!

MEET THE BLUEBERRY HILL CHARACTERS!

BUILDING A SOLID BASE

The Blueberry Hill storybooks were written first and foremost for the enjoyment of children! The books were also carefully designed to develop strategic thinking and comprehension. The level one and two storybooks contain basic concepts such as colours, shapes, numbers, rhyme, prepositions, etc. that help to develop the necessary knowledge base for future reading.

Careful attention was paid to the criteria for each book level: The ratio of new words to familiar words, sentence length and complexity, the number of words per book and the relationship between the text and the illustrations. When read in sequence the Blueberry Hill storybooks ensure consistent repetition of new learning within each level and as a bridge to each new level.

Early literacy research demonstrates that the early development of a reading vocabulary facilitates fluent reading and comprehension. The Blueberry Hill books provide consistent repetition of high frequency vocabulary in the context of natural sounding language. The level one and two pattern stories introduce a basic sight vocabulary. The level three storybooks provide a shift away from a frame pattern to stories with a beginning, middle and end. From the simple stories at level three on up to the longer, more complex stories at the higher levels, the Blueberry Hill storybooks are filled with humour and excitement! Each story is based on a theme such as friendship, animal babies, being little, danger, cooperation, competition, bravery, etc.

Each Blueberry Hill storybook is a complete story in itself, but often the story is continued in the next level. This gives children a broader context and more opportunities to extend their comprehension as the story continues. Children get to know more about the Blueberry Hill characters' personalities as they read about them from one level to the next. For example: They find out that even though Charlie is a big dog, he is often afraid of things. Fluffy may be little, but she is a big help to Charlie, helping him to overcome his fears.

The language structures used in the books were carefully selected to provide opportunities for language development. This is especially helpful for children who are learning English as an Additional Language.

Each storybook contains a mini-lesson plan within each book. The inside cover contains a sample introduction and any tricky parts that need extra attention before reading. The back inside cover contains comprehension questions to foster discussion and language development.

The Blueberry Hill guidebooks are based on current early literacy research. They are concise, practical and easy to use. The lesson plans outline a step-by-step progression for using the books to teach reading strategies and develop comprehension in the emergent reader. They contain a wealth of additional reading material: black & white copies of the books, companion poems, cut-apart sentences, as well as center activities, games to develop oral language, activities to teach phonemic awareness, ideas for writing, suggestions for at-risk students, etc.

The storybooks and guidebooks have been field tested and proven to work with children with a wide range of abilities and needs!