Back to School with Buzz! Fly Guy Phonics by Tedd Arnold

WHAT'S BUZZIN', COUSIN?

What's the buzz in primary grade classrooms this time of year?

Reading skills are, and what is more essential to the beginning reader than the all-important vowels. Vowels are trickier than consonants; although there are five basic vowel sounds--A, E, I, O, U--in English they stand for more than five sounds. That can be frustrating to some young readers.

But Tedd Arnold's beginning readers have a formidable helper, a fly guy and his young buddy, who have led many an emergent reader to mastery by reading his many, many hilarious beginner book adventures.

In his just-published boxed set of 10 paperback books, Fly Guy Phonics Boxed Set (Scholastic Press, 2017), author-illustrator Tedd Arnold offers ten books, two easy readers dedicated to each of the vowels, plus two workbooks for extra practice for youngsters needing more focus on each. Included in the set are the titles Come Back, Fly Guy, What's That Smell, Fly Guy?, Fly Guy's Thrilling Tricks, Fly Guy Goes to the Pet Shop, Fly Guy's Stuck, Get in the Game, Fly Guy, Meet Buzz and Fly Guy, and Fly Guy's Dinosaurs.

Tedd Arnold, a winner of the American Library Association's coveted Theodor Geisel Award for his beginning reader book I Spy Fly Guy!, is a noted comic illustrator, and in this series of books about a boy, aptly nicknamed Buzz, and his best friend, Fly Guy, decoding the vowel sounds becomes part of the fun. As far as reading skills go, Fly Guy always takes care of "Buzz-ness." This set makes a great start of school gift for primary students, books that are as funny as they are fundamentals of reading. (Read reviews here.)