I recently had the pleasure of visiting two separate kindergarten classes at this time of year (June) when the kids are headed to first grade.   In both classes I gave the teachers copies of the new square 8” x 8” I SPY paperback books: I Spy Animals, I Spy A Funny Frog, I Spy Letters, and I Spy Numbers.  “Do you think your students can read these books?”  The teachers flipped through the books and said yes.  “Do you think you could call on a child to come  up and read it to the other children, just like teachers do?”  The teachers said yes.  I observed that each teacher called first on a child who could already read.  There are usually a few in each kindergarten class at this time of year.  These first children proudly demonstrated reading like teachers.  Then the teachers called one by one on other kids who, normal for their age, were just beginning to learn to read.  They loved being “teacher” and read aloud, helped by the rebus pictures in the book.  Some read just a few pages and called on others to read the next ones.  Most of the children wanted to be called upon.  I felt joy at seeing how much the kindergartners liked being to read.  They needed a little coaching from their teachers, who wisely moved near them to offer advice.  As you probably know, there’s a lot of pressure on kindergartners today to exhibit reading skills.  I am happy that these small square paperbacks help them.