Read Across America day, March 2nd, has already passed. But with all the media attention it and Dr. Seuss received this year, I wanted to address it.

First, some history: Read Across America is the National Education Association’s (NEA) celebration of reading. Since its inception in 1998, it has focused on motivating children and teens to read, emphasizing that reading is about everyone and for everyone.

So what is the big deal this year? Read Across America has long been associated with Dr. Seuss. The NEA had a partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises to help draw attention to reading. While the contract has since ended, the two continue to be linked together, especially since March 2nd is also Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

In recent years, Dr. Seuss has come under fire for racism in his books and Dr. Seuss Enterprises just announced that it will no longer publish six of his books because of racist and insensitive imagery. Plus, President Biden was the first president in recent years not to mention Dr. Seuss in discussing Read Across America.

Dr. Seuss’s legacy is undeniable, particularly for emerging readers. But what’s different today is that books for emerging readers have improved so much, there are plenty of great titles to use without turning to Dr. Seuss’s works.

Here are some of these great books loved by my emerging reader at home.

Mac Barnett’s “A Jack Book” series is our absolute favorite! A series of eight books, it starts with Hi, Jack!, and introduces Jack, a mischievous little rabbit, his dog, and a cranky old lady. It uses simple text, mostly sight words, and is so much fun, especially for those mischievous little kids! My son loves being read to, but is reluctant to read himself. I can easily get him to read these books to me because he loves to see what Jack will do next.
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Another recent favorite of ours is the Chick and Brain series. Although it consists of only two books, they are great fun to read over and over again. Its graphic format is inviting and Chick’s insistence on manners is hilarious, and repetitive enough for early readers to read aloud easily. The conversations between Chick and Brain always have a fun twist at the end.
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Another series we’ve been enjoying is an oldie, but goodie. The “We Both Read” books work so well in our house because my son struggles with sustained attention to reading aloud. These books are perfect because each two-page spread has one page for the adult to read, and one page for the child to read. The reading level on the adult page hovers around the fifth grade level, while the child’s page is at their level (it varies depending on the book). The best thing about these books is that there are both fiction and nonfiction titles. My son loves nonfiction, particularly about nature, so these titles are a big hit!
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I would be completely remiss if I left out another favorite–Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggie books. These are classic books that are great for both emerging readers and read alouds. These funny, relatable books about friendship leave kids begging for more!
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There is also now another fun series called “Elephant and Piggie Like Reading!” with books of a similar style to the above by different authors.
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Check out these other fun emerging readers:

See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog by David LaRochelle
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King and Kayla series by Dori Hilstad Butler
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Bear in my Family by Maya Tatsukawa
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Ty’s Travel’s series by Kelly Starling Lyons
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Mo series by David A. Adler
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Where’s Baby? by Anne Hunter
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Stop! Bot! by James Yang
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Flubby is Not a Good Pet by J. E. Morris
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The Book Hog by Greg Pizzoli
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Fox the Tiger by Corey R. Tabor
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