Hi Interest Lo Ability Non-Fiction from Bearport Publishing

Bearport publishes high interest low ability non-fiction at mostly two levels, grade 2 and grade 3. They provide guided reading levels (Fountas and Pinell) for many of their books. They also rank each set for interest, though I would disregard that information depending on the reading levels of the children for whom it was intended. Readers well beyond the interest range with significant reading disabilities will like the quality of the pictures and the upbeat presentation and will be proud of the fact they are reading for information like their typically developing peers.

The books are published in series with as few as 3 and as many as 17 (Dog Heroes) books. They are given titles to grab the reader’s attentions, like Gross Out Defenses, No Backbone (Creepy Crawlers,) and X-Moves.

These books are excellent for teaching the elements of non-fiction. There is a table of contents in each book, an index, glossary and many captions. Some books also give readers practice in reading graphs and charts (as in The Beavers Lodge from Spectacular Animal Towns.) as well as maps (as in Orangutans from Smart Animals.)

I am recommending the grade level two books for purchase with some grant money we are getting at my residential school. One of the classes got hold of the catalog and the boys made up a wish list, so we will probably be getting scary places, although it is grade level 4. I believe that the clear way they provide practice in elements of non-fiction are worth the problems these readers may encounter with the text. In public schools I would say keep this catalog out of the hands of the elementary school librarians! Teens who are disabled readers will not want to read a book that made its way around the library when they were in elementary school, although these would be really hot properties in any elementary library. Don’t put them in the library: make them available only for your disabled readers in a reading lab or in the resource room.

Do use them to teach the elements of non-fiction, and support map reading and reading charts. They are also excellent sources for writing research papers for the reader with significant challenges. It will help them learn to use the index and the glossary.

Unfortunately these are expensive books, costing from 15 to 19 dollars for individual books. They are bound to last years without serious abuse, but they would definitely mean making some careful decisions about choosing books that could continue to be popular reading resources for the life of the books.