Train Day! With Four Phonics Stories

Train Day! is the sixth book in the “Meg and Greg” series. Like the other titles in this decodable book series, it includes four stories, this time with a bonus mini story. Each story consists of five short chapters with a phonics focus for striving readers. There are features to assist children with dyslexia or other language-based learning difficulties to foster their success in reading. In Train Day!, each story centres on a specific long vowel; a, e, i, o and u.

Once again, 10-year-old friends, Meg and Greg, find themselves in the middle of a variety of exciting and, at times, funny problems. The chapter format of each story provides a flow to the reading and builds interest and suspense. The black and white labeled comic-style illustrations by Elisa Gutiérrez are engaging and add humour. In this book, Meg and her mom invite Greg and his dog Rocket to join them on a short vacation. In the first story, “Train Day!”, the friends meet their school friend, Jordan, traveling with his grandmother and little sister, Daisy. But Daisy is in tears because it’s her fifth birthday and she wants a party, not a train ride. How can the three friends put together a party with decorations, a cake and presents on the train?

In “Sheep in a Creek”, Meg and Greg and Rocket are at the beach. While exploring Beaver Lake, they come across a sheep with two lambs, the latter tangled in brambles. With their rescue attempt unsuccessful, they need help. “A Wild Night at the Big Top” begins with the friends volunteering to help with the circus. Little do they know what adventures are ahead, including becoming mascots, entertaining children, and helping with the juggling and trapeze acts. The fourth story, “The Rowboat Contest” begins with Meg’s mom suggesting that they enter a rowboat race. Together, they manage to find a rowboat and invite the owner’s daughter, Willow, to come along. But when Greg’s dog, Rocket, gets seasick and they find Willow’s lost goat on an island, the story gets very interesting. The bonus mini story, “A Few Short Snapshots”, is a four page photo album with text showing the highlights of their vacation.

Co-authors Elspeth Rae and Rowena Rae incorporate a number of reading features in this learning experience for readers with language learning challenges. The focus of the “Meg and Greg” books is shared reading, a special experience for all emergent readers. Once the format is explained to the child and proficient reading partner (information is included in the book), the reading process becomes a fun and engaging reading adventure for both. The unique format consists of a double page spread. The left hand page is read by the proficient reader (parent or reading buddy) and contains the narrative text with some illustrations. This text includes longer sentences and a wider vocabulary. Words in bold type introduce long vowels and the spelling rules associated with adding them to base words. The right hand page is read by the emergent reader (the child reader). On these pages, the larger text is at a lower reading level with a greyed background and also includes some comic panels with text and pictures. Between each story is a double page spread with puzzles or activities based on the reading skills highlighted in the story.

This sixth book in the “Meg and Greg” series continues the shared reading format of the previous books. It builds on the amount of narrative text with fewer pages that are in the comic strip panel format. Further development of phonics and spelling skills is incorporated into each story. The chapter “Some oddities of English Explained” is an interesting and informative section for the proficient reader to become familiar with the challenges emergent readers are faced with as they develop their reading skills. While Train Day! is designed as a decodable book, the humour, the problem solving, and the variety of characters, together with entertaining graphics and the chapter book format, will appeal to all children in grades 2 to 4. Once the format is explained to the child and proficient reading partner, both readers will enjoy a fun, engaging reading journey together.