Early Readers - My Pumpkin

If you are looking for a good early reader book, I would suggest My Pumpkin by Julia Noonan and illustrated by Peter Lawson.

My Pumpkin is designed to assist both the parent and child with learning to read independently. The book starts with introducing the only 48 words used throughout the book. The words are basic and easy to recognize. In addition, the illustrations help the reader by expressing the word(s) in colorful and simple pictures. The story is very elementary, but told through a fun rhyming method. Although the story title indicates pumpkins leading the selector to think a fall time book, but it really isn't. The story follows a young boy from the spring as he plants his seeds, through the summer as he cares for his pumpkin patch, and finally to the fall and a pumpkin contest. Even though it is designed for an early reader, I would think that even non-readers as early as 12 months would enjoy just looking through the pictures. The illustrations skillfully tell the story without the use of words. It is a nice crossover from picture books to beginning chapter books.