Stepping Up!: (An All Are Welcome Early Reader)

PreS-K–As they celebrate what appears to be a kindergarten graduation, the smiling students from All Are Welcome look back on their year in simple rhyming couplets. They reflect on various academic achievements, as well as the development of social skills, such as sharing and “show[ing] our friends we care.” A large typeface and strong visual contrast enhance readability, and new readers who are unfamiliar with the term “step-up” (an easily decodable alternative to “graduation”) will quickly infer the meaning from the illustrations and other textual clues. Kaufman’s illustrations reflect a diverse range of cultures and abilities, and the vivid, mismatched patterns in the children’s clothing add personality. Despite the early reader format, this book could also work as an end-of-year read-aloud in preschool and kindergarten classrooms. The rest of the series includes a mix of early readers and picture books, but the distinction between the two is unclear and the only noticeable difference is in the easy reader marketing.