Hameray Publishing Group is featuring an all-new early reader collection written by award-winning children's author Joy Cowley. Interesting stories, likeable characters, and humorous illustrations make these readers an excellent choice!

The Joy Cowley Collection is divided into three sets: Green Set, Red Set, and Orange Set. Each set (15 books) can be purchased for $85.00. Six-packs are sold for $35.70 and single books for $5.95. My daughter and I had the privilege of reviewing 6 books, a couple from each set. These early readers have, by far, been our favorites! We reviewed:

• Oscar Did It!
• Gruesome House
• Huggles at School
• Meanies in the House
• Fix-It Bear
• Mrs. Wishy-Washy and the Big Wash

The books contain pleasant rhythm, repeated sentence patterns, repeated refrain, varied sentence structure, and more. Each book includes teacher's notes in the back, beginning with special features of the text. Notes also suggest to teachers/parents what to do before, during, and after reading. Word count is shown on the back cover, and the reading level for each of the 45 books can be viewed on the website.

While these books are very educational, they are engaging as well, which is extremely important in my opinion. I like books that my daughter is likely to pick up again on her own. I knew these readers were exceptional when I saw her laughing and sharing some of the books with her older brothers.

We were also able to listen to the CD featuring the voice of Joy Cowley reading all 15 titles from the Green Set. Her voice was exactly as we imagined Mrs. Wishy-Washy's voice! This is a wonderful accompaniment to the books. The cost of the CD is $14.95.

For education and fun, I highly recommend the Joy Cowley Collection for early readers. Add appealing variety to your child's early reader collection today!

Product review by Brandi Tesreau, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2011