Review ~ Macmillan Children’s Readers

Macmillan Children’s Readers

These readers are described as being for ages 6-12, from Beginner to Pre-Intermediate level and I reviewed 6 readers from levels 1-4.

First flicking through these readers I was pleasantly surprised to see the quality of pictures and details which had gone into the books. They are beautifully illustrated and a wide range of kids will appreciate the stories and be drawn in.

What really adds to the stories are the activities at the back of the book, practising the language covered in the reader. Another excellent factor is the picture dictionary, also at the end of each book.

Levels 1 and 2 have a short simple story to work from. The two books I reviewed were Hide and Seek and The Fancy Dress Competition. These are fun topics which would open up a range of extension activities for the classroom, using the readers as a basis.

Levels 3 and 4 are more developed, offering more to the slightly higher level target audience. The Level 3 topics I looked at are Wild Animals and Recycling, and both readers begin with factual information and then a story developing the theme. The Recycling story is an effective way of demonstrating an important environmental concern to a group of young learners. With the use of the recycling bin concept the publishers assume recycling programs are in place everywhere, which is unfortunately not the case even across Europe. However, I’m sure many teachers will be keen to incorporate this environmental theme in their lessons.

The Level 4 topics I looked at are Music and Sculptures, again with factual information, a story, exercises and a picture dictionary. The Sculptures topic links to museums and art work and also offers some fun opportunities for making sculptures out of different objects such as stones, plastic bottles, and even snow! There’s a nice example of a matchstick Harry Potter Hogwarts sculpture, topical at the moment with the release of the final film. The Music themed reader is great, and given the popularity of talent shows in many countries this story should generate a lot of enthusiasm in class!

There is also an online site offering audio recordings and bringing more life to the stories. They are nicely paced for each level and also have realistic additions, like birds tweeting in the background during a garden scene.

My only criticisms are in places the pictures don’t demonstrate exactly what the story is teaching. For example, in one picture the character was meant to be behind a bush but in the picture he was in the bush. Likewise, the end of book activities and the vocabulary presented pre-story don’t always match the vocabulary focused on in the story.

In summary, I really enjoyed reading these books, so I have no doubt that young learners and their teachers alike will thorough enjoy using these too! They’re well-presented, interesting, inspiring and offer good language learning opportunities.