Finding a Book for Jamal: Recommending Text Types for at-Home Reading of Beginning Readers Who Struggle

The purpose of this study was to determine what types of texts would best support the at-home reading for a first grader who struggled with reading. Results of running records for 12 books of varying text types indicated he used visual cues, picture cues, and his schema as he attempted to read. Ten of 12 of the texts were hard for him to read. Most interesting about his transactions with the books were his spontaneous embedded oral narratives (EONs)-similar to think-alouds-which he constructed primarily from the illustrations. Furthermore, in contrast to little books, trade books encouraged EONs that were more like the language used in the books. Recommendations for choosing books for at-home reading and for parent support of readers who struggle are included.