Jalmar Press

These warm and wonderful readers will delight both students and teachers as they guide young children along the path of written language one step at a time.  Written in order and phonetically, each story focuses on specific word groups, sounds and sentence structures.  Each story has a beginning, middle and an ending.  Succeeding stories build on these skills and then move on to the next level of skill.  The books are conceived in much the same way as the “Dick and Jane” readers of an earlier era, but with a very important difference:  these stories have a touching “heart content” to them.  The stories are gently humorous while honouring nature, animals and the environment.  The illustrations in their warm simplicity are wonderful compliments to the stories!  Whether you are rewarding an eager reader with a first experience of reading something someone else wrote, or helping a struggling reader get the hang of all those letters, these readers are sheer joy for everyone.

The six books use simple words that the early reader will easily grasp. They have been carefully chosen by a reading specialist to help students advance from the short vowels to the silent “e” to the vowel combinations. At the back of each book is a list of sight words that should be reviewed with the child before reading the book.

Titles of Books in the Set (Available individually or as a set of 6):

Sam Cat and Nat Rat: This pair begins by annoying each other and then end up friends.

Ned and Fred: A pig and a dog don’t think they’ve got much in common, but discover they both love to do the same things

Len Bug and Jen Slug: It’s amazing how much fun you can have and what you can learn from those who are very different from you.  Read an excerpt from the publisher here.                    

Jake the Snake:  Jake doesn’t like moles (and probably a lot of other creatures, too!), but decides to change his mind after getting to know one.

Tim’s Boat:  Tim builds a toy boat for himself, but discovers it was really built for three other creatures, too.

Kay and Jay:  Kay and Jay are two snails who have lots of fun playing together.  One day they are caught in a hail storm and have to help each other find shelter.  When the sun comes out, the play begins again.

Recommended for Readers in Grades 1-3.

Softcover, 5.5 x 8.5 inches.

Jalmar Press.

Printed in the United States.

Author Biography:

Shelley Davidow was born and raised in South Africa.  Her books for children, young adults and adults have been published in Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and  Australia.  In 2002, her young adult novel, In the Shadow of Inyangani (Macmillan 2003), was a finalist in the Macmillan/Picador BBC World Writer’s Prize for Africa.  She has an MSEd from Sunbridge College in New York and has taught in schools, colleges and universities across the world.    She now lives on the East Coast of Australia with her husband and son.

www.shelleydavidow.com

A Phonetic Reader

Written and Illustrated by Shelley Davidow

Geared towards early readers, Grades 2-4 (children ages 6-9 years old).

The Secret Door is the second chapter book in our phonetic reader series, and the follow-up to 'The Secret Pet'.  It continues with the phonetically-based principles that focus on ar, or, er,ir, ur, oo, ou, ow, oi, oy, au, aw, and ea words.

Filled with mystery and adventure, what better way to boost a new reader’s skill than to have them read a page turner!  Here is the reader of children’s dreams—a phonetically stepped adventure story!

Readers will follow Tim (who they will remember from the earlier Phonetic Readers) and his friends Mina and Jo through a mysterious secret door that leads into a magical world where fox, baboons, panthers and rats contend with each other with the kingdom being the prize and good winning the day as a must.

In addition to hardly being able to wait to find out what happens next, the by now very eager reader will discover new diphthongs and learn them without even noticing they have done so.  Mystery, adventure and phonetic compounds—what could be better?

Read a book excerpt from the publisher's page here.

Softcover, 140 pages.  5.5 x 8.5 inches.

Jalmar Press.

Printed in the United States.

Author Biography:

Shelley Davidow was born and raised in South Africa.  Her books for children, young adults and adults have been published in Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and  Australia.  In 2002, her young adult novel, In the Shadow of Inyangani (Macmillan 2003), was a finalist in the Macmillan/Picador BBC World Writer’s Prize for Africa.  She has an MSEd from Sunbridge College in New York and has taught in schools, colleges and universities across the world.    She now lives on the East Coast of Australia with her husband and son.

www.shelleydavidow.com

A Phonetic Reader

Written and Illustrated by Shelley Davidow

Geared towards early readers.

The Secret Pet follows the delightful Early Reader Series of books also written by Shelley Davidow.   In this first chapter book, we meet once again several of the characters from the introductory series, most notably the boy Tim and Jake the (magical) Snake.  Tim and Jake become fast friends, both of them deciding that they simply must be together.  This entails Tim sneaking Jake into his home (since Tim’s mother is not very fond of snakes) and into school (where pets really aren’t welcome).  Through their adventures, they both discover some truths about the differences between life in the wild and life in a home, and how it is that we change our habits and inclinations out of love for one another.  A perfect chapter book for young readers who are learning to decode consonant and vowel blends, punctuation meaning and sentence structure.

The author’s ability to create a humorous and thoughtful story is once again demonstrated; her beautiful drawings bring the story to life, capturing the attention of those early or struggling readers and keeping them reading until they finish the book.

Grades 2-3

Softcover, 112 pages.

Jalmar Press.

Printed in the United States.

Author Biography:

Shelley Davidow was born and raised in South Africa.  Her books for children, young adults and adults have been published in Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and  Australia.  In 2002, her young adult novel, In the Shadow of Inyangani (Macmillan 2003), was a finalist in the Macmillan/Picador BBC World Writer’s Prize for Africa.  She has an MSEd from Sunbridge College in New York and has taught in schools, colleges and universities across the world.    She now lives on the East Coast of Australia with her husband and son.

 www.shelleydavidow.com

A Phonetic Reader

Written and Illustrated by Shelley Davidow

Geared towards early readers, Grades 3-4 (7-10 years old).

Softcover, 128 pages.  5.5 x 8.5 inches.

Jalmar Press.

Printed in the United States.

Author Biography:

Shelley Davidow was born and raised in South Africa.  Her books for children, young adults and adults have been published in Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and  Australia.  In 2002, her young adult novel, In the Shadow of Inyangani (Macmillan 2003), was a finalist in the Macmillan/Picador BBC World Writer’s Prize for Africa.  She has an MSEd from Sunbridge College in New York and has taught in schools, colleges and universities across the world.    She now lives on the East Coast of Australia with her husband and son.

www.shelleydavidow.com

Powerful Techniques for Developing Self-Esteem

by Alvyn and Margaret Freed

How to feel OK about yourself and other people.

These classic books from this series have helped hundreds of thousands of children and their parents relate to each other and to understand their intrinsic worth as human beings.  ‘TA for Tots’ is geared to ages Pre-K to 3 and ‘TA for Kids’ relates to grades 4 through 6 in particular, although older children and adults may surely relate and find value in the content.  Each builds and strengthens self-esteem, esteem of others, personal and social responsibility, critical thinking, and independent judgment on an age-appropriate level.

Softcover, 112 pages.

Jalmar Press. 

Printed in the United States.