Aaron Has a Lazy Day

by P.D. Eastman

P. D. Eastman’s classic character Aaron the Alligator makes his early-reader debut! On this lazy day, Aaron is hot, tired, and hungry—perhaps a nice, juicy lemon will taste good? Blech! Lemons are not good to eat! Follow daffy Aaron as his hazy, lazy day becomes less lazy and more crazy! Young readers will giggle along as they tackle the simple words and sentences all on their own. Aaron the Alligator is a star of The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary and a long-out-of-print series called Everything Happens to Aaron.
 
Step 1 Readers feature big type and easy words for children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading. Rhyme and rhythmic text paired with picture clues help children decode the story.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Humor, Animals

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 6, 2015

About the author

Philip Dey "Phil" Eastman was an American screenwriter, children's author, and illustrator. As an author, he is known primarily as P. D. Eastman. A protégé of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Eastman wrote many books for children, in his own distinct style under the Dr. Seuss brand of Random House, many of which were in the Beginner Books series.

From 1936 to 1941, Eastman worked at the story department of Walt Disney Productions. From 1941 to 1943 he worked at the story department of Warner Bros. Cartoons. From 1945 to 1952 he worked in the story department of United Productions of America. He contributed to the "Private Snafu" World War II training films, wrote for the animation Mr. Magoo, and the Gerald McBoing-Boing series for UPA.

Reviews

[Nicola · Rating 1 out of 5]

Normally I like P.D. Eastman but this just doesn't have a plot.

Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

No question, Aaron is my favorite alligator. Also, the funniest.

Poor green guy, after the hungry animal has picked so many lemons... Finally he tastes one. (The illustration on Page 17 is priceless.)

As for Aaron, playing the drum? For now I'll leave it to your imagination, Goodreaders.

What a magnificent book this is to help children step into reading! FIVE STARS magnificent.

[Ethan & Isaac · Rating 1 out of 5]

His day was hardly lazy.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor Aaron, nothing seems to work out quite right for him. Maybe emergent readers can start to predict what will go wrong with Aaron in each scenario.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hav read it to me

[Melanie Brinckerhoff, Rockstar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaron is awesome

He is a lazy, musical, hungry alligator. We liked him. The kid wants to give him 10 stars. Go Aaron.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maddie was tearing through books this evening.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aaron Has a Lazy Day is a Level 1 book from Random House's Step into Reading series, which resurrects a classic P.D. Eastman character. On a hot day, Aaron the Alligator runs into trouble as he tries to drink from a water fountain, snack on a lemon, play the drums, and go fishing.

The pictures in this book are appealing. Their simplicity and simple backdrops are reminiscent of Mo Willems's art in the Elephant and Piggie books, and Aaron's changes in facial expression add an emotional dimension to the story that is missing from the simplistic text. Unfortunately, the story itself is bland. It seems like the title is meant to be ironic, but the story proper never establishes that Aaron is trying to have a lazy day, so the various problems interrupting his relaxation seem to happen randomly. There are no transitions between the four main scenes of the story, which can easily confuse young readers who are so dependent on context clues to help them decode unknown words. While repetition of Aaron's name and some of the other small words in the text might make it possible for kids to identify most of the text, their comprehension would still be limited because the story has such a weak structure.

Aaron Has a Lazy Day is very much like the basal readers used in classrooms - utilitarian and lacking in substance.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love PD Eastman and while Aaron is a new character to us, his lazy day story was just right. My daughter is a budding reader and while she doesn't have all 75 phonograms down quite yet, she has many and this book was just the right amount of challenge for her. I'm delighted with the illustrations and the wit of the story as well as the progression of phonics and repetition of harder words to be just right for reading with out frustration.

I read a digital arc.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent choice for emerging readers. The cartoon-style illustrations give clues that help new readers decode words. Short sentences and controlled vocabulary help build word recognition, as well as the reader's confidence. Silly antics are sure to please.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

An early reader adapted from a 1964 Eastman title that follows an alligator through a summer day. The words and text match closely, but the story is not cohesive. This will serve as solid decoding practice. This is an optional purchase for beginning reader collections.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute book in this supportive series for early readers.

[Elanor]

All by herself!

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text of this book is somewhat random, but it's still s fun, appropriate read for young readers.

[Heather Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

megan spring reading 2016, children's book, leveled reader, easy reader, level two, alligators, first grade, sight words, phonics, series, aaron the alligator, cute, megan summer reading 2016

[Emerson and Theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with Theodore. A cute one that has somehow escaped us until now. Classic PD Eastman drawings that I love.