Jack and Jill and T-Ball Bill

by Terry Pierce, Sue DiCicco (Contributor)

Just in time for spring training! Don't take Big Dog Bill out to the ballgame! This hilarious Step 1 early reader is about a dog who loves T-ball! Well, he loves the ball.

Jack and Jill bring Big Dog Bill to their T-ball game. Crack! The moment the ball is hit, Big Dog Bill can be counted on to steal it, and hilarity ensues as everyone tries to catch him. Once Jill spies a hot dog cart, a bright idea to save the daypops into her head. Just like Jack and Jill and Big Dog Bill, written and illustrated by Martha Weston, this fun phonics reader helps children with alliteration, rhyming, and word families.

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: Picture Books

32 pages, Library Binding

Published March 6, 2018

About the author

TERRY PIERCE is the author of over twenty-seven children's books, including Hello, Meadow!, Eat Up, Bear!, Love Can Come in Many Ways, Soccer Time!, Mother Earth's Lullaby, Mama Loves You So, My Busy Green Garden, Blackberry Banquet, and Tae Kwon Do! (Random House Step-Into-Reading, Bank Street College Best Children's Books 2007).

A former Montessori teacher, she now writes full-time and teaches online children's writing courses through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

Reviews

[Jillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was cute - lots of good words, with some solid repetition of certain sounds. (In this case, "ack" and "ips.")

None of this, however, explains why the T-ball game is being officiated by a referee in stripes instead of an umpire, why there's a hot dog stand in the outfield, and why spectators are having a picnic on the third base line. :-p

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two teams are trying to play t-ball, but Big Bill, a dog, turns the game into keep away when he snatches the ball. Will they ever get to finish the t-ball game?

I can't figure out why the sound words are underlined in the text. It doesn't explain this anywhere in or on the book. I guess it makes the book a good text to use when talking about onomatopoeia with kids. The rhyme in here was hit or miss, but the story was cute and funny. Little readers should find it entertaining and approachable.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kid fun, kid zest, and kid laughter are all packed into this adorable phonics reader.

Big Bill is a dog who loves T-ball.

Only maybe it's not the sport he loves, not the rules of the game. Big Bill just loves grabbing the ball.

Can this four-legged friend be distracted (or pacified) with a snack? Sure, but only until he wolfs it down. Maybe more precisely, he dogs it down.

FIVE STAR, delightful, incentive to read.

[Laura Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun easy reader for my 5-yo who is at this reading level and just started playing baseball for the first time. I even had him and 4-yo little sister make inferences about how they would get the ball back from Bill. The 4-yo got it right from the picture context clues! Fun read.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world filled with subpar easy readers the good ones really stand out! This book is one of them. The rhyming is great, the word choice isn't wildly inappropriate for the age group, and the story is fun and funny!

[Homeschooling with the Cardens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really liked this book !