The Tessy & Tab Books have everything it takes…

to capture and hold your child’s attention, to show your child that books are fun, and to help them start down the path that will take them from the reading pictures stage, through the sound-it-out phase, and finally to the reading sentences stage.

Every child is different and will respond to different parts of the books at different times, yet every child is wired to decode the things they encounter and are interested in in their world. Tessy and Tab capture your child’s interest, and your child’s natural inclination takes over.

Our unique balance of information-rich illustration with a single sentence of real language is why our books span the ages and stages. Your child will see right away that Tessy & Tab books are different – there is a greater ratio of picture to text. This means that there is at least as much information to be gathered from the pictures as from the words and that helps at every level.

Reading Pictures:
Your child will naturally have fun pointing to and naming all the familiar objects and activities in their books. Ask questions and talk about everything that interests your child on the page. When you are done with that, say, “OK, now let’s read the sentence!” and point at each word as you say it. A word is a picture too, and it tells readers what to say. Through pointing, you are making this connection.

Sound-It-Out:
When your child knows their alphabet, it is fun for them to try it out. Join them in the time, patience, and trial it takes to decode the letter-to-sound connections. Do not over correct. Encourage them to try again. Help them find clues to give a boost. Sometimes the word is in the illustration. Every time they recognize a word from before, congratulate them on this new word.

First Sentences:
As your child begins to master the letter-to-sound decoding and build their sight word inventory, they will begin to want to try to do it all by themselves. With just one sentence per page, these books are ideal to encourage sentence reading and build confidence. Show your child that in the Tessy & Tab books, the words they’ve read on the left page are often also on the right page. Matching words are there to draw them forward.