Super great book to build confidence in young readers. The illustrations were fun and my girls and I learned more about moles than we expected. My oldest loves reading this to her dad and little sisters.

This is a wonderful book for building young reader confidence. Most words can be decoded by using the one-vowel rule (when a word has one vowel, it usually says its short sound) or the two-vowel rule (when a word has two vowels, the first says it name and the second vowel is silent.) There are some sight words which don’t follow these rules. These words are repeated several times throughout the book so it allows a good practice time. At the front of the book, on the first page, is a list of “challenge words.” This list allows the parent/care-giver and child an opportunity to practice some of the harder words in the book before beginning the story. The story is sweet and gentle, with just enough drama to make for a good story. It is educational, as it does teach a lot of information about moles. Additionally, it has a beautiful happy ending. My young reader and I have enjoyed reading this book together very much.

I love that TGTB has this great non fiction book at my daughter’s reading level. We read the book together, and we’re pretty excited when we saw a mole at our next visit to the zoo.

My children’s favorite part was the end, when (spoiler alert) the mole has pups. “They’re so cute!”
I appreciated finding a living nonfiction book on their level. It is so fun to learn about animals in this narrative fashion, and my children retain the information far better than with drier texts. This is one of those books that they have picked up and reread on their own.

My son loved reading this book! We learned a lot of facts (about the moles that currently live in our yard) that we didn’t know! Beautiful illustration and a great read for my first grader!