Abstract
Oxford University Press's Dolphin Readers, published in 2005, appears to have remained the number one graded reader series for elementary school children. Most of the books in this series can certainly be enjoyed and fully appreciated by today's children. It is ironic that by the end of the series, you might find it outdated if you read the last book, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, by Craig Wright, who correctly predicted today's smartwatches, home-schooling and flying cars.
Dolphin Readers consists of 40 books (18 to 34 pages) divided into 5 levels (Starter Level with 175 headwords to Level 4 with 625 headwords). The 8 books in each level are uniquely written, with either comic illustrations or beautiful photographs, depending on whether the content is fiction or non-fiction. In other words, the variety will prevent young learners from getting bored and will keep them engaged in the books.
How well will students be able to read English using these readers? The series starts with Baby Animals with photos of cute animals such as puppies, kittens and lambs. The first page, 60 percent of which is taken up by a picture, reads as follows: ” This dog has two puppies. They are very cute. ” There are only two short sentences.
The number of sentences increases as the level increases. At the final level, students read Fiona Kenshole's City Girl, Country Boy, which begins with a cartoon-style illustration of a country boy with a worried look on his face, sitting on a train to a big city, followed by these sentences: ” Tim lives on a farm in the country. He is on his way to visit his cousin Anna in the city. Anna and her mother are waiting to meet him at the train station. This is Tim's first visit to the big city. He is very excited. ” As Ms. Kenshole based the story on Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse (1918) or”The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse” from Aesop's Fables, the students will acquire the ability to read such stories. That is quite an achievement.
Oxford University Press’s Dolphin Readers are full of inspiring, useful non-fiction books such as A Game of Shapes, Go, Gorillas, Go, In the Ocean and Where People Live (which includes a picture of a Japanese tatami room), as well as original, interesting fictional stories such as Meet Molly and Up and Down, both written by the same author, Richard Northcott. As the Graded Reader series is intended for the 21st century world, it seems that the editors were concerned not only with environmental protection, but also with racial and gender equality. It is therefore highly recommended that Dolphin Readers continue to be used in schools around the world.
