The Read and Write Series by Darcy Pattison

Genre: Both books are Picture books.
Source:  I received copies to facilitate my reviews. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I Want a Dog: My Opinion Essay 
This is the first book in this series.  In this book the main characters are Dennis and Mellie. They are cousins. This story and finally essay is written by Dennis.  He wants a dog.  His teacher has told him he must have "criteria" for his essay.  As Dennis researches and compares each type of dog he explains which of those characteristics would be best for not only himself, but for his cousin Mellie as well.  When he has finished the research he puts it all together into a formal essay.  The essay is so good that he and his cousin both get a dog that is best suited to each of them.  Dennis gives them each their name.  This book takes you step by step through the process.  I loved the way that they showed a specific breed, a drawing of it and it's characteristics.  Definitely a book I plan to use with my sixth graders.  I prefer to make sure they have the basics and this is a great way to do it.



I Want a Cat: My Opinion Essay

This  is the second book in this series. It follows the same pattern as the first book. In this book Mellie is the narrator and she wants a cat.  She takes us through the same process as her cousin did in the first book.  She researches and then with the criteria she has about the different types of cats and  what parts of their personalities make the the best cat for both her and her cousin Dennis, she is able to narrow it down.  She then writes an opinion essay that identifies the best cat for each of them.  Because she does such an excellent job writing the essay, their parents buy them each a cat.  In this book Mellie gets to name both of them.  Once again this is an excellent example of how to write an opinion essay.   We definitely need more books like this to use in our classroom.