How Rocket Learned to Read
Part of the Rocket Series

How Rocket Learned to Read

Hardcover

Grades Preschool – 2
Ages 3–7

Children will love learning to read with this New York Times-bestselling picture book, starring an irresistible dog named Rocket and his teacher, a little yellow bird. Follow along as Rocket masters the alphabet, sounds out words, and finally . . . learns to read all on his own!

Don’t miss the animated movie based on the bestselling Rocket books—now airing on PBS!

With a story that makes reading fun—and will even help listeners learn to read—this book is ideal for kindergarten classrooms and story hour or as a gift for that beginning reader.

Tad Hills, the creator of the beloved Duck & Goose series delivers another heartwarming story, filled with fresh, charming art making this a favorite for story time. 

Discover the next book in the series—the instant #1 New York Times Bestseller, Rocket Writes a Story.

Bestseller
Award Winner

A New York Times bestseller

A 2010 Parents’ Choice Silver Award

An Autumn 2010 Children’s Indie Next Pick


Review, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES:
"A perfect picture book for kids 3-7."

Review, THE BOSTON GLOBE:
"A picture book all about the joys of reading could easily turn preachy and dull. But “How Rocket Learned to Read’’ defies gravity. Rocket is lovable, the little feathered teacher adorable. Hills tells his sprightly story as needed, not one word more or less. His pictures flow with soft color and movement. Hills makes this a story of friendship. It may persuade tentative kindergarteners that school is worth a try; teachers and librarians will love it."

Review, KIRKUS REVIEWS:
"Hills’s gentle, sweet tale is a paean to the joy of reading and the teachers that inspire it."

Review, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:
"With characters as memorable as those in Hills’s Duck and Goose series, this good-natured story shows readers how Rocket, a spotted puppy, becomes a beginning reader, thanks to a little yellow bird."

Review, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL:
"Youngsters will find this addition to Hills’s cast of adorable animal characters simply irresistible."

ISBN 9780593914588 (Audiobook Download)
Published on Jan 30, 2024
Published by Listening Library
Age Range 3-7 years
Grade Preschool - 2
Reading Level Lexile: AD600L | Fountas/Pinnell: L

ISBN 9780307938343 (Enhanced Ebook)
Published on Nov 15, 2010
Published by Schwartz & Wade
Pages 40
Age Range 3-7 years
Grade Preschool - 2
Reading Level Lexile: AD600L | Fountas/Pinnell: L

ISBN 9780375858994 (Hardcover)
Published on Jul 27, 2010
Published by Random House Studio
Pages 40
Dimensions 9-1/2 x 10-1/2
Age Range 3-7 years
Grade Preschool - 2
Reading Level Lexile: AD600L | Fountas/Pinnell: L

ISBN 9780375989223 (Ebook)
Published on Jul 27, 2010
Published by Schwartz & Wade
Pages 40
Age Range 3-7 years
Grade Preschool - 2
Reading Level Lexile: AD600L | Fountas/Pinnell: L

Tad Hills

Tad Hills is the #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the Rocket and Duck & Goose series, including the New York Times bestselling picture books How Rocket Learned to Read; Rocket Writes a Story; R Is for Rocket; Duck & Goose; Duck, Duck, Goose; Duck & Goose Go to the Beach; and Duck & Goose, Honk! Quack! Boo! He also created various board books in these series, including Rocket’s Mighty Words; Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin; the ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book What’s Up, Duck?: A Book of Opposites; Duck & Goose: Here Comes the Easter Bunny!; and several Step Into Reading titles, including Drop It, Rocket! and Rocket’s 100th Day of School.
 
The Boston Globe declared Hills’s work “charming, funny, simple, and surprising” and dubbed him “a master of the light comic touch.”
 
Tad lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, two children, and his real-life dog, Rocket, who has not yet learned to read.
 
Visit Tad online at tadhills.com, and follow him on Twitter at @tadhills.

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