I like the things Phoebe tries to do in order to NOT do her schoolwork. I felt very seen! Who hasn't gone through all sorts of hoops to avoid a task that needs doing?

This is such a cutely drawn book about a girl who has a name that isn't written like it sounds. I loved the message at the end that it's ok to not have things exactly perfect and to make mistakes. Both my sons were interested in the book, so much so that they kept pointing at things in the pictures.

Writing your name can be difficult, especially when your name isn't spelled how it sounds. Rather than writing her name, Phoebe busies herself in other ways until her teacher encourages her to "sound it out." Phoebe gives it her best try and spells her name how it sounds.

In Phoebe Sounds It Out, children will relate to Phoebe's uncertainty about trying a new, difficult task while preschool and kindergarten teachers will smirk at the inventive ways Phoebe busies herself while avoiding that new task.

As a literacy practitioner, I recommend this as a great read-aloud book for scaffolding reading instruction with emergent readers and writers. Synthetic phonics does not work with all children and kids need to know quite a few things about reading before they're able to sound out words. Reading about the struggles of Phoebe, the quirky likable protagonist, to sound out and write her non-phonetically-spelled name will encourage young writers who need to be reminded that there is no one "right way" to learn how to write and that it's okay to be different. The teacher never tries to correct Phoebe's spelling of her name but only supports the young writer without judgment. The sweet illustrations capture all the fun and coziness of a kindergarten classroom and portray a diverse cast of characters including a differently-abled child.

~Disclaimer~
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phoebe puts on her rain boot to go to school even though it isn't raining. She decides to call them sun boots instead. When she gets to school her teacher Miss Martha says that they will be learning how to write their names. Instead of writing her name Phoebe keeps getting distracted by other things. "Just sound it out" sings her teacher. So she begins to sounds out her name a write the letters that she hears.
F. E. E. B. Y. When she hands in her name her teacher says "What a great start".
I think that this was a cute book that a lot of children can relate to. When you are learning to write your name is can be hard, especially when you have a name that sounds different from how it's spelled. This can be very frustrating for a child. It's important to let them know that you have to start somewhere and you will get it eventually. I liked how Phoebe doesn't get frustrated in the book. Her teacher also doesn't make a big deal out of her misspelling her name. I really liked that there was diversity in the other children. Too many times a whole book will only depict children of one colour. This book better represents a regular classroom. Children will be able to find someone that look like them in this book. All in all I would recommend this book for children who are learning how to spell.

In the age of computers with spell check, spelling is becoming a lost art. Unfortunately, it is still necessary. When Phoebe's class works on writing their names, she tries every avoidance tactic she can think of. You see, her name is not spelled the way it sounds. She has seen her name written, but knows that can't be right. The letter P does not say "f". When Ms. April sings, "Just sound it out" Phoebe finally gives it a try. I love how Julie Zwillich writes about her thought process while looking at the letter chart. She finally comes up with her completed name spelled phonetically and even thought it is not correct, she is still given a smile and made to feel that she accomplished something. A cute story with great illustrations. They show a good example of a classroom without a lot of extraneous items and good expressions on Phoebe's face. A good book for a primary classroom.

One day, Phoebe’s class is learning to write their names, but Phoebe isn’t sure how to spell hers. Her teacher suggests she “sound it out,” but she knows that the correct letters sound wrong. Phoebe Sounds It Out is a cute story about putting in your best effort, even if you aren't sure you're doing it correctly.

Phoebe Sounds It Out by Julie Zwillich is a picturebook currently scheduled for release on April 15 2017. Unfortunately, Phoebe's name doesn’t look quite like it sounds. At school, her classmates practice writing their names, but Phoebe struggles. Her teacher tells her to “just sound it out.” Phoebe doubts herself and procrastinates before resolving to try. Readers are privy to her funny, endearing interior monologue and little-kid rationale as she writes the result: FEEBY.

Phoebe Sounds It Out is a sweet and endearing story that relates the struggles of a young lady trying to sound out her name, which is not spelled like it sounds. Her rationalizations are sound, and she eventually does exactly what her teacher asks of her, she writes her name out just like it sounds. The art work is charming and ads a good amount of details, particularly the frustration and actions of Phoebe as she delays her task and then searches for clues to help her in her task. I enjoyed the fact that the story does not make fun of her struggles, and shows that making the effort and doing your best is the important part, not getting things perfect, or even right, on the first try. I really enjoyed the story, which is particularly relatable to anyone that has struggled with spelling, in particular those of us with first or last names that defy phonetic spelling.

Phoebe puts on her rain boots (or sun boots since today it’s sunny) and is off to a great day at school. But then the teachers tell her to write her name by sounding it out. Phoebe has seen her name on her backpack where her mom stitched it on, but she thinks maybe her mom made a mistake. So she sounds out her name and spells it the best she can.

This is part satire on phonetics and the perils of sounding things out, and partly a very likely to happen contemporary fiction school story. I was kinda hoping for a little more. With all the talk about the different names for her boots at the beginning, I thought the author would go on to have the teachers talk about how letters can make more than one sound…but it didn’t. It just stops with Phoebe spelling her name Feeby and decorating her paper. One of her teachers just says it is a good start, and doesn’t bother to help her learn the real spelling (not good teaching strategy…just saying, she’s applauding good phonics at the cost of reinforcing wrong spelling and also reinforcing Phoebe’s mistaken belief that her mother can’t spell possibly making home life more challenging). I did like the illustration style, and the diversity represented in Phoebe’s classroom through those. Overall, it was ok, but with just a few more pages it could have been much better.

Phoebe Sounds It Out was a cute book about a child named Phoebe who isn't sure how to spell her name. Her teacher tells her to "sound it out" and the book illustrates her thinking about what her name should look like if she sounds it out. This book is great for kids who are worried about how quickly they're learning to read and write properly and helps to assuage their fears in a sweet way. It's a great addition to my classroom library!

This is cute little book about learning to spell out words. In this case the kids in Phoebe's class are sounding out their names to spell them. This is a short read and would e really good form ages 3 to 6. The words are noot very hard to so would be great for beginning readers.

Learning to write your name is not easy, especially if it is not spelled as it sounds. While in general I like the story, kids sound out words to learn to write their names, I am disappointed in the further lesson. The teachers let Phoebe write her name as Feeby, even though Phoebe knows it’s wrong. She just assumes her mother was wrong. I think this book would have been much better if their was a lesson on how sometime mixing letters creates new sounds. Because of its oversimplified concept, this book is a miss for me.

Added Goodreads
Added Litsy

I appreciate the exploration of phonetic spelling but the addition of the boots felt a little distracting and the story felt incomplete.

This is a great find! Kids will be able to relate to Phoebe who finds name writing tough, and parents and teachers alike will be able to appreciate Phoebe's persistence and pride when she sounds out her name! I already have some students and friends in mind who I want to share this book with!

Callie's Kid Review: 5 stars. I would recommend it to my friends. The reading level was just about right. I really liked the pictures and the glitter glue part. I thought the story was great because it was just really fun. I liked it when she said "We forgot to put glitter glue on the names". I thought she was going to yell at Phoebe for spelling her name wrong but she didn't. I liked it.

My Mommy Review: PHOEBE SOUNDS IT OUT by Julie Zwillich is a good book to let children entering kindergarten know that the first step to spelling is learning to sound things out. As a parent, it's sometimes hard to not over correct your child as they learn to do this, especially with their name. Phoebe is a great name to use for the example in this book as my 1st grader kept stumbling all over the PH combo like Phoebe did. The teacher focuses on getting her focused and through the exercise and not about whether it's right or wrong. It also reminds the parent reading with the child that their child has a short attention span like with the boots and the pencil and not to spend too much time forcing it early on. For children concerned about their school performance or just facing this area of learning, it's a good read to assist.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the concept of the book, the illustrations were lovely and there was a really nice flow to the text and illustrations working together. The characterisation is also strong. The only reservation I have about this book is that in my experience as a teacher, most children learn to write their names before they begin to sound out words, so I'm not sure how relevant the subject is.

Children and adults alike use task avoidance to escape from jobs they find to be overwhelming. This is how Phoebe feels when she arrives at school. Teachers Ms. Martha and Ms. April tell the youngsters that the class will work on writing their names. Baskets of pencils are placed on each table. Phoebe distracts herself by taking off her boots and putting them back on, but on the wrong feet. After that, she puts a pencil above her lip making a mustache. Ms. April gently encourages Phoebe to give name writing a try.

"Phoebe Sounds It Out" by Julie Zwillich and illustrated by Denise Holmes is an excellent Pre-K through Kindergarten book that addresses the feelings and insecurities of young learners. The art work is uncluttered and the clearly labelled alphabet charts help Phoebe sound out phonetically and scribe the letters in her name.

Thank you Owlkids Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Phoebe Sounds It Out".

A sweet little girl named Phoebe, dons her rainboots (even though it's not raining) and heads off to school. Once there she is confronted with a challenge from her teacher Ms. Martha to try and write her name. Her classmates will do the same.

Ms. April, a teacher assistant, struts around the room playing her guitar to calm and encourage the kids as they write by singing:

"Just sound it out."

Phoebe tries, she really does. She consults the alphabet chart hanging in her classroom and tries her hardest to figure out why the letters she needs for her name and the sounds she hears don't match up properly. Oh my! She doesn't give up, she is determined to write her very own name just the way it sounds. She does her very best but alas the proper spelling does not coincide correctly with the audio she hears.

Ms. Martha wisely allows her students to crown their hard work with shiny, red glitter and then she hangs their efforts up for all to see and to celebrate. Ms. Martha doesn't criticize or belittle the evident errors but is encouraging to all her students and smilingly says:

"What a great start."

Kudos to her for instilling positivity, a wonderful sense of self-worth and pride into each child. The reader understands that with Ms. Martha's patience and loving care these kids are going to excel.

I love the aspects of encouragement and acceptance that both teacher and her assistant showed to the fledgling class. The illustrations, although simple, are kid-friendly and very expressive. This is a wonderful book to share with those who are beginning to read and write. It also imparts valuable information for parents who now can understand better what their child is going through when kids process their reading and writing skills.

I thought this book was very cute and illustrated a common issue for children who have names that are not phonetic. I like the way the teacher accepts Phoebe where she is with writing. I also appreciated that the class appeared to be multicultural. A great book for reading at the beginning of kindergarten.