In March, Pearson Education will officially launch Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn at School, a cooperative publishing venture based on Charlesbridge’s Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn series of 16 storybooks starring a group of pre-K children. Each book focuses on a skill from one of four domains: social, emotional, cognitive, and health and safety. The Pearson initiative, which features a classroom package that includes a full set of the I See I Learn books and supplementary teaching materials, aims to extend the reach of Murphy’s series and connect the home and school reading environments.
“The wonderful thing about this series is that Stuart J. Murphy has created engaging characters with distinct personalities, and tells simple stories about them that teach vital skills through visual learning,” says Charlesbridge editor Alyssa Mito-Pusey. “The stories are very true to readers’ own lives and reinforce skills in a kid-friendly, accessible way.” Launched in 2010, Charlesbridge’s I See I Learn series adds two new titles, Percy’s Neighborhood and Great Choice, Camille!, this month. Two more books, Freda Says Please and Scrubba Dub Carlos, are due in August. Tim Jones Illustration provides the art for all of the series’ installments.
]Aimed at pre-K through first grade, Pearson Education’s I See I Learn at School classroom package contains a program overview and implementation guide; 16 paperback I See I Learn books; a binder with 16 teacher guide cards; a DVD featuring digital books, games, animations, student activities, and charts; and 17 posters, one for each book plus a ‘See and Learn City Map.’ Additional teacher resources are available on the series’ Web site.
Recent research about preschool learning underscores the need for a program based on teaching the skills spotlighted in I See I Learn, says John Carroll, v-p of product management at Pearson Education. “There is an increasing focus on social, emotional, and behavioral learning at an early age,” he says. “To be better learners, children need to develop such skills as collaboration and self-control, and we are addressing that need with this program. Stuart J. Murphy’s expertise in visual learning make him a natural author to help children develop these skills, and we are very pleased to have the opportunity to build instructional material around I See I Learn for classroom use.”
Murphy, whose 63-volume MathStart series from HarperCollins has sold more than seven million copies worldwide, says he is thrilled to be able to broaden the scope of his series. “I See I Learn is a great opportunity to use storytelling to address important issues and show young children positive behavior through visual models,” he says. “I See I Learn at School will give teachers materials to extend the stories and help children think further about applying the lessons and ideas in the books to their own lives. I have spent my career with one foot in the educational market and one foot in the trade market, and it is very exciting for me to now have I See I Learn available to both markets at the same time.”
