Free Printable Apple Emergent Reader for Preschoolers

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As I have mentioned multiple times in the past, I love making books with my preschool students — class books, individual books, books for friends, books for parents, etc. So many great learning opportunities arise when making books with kids. Sometimes, I combine kids’ art with words to make books. Other times, I create a short printable for the children. That’s the case with this apple emergent reader the children worked on during our preschool apple theme.

Book Making Fun with an Apple Emergent Reader

What the emergent reader looks like

When creating this emergent reader for the kids, I kept everything simple. The layout is very basic, the words are easy and repetitive, and the pictures are simple. This way, the children aren’t overwhelmed. The book consists of 4 letter-sized pieces of papers. Each page folds in half vertically, which leads to 8 mini pages. Even the prep work for making the book is easy — simply copy, fold, and staple!

The front cover has the title “I See Apples”, along with space for a child’s name. Each page follows the title’s pattern and focuses on the different colors apples can be. All apples are red, yellow, or green (or some combination thereof), so the first three pages consist of those colors. The page “I see white” focuses on what an apple looks like when it’s bitten into. The page “I see brown” led to a nice discussion of what happens when an apple is eaten down to the core and left out.

Introducing the apple emergent reader to children

I introduced the book to the children by saying, “We’re going to make a book about different color apples.” Nothing spectacular, but it let the kids know what the book would be about.

Going page by page, I read the book to the children. I underlined the color words and stressed how important it is that pictures in a book match the words. Then I had the children color the apple the appropriate color.

He is very focused on his illustrations!

What the kids learned with this emergent reader

The apple emergent reader gave me the chance to introduce (or review) many concepts with the children in a meaningful way. We talked about:

color words
parts of an apple
print concepts
even our own apple preferences

So much in such a short period of time! Now that the kids have completed the books, the readers will go into the children’s book boxes. This will give the children lots of chances to reread the apple book they made! With each reading, even more early literacy concepts will be touched upon!

If you’re looking for more apple-themed ideas, check out my Apple Theme Pinterest board! Click HERE for a free copy of the apple emergent reader!

Have you ever made books with your children/students? What do they enjoy about book making?

Apple Theme Preschool Lesson Plans

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for classroom teachers and home preschool families so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.