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Crash! Splash!
Reading level 3 · BlendsAges 4–6

Crash! Splash!

by ReadRead · 2 min read

“CRASH! The ship hits the rock.” A Level 3 pirate book a child can read by themself: short-vowel words, blends like crash, splash, ship and raft, and big sound words on every page.

10pop-up spreads
51things to tap
2new words
Words in this book
crashsplashbashbitscaptaincrabdownduck
Peek inside

Free to read

This book is free for every family.

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Inside the book

This is Captain Kit, and this is her ship. She has a crab, a cat and a duck, and the ship can go fast. Swish, swish! The waves go crash and splash, the ship goes up, up, up… and down. Then: “Look! A big rock!” “Stop, ship, stop!” CRASH! The ship hits the rock. SPLASH! Kit is in the sea, and the crab, the cat and the duck all splash in after her — and the cat lands right on the duck. The ship is in bits. What will they do? Kit gets a plank, a stick and a big rag. Crash, bash, tap! They have a raft. “No crash! Just splash, splash, splash!”

Kit, Crab and a grumpy wet Cat sitting on Duck, all in the sea after the crash, in Crash! Splash!
Kit, Crab and a grumpy wet Cat sitting on Duck, all in the sea after the crash, in Crash! Splash!
Captain Kit on her little pirate ship with a crab, a cat and a duck.
Captain Kit on her little pirate ship with a crab, a cat and a duck.
CRASH! The little ship hits the big rock and bits fly into the sea.
CRASH! The little ship hits the big rock and bits fly into the sea.
At sunset the crew sails off on a raft with a striped rag sail.
At sunset the crew sails off on a raft with a striped rag sail.

The new words in this book

crash

A big loud bang when things hit and break. It comes up 7 times, and every time the page shows it: a wave crashes on the bow, the ship hits the rock and bits fly off, the ship breaks in two, and Kit bashes the raft together.

splash

Water jumping up when something falls in. It comes up 11 times: the sea sprays the ship, Kit falls in, the crab, the cat and the duck jump in, and the raft paddles away — splash, splash, splash! Crash and splash end the same way (-ash), so a child who reads one can read the other.

A Level 3 decodable reader: a child who knows short-vowel words (ship, rock, cat, duck), blends and digraphs (crash, splash, crab, plank, stick, raft), -s endings and the first sight words (this, they, what, will, have, all) can read about 98% of the words in this book by themself — we check it with our reading ladder. Each page has one or two short sentences, and the sound words (Swish, swish! Crash! Splash!) come back again and again, so a child joins in by the third page.

Questions to ask while you read

Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.

  1. 1Who is this? What is she wearing on her head?
  2. 2Who is on the ship with Kit? Where is the crab sitting?
  3. 3What do the waves do? Can you go up, up, up… and down?
  4. 4What is in front of the ship? What would you shout?
  5. 5CRASH! What happened to the ship? What flew off it?
  6. 6Where is Kit now? Can you make a big splash with your hands?
  7. 7Who jumped in? Where did the cat land? Is the cat happy?
  8. 8What happened to the ship? What do you think Kit will do?
  9. 9Tap the planks, the stick and the rag. What is Kit making?
  10. 10Where are they going now? Did they crash this time?

How hard is this book?

3
Reading level · KBlends

Blends and sh/ch/th (frog, ship), plural -s. A decodable book: 9 words in 10 can be sounded out at this phonics step.

120words in all
50different words
6words per sentence
10longest sentence
More books at this level
Words a child can sound out, by phonics step
Step 1 · short a, i, o52%
Step 2 · all short vowels59%
Step 3 · blends98%
Step 4 · magic e, ee/ai100%
Step 5 · ar/or, oo/ou100%
Step 6 · longer words100%
Grammar in this book
  • Dialogue × 3“What will we do?”
  • Questions × 1“What will we do?”
  • Commands × 3Look! A big rock!
  • Will / going to × 1“What will we do?”
Words that may stop a reader
seaher
All 47 words, most used first

the 12 · splash 11 · a 8 · is 6 · ship 6 · and 4 · big 3 · cat 3 · duck 3 · in 3 · up 3 · crab 2 · go 2 · look 2 · rock 2 · sea 2 · stop 2 · swish 2 · they 2 · this 2 · went 2 · all · bash · bits · can · do · down · fast · gets · has · have · her · hits · it · just · no · now · off · on · plank · raft · rag · stick · tap · we · what · will

Names don’t count: the picture shows who it is.

Tips for parents

  • First time: use Read to me and enjoy the big CRASH and the grumpy cat on the duck together.
  • Second time: switch to I can read and let your child read it. Nearly every word is one they can sound out or already know by sight.
  • Write crash and splash one under the other: what is the same? (-ash!) Try cash, dash, flash too.
  • Shout the CRASH and SPLASH words and whisper the rest — children love it.
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