Sketty and Meatball: A Funny Dog Story for Beginning Readers (Ages 4-8)

by Sarah Weeks, Alex Willmore (illustrator)

"A pair we would happily hang out with again." —Kirkus Reviews

From Sarah Weeks, creator of the beloved series Mac and Cheese, comes Sketty and Meatball, a Level One I Can Read about two irrepressible dog best friends.

Best friends Sketty and Meatball do everything together. They play together. They bark together. If Sketty sniffs a flower, Meatball sniffs a flower too. If Meatball wags his tail, Sketty’s tail is wagging too.

Young readers will be delighted by two pals called Sketty and Meatball, who happen to look quite a bit like their names.

Sketty and Meatball is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it’s perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. Whether shared at home or in a classroom, the short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts of Level One books support success for children eager to start reading on their own.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Friendship, Dogs, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

Published July 9, 2024

About the author

Sarah Weeks has been writing children's books and songs for the past twenty years. She is a graduate of Hampshire College and NYU and recently became an adjunct faculty member in the prestigious Writing Program at the New School University, in New York City.

Her first YA novel, So B. It, which appeared on the LA Times bestseller list was chosen as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and received the 2004 Parent's Choice Gold Award. In addition to being an author, Sarah is an accomplished singer/songwriter. She has written for television, stage and screen and a number of her picture books include songs which she both writes and sings for the accompanying CDs. Sarah's titles have sold well over a million copies, including several foreign editions.

Sarah is a tireless promoter, visiting schools throughout the country, serving as author-in-residence and speaking to teachers and librarians at national conferences including IRA, ALA and NCTE. She lives in New York City with her two teenage sons.

Reviews

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

Sketty and Meatball go together like...spaghetti and meatballs. Some lovely cuteness while also being a stellar example of publishers continuing to not label readers in any kind of way that makes sense. (In no universe is this a level 1 book for a beginning reader. Try level 2.5 to about 3.)

[Spencer Browning]

Sketty and meatball are adorable and i would die for them no notes

[Becky]

First sentence: Sketty and Meatball do everything together. They play together. They bark together.

Premise/plot: Sketty and Meatball are the super cute, adorable stars of this I Can Read Level 1 early reader. These two dogs love to do everything together. They are always asking one another, Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking??? The answer is almost always yes. In this adventure, these two are looking for something "new" to do. They end up at a DOG SHOW.

My thoughts: This one was SUPER fun and enjoyable. It was a great early reader. I liked the repetitiveness of the catch phrases, the predictability of the plot, the fun characters. There is a balancing that must be done in early readers--the balance between being simple, basic, structured, written with the intent to be read by a certain age and skill level WHILE being entertaining and appealing enough that young readers WANT to keep turning the pages.

I read the digital library book of this one that came with audio. I did read it on my own without turning the audio on. I did reread the story with the audio on so I could listen to it as well. The audio added some nice touches in regards to special effects.

[SOYAMRG]

Sketty and Meatball are doggy best friends who do everything together.

Today they decided to visit a dog show and see all the different types of dogs there. A good book for helping readers match the illustrations of dogs to the descriptions in the text. It is adorable that “Sketty” has long fur that looks like spaghetti and “Meatball” is a smaller round brown dog making them look like a meatball.

Optional purchase for any library serving children in grades 1st through 3rd.

M.S.
Children's Librarian

[Jared White]

As soon as I saw the title and looked at the dogs I thought, "Those are such perfect names!" Sketty and Meatball are great friends and it was fun to hang out with them as they tried something new.

Though there's quite a bit of repetition of words, the word count is pretty high and there are quite a few unique words. I'd say this would be alright for a 1st grader, but maybe best for a 2nd grader (unless they're a confident reader, in which case it may be too easy and short).

[Caroline]

This is a cute early reader about a pair of canine best friends. The two pups visit a dog show where they see all kinds of dogs, before getting exhausted and returning home to nap under a tree. The illustrations are silly and fun and lots of rhyming words, pairs, opposites, and repetition is really good for emerging readers.

[Tayler K.M.]

I pulled this out of the book return this morning and about died because the cover is just so dang cute. I'm obsessed.

I don't even like dogs and this was still a fun book. Meatball looks so dumb and I love him.

Sketty and Meatball are best friends hanging out and going to the dog show and thinking the same things at the same time.

[Audrey | WellReadandUndead(ish)]

Sketty and Meatball are best friends who spend every day together. They get stuck in a rut of doing the same thing day in and day out, so they try something new by going to the dog show, where they see so many different kinds of dogs and even eat hotdogs. With such a fun-filled day, they end the day with a nap together. Very sweet!

[Papillon]

Short story about two dogs that are complete opposites. They are the best of friends. These dogs go on a sweet adventure together. Cute story about how there are so many dogs of different types, colors, shapes, and sizes. For very beginning readers.

[Bethe]

Adorable dog friendship story, just enough plot for beginning level 1 reader, plenty of support in the illustrations. Lots of fun dogs. Let’s all go to the dog show! Or curl up under a lemon tree for a nap!

[Alexx Burris]

I long for a rotund dog such as Meatball.

[Chrissy]

Super cute!

[Syntha Green]

Delightful and funny

[Emily Haage]

Absolutely adorable beginning reader. There are many, many series featuring best friend pairings and this one is just sweet and silly.

[Erin]

I am in love with Sketty and Meatball! I hope they have so many more adventure ahead of them!

[Elise Fuddy]

This book changed my life

[Karol]

Super friendship story full of character and delightfully bright illustrations.

[Liza Reads]

cutest damn thing i ever read