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Rocket and Friends
Drop It, Rocket!
Rocket, the beloved dog from the New York Times bestselling picture books How Rocket Learned to Read and Rocket Writes a Story, is back in a leveled reader. Rocket is ready to find new words for his word tree with his teacher, the little yellow bird. He finds a leaf, a hat, and a star . . . but when he finds a red boot, he doesn’t want to let go. What will make Rocket drop it?
With predictable patterns, simple words, lots of repetition, and bright, colorful illustrations, young readers will love this new Rocket book, which they can read all by themselves!
With predictable patterns, simple words, lots of repetition, and bright, colorful illustrations, young readers will love this new Rocket book, which they can read all by themselves!
27 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
121 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Tad Hills
60 books123 followers“Whenever I picture myself [as a child],” says Tad Hills, “I am doing art. I spent a lot of time on my own making things, drawing, and painting.” Hills was not consciously trying to become an artist, rather his motives were innocent and pure. “I liked making things,” he says.
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s done some acting, made jewelry, makes fake teeth for stage productions, dabbled in interior renovation, and illustrated book jackets for adult trade books. But Hills’ break into children’s publishing coincided with his wife Lee’s new position as the art director for Simon and Schuster’s children’s book division. “Lee used to ask me to try illustrating some books she couldn’t find an illustrator for,” Hills says. When Lee moved to Random House to start her own imprint with long-time friend and associate, Ann Schwartz, she encouraged Hills to write his own picture books. “I started with four stories,” says Hills. His break out book, Duck and Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2006) was one of them.
The idea for Duck and Goose started with only a title—The Silly Goose, the Odd Duck and the Good Egg. As Hills developed the story, he realized his egg would have to be rather large to support Duck and Goose so they could hatch it. Hills also had to consider what would hatch out of such a large egg. A dinosaur? An ostrich? Additionally, Hills floated the title by his son’s kindergarten class and was rewarded with blank stares. Hills took the hint and changed his egg to a ball, and changed the title.
“For me, the writing is really difficult. I stare at a blank page for hours,” he says. “When Lee comes home and asks me about my day, I say it was okay. I wrote one sentence. . .But when I’m in the zone, I literally hear the dialogue between [Duck and Goose]. They were telling me what they wanted to say! That is the best feeling. That is when it’s not work. It’s fun!”
Hills paints with water-soluble oil paint on paper, using colored pencils for the last details. Although Hills’ Duck and Goose characters look simple enough, he drew hundreds of ducks and geese before finding a style with which he was comfortable. “The first ones [I drew] were older looking,” he says. “They looked like cigar-smoking tough guys.” Over a matter of months, Hills finally pared down Duck and Goose to their essential elements—circular heads, long rectangular legs, triangular feet, and door-shaped beaks. “When I apply the eyebrow,” he says, “I can express what Duck is feeling.”
As Hills’ two children grow, he finds himself drawn to how kids treat each other. “I didn’t tolerate meanness or injustice as a kid,” he says. In Duck, Duck, Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2007), Hills creates a friendship triangle by introducing a new duck named Thistle. Together Duck, Goose, and Thistle give Hills’ observations a voice and provide several conversation starters for parents and children.
Hills writes from his home in Brooklyn, New York. Some days he doesn’t write at all, but tries to stay receptive to what he’s experiencing. “Most of my ideas come to me when I’m not looking,” he says. “It’s hard to get yourself to a point where ideas are out there and you can grab them.”
from http://www.patriciamnewman.com/hills....
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s done some acting, made jewelry, makes fake teeth for stage productions, dabbled in interior renovation, and illustrated book jackets for adult trade books. But Hills’ break into children’s publishing coincided with his wife Lee’s new position as the art director for Simon and Schuster’s children’s book division. “Lee used to ask me to try illustrating some books she couldn’t find an illustrator for,” Hills says. When Lee moved to Random House to start her own imprint with long-time friend and associate, Ann Schwartz, she encouraged Hills to write his own picture books. “I started with four stories,” says Hills. His break out book, Duck and Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2006) was one of them.
The idea for Duck and Goose started with only a title—The Silly Goose, the Odd Duck and the Good Egg. As Hills developed the story, he realized his egg would have to be rather large to support Duck and Goose so they could hatch it. Hills also had to consider what would hatch out of such a large egg. A dinosaur? An ostrich? Additionally, Hills floated the title by his son’s kindergarten class and was rewarded with blank stares. Hills took the hint and changed his egg to a ball, and changed the title.
“For me, the writing is really difficult. I stare at a blank page for hours,” he says. “When Lee comes home and asks me about my day, I say it was okay. I wrote one sentence. . .But when I’m in the zone, I literally hear the dialogue between [Duck and Goose]. They were telling me what they wanted to say! That is the best feeling. That is when it’s not work. It’s fun!”
Hills paints with water-soluble oil paint on paper, using colored pencils for the last details. Although Hills’ Duck and Goose characters look simple enough, he drew hundreds of ducks and geese before finding a style with which he was comfortable. “The first ones [I drew] were older looking,” he says. “They looked like cigar-smoking tough guys.” Over a matter of months, Hills finally pared down Duck and Goose to their essential elements—circular heads, long rectangular legs, triangular feet, and door-shaped beaks. “When I apply the eyebrow,” he says, “I can express what Duck is feeling.”
As Hills’ two children grow, he finds himself drawn to how kids treat each other. “I didn’t tolerate meanness or injustice as a kid,” he says. In Duck, Duck, Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2007), Hills creates a friendship triangle by introducing a new duck named Thistle. Together Duck, Goose, and Thistle give Hills’ observations a voice and provide several conversation starters for parents and children.
Hills writes from his home in Brooklyn, New York. Some days he doesn’t write at all, but tries to stay receptive to what he’s experiencing. “Most of my ideas come to me when I’m not looking,” he says. “It’s hard to get yourself to a point where ideas are out there and you can grab them.”
from http://www.patriciamnewman.com/hills....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
February 11, 2019
Noe wanted a short piece before he went to bed. While geared for the new reader, it is a book with a very simple storyline. Looking to identify words, Rocket and his friend the little bird go in search of items for their word tree. Rocket locates a number of items, none of them words, and is forced to drop them. However, one such item is too good to drop... unless there's a good prize for doing so. Neo will tackle more books in the series (and something harder) soon, though he did like the pictures and the easy to identify words in this one.
August 7, 2021
cute little book
March 21, 2015
Predictable Book
Drop It, Rocket! (Step Into Reading, Step 1) Paperback – July 8, 2014
by Tad Hills (Author)
Themes:
Dogs
Birds
Reading
Rocket the pup, and yellow bird are adding words to their word tree. Rocket brings items to yellow bird. Yellow bird tells him to "drop it". Which Rocket does until he has a red boot. He doesn't want to drop. The friends try to get Rocket to drop the boot. He doesn't until Owl brings a book. Rocket finally drops the boot and finally boot is added along with all the other words to the tree.
This is a great book for children just starting out reading for grades PK-1.
Drop It, Rocket! (Step Into Reading, Step 1) Paperback – July 8, 2014
by Tad Hills (Author)
Themes:
Dogs
Birds
Reading
Rocket the pup, and yellow bird are adding words to their word tree. Rocket brings items to yellow bird. Yellow bird tells him to "drop it". Which Rocket does until he has a red boot. He doesn't want to drop. The friends try to get Rocket to drop the boot. He doesn't until Owl brings a book. Rocket finally drops the boot and finally boot is added along with all the other words to the tree.
This is a great book for children just starting out reading for grades PK-1.
Read
April 10, 2015This book is about a dog,Rocket, who has a friend yellow bird. Rocket and the yellow bird love words, and they have a word tree. Rocket finds the stuff on the tree and picks them up with his mouth, and his friend the yellow bird tells him to drop them. Rocket acquiesces until he picks up a red boot which he does not want to drop.Because he really likes the red boot. The bird finds other things to try to entice Rocket to drop the boot, but Rocket wants the boot. Finally owl finds a book, and Rocket drops the boot to read the book.
June 19, 2016
This sweet story follows puppy Rocket collecting things to drop at the base of the word tree. Short, repetitive phrases with adorably expressive illustrations make this perfect for kids just beginning to read.
May 14, 2016
Ellie read this book to us. She received it free from the Barnes and Noble summer reading program 2015
Jacob rated 2 stars..krb 5/14/16
Jacob rated 2 stars..krb 5/14/16
Read
May 10, 2021This book was so cute! it made me smile. The dog Rocket is learning the words to his favorite objects. After learning his words, he puts them on his word tree. With all his objects, Rocket is told to drop them so he can learn more words. When it comes to the boot, Rocket won't drop it. His friends try to get him to drop it, but nothing is working. They figure out a way for Rocket to drop the boot for something he loves even more and that is a book. I recommend this book to younger kids who are just starting out to read. This book has diversity with different animals being friends with each other.
July 1, 2017
On the first reading, I didn't like this book.
Why would a dog give up a perfect boot for a book? (Dogs don't read. Nooks likewise. What good to a nook is a hook cook book?) Then on the second reading I understood that this is a dog who can and likes to read. Silly, but at least the story makes sense, and my 3-yr-old pointed out that the word OWL is missing from the word tree at the back so I brought my pens and we added it.
Why would a dog give up a perfect boot for a book? (Dogs don't read. Nooks likewise. What good to a nook is a hook cook book?) Then on the second reading I understood that this is a dog who can and likes to read. Silly, but at least the story makes sense, and my 3-yr-old pointed out that the word OWL is missing from the word tree at the back so I brought my pens and we added it.
March 16, 2021
Drop it Rocket is a cute book which introduces words, friendship, and some conflict resolution to a new reader. Rocket goes about finding objects to help put words on the word tree. The illustrations are colorful and cute. They display emotion and can help the child to interrupt what is going on even if they are not independent readers.
June 7, 2022
I’m not a huge fan of the “Step into Reading” books, but this is a follow-up to some of the author’s longer, much cuter books about Rocket learning to read, so my toddler was excited about it. This will probably be perfectly fine when she’s reading to herself some day. For me reading to her, it’s a little boring.
June 1, 2025
I so love these Rocket books.
Rocket is a puppy - a puppy who likes to read. Rocket's friends are a little yellow bird and an owl.
This book is about Rocket finding new words for his word tree.
Rocket has found a boot. He loves the boot and does not want to let it go. Owl finds a solution.
Rocket is a puppy - a puppy who likes to read. Rocket's friends are a little yellow bird and an owl.
This book is about Rocket finding new words for his word tree.
Rocket has found a boot. He loves the boot and does not want to let it go. Owl finds a solution.
September 20, 2023
Rocket's friends keep telling him to drop things. But when he finds a red boot, he refuses to let go. I really enjoy the artwork style and how the ball and the bird reminds me of the Duck and Goose series :)
July 28, 2024
Hills Valleys #17
Rocket & Friends #4
Well it was better than book #3 - it had a vague semblance to a story although well really not much of one, but it was more than a list of words, but only marginally, lets face it drop it was oft repeated and that was about all she was about!
Rocket & Friends #4
Well it was better than book #3 - it had a vague semblance to a story although well really not much of one, but it was more than a list of words, but only marginally, lets face it drop it was oft repeated and that was about all she was about!
April 30, 2025
Read with Cecilia on 30 Apr 2025
Read with Joseph on 30 Apr 2025
Rocket finds things for the word tree, but he finds something that he really likes. Can his friends find something else that he would drop the boot for?
Read with Joseph on 30 Apr 2025
Rocket finds things for the word tree, but he finds something that he really likes. Can his friends find something else that he would drop the boot for?
May 24, 2017
Repetitive words and predictable text make for a good early reading book.
August 20, 2017
It is a amazing book for your children and your dog
I love it I totally recommend it I hope u like it
My son loves it and I hope ur daughter/son likes it
I love it I totally recommend it I hope u like it
My son loves it and I hope ur daughter/son likes it
August 14, 2018
Adorable! Great repetitive sentences. Love the illustrations and funny ending!
January 31, 2019
4.5 stars
December 7, 2019
Excuse concept
My daughter's the series from school
and asked for this. Excellent vocabulary builder great illustrations and fun concept for holding kids interest
My daughter's the series from school
and asked for this. Excellent vocabulary builder great illustrations and fun concept for holding kids interest
July 6, 2020
Read to Ms 2. Nice repetition and colourful illustrations.
December 1, 2020
A great early reader book that can help to build confidence, even the most reluctant of readers (such as my son).
February 19, 2021
Rocket has to drop various items that they are hanging on their word tree. But he doesn't want to drop the boot.
I don't really get it.
I don't really get it.
June 23, 2021
Good for 3 to 5 yr old
July 17, 2022
I love Rocket and so enjoyed this story. This would be fun to share with preschoolers.
August 23, 2022
Adorable and perfect for a book loving new reader 😍
December 19, 2022
Another good book in the series. Short , to the point. Stories for children. Great colourful pictures i n the books.
March 8, 2023
A fun read about a dog named Rocket. Introduces new sight words for early readers.
December 17, 2023
Another great book for children who are learning to read
March 2, 2024
Not as cute as the others I’ve read. Ended way too quickly and not much to it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews