Zig, the rascally monkey, creates hilarious chaos when he teams up with Vick, the farm dog, in this advanced early reader. Ken and his sister, Jill, are helping their grandparents by feeding the goats and ducks, but their pet, Zig, and Vick have other ideas. Warm colors in the delightfully detailed illustrations encourage giggles to bubble up as youngsters follow the story. Easy to sound words and simple sentences create a comfortable and fun reading experience.

Cheerful colors in this spirited story build excitement on the pages when Tad’s dog leads a frantic chase to retrieve a cleaning rag and tracks mud in a van. Tad teaches responsibility to the readers when he offers to help the man clean his car and learns that training pets to obey is important to avoid similar situations. Children enjoy trying longer sentences that incorporate one-syllable words and more dialogue, and this delightful book opens the discussion for parents to teach how to handle conflict in a positive way.

Lush woodland scenes with beautiful birds, colorful wildlife, and sparkling blue water animate this advanced early reader. Rick and Jan return for a new adventure in the mountains. When they need to decide whether to ride down a big hill and over a big bump, children learn that it’s okay to do something different from their friends. Rick chooses one route and Jan another. Splashing their bikes through a large mud puddle is fun, but the responsible children stop to clean their bikes before going swimming and fishing in the cool mountain water. After Jan catches a large, shiny fish, and the siblings pick fresh red apples and brown nuts, they take the feast home for supper.