Jill and Nick with their new red baseball caps return. When the two friends arrive for ball practice, their friends laugh at them for wearing hats. But when Jill and Nick surprise the team by catching balls with their caps, the whole team rushes to get one. Walking back to the ball field, the team sees an oak tree loaded with acorns, and they discover their new caps are perfect for holding acorns. This advanced early reader offers excellent opportunities for parents to discuss how learning new things can be beneficial.

Zig, Ken, Jill, and Zig their pet monkey, are off for a fabulous family mountain hike. As usual, Zig, creates mayhem trying to make friends with a group of skunks and tries to jump on the back of a large deer for a ride, but he redeems himself when he saves Jill from a big bug. The exceptionally well-illustrated facial expressions of these fanciful characters and other wildlife in this adventurous tale provides an excellent opportunity for parents to discuss the joy of family time as their early readers master more advanced reading skills.

Bob and Dot return and ride their bikes at the boat dock with their parents. Detailed, rich illustrations depict Bob and Dot using safety practices such as life jackets and locks for their bikes, and having fun learning about fish, feeding seagulls, and taking an exciting speedboat ride. Similar sounding words and longer sentences that build on previous stories in the Sommer advanced series create a fun-filled learning experience for the early reader and support the importance of exercise for a healthy lifestyle.

The richly colored illustrations welcome children on a trip to the hat store with Jill and Nick. An advanced early reader that introduces words with phonic similarities and comfortably builds child’s reading skills. Nick helps Jill choose a blue hat with flowers even though he thinks hats are silly for men. When the man in the shop demonstrates how a cap could greatly improve Nick’s baseball game, Jill and Nick both buy red baseball caps.