On a bright sunny day, Pat helps her father clean his van and Nat takes his cat out for a ride in his red cart. But things change quickly when the cat grabs Pat’s cleaning rag and runs. Giggles bubble up as children read about the chase to retrieve the rag. When Pat manages to grab her rag, she shames the cat. The vibrant and detailed illustrations clearly communicate the emotions and reactions of the characters. The advanced reader stimulates discussion points on responsibility, anger, and understanding that the cat wasn’t misbehaving but playing a game with the rag.

A pleasant family fishing trip at the lake incorporates words with basic phonic sounds and introduces a word that begins with the rarely seen letter Q. Ken and his sister, Jen, both catch large redfish and Dad happily scoops them up with a large net. Similar phonic word sounds promote word recognition, and slightly longer sentences build reading skills in the advanced reader.

An adventure with a big rig engages the imaginations of new readers when Jill and Rick get a big surprise. The friendly man driving the big rig offers them to come inside the rig, as their father watches. Who hasn’t wanted to be in a big rig as it does its work? Perched high in the cab with the man, they get to see how he picks up large loads of dirt with the big scoop and drops them into a dump truck. This advanced easy reader uses repetitive phonic sounds and dialogue to enrich a child’s vocabulary and reading experience.

Mom gives Dot and Bob jobs to do while she is shopping for their family in this true-to-life advanced early reader. The brother and sister decide to play first and then do their jobs, with Bob banging on the pot and Dot hopping around the kitchen with a mop. Before long, they are hot and tired and still have work to do, which leads to a valuable life lesson. Children are engaged in an entertaining story depicted through crisp illustrations and a pleasurable reading experience.