Children join Ben and Nell on their adventures to visit their grandparents, a trip which many children have taken. Bell, their flamboyant and arrogant pet monkey, intrigues young readers when he misbehaves on the plane and with the ponies on the farm. The family’s adventures are built on the phonic sounds of similar words, slightly longer sentences, and hilarious dialogue, creating an enjoyable book for the advanced early reader.

Magic tricks fascinate children. The cat, the dog, the rat, and their friend, the hen, return to watch the fox perform magic tricks in this amusing story. Brimming with similar sounding one and two-syllable words, this advanced early reader is the perfect book to begin mastering longer sentences and interesting dialogue. As the fox amazes the friends with his tricks on the brightly illustrated pages, early readers are excited to learn new words and turn the pages to read what happens next.

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.

Bold colors invite children to join in a game of ball with Zag and Tom in this fun book. One-syllable words help children master beginning and ending word sounds as they build their reading vocabulary. Slightly longer sentences and lively dialogue introduce the concept that actions have consequences when the boys learn that playing ball is definitely an outside game.