This timeless story about sports, winners, and losers incorporates one-syllable words with similar sounds and introduces words that begin with the letter z. The story is packed with excellent situations for discussing feelings when one loses or wins, situations most children have experienced. Using primary colors to illustrate the soccer game, coupled with the facial reactions of the team, it’s easy to see which team won and which one lost.

A classic game of cops and robbers keeps Bob, Dot, and Dan on the run as this busy story unfolds. Detailed, colorful pictures illustrate the children and their neighborhood as they enjoy their game. A bushy-tailed squirrel adds wonderful context clues to accompany the narrative and dialogue in a fun-filled reading experience.

When a cat grabs the rag Pat uses to help her father clean the van and runs away with it, Pat gets very upset. Pat and Nat chase the cat across the vibrant pages and introduce new words that sound alike in this early reader. Context clues guide young readers to experience the story as they learn to correlate sounds with letters or groups of letters and begin to read.

A family-fun early reader from Sommer’s irresistible motivational phonics program is always welcomed by children and parents. This cheerful book incorporates a fun-filled family outing complete with a picnic, swimming, and playing water tag with simple words and short sentences that promote literacy success.