This friendship story is perfect for young readers who are all too familiar with accidents when they are playing. Warned by the other children not to run in the mud to avoid the sharp rocks, Ed ignores them and wades into the mud puddle. When he kicks the ball, he loses his balance and falls on a rock. Crisp illustrations with bright primary colors fill the pages of this lively early reader and offer a good opportunity for parents to discuss listening to others to stay safe.

In this lifelike shopping story, the rich colors and detailed illustrations depict Tim and Kim’s shopping trip to find Kim a new hat. This charming book introduces words with phonic similarities and sentences that use sound repetition, creatively forming a comfortable reading experience for the early reader.

Ben builds a paper airplane, starting a series of unexpected events in this action story that remind children of things they’ve experienced. The expressive faces of the farm animals on every page add good context clues that assist children in understanding the story. Similar phonic sounds support the early reader’s word recognition to build their reading skills.

Children are fascinated with large vehicles, and in this charming sibling story, Jill and Rick stop with their father to watch a big rig digging and get a big surprise. Big Jim offers to let them sit up high in the cab with him. Bold colors and nice detail illustrate this early reader adventure story. It’s a good choice for repetitive phonic sounds that enrich a child’s vocabulary and inspire a love of reading.