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.

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.

Ken and his sister, Jen, catch redfish on a happy family fishing trip to the lake. Pastel colors create a summer day mood for this friendly story. Similar beginning and ending word sounds teach word recognition, and slightly longer sentences enhance children’s reading skills.

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.