An action-packed T-ball game leads Sam and his friends on a rollicking chase to catch a cute cat that runs away with Sam’s baseball cap. In this advanced early reader, children learn to recognize familiar words such as umpire on the brightly illustrated pages. The chase offers opportunities for parents to discuss positive ways to deal with an upset friend and to explain that pets usually aren’t misbehaving but think it’s a fun game when they grab something and run.

The richly colored illustrations welcome children on a trip to the hat store with Jill and Nick. An advanced early reader that introduces words with phonic similarities and comfortably builds child’s reading skills. Nick helps Jill choose a blue hat with flowers even though he thinks hats are silly for men. When the man in the shop demonstrates how a cap could greatly improve Nick’s baseball game, Jill and Nick both buy red baseball caps.

Jill and Nick with their new red baseball caps return. When the two friends arrive for ball practice, their friends laugh at them for wearing hats. But when Jill and Nick surprise the team by catching balls with their caps, the whole team rushes to get one. Walking back to the ball field, the team sees an oak tree loaded with acorns, and they discover their new caps are perfect for holding acorns. This advanced early reader offers excellent opportunities for parents to discuss how learning new things can be beneficial.

Lush woodland scenes with beautiful birds, colorful wildlife, and sparkling blue water animate this advanced early reader. Rick and Jan return for a new adventure in the mountains. When they need to decide whether to ride down a big hill and over a big bump, children learn that it’s okay to do something different from their friends. Rick chooses one route and Jan another. Splashing their bikes through a large mud puddle is fun, but the responsible children stop to clean their bikes before going swimming and fishing in the cool mountain water. After Jan catches a large, shiny fish, and the siblings pick fresh red apples and brown nuts, they take the feast home for supper.