Friends enjoy an exciting game of baseball and Jan proves she can hit a ball well. The simple words with similar sounds help children recognize beginning and ending sounds. Rich colors illuminate the outdoor scenes and encourage new readers to use the picture and context clues to read the story.

In this heartfelt story, Jill and Nick’s dog, Sig, goes to the vet after an encounter with an annoyed goat. It’s a good learning experience for the children and Sig recovers, making them happy. Softly colored illustrations deliver the story in short sentences and words that are easy for children to master. This sweet story has good discussion points about pet injuries and protection.

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.

Vibrant illustrations cover the pages of this family-friendly early reader, and an expressive frog leaps across the pages providing context clues. The family rides their bikes to the dock, and then encounter an exciting scene of exceptional tall fish. Words and sentences that build on previous stories in the motivational literacy program inspire young readers to success.