Give a child a pot and a spoon and music beckons. Mom gave Dot a mop to clean the floor and Bob a pot to wash, but they discover there is a lot of banging and hopping to do before they settle to do the jobs. A lifelike, fun story engages early readers with cheerful illustrations and easy-to-master beginning and ending word sounds that encourage a love of reading.

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.

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.

Everyone knows cats and chickens don’t get along, so when the cat runs after Ben and Jen’s red hen, she hurries to hide in her chicken coop. Ben comes to the rescue and removes the cat from the chicken coop while Jen calms the hen. The lively story unfolds in this easy reader with easy-to-pronounce words to build word recognition. It offers the opportunity to demonstrate how responsible the two children were.