Each of these 62 short, one-page exercises is written in a clear style using easily understood words drawn from pupils’ oral vocabulary. The stories, based on a variety of familiar situations, have humorous aspects that will add to the children’s reading enjoyment and make them eager to answer the 10 Yes–No questions following each story. These questions are designed to evaluate students’ reading progress and thinking skills. Perforated pages enable the children to take the lessons home to share their reading successes with their families.


Teachers will find the Questions to Encourage Thinking section in the Teachers Manual a valuable aid in stimulating discussion. Eight questions for each story encourage such thinking skills as inference, drawing conclusions, making comparisons, recognizing cause and effect, understanding emotional reactions, and criticizing aspects of the story. The questions also help children learn about synonyms, antonyms, or multiple meanings of selected words from the story.