This resource gives classroom teachers and reading specialists 80 stimulating illustrated two-page animal stories and 80 illustrated two-page activity sheets for building students' vocabulary, reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. The stories and activities are organized into four equal sections focusing on reading levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 and accompanied by "New Vocabulary" to introduce the pronunciation and meaning of new words and "Questions to Ask" to spark students' curiosity and recall prior knowledge. Each section concludes with ten reproducible enrichment activities to further challenge students' thinking skills followed by complete answer keys to all activities in that section.

Stanton L. Barnes received his B.S. in Education from Otterbein College in Ohio and his M.Ed. from Western Washington University. He has been teaching elementary students in the state of Washington for the past 30 years. He has specialized in teaching reading skills at all elementary levels, and is well known for emphasizing scientific thinking and reasoning skills with students.