Paired Fiction and Nonfiction for Beginning Readers

Help young readers build literacy skills with paired nonfiction and fiction series!

Our Pull Ahead Readers books have simple text patterns that support emergent readers as they build their recognition of high-frequency sight words while strong image-text matches help them predict unfamiliar words. Book themes include curricular science and social-emotional learning topics. Teaching guides and other literacy tools accompany each title. All books are available in library bound, paperback, and digital formats. Read on to learn more about each series, and how the titles pair with each other!

Character Builders

Explore the building blocks of character with beginning readers. These books give readers actionable ideas for living out positive traits, including caring, honesty, positivity, and responsibility.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
A Beautiful Day	B	I Am Positive	B
Caring for Sister	B	I Am Caring	A
Ready for Bed	D	I Am Responsible	C
Time to Clean	C	I Am Honest	D

Helpful Habits

Follow along as the children in each book model good habits and social-emotional skills.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
Dev Makes a Card	B	Leading Others	A
Help, Please!	C	Asking for Help	C
Isaac’s Tree	D	Being Mindful	D
Jordan Is Ready	C	Planning Ahead	B
Lola and Lupe’s House	C	Working with Others	C
Paco Tries	B	Setting Goals	C

Let’s Look at Animal Habitats

Explore all the places that animals can live–the ocean, polar regions, rain forests, and more.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
The Fish	A	I See the Ocean	A
A Good Nut	B	Little Woodland Animals	B
The Little Penguin	C	Polar Animals	D
My Baby Elephant	A	Big Grassland Animals	A
No Bugs Here	C	Animals in the Hot Desert	C
Up the Tree	D	Under the Rain Forest Canopy	D

Let’s Look at Weather

Discover what happens during different types of weather events. Nonfiction books teach emergent readers about rain, snow, and more using photos and simple vocabulary. Illustrated fiction books pair with each nonfiction title to further develop reading skills.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
Duck Sees the Rain	A	Look at the Rain	A
Hiding from Lightning	C	When Lightning Strikes	C
Into the Clouds	C	So Many Clouds	B
Snow Day	B	The Snow Is Fun	A
Turtles in the Sun	B	The Sun Shines Everywhere	B
A Windy Day	D	When the Wind Blows	C

My Community

Celebrate the varied communities that make up our country – from rural areas to bustling cities.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
Cam’s Walk	C	Suburban Places	C
Grandpa’s Photos	D	Communities Then and Now	C
I Look Up	A	Rural Places	A
Wait, Ride, Walk	C	Urban Places	B

Plant Life Cycles

Watch plants develop from seed to sprout to flower, fruit, or vegetable.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
Baking Apples	A	Let’s Look at Apple Trees	A
Bean Soup	B	Let’s Look at Beans	B
Dandelions to Eat	D	Let’s Look at Dandelions	D
Flowers in the Sun	C	Let’s Look at Sunflowers	C
Pumpkin Seeds	C	Let’s Look at Pumpkins	D
Sharing Berries	D	Let’s Look at Strawberries	D

Science All Around Me

Inspire young scientists with these introductions to concepts such as food chains, forces and motion, life cycles, states of matter, and more.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
Emily’s Pumpkin	A	Apple Seeds	B
Hungry Little Bear	C	What Eats What	D
In the Garden	C	Nature Walk	C
Making Tea	D	Changing Water	C
Mia Can See Patterns	A	Nature Has Spots	A
Milo and the Ball	C	Pull and Push	B

Seasons All Around Me

What do you love about the seasons? With these simple books, emergent readers will become careful observers of seasonal changes.

Fiction	GRL	Nonfiction	GRL
The Egg	D	Spring Flowers	C
Fall Colors	C	Fall Leaves	C
Maya Likes the Beach	A	We Like the Summer	A
Snow Clothes	B	Winter Fun	B