When was the last time the MIGHTY tiger roamed freely under the open sky? What is the SLEEK leopard from sunny India doing in FREEZING England? How will the HUGE rhinoceros stay in a SMALL, cramped cage? And why, oh why, is the ENORMOUS elephant eating tiny BUNS in the zoo? Leopards and cheetahs, bears and antelopes, monkeys and deer...it's the same SORRY tale. These animals from India have been CAGED for the amusement of people - to be prodded and poked and teased! It's upsetting. It's shocking. It's breaking our hearts. What are we to DO? Well, we have written letters - a whole SHEAF of them - to the owners of menageries and the zoo, asking them to STOP this cruelty NOW. To give the animals the food, the care and the freedom they deserve. But ARE they reading them? Are YOU?

For ten years and in two classic books, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell have described how to analyze the characteristics of texts and select just-right books to use for guided reading instruction. Now, for the first time, all of their thinking and research has been updated and brought together into Leveled Books, K-8 to form the ultimate guide to choosing and using books from kindergarten through middle school. Fountas and Pinnell take you through every aspect of leveled books, describing how to select and use them for different purposes in your literacy program and offering prototype descriptions of fiction and nonfiction books at each level. They share advice on: the role of leveled books in reading instruction, analyzing the characteristics of fiction and nonfiction texts, using benchmark books to assess instructional levels for guided reading, selecting books for both guided and independent reading, organizing high-quality classroom libraries, acquiring books and writing proposals to fund classroom-library purchases, creating a school book room. In addition, Fountas and Pinnell explain the leveling process in detail so that you can tentatively level any appropriate book that you want to use in your instruction. Best of all, Leveled Books, K-8 is one half of a new duo of resources that will change how you look at leveled books. Its companion-www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com-is a searchable and frequently updated website that includes more than 18,000 titles. With Leveled Books, K-8 you'll know how and why to choose books for your readers, and with www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com, you'll have the ideal tool at your fingertips for finding appropriate books for guided reading. Book jacket.