Billy and the Rebel — Deborah Hopkinson

This story is based on the life of Billy Bayly, a real boy who lived in Pennsylvania during the Civil War and had an unlikely friendship with a Southern soldier.

Ready-to-Read books offer children a world of possibilities at four different reading levels:

Pre-Level 1 Recognizing Words

• Word repetition
• Familiar words and phrases
• Simple sentences

Level 1 Starting to Read

• Simple stories
• Increased vocabulary
• Longer sentences

Level 2 Reading Independently

• More-complex stories
• Varied sentence structure
• Paragraphs and short chapters

Level 3 Reading Proficiently

• Rich vocabulary
• More-challenging stories
• Longer chapters