Houndsley and Catina

Author: James Howe
Lexile measure: 580
Language:  Acceptable, no swear words, no potty language.
Violence: none
Big Kid Mature Topics:  fame, participating in/losing a contest
Illustrations: Full color paintings, every page.
Plot: mildly complex.  The book has 40 pages, 3 chapters.

Like Frog and Toad, but a little more complicated.  Unfortunately, one of the great things about Frog and Toad is what is done with such simple language.  DD kind of thought it was ok, but not great.  It has a decent plot, but it sometimes seems stiff.  Someone at the National Endowment for the Humanities thought this was a classic, though.  And I guess it is better than Rainbow Magic Fairies, Junie B Jones, and some of the other stuff I've seen in the Easy Reader section.  If your child likes it, the bonus is, it is a series.  But for us, we're waiting for Mr. Popper's Penguins.