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 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
Author
I write nonfiction and historical fiction, picture books, and Golden Books. I speak at school, libraries, and conferences. I also love to garden and offer manuscript critiques. (Deborahhopkinson@yahoo.com) NEW books in 2023 include RACE AGAINST DEATH: The Greatest POW Rescue of WWII, which has three starred reviews; CINDERELLA AND A MOUSE CALLED FRED, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky, which has a star from Kirkus; TRIM SETS SAIL and TRIM HELPS OUT, Junior Library Guild selections; THE PLOT to Kill a QUEEN and SMALL PLACES, CLOSE to HOME, a picture book inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I live in Oregon.
