All About Animals: Word by Word Graded Readers for Children, #10

By Philip Gibson

In this book, Lee, Pat and their friend Tom learn about all kinds of animals. They learn about animals we keep as pets. They learn about animals on farms, and they learn about animals that live in the wild. All the details in the book are revealed in language (words and structure) that has been rigorously selected to be as simple and understandable as possible for young readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Philip Gibson
• Release date: Dec 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393343851

Book preview

2. Dogs

New Words

best

night

learned

protect

size

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We can find dogs in most places in the world. Dogs can be many sizes and colors. Some dogs are very big. Others are very small. Some dogs have black hair. Others can be white or brown. Some dogs have hair of two or three colors, and others have no hair at all.

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Dogs do not live as long as people. They can live to be fifteen years old, but big dogs do not live as long as smaller dogs. Some dogs only live to be ten years old.

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Most dogs like to eat meat. They don’t like to eat vegetables very much. If you look at the teeth of a dog, you can see that those teeth are best for eating meat. They are not the same as our teeth. Our teeth are for eating many different kinds of food.

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Sometimes, we say that dogs are man’s best friend. This is because dogs like to be with people. They like to live in or near to our houses. They can play with us and they can work with us, too. Dogs that live with people are not wild animals.

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When we go to sleep at night, our dog can protect the house and the people in it. Dogs can hear very well. They can even hear some things that people cannot hear.

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Most pet dogs are not dangerous. It is all right for young children to play with them. Young children can play with pet dogs, but they should be careful to be kind to the dogs and not make them angry. If a dog gets, angry, it can be dangerous.

We can teach dogs many things. Dogs learn much more quickly than many other animals. They can even learn to understand some words, like: Come here!, Sit down! and Stay!

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Pat and her daddy are talking about dogs

Pat

Daddy, today at school we studied all about dogs.

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Daddy

Really? What did you learn? Can you tell me?

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Pat

All right. We learned about the different sizes of dogs.

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Daddy

Really?

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Pat

Yes. Dogs come in all sizes and in many colors. We also learned that dogs are man’s best friend.

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Daddy

Man’s best friend? Why is that?

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Pat

Because they can live with us, eat with us, play with us, work with us and they can protect us, too.

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Daddy

How can they protect us?

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Pat

They can look after our house when we go away, or at night when we are sleeping. Dogs can hear very well.

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Daddy

Really?

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Pat

Yes. Dogs can hear things that people cannot hear.

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Daddy

Oh, that’s interesting. Tell me some more things you learned.

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Pat

We learned that most kinds of dogs are not wild animals.

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Daddy

Is that right?

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Pat

Yes. If we are kind to dogs, they will not be dangerous.

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Daddy

That’s right. We should be kind to animals and we should be kind to people, too. Little girls should even be kind to their brothers.

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Pat

Kind to my brother? Oh, I don’t know about that.

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Questions

1. Why do we say that dogs are man’s best friend?

2. Are most kinds of dogs wild animals?

3. How can a dog protect people?

4. What can dogs do that people cannot?

5. Which size of dog doesn’t usually live so long?

6. Why should we be kind to dogs?

7. Does Pat want to be kind to her brother?

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3. Cats

New Words

hunt

eyes

thirty

kill

about (about = approximately)

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Like dogs, cats live in nearly all places in the world. Many people think that cats make the best pets. They think cats make better pets and are more interesting than dogs. Cats can be more interesting, but it is difficult to teach a cat things. They do not learn as quickly as dogs.

All cats have very good eyes and can even see at night. Cats’ eyes open for the first time when they are about eight to twelve days old. The eyes of all baby cats are blue.

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House cats like to go out at night so they can be with other cats, or so they can hunt for small animals. They can hunt and kill small animals like rats and snakes. If they kill an animal like a rat, they will sometimes take it into the house so people can see it.

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Cats also have very good teeth. At first, a very young cat has only twenty-six teeth. They get these when they are about two or three weeks old. Later, when they are about twenty-four weeks old, they will have thirty teeth.

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Cats live to be much older than dogs, Most cats live to be about thirty years old. If we have a cat, we do not need to wash it. Cats know how to stay clean. We do not need to wash cats, but we do need to brush their hair. We should try to brush their hair every day.

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Young cats are usually more friendly than older cats. They can be friendly with other animals like rabbits chickens and even dogs. But they are never friendly with birds or fish.

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Lee and Pat are talking about cats

Lee

I don’t want to have a cat. I like our dog. A cat would not be as friendly as our dog.

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Pat

I like our dog too, but it would be nice to have a cat. I would like to look after a really young cat – one that is only one or two weeks old.

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Lee

People don’t look after cats that are that young.

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Pat

Yes, they do. They give them milk to drink and fish to eat. Cats like to drink milk and eat fish.

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Lee

Very young cats don’t eat – they only drink. Their eyes aren’t open yet and they don’t have any teeth.

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Pat

Well, I would still like to have a cat. I think cats are so nice – much nicer than dogs.

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Lee

What about our dog, Kim. Maybe Kim would go after your cat and kill it.

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Pat

No, he wouldn’t. You’re just saying that! I could protect my cat. I could protect it until it’s old enough to go outside with the other cats.

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Lee

Well, I think you just like cats because you’re a girl. Girls usually like cats. Boys always think dogs are better.

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Pat

No, they don’t!

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Lee

Yes, they do!

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Pat

No, they don’t! Not all boys are the same as you. Some boys like the same things as girls.

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Questions

1. Where can we find cats?

2. When do cats like to go outside?

3. What do