Book Series · 105 Books

I Can Read Books

In order from Sister for Sale to Batgirl.

The I Can Read series is a set of 105 picture books by Syd Hoff, published between 1958 and 2018. Written for ages 3–9, most books run about 50 pages.

Where the story begins

First Book in the Series

Sale price

$474

Book #1 · Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2002

Sister for Sale

A boy seeks divine help to sell his sister but finds a new path instead.

32 pages· 298 words· Est. 3 min read-aloud

$4.99Save 5%

Paperback

In reading order

I Can Read Series

105 books · Published 1958–2018

Year	#	Title	Author	Illustrator	Pages
2002	1	Sister for Sale			32
1989	2	Zack's Alligator	Shirley Mozelle	James Watts	64
1982	3	It's Thanksgiving!	Jack Prelutsky	Marylin Hafner	48
1958		Grizzwold	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	64
1958		No Fighting, No Biting!	Else Holmelund Minarik	Maurice Sendak	64
1959		Julius	Sydney Hoff		64
1960		Cat and Dog	Else Holmelund Minarik	Fritz Siebel	40
1960		Oliver	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	64
1960		Who Will Be My Friends?	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	32
1961		Chester	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	64
1962		Stanley	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	64
1963		Greg's Microscope	Millicent E Selsam	Arnold Lobel	64
1965		Here Comes the Strikeout	Leonard Kessler	Leonard Kessler	64
1965		The Case of the Cat's Meow	Crosby Bonsall	Crosby Bonsall	64
1967		Magic Secrets	Gerald Ames, Rose Wyler	Arthur Dorros	64
1969		Small Pig	Arnold Lobel	Arnold Lobel	64
1970		The Horse in Harry's Room	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	32
1971		The Case of the Scaredy Cats	Crosby Bonsall	Crosby Bonsall	64
1971		Hill of Fire	Thomas P. Lewis	Joan Sandin	63
1972		The Day I Had to Play with My Sister	Crosby Bonsall	Crosby Bonsall	32
1973		Mine's the Best	Crosby Bonsall	Crosby Bonsall	32
1974		Dinosaur Time	Peggy Parish	Arnold Lobel	32
1974		And I Mean It, Stanley	Crosby Bonsall	Crosby Bonsall	32
1975		Dolphin	Robert A Morris	Mamoru Funai	64
1975		Owl at Home	Arnold Lobel		64
1976		Arthur's Pen Pal	Lillian Hoban	Lillian Hoban	64
1976		The Littlest Leaguer	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	48
1978		The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches	Alice Low	Jane Manning	48
1978		Wagon Wheels	Barbara Brenner	Don Bolognese	64
1978		Grasshopper on the Road	Arnold Lobel	Arnold Lobel	64
1979		Daniel's Duck	Clyde Robert Bulla	Joan Sandin	64
1980		Who's Afraid of the Dark?	Crosby Bonsall	Crosby Bonsall	32
1980		The Case of the Double Cross	Crosby Bonsall	Crosby Bonsall	64
1981		No More Monsters for Me!	Peggy Parish	Marc Simont	64
1981		The Big Balloon Race	Eleanor Coerr	Carolyn Croll	64
1981		Thump and Plunk	Janice May Udry	Geoffrey Hayes	32
1981		It's Christmas!	Jack Prelutsky	Marylin Hafner	48
1981		The Long Way to a New Land	Joan Sandin	Joan Sandin	64
1981		Uncle Elephant	Arnold Lobel	Arnold Lobel	64
1982		There Is a Carrot in My Ear and Other Noodle Tales	Alvin Schwartz	Karen Ann Weinhaus	64
1983		It's Valentine's Day	Jack Prelutsky	Marylin Hafner	48
1984		It's Snowing! It's Snowing!	Jack Prelutsky	Yossi Abolafia	48
1984		Surprises	Lee Bennett Hopkins	Megan Lloyd	64
1986		The Josefina Story Quilt	Eleanor Coerr	Bruce Degen	64
1987		Barney's Horse	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	32
1988		The Grandma Mix-Up	Emily Arnold Mccully	Emily Arnold Mccully	64
1988		The Smallest Cow in the World	Katherine Paterson	Jane Clark Brown	64
1988		Clara and the Bookwagon	Nancy Smiler Levinson		64
1988		Mrs. Brice's Mice	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	32
1989		I Saw You in the Bathtub	Alvin Schwartz	Syd Hoff	64
1989		The Long Way Westward	Joan Sandin	Joan Sandin	64
1990		Buzby	Julia Hoban	John Himmelman	64
1991		Ghosts!	Alvin Schwartz, Victoria Chess		64
1992		Snowshoe Thompson	Nancy Smiler Levinson	Joan Sandin	64
1993		Addie's Bad Day	Joan Robins	Sue Truesdell	32
1993		The Adventures of Snail at School	John Stadler	John Stadler	64
1993		The Outside Dog	Charlotte Pomerantz	Jennifer Plecas	64
1993		Captain Cat	Syd Hoff	Syd Hoff	48
1994		Weather	Lee Bennett Hopkins	Melanie Hall	64
1995		Dust for Dinner	Ann Turner	Robert Barrett	64
1995		Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur	Lillian Hoban	Lillian Hoban	48
1996		What Do You Hear When Cows Sing?	Marco Maestro	Giulio Maestro	48
1996		A Bear for Miguel	Elaine Marie Alphin	Joan Sandin	64
1996		The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat	Nurit Karlin	Nurit Karlin	32
1997		Finding Providence	Avi	James Watling	48
1997		First Flight	George Shea	Don Bolognese	48
1997		Oh, Cats!	Nola Buck	Nadine Bernard Westcott	32
1997		I See, You Saw	Nurit Karlin	Nurit Karlin	32
1997		Marvin's Best Christmas Present Ever	Katherine Paterson	Jane Clark Brown	48
1998		How Many Fish?	S.D. Schindler, Caron Lee Cohen		25
1998		The 18 Penny Goose		Ellen Beier	64
1998		The Animal Rescue Club	John Himmelman	John Himmelman	48
1999		Splish, Splash!	Sarah Weeks	Ashley Wolff	32
1999		The Bug in Teacher's Coffee	Kalli Dakos	Mike Reed	48
2000		Drip, Drop	Sarah Weeks	Jane Manning	32
2001		Prairie School	Avi		47
2001		Captain and Matey Set Sail	Daniel Laurence	Claudio Munoz	64
2002		Chicken Said, "Cluck!"	Judyann Ackerman Grant	Sue Truesdell	32
2002		Pedro's Burro	Alyssa Satin Capucilli	Pau Estrada	32
2002		This Book Is Haunted	Joanne Rocklin, JoAnn Adinolfi		48
2002		My Cowboy Boots	Crystal Bowman	Meredith Johnson	32
2002		Mildred and Sam	Sharleen Collicott	Sharleen Collicott	48
		Go Away, Dog	Joan L. Nodset	Paul Meisel	32
2003		Dinosaur Hunter	Elaine Marie Alphin	Don Bolognese	48
2004		Space Cat	Doug Cushman	Doug Cushman	32
2004		Loose Tooth	Lola M. Schaefer	Sylvie Wickstrom	32
2004		Whose Hat Is It?	Valeri Gorbachev	Valeri Gorbachev	32
2004		I Am the Turkey	Michele Sobel Spirn	Joy Allen	48
2006		Baa-Choo!	Sarah Weeks	Jane Manning	32
2006		The Day the Dinosaurs Died	Charlotte Lewis Brown	Phil Wilson	48
2006		After the Dinosaurs	Charlotte Lewis Brown	Phil Wilson	32
2006		Pish and Posh Wish for Fairy Wings	Gerald Kruglik, Barbara Bottner	Barbara Bottner	48
2007		Beyond the Dinosaurs	Charlotte Lewis Brown	Phil Wilson	32
2007		Pip Squeak	Sarah Weeks	Jane Manning	32
2007		Peanut and Pearl's Picnic Adventure	Rebecca Dotlich		32
2008		Goose and Duck	Jean Craighead George	Priscilla Lamont	48
2008		How to Drive Your Sister Crazy		Laura Rankin	48
2008		Dirt on My Shirt	Jeff Foxworthy	Steve Bjorkman	32
2009		Tick Tock Clock	Margery Cuyler	Robert Neubecker	32
2009		Silly Street	Jeff Foxworthy	Steve Bjorkman	32
2010		Aboard the Dawn Treader	Jennifer Frantz		32
2010		Scat, Cat!	Alyssa Satin Capucilli	Paul Meisel	32
2011		Dizzy Dinosaurs	Lee Bennett Hopkins	Barry Gott	48
2011		Never Kick a Ghost	Judy Sierra	Pascale Constantin	32
2018		Batgirl	Liz Marsham	Lee Ferguson	32

Companion series

I Can Read Hockey Stories Series

5 books · Published 2018

Series

Sale price

$474

Hayley's Journey

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

A determined athlete faces the ultimate challenge on Olympic ice. Can she make history again?

Series

Sale price

$574

Hockey at Home

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

Snow buries their rink, but can they play hockey indoors?

Series

Sale price

$474

The Best First Game

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

A rookie's NHL debut turns legendary with a record-breaking performance.

Series

Sale price

$570

The Golden Goal

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

Overtime tension: Canada vs. USA for Olympic gold. Who scores the winning goal?

Series

Sale price

$474

The Masked Man

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

A goalie defies tradition to create the first mask, changing hockey forever.

Companion series

I Can Read History Series

11 books · Published 2017–2020

Series

Sale price

$474

John F. Kennedy the Brave

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2017

Discover how a young dreamer became a world-changing leader.

Series

Sale price

$574

Long, Tall Lincoln

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2017

The life of Abraham Lincoln, from his humble beginnings to his presidency and the Civil War.

Series

Sale price

$574

George Washington: The First President

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2017

Discover how a war hero became America's first president and a wise leader.

Martin Luther King Jr.: A Peaceful Leader

Series

Sale price

$574

Martin Luther King Jr.: A Peaceful Leader

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

Discover how peaceful protest changed history.

Series

Sale price

$474

Alexander Hamilton

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

Discover the dramatic rise and fall of a founding father with dangerous enemies.

Series

Sale price

$574

Ben Franklin Thinks Big

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

Discover how Ben Franklin's inventions and ideas shaped a nation.

Series

Sale price

$1597

Harriet Tubman

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2018

Discover Harriet Tubman's daring escapes and secret missions during the Civil War.

Series

Sale price

$474

Helen Keller

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2019

A young girl overcomes incredible obstacles to learn and grow.

Series

Sale price

$1597

Thomas Edison

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2019

Discover how Edison lit the world and changed history.

Series

Sale price

$574

Jane Goodall: A Champion of Chimpanzees

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2020

Discover how one woman's rainforest journey changed our view of chimpanzees forever.

Series

Sale price

$574

Albert Einstein

Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2020

Discover how Einstein's questions changed the world.

Good to know

Common Questions

How many books are in the I Can Read series?

There are 105 books in the I Can Read series. It began with Sister for Sale in 2002, and the newest book, Batgirl, was published in 2018.

What order should you read the I Can Read books in?

Start with Sister for Sale and follow the series order — the books above are numbered #1 through #105.

What ages are the I Can Read books best for?

The series is best for ages 3–9, based on the age ranges of the individual books.

The people

The Creatives Behind the Books

The people who bring I Can Read to life.

Keep exploring

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I Can Read Books

First Book in the Series

I Can Read Series

I Can Read Hockey Stories Series

I Can Read History Series

Common Questions

How many books are in the I Can Read series?

What order should you read the I Can Read books in?

What ages are the I Can Read books best for?

The Creatives Behind the Books

Shirley Mozelle

James Watts

Jack Prelutsky

Marylin Hafner

Syd Hoff

Else Holmelund Minarik

Maurice Sendak

Sydney Hoff

Fritz Siebel

Millicent E Selsam

Arnold Lobel

Leonard Kessler

Crosby Bonsall

Gerald Ames

Rose Wyler

Arthur Dorros

Thomas P. Lewis

Joan Sandin

Peggy Parish

Robert A Morris

Mamoru Funai

Lillian Hoban

Alice Low

Jane Manning

Barbara Brenner

Don Bolognese

Clyde Robert Bulla

Marc Simont

Eleanor Coerr

Carolyn Croll

Janice May Udry

Geoffrey Hayes

Alvin Schwartz

Karen Ann Weinhaus

Yossi Abolafia

Lee Bennett Hopkins

Megan Lloyd

Bruce Degen

Emily Arnold Mccully

Katherine Paterson

Jane Clark Brown

Nancy Smiler Levinson

Julia Hoban

John Himmelman

Victoria Chess

Joan Robins

Sue Truesdell

John Stadler

Charlotte Pomerantz

Jennifer Plecas

Melanie Hall

Ann Turner

Robert Barrett

Marco Maestro

Giulio Maestro

Elaine Marie Alphin

Nurit Karlin

Avi

James Watling

George Shea

Nola Buck

Nadine Bernard Westcott

S.D. Schindler

Caron Lee Cohen

Ellen Beier

Sarah Weeks

Ashley Wolff

Kalli Dakos

Mike Reed

Daniel Laurence