Every teacher knows that children will read when they care about the subject. It is especially challenging to find subject matter that appeals to boys as well as girls. We've chosen to focus our stories on animals - true stories about real animals - because of their universal appeal. We've found that these stories touch children's hearts across every socio-economic group (and we've read to children in the poorest inner city schools, in bilingual classrooms, and in suburban private and public schools across the nation). These true stories about real animals engage children's caring as well as their minds.