A Message from the Author Back in 1965, when I was teaching reading to first-graders, I began writing books to help them become independent readers. These books used only a few words to tell enjoyable little stories. They gave the children practice in figuring out words on their own. I didn't realize that they would also become classics, beloved by children who cherished them, carried them around constantly, hugged them in bed, and re-read them until their families could recite them by heart and the books themselves collapsed in tatters. These children have grown up and want to share their favorite little storybooks with their own children. The first to be republished was Ann Likes Red, brought out by Purple House Press in the Fall of 2001. Now the others are being reprinted, starting with Ballerina Bess, a simple story written with only 25 words and beloved by many little girls who learned to read with it. I hope you will like it, too. The other titles in the series, to be reprinted later, are The Tent, The Rabbit, Big Beds and Little Beds, The Pond, Stop Pretending, Bill and the Fish, Brad and Neil, and my personal favorite, The Sandwich.