This is the first of two readers in Horizon's 3rd grade phonics program.

The first portion of the Horizons 3 program reviews all the sound-letter combinations in the context of reading practice. The second section deals with word usage, including rhyming word, antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, homographs, and contractions. It also covers the different patterns for building words, roots, prefixes, and suffixes. The last section covers past tense, compound words, commonly confused words, and words borrowed from other languages.

This first reader contains lessons 1-80. Stories include The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Pink River Dolphin, John Newton, Jackie Robinson, Mother Teresa, The Happy Prince, The Emperor's New Clothes, Soujourner Truth, The Story of Doctor Doolittle, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

The stories are about two full pages of copy, divided into spaced paragraphs, preparing emerging readers for the next step of beginning chapter books.