Besides telling a good story, I found Maria K.'s book soft, delightful and a unique way of teaching children to increase their vocabularies. She has lists of words used in the chapters with definitions at the end of each chapter. Some children's books do this also, but her words are actually twenty five cent words as compared to the penny words used in most children's books. If your child loves people and pets (and enjoys reading about them), try "Stories for Anastasia" and extend their vocabularies toward a college level in the company of some very nice dogs and a typical cat.