The Fire Cat - Esther Averill
This is the story of Pickles, a big brute of a spotted yellow cat, and how he finds a sense of purpose. I like that the story is told in three parts so that an emergent reader can a) take breaks when needed and b) feel a great sense of accomplishment upon finishing each part. The vocabulary is mostly basic, but with some tougher/more challenging words thrown in for good measure.

The Fire Cat is an excellent early reader with an honest to goodness storyline and a very good one at that! The illustrations at first glance seem a bit rudimentary, but really are quite expressive and work nicely in conjunction with the story (plenty of visual cues to help a struggling reader along).

This is, in my opinion, a must for all households with young readers who are just staring to read independently.