Fold 1
- Ages
- 4–6
- Reading grade
- Pre-K–K
- Stage
- First Reader
- Book
- 6 × 9 in, 24 pp
- Words
- 108
- Words a sentence
- 3
- Longest sentence
- 6 words
- Flesch–Kincaid grade
- -0.8
For educators
Six books on one animal, from a child's first book to read alone to popular science for adults. A class can study the same facts with every reader in a book they can manage.
The reading ladder
Measured on each book's reader-facing text with the Flesch–Kincaid formula, the same count the books are checked against before print.
| Measure | Fold 1 | Fold 2 | Fold 3 | Fold 4 | Fold 5 | Fold 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ages | 4–6 | 6–8 | 8–10 | 10–12 | 12+ | 12+ |
| Reading grade | Pre-K–K | K–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 4–7 | not graded |
| Stage | First Reader | Read Together | Early Reader | Explorer | Field Guide | Deep Dive |
| Book | 6 × 9 in, 24 pp | 8.5 × 8.5 in, 32 pp | 6 × 9 in, 32 pp | 8 × 10 in, 40 pp | 8 × 10 in, 48 pp | 6 × 9 in, 62 pp |
| Words | 108 | 259 | 548 | 2,152 | 4,470 | 7,558 |
| Words a sentence | 3 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 8.1 | 10.7 | 17.5 |
| Longest sentence | 6 words | 12 words | 10 words | 18 words | 25 words | 42 words |
| Flesch–Kincaid grade | -0.8 | 2.9 read aloud | 0.8 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 9.2 |
Fold 2
- Ages
- 6–8
- Reading grade
- K–2
- Stage
- Read Together
- Book
- 8.5 × 8.5 in, 32 pp
- Words
- 259
- Words a sentence
- 6.2
- Longest sentence
- 12 words
- Flesch–Kincaid grade
- 2.9 read aloud
Fold 3
- Ages
- 8–10
- Reading grade
- 1–2
- Stage
- Early Reader
- Book
- 6 × 9 in, 32 pp
- Words
- 548
- Words a sentence
- 6.2
- Longest sentence
- 10 words
- Flesch–Kincaid grade
- 0.8
Fold 4
- Ages
- 10–12
- Reading grade
- 2–4
- Stage
- Explorer
- Book
- 8 × 10 in, 40 pp
- Words
- 2,152
- Words a sentence
- 8.1
- Longest sentence
- 18 words
- Flesch–Kincaid grade
- 3.8
Fold 5
- Ages
- 12+
- Reading grade
- 4–7
- Stage
- Field Guide
- Book
- 8 × 10 in, 48 pp
- Words
- 4,470
- Words a sentence
- 10.7
- Longest sentence
- 25 words
- Flesch–Kincaid grade
- 4.8
Fold 6
- Ages
- 12+
- Reading grade
- not graded
- Stage
- Deep Dive
- Book
- 6 × 9 in, 62 pp
- Words
- 7,558
- Words a sentence
- 17.5
- Longest sentence
- 42 words
- Flesch–Kincaid grade
- 9.2
Using the set with mixed readers
Start everyone on one fact
Open the ladder on the board and pick a fact. Each fold tells the same fact in its own words, so the whole class can talk about it together, whatever they are reading.
Hand out by fold, not by name
Children choose the fold that fits them this week and move up when they are ready. Because the facts match, a group reading different folds can still compare notes.
Climb one rung
A confident reader reads a fact in their own fold, then the next fold up, and tells a partner what the deeper version adds.
Let the youngest listen
Where narration is available, Read to me lights each sentence as it is spoken. It suits pre-readers and children new to English.
Trace a sentence to its source
Older students pick a sentence, find its fact in the fact bank and open the source behind it. It is a short lesson in checking what you read.
Fold by fold
Peck, Peck, Flap!
Fold 1 · First Reader · Ages 4–6
What it is for
Teach the four Story Words with their pictures first: pigeon, head, chick and peck. Every other word on the reading pages uses sounds taught through UFLI Lesson 41 or a Heart Word. Some pages ask the child to read the picture (is its head up? what is on its leg?); the notes at the back give the facts behind those pages so you can answer together. The last pages model a kind hello: sit, never chase a pigeon, and let it peck.
Talk about it
Questions the book asks its reader:
- Is its head up?
- Where is the chick?
- What is on its leg?
Words
- pigeon
- a bird
- head
- top part
- chick
- baby bird
- peck
- pick up food
Hello, Pigeon!
Fold 2 · Read Together · Ages 6–8
What it is for
Read aloud and pause so your child can join the bold sound words and answer the questions; they are invitations, not a test. The book follows six surprises: a head that holds still, a drink like a straw, crop milk from both parents, hidden chicks, homing pigeons and park pigeons that remembered who chased them. Watch pigeons quietly together, and never chase them. For a child reading alone, try Fold 1, Peck, Peck, Flap!, then Fold 3, Pigeons: Birds of the City Ledges.
Talk about it
Questions the book asks its reader:
- Shall we meet a city pigeon?
- What is surprising about pigeons?
- Can you walk like a pigeon?
- Have you ever used a straw?
- Have you ever seen a baby pigeon?
- Can you clap too?
Words
This fold has no glossary or word list.
Pigeons: Birds of the City Ledges
Fold 3 · Early Reader · Ages 8–10
What it is for
Read page 3's pictured words together first: pigeon, ledge, straw, crop, homing and study. Each is bold at first use. Most words sound out with first-grade phonics; read head, most, birds, both, green, purple, far, famous, story, mail, person, away, coat and different for your child. Watch pigeons quietly from a bench, and never chase them. Some towns have rules about feeding pigeons, so check before you feed any. Page 30 has a quiz with answers. Before this: Fold 2, Hello, Pigeon!; next: Fold 4, Pigeons: Secrets of the City Bird.
Talk about it
From the book's quiz:
- What does a pigeon's head do?
- Who sits on pigeon eggs?
- Who makes milk for a pigeon chick?
- What can a homing pigeon do?
- In the study, what did pigeons do?
Words
- pigeon
- a gray town bird
- ledge
- a flat shelf on a wall
- straw
- a thin tube to sip with
- crop
- where a pigeon makes milk
- homing
- able to get back home
- study
- a test to find things out
Pigeons: Secrets of the City Bird
Fold 4 · Explorer · Ages 10–12
What it is for
Fold 4 is for readers of about 10 to 12 who read on their own. Each chapter opens with a big picture and a question, then mixes short text with Wow! boxes and questions from Mila and Omar. The quiz is on page 36, the glossary on page 37, How We Know on page 38 and the sources on page 39. Help with Columba livia (KOL-um-buh LIV-ee-uh) and Cher Ami (shair ah-MEE) if needed. Watch pigeons from a little distance, and wash hands after time outdoors. Some towns ban feeding pigeons, so check local rules before offering food. For an easier read, try Fold 3, Pigeons: Birds of the City Ledges. For more depth, try Fold 5, Pigeons: A Field Guide to the City Pigeon.
Talk about it
From the book's quiz:
- What does a walking pigeon's head really do?
- How do most birds drink, and how does a pigeon drink?
- Which pigeon parents make milk?
- Why do people almost never see baby pigeons?
- Why did armies use homing pigeons?
- In the study, what did the park pigeons do after a person chased them?
Words
- crop
- A body part where both pigeon parents make pigeon milk for their chicks.
- feral
- Living free after coming from tame animals. City pigeons are feral.
- homing pigeon
- A pigeon bred and trained to fly back to its home loft.
- loft
- A house where people keep pigeons.
- rock dove
- The wild cliff bird that every city pigeon comes from.
- squab
- A baby pigeon. Squabs stay in the nest until almost grown.
- structural color
- Color made by light bouncing in a thin layer, not by paint.
- ultraviolet
- A kind of light that pigeons can see and people cannot.
Pigeons: A Field Guide to the City Pigeon
Fold 5 · Field Guide · Ages 12+
What it is for
This field guide is for readers 12 and up. Read a chapter together, then talk through the field notes, Scientist spotlights and Try it boxes. Chapter 9 gives a method for watching pigeons from a distance; please go along on any outdoor watch. Some towns and cities have rules against feeding pigeons in certain places, so check local rules before anyone feeds them. The glossary is on page 43 and the index on page 44. For a gentler start, try Fold 4, Pigeons: Secrets of the City Bird; to go further, read Fold 6, Pigeons, Unfolded.
Talk about it
Questions the book asks its reader:
- Why does a pigeon's head seem to bob?
- How does it drink?
- Who feeds the chicks, and where are they?
- How does a homing pigeon find its way, and does a pigeon know your face?
- Where near you do pigeons gather, and at what time of day?
- Will you watch closely with me before we decide what anything means?
Words
- Breed
- A kind of domestic pigeon shaped by people, such as the fantail or the pouter.
- Columba livia
- The scientific name of the rock pigeon: wild rock doves, feral pigeons and domestic pigeons alike.
- Courtship
- The display a male uses to win a female: puffing, strutting, bowing and cooing.
- Crop
- The body part where pigeon parents make crop milk.
- Crop milk
- Food made in the crop by both pigeon parents to feed their chicks.
- Dovecote
- A building where people kept pigeons. London's first feral pigeons escaped from dovecotes.
- Domestic pigeon
- A pigeon kept and bred by people.
- Feral
- Living free but descended from tame animals. City pigeons are feral.
- Field mark
- A feature that helps you recognize an animal by sight or sound.
- Hold step
- The part of a pigeon's walk when its head stays still while its body moves forward.
- Homing pigeon
- A domestic pigeon bred and trained to return to its home loft, which it can do from far away.
- Landmark
- A feature a homing pigeon follows in familiar country near home.
Pigeons, Unfolded: The Science of an Everyday Bird
Fold 6 · Deep Dive · Ages 12+
What it is for
For teenagers and adults. The first chapters each follow one of the six surprises in the Pigeon facts episode, the same six told more simply in Peck, Peck, Flap!, Hello, Pigeon!, Pigeons: Birds of the City Ledges, Pigeons: Secrets of the City Bird and Pigeons: A Field Guide to the City Pigeon. The evidence is named as it is used: laboratory studies of head-bobbing and colour vision, the prolactin and crop-milk research, decades of homing experiments with their open questions, the Smithsonian's account of Cher Ami, a 2011 park experiment on pigeons and people, Darwin's own pigeon chapter and a 2013 genome study, each with its source in the endnotes. There is no health content. If you feed pigeons, seeds suit them better than bread, and some towns and cities have rules against feeding, so check local rules first. AI writing tools assisted drafting and editing; illustrations are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Talk about it
Questions the book asks its reader:
- Those surprises answer the question the episode asked: what is surprising about an ordinary city pigeon?
- Why should a pigeon care so much about a steady view?
- That family is the Columbidae, and it raises an old question: what separates a pigeon from a dove?
- How alike are the two milks in what they do?
Words
This fold has no glossary or word list.