Iris and Walter

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Iris and Walter

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Available for Pre-Order. This item will be released on June 10, 2025

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Overview

In this Level Three I Can Read, meet Iris—the new kid in town—and her soon-to-be best friend, Walter!

After a move, Iris is sure that life in her new home will be just awful. There's nothing to do and no one to play with. Iris will never be happy here. Then Grandpa suggests a walk. Down the road and around the bend, they discover a huge green tree, a secret hideaway—and a boy named Walter. Maybe life far from the city won't be so lonely after all.

In the beloved Iris and Walter books, the two friends discover that everything is easier when you have a best friend by your side.

This Level 3 I Can Read! is written for independent readers and includes challenging words and more complex themes and stories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063387942
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/10/2025
Series:	I Can Read Level 3
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Elissa Haden Guest is the author of Baby Builders, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata, and the award-winning Iris and Walter series. She holds an MFA in children’s literature from Hollins University and teaches classes in writing for children and young adults at Stanford Continuing Studies. She lives in San Francisco, California.

Christine Davenier is an illustrator for young readers and for the French and American press. She illustrated the Very Fairy Princess books by actress Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton. She studied at the National School of Applied Arts in Paris and at the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

star "Splendid . . . Readers will delight in the youngsters' friendship."--School Library Journal
"Iris and Walter will join Frog and Toad and Henry and Mudge in a prominent place on the easy-reading shelves."—The Bulletin

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

"Iris and Walter will join Frog and Toad and Henry and Mudge in a prominent place on the easy-reading shelves." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Splendid. Readers will delight in the youngsters' friendship." — School Library Journal
"A knockout kickoff to a beginning reader series." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher

When Iris moves reluctantly to the country from her home in the big city, she finds a friend in Walter. In a starred review, PW called this "a knockout kickoff to a beginning reading series." PW said that the duo in their further adventures are "as engaging as ever." Ages 6-9. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Four gracefully paced chapters, stylish illustrations and a design that allows plenty of breathing room add up to a knockout kickoff to a beginning reader series. Guest (Girl Stuff) lays out the central conflict in the first sentence ("When Iris and Iris's family moved from the big city to the country, Iris was sad"). Davenier's (Leon and Albertine) corresponding pen-and-ink and watercolor-wash illustration takes up most of the spread: a car on a rural road drives into the sunset, as a crestfallen Iris gazes out the rear window, back toward the city. The rest of the first chapter evocatively recounts in just how many ways the girl pines for her former home (e.g., "the long hallway where she roller-skated on rainy days"; in the illustration she appears like Alice in Wonderland bursting out of the corridor). Iris's parents try to cheer her up, but only Grandpa knows what she needs. He helps Iris discover a new friend, Walter, and soon she is savoring country life. Guest forswears a pat resolution--the city still occupies Iris's thoughts, conveyed with a skillful and unobtrusive use of repetition ("She dreamed of her noisy street and her wide front stoop. She dreamed of tango music and of roller skating down long hallways"). Guest's economic eloquence is in perfect sync with Davenier's elegant watercolor and ink drawings; the illustrator's urbane graphic sensibility and lush palette of blue and purple hues bring to mind vintage New Yorker covers. Ages 6-9. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

K-Gr 2-In this beginning chapter book, Iris has moved from the city to the country, and she is not impressed. There are no noises, no stoops to sit on, and seemingly, no children. Her parents encourage her to play in her new yard to no avail; it is her grandfather who finally takes her for a walk and she meets Walter in his tree house. The two become fast friends and Iris learns to appreciate country life. She rides the boy's pony, plays hide-and-seek, and rolls in the grass. The only flaw in the story is that when her pal asks her about life in the big city, all she has to say is, "there are lots and lots and lots of people." Walter replies that in the country "there are lots and lots and lots of stars," and the discussion abruptly ends there. The exchange seems stilted and preachy, and Walter appears to be either very wise or very boring. The pen-and-ink illustrations are a bit sloppy and have a limited palette of primarily greens, blues, and pinks. Overall, though, the story does work, showing the positive qualities of different lifestyles and that friends can be found anywhere.-Holly Belli, Bergen County Cooperative Library System, West Caldwell, NJ Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Guest and Davenier (Mabel Dancing, 2000) kick off an easy-reader series featuring a city girl and a country boy. Missing the accustomed crowds, noises, and street games of her old home, Iris is unhappy out in the country—" ‘as lonely as Mars,' " she complains—until she meets Walter, a lad with a tree house, a pony, and a new way of looking at the world. In no time, she's teaching him how to roller-skate indoors, while he's pointing out stars and sharing his hat collection. Though Iris's hair is an odd, bright blue and Guest tends to repeat phrases—not necessarily a weakness at this elementary reading level, but not natural-sounding either—fledgling readers will be drawn to this easy, four-chapter friendship story. Davenier's scribbly, freely brushed illustrations, all blues, yellows, and greens, place Iris and Walter into a properly idyllic rural setting. It's well-traveled territory, but always worth a visit. (Easy reader. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews

[Editor’s Note: The following is a combined review with IRIS AND WALTER: TRUE FRIENDS.]--In IRIS AND WALTER, Iris has moved from the city to the country, which (compared to the friendly bustle of her former life) she finds as "lonely as Mars." She refuses to be cheered up until she meets Walter, an event that demonstrates the restorative powers of friendship. In the sequel story, Iris and Walter find a way to help each other as only true friends can do. Barbara McCulloh's unadorned reading style suits these simple chapter books with their direct messages. She uses a new-reader's pace that slowly and quietly allows the stories to unfold; her perceptive and friendly voice will be enjoyed by all young listeners. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

DEC 04/JAN 05 - AudioFile