Reading comprehension packet and answer key for: Hamster Chase by Ezra Jack Keats Summary: Hamster Chase is the story of a classroom hamster who has escaped! Anyone who has ever owned hamsters knows how easy it is for them to get loose and how hard it is to recapture them! In this book, three classmates use ingenious strategies to catch their classroom pet. Reading level: 1st grade. Themes: animals, solving problems, working together, classmate cooperation. Audience: This book is an easy reader with lots of color pictures. The book contains main high frequency words and easy phonetic words. It's a good first step for children who are ready for words that are not simple phonics readers. It has a definite plot and cute characters, but is short and fairly easy to read.