Books in Collins Big Cat Sets series

Antislavery campaigner, author, diplomat and political statesmen, Frederick Douglass was one of the greatest men of his age. A former slave himself, Frederick fought publicly against slavery and was an inspiration in the fight for social and political change. Written by Amanda Mitchison, find out about this life-long battle to fight for equality.• Sapphire/Band 16 books offer longer reads to develop children's sustained engagement with texts and are more complex syntactically.• Text type: A biography• Curriculum links: History, Citizenship

Collins Arabic Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 3 to 11. The series is structured with reference to the learning progression of Arabic at nursery and primary schools researched especially for Collins. This carefully graded approach allows children to build up their reading knowledge of Arabic step by step. Level 3 books introduce the concept of the "story," and include simple phonic sounds and very high-frequency words with simple spellings. Sesame and Apricot love to chase each other—along the street, through the park, round and round. . . But when one animal is in trouble, the other is sure to help. Shoo Rayner’s illustrations in this wonderfully humorous book bring the two central characters vividly to life, and provide lots for beginner readers to talk about. Included at the end of the book, following the story, is a simple story map that can be used to recap and check understanding. Lively and engaging illustrations will help keep children interested

Read this humorous fantasy story about Rex the dinosaur who wants to give animals super haircuts and make them happy.• Green/ Band 5 books offer early readers patterned language and varied characters.• Text type - A humorous fantasy story.• The illustrations on page 22 and 23 prompts children to recap and discuss the story.• Curriculum links - Citizenship: Choices; Living in a diverse world; Taking part.• This book has been levelled for Reading Recovery.

'What Happened to the Dinosaurs' investigates why these huge creatures disappeared. The important question, 'How do we know they existed?' is answered with a clear timeline of images. Various theories are suggested, which support knowledge and understanding of climate change, volcanoes, asteroids and evolution of the animals which did survive.•Topaz/ Band 13 books offer longer and more demanding reads for children to investigate and evaluate.• Text type - An information book.• The response page summarises the main theories and could support a presented talk.• Curriculum links - Science: Living things in their environment.• This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader

Everything about Mr Big is big. And ordinary pens just won’t do; every time he tries to write, Mr Big’s ordinary sized pens break. So Mr Big drives to the shop in his big car to buy a big pen. But size is not the only suprising thing about Mr Big’s new pen.•Blue/ Band 4 books offer longer, repeated patterns with sequential events and integrated literary and natural language.•Text type - A fantasy story.•A storyboard on pages 22 and 23 provides a pictorial summary of the story in eight frames, an ideal cue for further discussion and activity.•Curriculum links - Numeracy: Shape, space and measure.• This book has been levelled for Reading Recovery.

More interested in computer games than he is in school, Raheem is tired of being told off by his mum for fooling around in class. He just can’t understand what the big deal is with learning, or why he should care about Martin Luther King. But that all changes when Raheem falls asleep and wakes up in 1963 …• Diamond/Band 17 books offer more complex, underlying themes to give opportunities for children to understand causes and points of view.• Text type: A playscript• Curriculum links: History, Citizenship

Who ate the cake? Tec the detective follows the crumbs to find out. Children follow Tec as he trails his suspects, until he finds the vital clue that leads him to the guilty party! Martin Chatterton’s colourful illustrations bring the characters of Tec and his faithful hound vividly to life, and provide lots of talking points throughout the story.• Red A/ Band 2A books offer predictable text with familiar objects and actions, combined with simple story development.• Text type - A story with a predictable structure and patterned language.A simple pictoral summary at the end of the book provides an opportunity for the children to recap and check understanding.