Books in Collins Big Cat 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

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.

The survival of the white continent’s most famous inhabitants is the subject of this beautiful book. The beauty of Antarctic and the enchanting secrets of its penguin population is brought to life with a delightful series of photographs by the Big Cat Diaries team of Jonathan and Angela Scott.• White/Band 10 books have more complex sentences and figurative language.• Text type - A non-chronological report.• A poster on pages 30 and 31 advertises the highlights and attractions of the magical land of Antarctica, providing opportunities for speaking, listening and writing activities.• Curriculum links - Geography: Where in the world is Barnaby Bear? Passport to the World.

There were a lot of changes in Britain between the departure of the Romans in 410 and the Norman invasion in 1066. In this book, find out who ruled the many British kingdoms in that time, and what life was like for the ordinary people living on farms and in towns and villages. • Ruby/Band 14 books give increasing opportunities for children to develop their skills of inference and deduction. • Text type: An information book • Curriculum links: History

Rebecca went to the funfair with mum and dad. She didn’t like the hall of mirrors, and the rollercoaster made her turn green – but when she won lots of prizes on a stall, she decided that she liked it after all! The funny illustrations show Rebecca’s gradual change of opinion, and include lots of details for early readers to talk about.• Yellow (Band 3) books offer varied sentence structure and natural langauge. This book is told in rhyme.• Text type - A story with a familiar setting.• A map of the fair is included on pages 14 and 15 which can be used to check comprehension.• Curriculum links - Maths: Shape, space and measures.• This book has been levelled for Reading Recovery