The Black Dog

by Harriet Goodwin

Published 14 January 2013
Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level

Annie, George and Jed are on a school camping trip, and their team hasn’t been doing very well in the activities they’ve been set. There is one final task – an orienteering exercise in the nearby woods – and they’re determined to win. But will their differences in opinion hold them back, and what is the howl they’ve heard deep in the woods?

  • Sapphire/Band 16 books offer longer reads to develop children's sustained engagement with texts and are more complex syntactically.
  • Text type: A mystery story.
  • Curriculum links: Citizenship.
  • This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level

Two touching, ghostly tales by Harriet Goodwin and Leon Rosselson. In the first, Joe, struggling to come to terms with his mother’s death, finds himself drawn into a spooky legend that lies deep beneath the water. In the second, Billy’s encounter with a strange girl in a beautiful garden helps to reveal a long forgotten secret.

  • Pearl/Band 18 books offer fluent readers a complex, substantial text with challenging themes to facilitate sustained comprehension, bridging the gap between a reading programme and longer chapter books.
  • Text type: A mystery story.
  • Curriculum links: Citizenship: Moving on.

This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.


The Monkey Puppet

by Leon Rosselson

Published 1 September 2008
Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level

There’s something different about Mark, the new boy. It’s not just that he only speaks through a monkey glove puppet. Soon Daniel finds out that his new friend is in trouble – but can he help him in time?

  • Sapphire/Band 16 books offer longer reads to develop children's sustained engagement with texts and are more complex syntactically.
  • Storycards of the key events on pages 54 and 55 help children to recap what has happened.
  • Text type: A mystery story
  • Curriculum links: Citizenship: Taking part – developing skills of communication and participation, Moving on
  • This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.