Pudding Lane

by David MacPhail

Published 10 January 2022

Collins Big Cat supports every primary child on their reading journey from phonics to fluency. Top authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that children love to read. Levelled for guided and independent reading, each book includes ideas to support reading. Teaching and assessment support and eBooks are also available.

September 1666.
Grace and her brother Simon are on their way to London to claim their inheritance. As a great fire breaks out, Simon is kidnapped. Can Grace rescue her brother and escape the flames?

Sapphire/Band 16 books offer longer reads to develop children's sustained engagement with texts and are more complex syntactically.

Text type: A story with a historical setting

Ideas for reading in the back of the book provide practical support and stimulating activities.

On Sunday 2nd September 1666, a spark in a baker’s shop ignited one of the most famous fires in history, the Great Fire of London. David Macphail wrote this story because he loves history and is interested in how people used to live and how children would experience such an important historical event.


Vikings in Britain

by David MacPhail

Published 22 May 2017
Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level

They came in their longships from Scandinavia, stealing gold and spreading fear. From fighting to settling, this is the story of how Vikings shaped the history of Britain as we know it.

  • Ruby/Band 14 books give increasing opportunities for children to develop their skills of inference and deduction.
  • Text type – An information book.
  • The book is organised into short chapters to help children practise the skills of locating and identifying important information.
  • The glossary and index on pages 44 and 45 can be used to develop children's information retrieval skills further.
  • Curriculum links – History – Viking raids and invasion