The Titanic

by Anna Claybourne

Published 31 March 2006

In 1912, the largest passenger ship ever built set sail for America, but she never got there. Find out what happened to the Titanic and her passengers.

  • Orange/Band 6 books offer varied text and characters, with action sustained over several pages.
  • Text type: An information book.
  • Pages 22 and 23 show a map of the route the Titanic took, allowing children to retrace the events of the sinking.
  • Curriculum links: History: How do we know about…
  • This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

Black Holes

by Anna Claybourne

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

What is a black hole? Where do they come from? What do they do? Find out the answers to all of these questions and what other things scientists have discovered about space exploration, gravity and much more, in this highly photographic non-fiction report.

  • Ruby/Band 14 books give increasing opportunities for children to develop their skills of inference and deduction.
  • Text type: An information book
  • Curriculum links: Science
  • This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

Mary Anning Fossil Hunter

by Anna Claybourne

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

Mary Anning was one of the greatest fossil hunters in history. Find out how Mary's life changed when she found an enormous fossil on her local beach, and how her discoveries transformed the way we think about life on Earth.

  • Diamond/Band 17 books offer more complex, underlying themes to give opportunities for children to understand causes and points of view.
  • 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 can be used to develop children's information retrieval skills further.
  • Curriculum links - History; Geography

Over 4000 years ago, people started making things from bronze. Take a world tour and discover some of the brilliant Bronze-Age wonders they created.

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

Text type: An information book.

Curriculum links: History

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


Collins Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 4-11 edited by Cliff Moon. Top children's authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that your children will love to read, banded to help you choose the right book for every child. Practical ideas for guided reading are included at the back of each book.

* 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:

* Curriculum links:


The Shang Dynasty

by Anna Claybourne

Published 21 September 2015

A fascinating insight into the history of one of our ancient civilisations - the Shang dynasty, their society, culture, belief system and way of life in China over 500 years ago. Who were they, how did they rule and what was life like under their power?

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

* This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.