Ant and Snail

by Paul Shipton

Published 1 September 2006

Collins Big Cat Phonics is a guided reading series for ages 4-6 edited by Kay Hiatt. 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.

Ant and Snail decide to have a race. Ant speeds off and is soon in the lead, but when Ant trips over and fall in a pit, he is glad when Snail arrives to help him.

Phonics Talking Books are read-along versions of the Collins Big Cat Phonics titles. Lively readings, sound effects and music all help to bring the books to life. Talking Books are designed to support reading comprehension and language acquisition for all children, and are ideal for working with less confident readers and children with English as an additional language.


Bart the Shark

by Paul Shipton

Published 1 September 2006

Collins Big Cat Phonics is a guided reading series for ages 4-6 edited by Kay Hiatt. 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.

Bart the Shark is big and bad. Bart the Shark is feeling mad! Find out what happens to the little fish when Bart the Shark comes to visit, in this very funny rhyming story.

Phonics Talking Books are read-along versions of the Collins Big Cat Phonics titles. Lively readings, sound effects and music all help to bring the books to life. Talking Books are designed to support reading comprehension and language acquisition for all children, and are ideal for working with less confident readers and children with English as an additional language.


The Sun and the Moon

by Paul Shipton

Published 1 September 2006

This simple non-fiction book introduces facts about the sun and the moon, and compares them.

  • Yellow / Band 3 – A simple non-fiction book
  • Text type – Non-fiction
  • The focus phonemes in this book are igh, y (sky), ay, a-e, i-e and y (very).
  • Use fact files on the final spread to compare and contrast the facts children have learned from the book.
  • Paul Shipton also wrote Red 2A Ant and Snail; Yellow 3 Bart the Shark.
  • This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

Rat Naps

by Paul Shipton and Tomislav Zlatic

Published 5 January 2010

Sid is a rat at the tip, he lives there with his friends Cam and Tim. But while they sleep soundly in their snug beds Rick the cat is on the look out for some dinner. This exciting story is vividly illustrated by Tomislav Zlatic.

This is a Band 01B/Pink B book in the Collins Big Cat reading programme which is a simple story with a familiar setting. This fiction book uses the focus phonemes s, a, d, t, p, i, n, r, ck, o, m, c, u, g and e. A picture of the tip on pages 14 and 15 shows all the rats' sleeping spots as well as Rick - on the hunt - to help children recap the story. This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader. For more guided reading books in this Collins Big Cat band, try In the Jungle (9780007512683) by Becca Heddle.