Chick to Hen

by Elspeth Graham

Published 1 September 2011

Follow the life of a chicken – from its early days as a chick hatching in its nest, to laying eggs of its own, in this photographic information book by Elspeth Graham.

  • Red A/Band 2A books offer predictable text with familiar objects and actions, combined with simple story development.
  • Text type: An information book
  • Children can recap the stages of a chicken’s life in the flow chart on pages 14–15.
  • Curriculum links: Knowledge and Understanding of the World
  • This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

I Want the Moon

by Mal Peat and Elspeth Graham

Published 3 September 2015

Collins Arabic Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 3 to 11. The series is structured with reference to the learning progression of Arabic at nursery and primary schools researched especially for Collins. This carefully graded approach allows children to build up their reading knowledge of Arabic step by step.

Level 10 books include characters that express emotions and stories with more events. Non-fiction titles introduce terms that might be new to many children. Level 10 books continue to use single spacing and more high-frequency words appear without vowel markings to help the students get used to the traditional norms of printed Arabic.
Prince Mimo is upset – he wants the moon. So the King and Queen send their servants, Grim and Misery, out to catch the moon for him, with hilarious consequences. This charming story by award-winning author Mal Peat and Elspeth Graham is illustrated by Xiao Xin.

Children can recap the main stages of the story on pages 14–15, providing lots of speaking and listening opportunities.


Playing with Shadows

by Elspeth Graham

Published 1 August 2016

Collins Arabic Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 3 to 11. The series is structured with reference to the learning progression of Arabic at nursery and primary schools researched especially for Collins. This carefully graded approach allows children to build up their reading knowledge of Arabic step by step.

Level 9 books are similar in complexity to level 8, with strong patterns and similar events and episodes. Non-fiction titles use non-fiction tools – including signs, labels, captions and diagrams – where necessary. Single-word spacing is used from level 9 upwards. In addition, very high-frequency words appear consistently without vowel markings. These features will help the students get used to the traditional norms of printed Arabic.

Learn how to make amazing shadow puppets including a dog, duck, bat and snail. This fun, decodable instruction book is written by Elspeth Graham.

Pages 14–15 provide an opportunity for children to recap each shadow puppet.