Item category 2: Paperback

Here is a non-fiction text reporting on how different people celebrate birthdays. The repeated sentence structure offers readers the opportunity for a first independent reading experience with the support of the illustrations.

Winter in Lake Eden, Minnesota, is the perfect time to curl up by a cosy fire with something - and someone - sweet. But while bakery owner Hannah Swensen can provide herself with the confections, cuddling will have to take a back seat to sleuthing when her sometime-squeeze becomes a murder suspect.

Meet the Gogartys; cantankerous gran Millie (whose eccentricities include a penchant for petty-theft and reckless driving); bitter downtrodden son Kevin (erstwhile journalist whose stay-at-home parenting is pushing him to the brink); and habitually moody, disaffected teenage daughter Aideen. When...

When Elizabeth's husband dies, leaving her with crippling debt, the only person she can turn to is her friend, Jo. Soon Jo has called in her daughter, Lucy, to help save Elizabeth from bankruptcy. Leaving her old life behind, Lucy is determined to make the most of her fresh start. As life slowly ...

This story is part of 'Reading Champion', a series carefully linked to book bands to encourage independent reading skills, developed with UCL Institute of Education (IOE). 'A New Boy' is a non-fiction text reporting on welcoming a new child into the school. The repeated sentence structure offers ...

Nisha has crossed oceans to give her child a future. By day she cares for Petra's daughter; at night she mothers her own little girl by the light of a phone. Nisha's lover, Yiannis, is a poacher, hunting the tiny songbirds on their way to Africa each winter. His dreams of a new life, and of marry...

Michael has travelled a long way from his boyhood under the endless skies of the Midwest. His retirement is peaceful, if solitary. But one day there is a visitation: a mysterious car on the seafront, and a package delivered. From its contents, Michael understands that he has been commissioned to ...

This non-fiction text explores different objects and vehicles with wheels. It is part of 'Reading Champion', a series carefully linked to book bands to encourage independent reading skills.

Billy Plimpton is an eleven-year-old boy with a big dream. He wants to be a stand-up comedian when he grows up: delivering pinpoint punch-lines and having audiences hang on his every hilarious word. A tough career for anyone, but surely impossible for Billy, who has a stammer. How will he fin...