Collected Resources

Wild Pets
Ruth Merttens’ lovely story Wild Pets imagines what happens when your unassuming pets indulge their wild side! The colourful pictures and gentle humour will delight younger readers. The structure and patterns of the text make a great starting point for inspiring children’s own writing.

The Ant and the Grasshopper
This beautifully illustrated retelling of Aesop’s fable is a perfect accompaniment to any teaching on traditional tales or stories with morals. The clear, decodable text and lovely watercolour pictures make this an excellent, accessible book to use as a group reader or whole class starting point for discussion. Children will enjoy thinking about the moral of the story and exploring the characters' actions and feelings.

Why not me? 

This story plays with the genre of traditional stories. A woodpecker wants to know why she is not in any tale. This story draws children’s attention to a wide range of tales and then challenges the reader to write a story with a woodpecker in it! 

The Quest
A simple fantasy narrative told in the form of a quest. It is ideal for children whose comprehension outruns their ability to decode as it draws on iconic characters such as superheroes which are culturally relevant to children and engage their attention.

Tilly's Pet

This is the simple story of a little girl who acquires an unusual pet. She hand-rears a young swift and then has to let it fly away. Her sadness is soothed when she realises that the bird returns to nest above her bedroom each year.

The Little Story Who Didn’t Want to be Told
This is a story for children and grownups - both will love the neat twist at the end. The delicate and quixotic illustrations add to its charm and, even for the most reluctant readers, this is a real page turner. Children are made aware of the rich language of storytelling in this exemplary text.