Kirjahaku

Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level Collins Big Cat supports every primary child on their reading journey from phonics to fluency. Top authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that children love to read. Book banded for guided and independent reading, there are reading notes in the back, comprehensive teaching and assessment support and ebooks available. During a bad winter in Viking-age Scotland, Fari finds a polar bear cub that drifted to shore on an ice floe. He raises the cub and teaches her tricks. They soon become inseparable – but as the bear grows and grows, she is no longer welcome in Fari’s home. Follow Fari as he embarks on a journey to save his friend in this beautiful historic tale by Susan Price. Lime Plus/Band 11+ books provide challenging plots and vocabulary as well as opportunities to practise inference, prediction and reading stamina. Pages 46 and 47 allow children to re-visit the content of the book, supporting comprehension skills, vocabulary development and recall. Ideas for reading in the back of the book provide practical support and stimulating activities.

PM is a firm favourite amongst Primary Schools due to its reputation for reading success. Offering over 800 carefully levelled fiction and non-fiction books, PM builds confidence through gradual progression and step-by-step support.

PM is a firm favourite amongst Primary Schools due to its reputation for reading success. Offering over 800 carefully levelled fiction and non-fiction books, PM builds confidence through gradual progression and step-by-step support.

Tales of the Underworld are a collection of stories about loss and longing. An Indian princess uses her wit to rescue her husband from Death, a gifted musician tries to secure his wife's release from the Underworld, a god must be returned to life and animals at the dawn of time puzzle over death. Captivating versions of some of the best myths and legends from around the world. TreeTops Myths and Legends are fascinating and action-packed stories that will motivate and inspire readers. These are some of the oldest and most enduring stories in the world, retold by leading contemporary children's authors to bring out all of the action, drama, humour and depth of the original stories in a way that makes them as exciting and meaningful today as ever. The stories are beautifully illustrated in a range of styles to bring each tale to life. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. The books are finely levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book.

'Electrifying . . . breathtaking.' The Times'Truly stunning and original.' Kirkus'Highly original, multidimensional tale.' Booklist'Richly emotional and lavishly written.' TLSThis stunning Carnegie-winning tale takes us to a world of darkness and ice, where a shaman and a prince fight for their freedom.In the darkest hour of a freezing Midwinter, a night-walking witch adopts a newborn baby and carries her off in her house on chicken legs. She names her Chingis and teaches her the Three Magics. She grows into such a powerful witch that she rouses the jealousy of Kuzma, the bear-shaman.The Czar of this cold realm fears his newborn son, Safa, will out do him, and so imprisons the baby at the top of a tall tower, to live and die there without ever glimpsing the real world. Loneliness and confinement drive him to rage and despair until Chingis hears the crying of his trapped spirit and frees him.But now their enemies unite against them, with steel and deadly magic. Chingis and Safa's quest for freedom will take them even through the Ghost World into the Land of the Dead.A timeless and atmospheric tale of fierce magic.

Midsummer midnight: the endless white night of the far north.Malyuta, slave and hunter, names his first born son 'Ambrosi' because it means 'Immortal.'Then comes Kuzma, the bear-shaman, who claims the baby as his apprentice. In return for his son, he promises Malyuta riches or even the return of his youth.Malyuta refuses, throughout the long night. The bear-shaman leaves, at last, declaring that keeping the baby will bring Malyuta nothing but misery.Thwarted, Kuzma vents his spite on a family of reindeer herders, cursing them with being 'wolves by darkness.' In the far north, the winter night is six months long. The reindeer people soon long to be released from their curse.Ambrosi grows into a beautiful, bright little boy, joining his father on hunting trips into the wilderness. Into their tent, lost in the vast Arctic darkness, comes the bear-shaman. He summons Ambrosi to be his apprentice.Ambrosi says he will: when his ageing father dies. But the cruel bear-shaman will not wait. If only Malyuta's death prevents Ambrosi becoming his apprentice, then Malyuta will soon die.Malyuta tells the reindeer people that he will free them from their curse if they kill Malyuta.In their wolf-shapes, they set out on the hunt.Can Ambrosi protect his father and escape the bear-shaman?Book Two of the Ghost World sequence, which began with Ghost Drum and continues with Ghost Dance.

The young witch, Shingebiss, believes she can 'spell' the Czar and make him save her beloved Northlands from destruction.In her innocence, she little understands that the Imperial Palace is a place of treachery and murder, ruled by a madman with a mind like 'a broken mirror, reflecting all things crookedly.'At first the Czar takes Shingebiss for an angel, sent to him by God, and welcomes her. But none of her spells seem able to blunt his greed and cruelty.Shingebiss has a rival at court who hates her -- the English wizard, Master Jenkins, who pretends to the Czar that he can summon demons.Fearing that Shingebiss will unmask him, Master Jenkins plans to be rid of her. He tells the Czar that he can make him an Elixir of Immortality. The most potent ingredient is the blood of an angel.The Czar orders the elixir made immediately.Can Shingebiss save the Northlands? Can she save her own life?An intense, Gothic fantasySusan Price is an acclaimed writer for young people. The first book in the Ghost World sequence, The Ghost Drum, won the prestigious Carnegie medal.

Praise for Nightcomers from Philip Pullman.'Every tale shows the quality of the imagination, and the accuracy of the telling. What most impresses is the authority of Susan Price's voice: exact, rich or spare when necessary, able to evoke the Past without falsity, and the present without effort.'(The Guardian.)Nightcomers...The beautiful and the uncanny...A beautiful Englishman drives his Italian mistress to suicide - but she pursues him even after death...A young blacksmith spends Midsummer's Night near an ancient mound, to 'shoe with silver the horses of those who come by'...In an echoing, eerie, out-of-hours mall, a lonely cleaner falls in love with a beautiful, hungry stranger...A family gather at a dying girl's bedside and, out of the night, something comes knocking at the window...A man walks home, on a freezing night, along lanes haunted by the Death-Dog...A young actor is offered a lift in a car silver sports car with the number, '130.'A holiday cottage holds memories of despair...And a ghost features in a gentle Christmas story.Eight eerie, haunting stories of the supernatural from an expert story-teller and award-winning writer.

Here are nine powerful stories written by acclaimed, award winning author, Susan Price. Voices whisper in a graveyard...'Who weeps on my grave, who keeps me from sleep? - Is it you who unearths me to this cold rain, this dark, this wind and all its grief'A lost sister speaks in a dream...'She said,"I'm on Mow Top. But you won't find me now. Don't look. Forget me."A supermarket is haunted by a murdered baby... Footsteps climb the stairs of a darknened cottage... A voice whispers in a museum...Nine short, haunting stories of the supernatural, of loss and longing, of those who walk between this world and the next...Review'...The opening tale is...creepy, to the extent that the words crawl like cold fingers down your back.'Mow Top' is heartbreakingly sad... This is how it works in real life. Children see ghosts and tell us. We reassure them, and ourselves, that there are no such things...'The Familiar' is all about the cost of power, and cuts deep.The final story, 'Overheard in a Museum', is a thing of beauty, like the ship itself. You can feel the swell of the sea beneath you as you read. It speaks of a distant era and reminds us that objects so often outlast people by a long, long time. Except that the ship is not an object - it's the spirit of an age. - Rosalie Warren on Awfully Big Blog Adventure Reviews

Hauntings: nine spooky stories written by an award-winning, expert story-teller.Stories written to haunt, 'to be poignant and evocative, persistently and disturbingly present.'Praise for HAUNTINGS'Susan Price understands well that the ghost story form may be used to move readers and question their prejudices about the nature of appearance, as well as to frighten delightfully. She never settles for cheap effects and writes beautifully of relationships between young and old.' The Daily Telegraph.'This collection... has a depth of emotion that is at times disturbing.' Magpie, 1998A ghostly boy stands in a dark farm-yard, staring at the lit windows of the farmhouse kitchen.An old man, living alone in a farmhouse surrounded by modern estates, sees spirits dancing on an ancient hillside.A bullied schoolgirl finds a protector - at a price.A writer listens to the telling of a dream - and can't sleep easily after.A poltergeist joins a couple in their home...An elderly couple are woken nightly by the return of their young neighbour - who was murdered. Yet still she comes home late...An ancient wood emerges from the lamposts and walls of a city...And a spiritual medium is exposed as a trickster.Hauntings...

This study, first published in 1990, presents a comprehensive description of the comparative constructions of Spanish and French, and shows that the apparently numerous differences in their syntactic realisations can be accounted for by general constraints on the expression of comparison. There is also a discussion of parallel constructions in other Romance languages, showing that these languages display a range of constructions equally compatible with the suggested pattern of possibilities resulting from the general constraints proposed. This title will be of interest to students of language and linguistics.

This study, first published in 1990, presents a comprehensive description of the comparative constructions of Spanish and French, and shows that the apparently numerous differences in their syntactic realisations can be accounted for by general constraints on the expression of comparison. There is also a discussion of parallel constructions in other Romance languages, showing that these languages display a range of constructions equally compatible with the suggested pattern of possibilities resulting from the general constraints proposed. This title will be of interest to students of language and linguistics.

Game Changers have the skills, courage and power to change the world! Read about eight game-changing scientists who all shared the same motto in life: 'nullius in verba' - 'take no one's word for it'. They asked the questions and gathered the evidence that shaped our understanding of modern science. From Isaac Newton who established the laws of motion still used by engineers and scientists today, to Marie Curie, who won two Nobel prizes in recognition of her work on radiation and radioactivity, and Tu YouYou, the Chinese scientist who discovered a cure for malaria that has saved millions of lives. Game Changers: Super Scientists is part of the Reading Planet range of books for Stars (Lime) to Supernova (Red+) band. Children aged 7-11 will be inspired to love reading through the gripping stories and fascinating information books created by top authors. Reading Planet books have been carefully levelled to support children in becoming fluent and confident readers. Each book features useful notes and questions to support reading at home and develop comprehension skills. Reading age: 10-11 years

Harken This is the saga of Aslak Ottarssen, born a slave.Aslak, and his beloved sister, Astrid, are the children of a Norwegian farmer. Their mother was an English slave.Their father chooses to free Aslak. But Astrid remains a slave.Aslak promises that he will buy her freedom when he is a man and can earn enough silver. At fifteen, he goes viking to earn his fortune.Returning from sea, he finds that his father has died. Worse: his step-brothers have sold his sister.Furious, Aslak leaves his home forever, and calls on his ship-brothers to help him find and free his sister.He pursues Astrid across the North: a violent and dangerous place in the Viking Age. His hot temper leads to him being sold into slavery himself, in Jorvik, capital of England's Danelaw.But, captive among strangers, he finds unexpected help, faces death, sees a ghost - and meets still more danger.Can Aslak regain his own freedom and rescue his lost sister?

Originally written for the Cambridge Reading series, this is Carnegie Medal winning author Susan Price's retelling of the traditional story 'The Gingerbread Man.'"Once a girl made a chapatti for her tea.But the chapatti didn't want to be eaten.Up from the table it jumped, and out of the door it ran, singing, 'Run, run, as fast as you can, You can't put me in your frying pan '"The chapatti leads the girl on a merry chase that involves a friendly dog, a cheeky monkey and a long crocodile before finding a big suprise in the deep jungle This simple tale, humorously told, is ideal for instilling a love of reading, with its repeated refrain, and phrases picked out in speech bubbles, helping children to quickly recognise the key words: 'stop, ' 'come, ' 'back, ' 'and, ' 'my, ' 'the.'Suitable for ages 3-4.The lively illustrations, full of movement and gorgeous colour, will have children asking for the story again and again.

Ten-year-old Sandy's childhood ends when his mother sells him to a farmer who half-starves and beats him. Sandy's life as a 'bonder' is unbearable. He runs away home but his mother makes him return- to another beating.So he runs away for good, away from the farm and from home.Alone on the road, penniless, Sandy is lucky to find friends: Spot and Patch, two drover's dogs, who are making their way home all by themselves.With no idea where they are going, Sandy joins them, following them across Scotland, through a wild landscape of loch and mountain, to the Hebridean island of Mull in the West.When the dogs lead him to their croft, Sandy's deepest wish seems to have come true: he, too, has found a loving home.He is happier at Lachlan's croft than he thought he could be, until someone spitefully tells him that he is not liked or wanted there at all. Unwelcome, he takes to the road again. But without his four-legged friends. Will he go through his whole life friendless and lonely? Susan Price is an acclaimed writer of books for the young. She has won the Carnegie medal and the Guardian Fiction prize and her books have been translated into many languages.

Create a fond memory of parent and child, cuddling together and giggling as they turn the pages of 'Three Billy Goats Gruff.'Susan Price, who wrote the words, is a well-known writer for children and young people, who won the prestigious Carnegie medal for her work. Andrew Price is an accomplished graphic artist who provides illustrations full of humour, colour and character.This well-known, traditional story of 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' tells how the goats outwit a troll and live to feast on the greener grass at the other side of the bridge.Each page is packed with detail. It's told in a vivid, comic-book style, with sound-effects arching across pages and the words in many speech-bubbles begging to be shouted aloud. Plenty of opportunity to enjoy making a noise together The text is short, but full of repeated phrases and rhymes. Children will soon be able to join in the telling, as well as learning to recognise many of the printed words.Early prowess in reading pays dividends throughout a child's education: and learning to listen to and follow a story is a valuable skill in itself. Encouraging a love of stories and reading is perhaps the greatest boost a parent can give to their child's education - as well as the opportunity to be close and enjoy the tale.If you and your child love reading funny, exciting, page-turning picture-books together, then you'll both love Susan and Andrew Price's fresh retelling of 'Three Billy Goats Gruff.'Buy 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' by Susan and Andrew Price for cuddles and giggles today There's also a Three Billy Goats' Activity Book where children can colour in the pictures and help Little Goat fill in words and letters missing from the story. Very good for reading and writing practice

Little Billy Goat Gruff says, "Some of our words and letters have fallen out of our book The color has been lost too Please, can you help us? Color us in again and put all our words back together. Thanks This activity book accompanies the retelling, by Carnegie Medal winning author Susan Price, of the old favourite 'Three Billy Goats Gruff.'First, enjoy reading the story, with its funny illustrations and repeated phrases.Then open this book and color-in the illustrations - and see if you can help the goats by filling in the missing words and letters.While small people will enjoy being read the story and coloring-in large letters spelling 'Eat him ' they won't appreciate, as bigger people do, how much they're learning.Learning to listen and absorbing the pattern of stories is highly educational. Listening is a learned skill, and these old stories teach empathy as they increase vocabulary.Closely observing the shape and grouping of letters in order to copy them into the blank spaces - with loving help from adults, of course - prepares children for both reading and writing. It makes children comfortable with books and pens, while the repetition of the task helps them memorise letters and spellings.Research* has shown that children who are read stories at home before starting school, and who are encouraged to draw and color-in and do such simple 'missing word' exercises, start school with the equivalent of two years advantage in education.* See the work of Dr. David Rose.

Under a freezing Arctic sky, a wolf carries a baby to a remote village.Taken in by the villagers and named 'Vulchanok' or 'Little Wolf', the lost baby grows into a happy little boy.But night after night, his dreams are walked by his rescuer, the wolf-witch. She leads him to the Ghost World and makes him a shaman.The villagers begin to fear him and he grows into a lonely man -- until a young wolf-witch comes from the forest and claims him as her mate.But Vulchanok longs for more human company and, by firelight, looks for visions in the spinning of an ice-apple.In a distant city he sees a lovely girl as lonely as himself, imprisoned in a small room. Shrugging on his falcon skin, he flies to find her.When a falcon drums its wings against her window, Kristiana opens it -- and is astonished when the hawk lights on the floor and turns into a man. She and Vulchanok are soon in love.But Kristiana's brother, Glev, will never allow her to marry a dirty northern huntsman -- and Vulchanok's wolf-wife is fiercely jealous.Can the lovers survive the hatred and jealousy surrounding them?A Gothic RomanceBook 4 of the Ghost World sequence

Why does Ivar's family always send him away at Christmas?Why are they so poor, when they work so hard? What is the black cat's secret? Ivar is determined to discover the truth - but soon finds himself in terrible danger. A lively, slightly scary tale for Christmas and New Year, based on a traditional fairy-story and retold by Carnegie medal-winning writer Susan Price with atmospheric illustrations by Andrew Price. Originally published by A&C Black, this is an excellent gift for Christmas' quieter moments.