Book band: White Quizzed for Accelerated Reader Ideal for ages: 6+
This new series from Bloomsbury Education is geared at turning children into independent readers. Not only will the books give youngsters a boost into solo reading, they’ll also make it easier and more enjoyable for the adults helping children as they come with useful tips and notes. The books are short and divided into chapters thereby breaking the story into manageable chunks. The adventures are lively and fast-moving though told via short sentences and carefully chosen vocabulary: some words are highlighted in the Tips for Grown Ups section on the inside cover, so that children can learn them and their meanings. Full colour illustrations amplify the action and make the books really attractive to look at too. Written by favourite authors, these are well worth collecting and are just the thing for children ready for reading.
Alfie Takes Action: A Bloomsbury Young Reader Synopsis
Alfie the meerkat is fed up of doing what he's told. Life should be more than about digging holes and standing on guard duty. He wants adventure and excitement, not babysitting duty! So when a film crew for a nature programme arrives in the desert, Alfie decides to take action. Is this his chance to become a star? This show-stopping adventure from award-winning author Karen Wallace (author of the Alice the Anteater series) is perfect for children who are learning to read by themselves and for Key Stage 1. Features engaging illustrations by Ellie O'Shea and quirky characters young readers will find hard to resist.
Every child needs a Bloomsbury Young Reader. Fun, stretching, just the right length, full of adventurous vocabulary and punctuation, [with] tips to support the parent or carer at home or the teacher who needs inspiration at the end of a busy day. - Julie-Ann McCulloch, Specialist EAL Teacher, Stockport Local Authority
Author
About Karen Wallace
I was born in Canada and grew up in a log cabin in Quebec. My childhood was spent playing in the forests and messing about on the Gatineau River. It was a wonderful wild time and in many ways is the source of all of my writing. Children's writers are an eccentric bunch. Someone once said they never grow up and in many ways, this is probably true in my case. I write books for children from five to fifteen years old. The ability to recall how you felt and what your world was like at a particular point in your childhood is something that all children's writers share. It's like pushing a rewind switch and going back in time. Many of my natural history books for children, like THINK OF AN EEL, which won awards on both sides of the Atlantic, IMAGINE YOU ARE A TIGER, or I AM A TYRANNOSAURUS REX all reflect my own sense of wonder exploring the woods and the river around me when I was a child. Years later, I wrote about this childhood in my first novel RASPBERRIES ON THE YANGTZE, which was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize.
