Hooked!

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. Levelled for guided and independent reading, each book includes ideas to support reading. Teaching and assessment support and eBooks are also available.

Alyssa loves her laptop. She’d stay on it all day if she could. Unfortunately, her family has other ideas. Can Alyssa cope without screens for a whole week, and reconnect with her family?

Ruby/Band 14 books give increasing opportunities for children to develop their skills of inference and deduction.

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.

When Jo Cotterill was a child, she was obsessed with books. When her reading was interrupted, she was grumpy and uncooperative! Now that she has children of her own, she battles regularly with the lure of the phone and tablet. Digital screens are part of children’s lives, both in school and out of it, and it’s important to teach children healthy ways of using technology so that they don’t become socially isolated. Research shows that if you feel disconnected from society, you are more likely to be drawn to addictive behaviours. Jo tries to put down her own phone when she’s with her children – it’s important to lead by example!

Jo Cotterill is a multi-award-winning author best known for her superhero series Electrigirl and the critically acclaimed A Library of Lemons. With her background in drama, music and teaching, Jo loves visiting schools and appearing at festivals to enthuse to children and young people about books and the importance of imagination and connection. She also works as a consultant with the organisation EmpathyLab, developing empathy-based literacy activities that can be used in schools and libraries.