Monthly Archives: July 2016

Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider will really understand and appreciate Iain McLaughlin's new title, The First Martian.

Lucas Wilson is the only person in his class, the only person in his school, the only person in the world, to have been born on Mars. His parents were astronauts sent on the first extended mission to Mars. Lucas was born there. His family had to wait ten years before they could come home as he wasn't strong enough to make the journey.

Even after a couple of years back on Earth, he is clearly different to everyone else, he stands out. He has to wear a special suit in order to get around under Earth's gravity. His two best friends are the only people who don't treat him like an outsider.

Following the success of Badger Learning's previous Teen Reads series, The First Martian is just one of 10 brilliant titles in Teen Reads V. With a reading age of 8-9 and the look and feel of a real book, these hi-lo titles are perfect for struggling readers

This September join The League of Enchanted Heroes as they support and cheer on their colleague, Tom Thumb, as he competes for a wrestling medal in the Anotherland Olympics!

How will the team react when they discover Toms Thumb's opponent, Rumpelstiltskin, is planning on cheating his way to the gold medal?

Reluctant readers all over the land will be enthralled with Tim Collins' amusing new series, The League of Enchanted Heroes. Golden Glory and the other seven titles, all feature an introduction to the characters, a vocabulary page to highlight any difficult words and questions at the back of the book to help aid comprehension.

The full colour illustrations by James Lawrence feature on alternate pages and help to keep the reader's attention and bring the story to life.

Each title has a word count of 750 and has been specifically written for 9-12 year olds with a reading age of 6-7, but will be equally enjoyed by their peers and adults!

A Giant has got through to the real world and is on the attack. For the first time The League of Enchanted Heroes is called to our world to battle.

As they adapt to this strange land of cars, shops and dogs they prepare to do what they do best, but wait, what's happened to their powers?

Giant Problem is one of eight humorous, light-hearted stories for struggling readers that have been specifically written for children aged 9-12 but who have a reading age of 6-7.

With a balanced combination of a low word count and imaginative plots, each title, written by Tim Collins, will capture reluctant readers' attention and draw them in to a story they can realistically comprehend.

James Lawrence's amazing illustrations really reward and encourage the reader to keep turning the pages too.

This September treat your pupils, and yourself, to these fantastic titles and follow the adventures of Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack (of beanstalk fame), Tom Thumb and Hansel

Everyone thinks Ella has the perfect life. A big house, the perfect mother. But it's all just one big fat lie.

If anyone knew the life she lived it would mean disaster for Ella and her mum. So the lies go on.

But her mum is getting sicker. Ella is torn. She can't tell anyone the truth. But she can't cope either.

This latest instalment of Teen Reads touches on the reality of challenging personal circumstances such as being a young carer for someone you love. Living the Lie, written by Ann Evans, depicts the fear and anguish suffered by keeping such a huge responsibility a secret.

With a word count of 7,000 and a reading age of 8-9, Living the Lie is an accessible read for your struggling readers. With the look and feel of a real book and appealing covers, all ten books in Teen Reads V will be an asset to any school library.

Things got a whole lot better when Ella got thin. People noticed her. She made new friends. Life was good. She wanted it to stay that way. She exercised. She took control of her diet.

Or did her diet take control of her?

How thin is too thin? Cheryl Lanyon's debut Teen Read for Badger Learning fearlessly tackles an incredibly sensitive and serious issue: eating disorders, and more specifically, anorexia.

Vanishing Point follows Ella as she tries to navigate teenage life plagued by a dangerous mental illness manifesting as the 'Voice'. The story intersperses diary entries with a third person narrative, illustrating the warped perspective that eating disorders can create.

As with all our Teen Reads, Vanishing Point is appropriate for less able teenage readers who are reading at a level of about 8-9 years. The spaced-out paragraphs and simple sentence structure help to draw reluctant readers into the story while the inviting and modern covers entice them to

All kinds of perils befall our league of fairy tale heroes in Castle Capture, not least a spot of post-traumatic stress disorder for Hansel when their adventure takes them to a gingerbread castle.

Will Hansel be able to put the memories aside long enough to rescue the children trapped inside the castle? There's only one way to find out!

This fun and light-hearted series, though free to be enjoyed by all, is primarily aimed at reluctant readers who might require a reading level lower than their actual age of 9-12. The books are heavily illustrated with text and images on alternate pages, and the total word count is no more than 750.

The books are carefully designed to have the look and feel of a 'real' book, so as to be appealing to the reader but also accessible and inclusive. Readers are therefore drawn in to stories that they can realistically comprehend, providing confidence for the future and fostering an enjoyment of reading.

And the magical storylines

I have been asked to write a little something about our exciting new poster pack. Now seems a very good time to climb to the very top of Badger Towers to shout out across this land that now, more than ever, should be a time to embrace and celebrate our differences. We have many poster packs that celebrate people that can be seen as role models for our younger generations to admire, and more importantly, to learn from.