Drive Into Danger

"Where's Gary?" says Mark. "He isn't usually late. The truck is ready. Everybody's waiting."

Drive into Danger is a book in the Oxford Bookworms series. It is at Starter level, so it is very easy to read. But the story is quite exciting! Gary Slater, the driver, has a mysterious injury one day, so Kim (who has a truck driver's licence) and Andy (who speaks French) offer to take some tables to France in his place. But what they don't know is what other kind of cargo the truck is carrying!

Dead Man's Money

"We want the money, Cal. Eddie's money."
"What? Who's Eddie?

Dead Man's Money is an Oxford Bookworms Starter, written for learners who know only about 250 words. It's written as a cartoon and is very easy to understand, but also very entertaining. It's about 3 bank robbers in the 1930s, one of whom dies. The other two want to recover his share of the money, but some other people are also interested in the money.

As you may know, the 1930s in America is famous for the Great Depression. Poverty meant that there were many people who turned to crime. The bank robbers in the story were some of those people. Others were Bonny & Clyde, whom you can see in a Hollywood movie.

listen to ‘Dead Man's Money’ on Audioboo

Perseus (Dominoes Quick Starter)

Perseus is the son of Danae, Princess of Argos, and the god Zeus. He is sent by Polydectes to bring back the head of Medusa, a she-monster with snakes for hair.

Can Perseus find and kill Medusa? And what happens after he goes back to Seriphos?

I like Greek myths, and there are so many of them that I don't know well. I recommend this book to all of you!

Alissa (Macmillan Readers)

Alissa

Suddenly the woman shouts at Alissa. "You aren't going to read here," she shouts. "You're going to cook and clean and wash."… Alissa is very unhappy. She cries every night.

This story is probably set in Latin American or South America. It's about a girl who is sold into slavery. But something good happens to her in the end.

Moore, C.J. (2005). Alissa. Oxford, UK: Macmillan Heinemann ELT.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Faye waits for the next bus. She waits and waits. There is no bus. "Where's the bus?" thinks Faye. Faye does not see a car. The car goes into the water. Now she is very, very wet.

Rain, Rain, Rain! is a Level 1 book in the Foundations Reading Library. It's about Faye, who is late for school because of problems with buses and trains. But there's a surprise waiting for her at school!

Waring, Rob and Jamall, Maurice. (2006). Rain, Rain, Rain! Boston, MA: Thomson ELT.

The Nightingale (FFT)

At the palace, the nightingale sang and sang. The king loved the music so much that he cried. "I will buy you a fancy cage so you can sing for me always," he said.

So he did.

By and by, a present came from the king of Japan. Inside was a toy nightingale. It was made of gold and covered with jewels.

The toy nightingale makes the king forget what is really important!

The Elves and the Shoemaker (FFT)

"Two elves have been making the shoes!" said the shoemaker.
"Did you see their tattered clothes? Let's make them some new ones to say thank you," said his wife.
All day, the shoemaker and his wife worked and worked. She made two tiny outfits. He made two tiny pairs of shoes.

The Elves and the Shoemaker tells the story of a shoemaker and his wife who are helped by two elves.

Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees

Henry suddenly felt nervous. So many relatives! What would they say? Would they be nice? Would they be friendly? Would they understand dog drool? Henry and Mudge got out of the car. Henry felt very shy.

Henry and Mudge have received an invitation to Cousin Annie's house. Henry and Mudge both like Cousin Annie very much so they are looking forward to the visit. But when they get there, there are so many people that they feel nervous. How does the visit go? Read Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees to find out!

Rylant, Cynthia. (1997). Henry and Mudge in the family trees. New York: Simon Spotlight.

Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend

"Let's make a castle," said Henry's mother. "A castle?" said Henry and Henry's father. "We still have the box the new refrigerator came in, and the box the new stove came in."

In this way, a long, rainy, boring weekend changes into an exciting one where Henry hardly has time to eat. Do they manage to make a castle, and what does it look like? What does Mudge do while they are making the castle? Find out the answers to all these questions and more, in Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend! This is the eleventh book of the adventures of Henry and Mudge. Look for the others!

Rylant, Cynthia. (1992). Henry and Mudge and the long weekend. New York, NY: Simon Spotlight.

The Jigsaw Puzzle

"Tell us where he is!" they shouted. The children were frightened, but they didn't say anything.
The soldiers looked everywhere, but they couldn't find Edmund's father. One of the soldiers found a sword.
"His sword is here," he said, "so he must be here somewhere."

The Jigsaw puzzle is a Stage 7 story in the Oxford Reading Tree series. This series is very popular in British primary schools. The Jigsaw Puzzle is probably set in the 17th century, and it features a king or other nobleman hiding and soldiers hunting him. Fortunately, the children come up with some good ideas to help the nobleman who is hiding.

Hunt, Roderick, and Brychta, Alex. (2003). The jigsaw puzzle. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

118 words

The Motorway (Oxford Reading Tree Stage 7)

Soon, big lorries and bulldozers came to the village. Nobody wanted the motorway. Everyone wanted to stop it, but the bulldozers began to dig.
Gran looked at the bulldozers.
"The motorway will spoil the countryside," she said. "Now we won't be able to walk in the woods and go on picnics."

The Motorway tells the story of Gran's fight against a motorway scheduled to be built through her village. Everyone is against the motorway but no-one has a good way of fighting against it. Everyone says that it has to be built somewhere. But Gran has an idea based on the kinds of flowers that can be found in the village.

Hunt, Roderick, and Brychta, Alex. (2003). The Motorway. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

BR 1-02: The Little Red Hen

"Who will help me plant the wheat?" "Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the duck. "Not I," said the rat."…"Who will help me eat the bread?" said the little red hen. The cat, the duck and the rat jumped up.…"I'll eat the bread."

The Little Red Hen is an old folktale, probably from Russia. It points out that many people are unwilling to work, but they want to share in the benefits of others' hard work.

This book is in the Usborne First Reading series (level 3) so the sentences are very short and it is very easy to read. Repetition of the key phrases makes it very rhythmic and even easier to read.


Davidson, Susanna. (2006). The little red hen. London, UK: Usborne.

BR 1-01: Pinocchio

All of a sudden, the puppets stopped acting and stared into the crowd. "Another puppet!" they cried. "Come up and join us." Pinocchio was dragged on stage and surrounded by puppets. They chattered about this and that and completely forgot their show… Then a scary man stormed onto the stage and everyone fell silent…He grabbed the puppets and marched them off.

What will happen to Pinocchio? Will be be saved from burning?

Pinocchio, Usborne Young Reading

Probably everyone knows the story of Pinocchio, probably from the Disney movie. The story was written by Carlo Collodi (1826–1890), an Italian writer. This version is in the Usborne Young Reading series. It's a Level 2 book, so it is fairly long (more than 60 pages) but easy to read. Pinocchio has many, many adventures, which you may not remember if you only saw the movie as a child. Here are some of the chapter titles:

• Fire!
• The fox and the cat
• Meeting a fairy
• The field of miracles
• Toyland
• Inside the shark 

I highly recommend that you borrow this book!

Collodi, Carlo. (2004). Pinocchio. London, UK: Usborne.

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