This title presents seven new titles in the award winning Very First Reading series, designed for children who are learning to read. It is based on the principles of synthetic phonics as recommended by the DCSF (now DfE)'s 2006 Rose Report on the Teaching of Early Reading. Most schools now incorporate phonics in teaching beginner readers. It includes inspired rhyming stories on themes children love, including ships and sailors, magic and mix-ups, exploration and adventure, not to mention animals and pets (some distinctly spooky ones!). It contains superb artwork by world-class illustrators in a brilliant range of styles. It is designed for a child to read together with an adult, with the child taking a greater share of the story in each book to achieve confident, independent reading. It provides stories followed by fun puzzles to test comprehension and provide further practice. It gives guidance notes for parents in each book, with further extensive support for parents and teachers on the Usborne Quicklinks Website.