Changes

Early readers are the stepping stones between picture books and 'real' books. They've still got plenty of pictures (very useful if you need the odd clue about a big word) but they've got more structure about them. Chapters give the emerging reader a sense of achievement and the end of a chapter is a useful point to aim for when you're just starting out. Above all , they're stories which appeal to the reader so that it's not 'something you have to do at school' but an activity you really look forward to. If children get that idea in the early years at school then they have a pleasure which will stay with them all their lives.

The stories are all beautifully told and are true to the original plots. Vocabulary is challenging, but appropriate and there are plenty of illustrations (also done by Sally Gardner) to make the pages turn faster and help with understanding the story. I read the book in hardback (the paperback version will be available in September 2013) and it would make a lovely present for an emerging reader.

If you are looking for a similar collection for a boy then we can recommend [[Horrid Henry's Fearsome Four by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross]]. If you're looking for more fairy tales then you might like to look at our [[Top Ten Retellings of Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales]]. You might also appreciate [[Flax the Feral Fairy (Little Horrors) by Tiffany Mandrake and Martin Chatterton]].