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.

September 1666. Grace and her brother Simon are on their way to London to claim their inheritance. As a great fire breaks out, Simon is kidnapped. Can Grace rescue her brother and escape the flames?

Sapphire/Band 16 books offer longer reads to develop children’s sustained engagement with texts and are more complex syntactically.

Text type: A story with a historical setting

Ideas for reading in the back of the book provide practical support and stimulating activities.

On Sunday 2nd September 1666, a spark in a baker’s shop ignited one of the most famous fires in history, the Great Fire of London. David Macphail wrote this story because he loves history and is interested in how people used to live and how children would experience such an important historical event.