Böcker i Collins Big Cat-serien

The photographs and text in this non-fiction picture book combine to give an account of a child getting ready to go out skateboarding. The book presents a glimpse of what makes this exhilarating activity so popular.

What happens when Mum is in the garden tidying up, but thechildren just want to play? This simple, humorous story book shows two boys creating mayhem while Mum works on, unaware. It explores the different places they find to play, from the tent, to the sandpit, through the grass, the leaves and the mud before finally ending up in the bath.

This simple picture book with a familiar theme, looks at the different thigns that a family take on a picnic; the rug, the basket, the sandwiches, the cakes and the drinks. The scene is set for a perfect picnic, until the wasps arrive!

What's inside a nut? What's inside a pod? What's inside you and me? The clear photos in this book will show children what's inside all sorts of things, from a pea inside a peapod to the skeletons inside us.

It's a lovely day for walking in the park. Before long the dog is chasing a duck through the mud, and dragging its owner into mud and a pond. The dog is taken home, shakes water all over the car and Dad, and at home gets hosed down in the garden - along with poor Dad!

Who ate the cake? Tec the detective follows the crumbs to find out. Children follow Tec as he trails his suspects, until he finds the vital clue that leads him to the guilty party! Martin Chatterton's colourful illustrations bring the characters of Tec and his faithful hound vividly to life, and provide lots of talking points throughout the story.

This captivating non-fiction book compares pet cats and wild cats, pointing out the features common to both. Each spread consists of a beautifully illustrated and labelled feature of a domestic cat on the left, and a high quality photograph of the corresponding feature in a wild cat on the right.

In this simple non-fiction report we are introduced to the various creatures in a typical pond: frogs, snails, dragonflies, pond-skaters, fish and birds. Each spread features a high quality photograph of the creature on the left, and artwork of pupils and their teacher studying the animals in their natural habitat on the right.

'It is dark in the park. It is dark in the street.' This superb patterned non-fiction text uses atmospheric illustrations to show what happens in the neighbourhood when it is dark. Who can be found in the city streets when children are tucked up in bed? Which animals prowl in the wood by the light of the moon?

Hippo wants to play on the see-saw. But who will play with him? In this humorous story a hippo wants to go on a see-saw, but no other animal is heavy enough to get hippo off the ground. It takes a group of animals to do it - and in the end, it is a tiny mouse that makes the difference.

Bill went for a walk. He went over a river, up a hill and into a wood and behind a waterfall. A few steps behing Bill, however, is a hungry bear with an eye on Bill's sandwiches. The bear's attempts to grab the sandwiches are foiled be a variety of minor disasters.

A young monster is getting everything she needs to take a dip: a boat, a toy shark, armbands, goggles, flippers. Once everything is to hand she is ready... to take a bath! The vividly drawn artwork shows each step of the monster's careful preparations, offering lots of discussion points: is she going for a swim in a pool? In the sea?

Gran has sent an exciting birthday present but how long will Woody have to wait for his gift, a model house, to be built? The new flatpack toy presents Woody's family with a challenge but as the days go by, Woody has an idea of his own. Who needs a kit to build a house when the gift comes in a box large enough to design a house of your own?

In this non-fiction recount of a family trip to the dump, simple text combined with Ley Honor Roberts lively and inimitable cartoon-photo collage style brings environmental issues to life. The family's journey around the dump shows how different materials are sorted into different containers, ready for recycling.

What do you like to eat? This non-fiction recount features several children answering the question over the course of a day. It features different types of food using photographs, labels, speech bubbles and a clock face showing when different meals are typically eaten.

Mole sets out to see the wind. He asks every animal he meets if they see the wind and they all say no. The illustrations tell a different story: windswept trees, blowing leaves and litter show that the wind is actually blowing, though invisible to them.

A simple non-fiction book that shows where people shop for shoes, food and other things. Photographs show children role-playing in different types of shops while illustrations show typical examples of such shops.

It's midnight, and the guinea pigs are not in their cage! In this humorous story, two guinea pigs stray from their cage to a park before returning home again in time for breakfast. Their night-time adventure is told through a series of illustrations with very simple repetitive text.

Bill longs for someone to talk to. Then one day the door to his room opens and...a giant bottom comes in! Legs, arms, chest follow as bit by bit, Bill's new giant friend appears. When his friend's last bit finally arrives and he is in one piece, they have plenty to talk about!

Collins Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 4-7 edited by Cliff Moon. Top children's authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that your children will love to read, banded to help you choose the right book for every child. Practical ideas for guided reading are included at the back of each book.

Collins' celebrity gardening author demonstrates with her son, Harry, how to make a garden, step-by-step, in an old wheelbarrow. The book has instructions and wonderful photographs demonstrating the steps involved in making a garden.

Mona the goat's brother is good at jumping. Mona's sister is good at leaping. Mona is good at growing sunflowers. But when she meets a big, fierce lion, Mona finds out she's good at something else too! A humorous fantasy story by renowned childrens' author Vivian French.

Can you imagine a world with whales that could walk and giant earth moles? They both lived on Earth long ago and their relatives still live here today. Explore the terrifying, giant, strange ancestors of everyday creatures, in this captivating information text, illustrated with realistic imagery from Jon Stuart.

This story with a familiar setting is about Lenny's family who go to the local park to fly his new kite. Lenny takes great care to hold on to his kite, but then Mum has a turn. She holds on tightly too, but trips over the dog, and falls into the pond. The other children try to help, so they all arrive home soaking wet and muddy!

A rhyming text about three funny fish and scary-looking big fish with very sharp teeth. Two of the funny fish are brightly coloured but vane, while the third funny fish is brown. The big fish comes along and eats the two brightly coloured fish, but the dull brown one is able to hide safely among the stones on the sea bed!

'I want a pet! I want a pet! I hope I like the pet I get!'When a boy goes to the Strange Pet Shop to find a pet, there's no knowing what he'll find there. He is very particular, and nothing at the Strange Pet Shop suits him until, at last the perfect pet comes bounding through the door!

This non-fiction book is a report on the different types of fruit the children like to eat. Labelled mouth-watering photographs of melons, oranges, strawberries growing in their natural environment are accompanied by simple captions.

Find out what happens to the little egg in this patterned story, filled with colourful illustrations by Shoo Rayner.

This simple non-fiction book introduces and explores the circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, stars and hexagons which can be found in everyday objects. Each labelled shape is accompanied by a photograph showing the shape in an environmental context, for example a rectangular brick in a wall or a hexagon in a honeycomb.

Red and yellow make orange, blue and yellow make green, but what do three polar bears, lots of fun, and three pots of paint make? A mess! This is a delightful book on colour, illustrated by Smarties Book Award winner Liz Pichon.