Follow the life of a little boy called Oliver as he goes from being a workhouse orphan to a life with a group of young pickpockets. Will he ever manage to escape his life of crime? This wonderful retelling of the classic Charles Dickens story was written by Hilary McKay.

This is a Band 11/Lime book in the Collins Big Cat reading programme which has longer sentence structures and a greater use of literary language. This is a retelling of a story by a significant author, and supports literacy learning around extended stories and significant authors. This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader. For more guided reading books in this Collins Big Cat band, try Wild Weather (9780007591282) by Chris Oxlade.

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. Book banded for guided and independent reading, there are reading notes in the back, comprehensive teaching and assessment support and ebooks available.

Collins Big Cat is a whole-school reading programme that provides complete support for primary reading. Children will become fluent readers through hundreds of high-quality fiction and non-fiction banded books by award-winning authors and illustrators. In-depth teaching resources support you in developing and assessing key reading skills at all stages from early reading through to phonics, to guided, whole-class and independent reading for more confident readers.