• Inspired by the tale of the Princess and the Pea, well-known children’s author Vivian French tells the story of Princess Sue who seeks a prince using a royal parsnip test!
• Blue/Band 4 books offer longer, repeated patterns with sequential events and integrated literary and natural language.
• Children can recap the stages that Sue had to go through to find her prince using the story map on pages 14–15.
• Text type: A retelling of a traditional tale
• Curriculum links: Literacy

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.