Press Kit

The Dragon in the Sewer

released: March 26, 2024

ISBN: 978-0008647599

summary

A girl and her friend discover a dragon living in the city.

Available in the UK 8 January 2024.

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.

Emerald/Band 15 books provide a widening range of genres including science fiction and biography, prompting more ways to respond to texts.

On the way to the library with Mum, Ava finds a dragon in the sewer beneath the city. Can she use the breathing techniques her doctor taught her to help the young dragon control its fire-breath?

Pages 46 and 47 allow children to re-visit the content of the book, supporting comprehension skills, vocabulary development and recall.

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

For more information about this book visit the book's page here.

No Matter the Distance

released: February 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0062665898

summary

An unexpected animal companion helps a girl with cystic fibrosis learn to write her own story in this captivating novel in verse by award-winning author and disabled activist Cindy Baldwin.

Penny Rooney has cystic fibrosis, which means she has to do breathing treatments to help her lungs work. Some days, it seems like her CF is the only thing Penny knows about herself for sure.

From her point of view, everyone around her can make sense of their place in the world. So why can’t Penny even begin to write a poem about herself for school?

Then during spring break Penny spots something impossible in the creek behind her house: a dolphin, far from its home. Penny names the dolphin Rose and feels an immediate bond, since the dolphin is also sick.

But as Penny’s CF worsens, she realizes that Rose needs to return to her pod to get better. Will Penny be able to help guide Rose back to the ocean, even if it means losing her friend?

This heartwarming story, which marks the first time an author with cystic fibrosis is writing a protagonist with CF, will transport readers into a world full of friendship, family, and powerful self-discovery.

For more information about this book visit the book's page here.

The Stars of Whistling Ridge

released: June 15, 2021

ISBN: 978-0063006416

summary

In this new novel from the Indies Introduce author of WHERE THE WATERMELONS GROW and BEGINNERS WELCOME, an almost-thirteen-year-old with an almost-complete sentence for a name embraces her destiny to search for a forever home.

Ivy Mae Bloom, whose name is one letter away from a complete sentence, has lived her entire life on the road. Her mama is a fallen star who travels near and far to tend to the magic that underpins our world. When Ivy steals Mama’s entire supply of wish jars in the hopes of finding a forever home, a series of disasters strands the Blooms in Whistling Ridge, North Carolina, with Mama’s two star sisters. Ivy knows her wish has been granted and that Whistling Ridge is her forever home—she just needs to convince her parents to stay.

But something is draining the magic from Whistling Ridge, and the star sisters can’t stop it. With help from some new friends, Ivy stumbles across a clue in the town’s history that might explain the mysterious force threatening Whistling Ridge . . . but if the town’s magic is healed, Mama will want to move on. Ivy must choose: Can she help her mama and aunts lift Whistling Ridge’s curse—even if it means losing the only place she’s ever called home?

From award-winning author Cindy Baldwin comes an enchanting story about magic, family, and the meaning of home.

For more information about this book visit the book's page here.

Beginners Welcome

released: February 11, 2020

ISBN: 978-0062665898

summary

A heartfelt novel from WHERE THE WATERMELONS GROW author Cindy Baldwin about a young girl’s journey to hope and healing after a tragic loss.

It’s been eighty-three days since Annie Lee’s daddy died, but she still sees reminders of him everywhere. Like in the bathroom sink, where his whiskers appear in the morning along with the scent of his aftershave. His record player mysteriously plays his favorite songs, and the TV keeps turning to the Duke basketball games he loved. She knows Mama notices it, too, but Mama’s been working around the clock to make ends meet. To make matters worse, Annie Lee’s friends ditched her over the summer, so she’s feeling completely alone—until she meets Mitch. Though Mitch is tough and confident on the outside, she may need a friend just as badly as Annie Lee. But after losing so much, Annie Lee is afraid to let anyone get too close.

Mitch isn’t the only friend trying to break through Annie Lee’s defenses. Ray, an elderly pianist who plays at a local mall, has been giving her piano lessons. His music is pure magic, and Annie Lee hopes it might be the key to healing her broken heart. But when Ray goes missing, searching for him means breaking a promise to Mitch. Faced with once again losing those who mean the most to her, Annie Lee must make a choice: retreat back into her shell, or risk admitting how much she needs Mitch and Ray—even if it means getting hurt all over again.

For more information about this book visit the book's page here.

Where the Watermelons Grow

released: July 3, 2018

ISBN: 978-0062665867

summary

Fans of THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH and A SNICKER OF MAGIC will be swept away by Cindy Baldwin’s debut middle grade about a girl coming to terms with her mother’s mental illness.

Twelve-year-old Della Kelly has lived her whole life in Maryville, North Carolina. She knows how to pick the softest butter beans and sweetest watermelons on her daddy’s farm. She knows ways to keep her spitfire baby sister out of trouble (most of the time). She knows everyone in Maryville, from her best friend Arden to kind newcomer Miss Lorena to the mysterious Bee Lady.

And Della knows what to do when the sickness that landed her mama in the hospital four years ago spirals out of control again, and Mama starts hearing people who aren’t there, scrubbing the kitchen floor until her hands are raw, and waking up at night to cut the black seeds from all the watermelons in the house. With Daddy struggling to save the farm from a record-breaking drought, Della decides it’s up to her to heal Mama for good. And she knows just how she’ll do it: with a jar of the Bee Lady’s magic honey, which has mended the wounds and woes of Maryville for generations.

She doesn’t want to hear the Bee Lady’s truth: that the solution might have less to do with fixing Mama’s brain than with healing Della’s own heart. But as the sweltering summer stretches on, Della must learn—with the help of her family and friends, plus a fingerful of watermelon honey—that love means accepting her mama just as she is.

For more information about this book visit the book's page here.