Penguin Readers & Pearson English Readers (1200 headwords)

Precious Ramotswe is the only female private detective in Botswana. Her agency – the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – is the best in the country. She solves a number of difficult - and sometimes dangerous - problems. A missing husband, a missing finger and a missing child – she will solve these mysteries in her own special way.

Katrina Kirby is a detective. People call her ‘K’. There has been a murder in a big country house. ‘K’ knows that one of five people murdered Sir Michael Gray. Who did it? How? Why? This is a detective story with a difference: ‘K’ needs your help with her case.

For a number of years, William plays a game with a ghost before he goes to sleep. The ghost is a poltergeist that William calls ‘Poldy’. At the beginning William and Poldy play a friendly game every night, but then the game begins to change. It becomes a dangerous game. Who will win?

Has Mrs Brown killed Granny on the beach? Why does Mrs Hill want to leave her husband? Who wants to steal the Professor’s invention? And what is little Johnny trying to say? Discover the answers when you read the plays in this book. They are plays about ordinary people and the unusual, often funny, things that happen to them.

Mark Twain is one of America’s most famous and best-loved writers. He wrote about every important subject of his time. Twain’s stories are usually amusing but with a serious message too. You will read about people’s hopes and fears, happiness and terrible sadness—and wonderful practical jokes!

It is 1839. The slave ship, Amistad, is carrying African slaves to America. There is a bloody fight on the ship, and the Africans are free. But soon they are in prison in the US. Must they return to their ‘owners’, or are they free people?

A young woman comes to a big house to teach two young children. It’s her first job and she wants to do it well. But she begins to see strange things – the ghosts of dead people. Do the ghosts want the children?

In 1891, the great detective, Sherlock Holmes, disappeared in Switzerland while working on a dangerous case. Everyone thought that he was dead. But three years later, he returned to England. Holmes and his friend, Dr Watson, had many more adventures together. Three of his most interesting cases are in this book. British English

‘It was the seventh day of the storm. We didn’t know where we were. Everyone on the ship believed that death was very near.’ The Robinson family do not die at sea; they find their way to a small island. But what can they do now? Where will they live? What will they eat? Luckily, the father and their mother have useful skills and they can teach their four young sons. But how long will they be there, on the island?

Are you brave enough to read four of Poe’s famous horror stories? Edgar Allan Poe wrote strange stories about terrible people and evil crimes. Don’t read this book late at night!

‘We’ll give a free dinner to the person who tells the best story. Now, put up your hands if you agree.’ The pilgrims all held up their hands. A group of pilgrims are travelling together for five days from London to Canterbury. On the way, each pilgrim has to tell a story to keep the others amused. Some stories are happy, and some are sad. But they all have a message, and we can learn from them.

David Copperfield’s happy life suddenly changes when his mother marries again. Her new husband is cruel to him and sends him away to school. When David’s mother dies, he is sent to work in London. He hates his job so he runs away. He has no money for food or for travelling. But it is the beginning of his life of adventure.