Crime

This is a series of books on popular non-fiction topics. Each book includes an illustrated non-fiction section, followed by a fiction story based upon the topic. The story appears in two formats - one with simple texts for poor or reluctant readers; the facing pages contain an illustrated 'speech bubble' version of the same story, for those who are just starting to read. The series will appeal to older children and younger adults, particularly boys, either with an extremely low level of literacy or learning English as a second language. The vocabulary in each story is carefully limited, with simple sentences and the use of repetition to reinforce reading skills. The parallel versions of the fiction text are ideal for 'buddy' readers - i.e. for weaker and stronger children to read together.