When I first graduated and set out to inspire children to not just learn to read but to be 'readies'—devouring books like chocolate—I was told by the head teacher not to use a 'scheme' and simply immerse children in rich literature. I wasn't prepared to leave such an important skill to chance, so I ignored her wishes. As teachers, we often have to do this—they are in our care, and we care! Almost all my students were readers by the time they moved up to Year 1, in stark contrast to the children in the other infants' class.

When I started to develop my own 'linguistic' phonics approach in Australia, I knew when children were ready for more than just decodable books aligned with phonics. However, I couldn't find a series that would inspire children to engage in stories. Having had such success with "The Village with Three Corners," I set out on a mission to make The Reading Hut Ltd the proud publishers of this series, bringing it back into the hands of budding readers. My persistence paid off.

Please do reach out if you can help me get these books into libraries for free access to all children. It costs a lot to print, but libraries can stock them!
Emma Hartnell-Baker Support@TheReadingHut.com