The award winning Usborne First Reading series has been developed to offer the best possible support for teaching children to read, both in schools and at home. The series is based on the principles of synthetic phonics but also provides effective support for non-phonics-based programs. Inspired rhyming stories on themes children love, including ships and sailors, magic and mix-ups, exploration and adventure, not to mention animals and pets (some distinctly spooky ones!). Superb artwork by world-class illustrators in a brilliant range of styles. First Reading Level 1 titles are designed to be the first real books a beginner reader will tackle, with very light support from an adult. Each book has a single story with six pages of reading-related puzzles.