Jana Hunter – författare

Far, far away, in deep, dark space, was a star. A tiny twinkle. But it was Star Boy’s home. Star Boy lived there all alone, with only his robot, Ace, for company. And although Ace was fun to play with, he was just a robot. For his birthday, all Star Boy wanted was a surprise – but how could a robot think of a surprise? This deceptively simple science fiction story explores ideas of friendship and understanding.Text type – A fantasy story.Pictures taken through the Space Girl’s viewer are featured on pages 22 and 23, showing views from her rocket and snap shots of the birthday party providing lots of speaking and listening opportunities.Curriculum links – Citizenship: Taking part, Developing skills of communication and participation.This story is paired with a non-fiction book on a similar theme: Let’s go to Mars by Janice Marriott.This book has been levelled for Reading Recovery.This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

The Pet Detective faces a special challenge when Kara’s pet tortoise, Rocket, goes missing. Has the tortoise been squashed on a motorway? Eaten by a hungry goat? Chewed up by a dog? The Pet Detective follows the clues to find out what’s happened. Purple/ Band 8 books offer developing readers literary language, with some challenging vocabulary.Text type – A story by the same author.A final double page spread shows all the things a Pet Detective needs on a case to support recapping the story.Curriculum links – Science: Plants and animals in the local environment.Tortoise Trouble is one of two stories by Jana Hunter about the Pet DetectiveThis book has been levelled for Reading Recovery.This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

The Pet Detective has his work cut out when his favourite football goes missing. With his dog, Rooney, he sets out to follow the clues; an open window; a missing football; a dirty big footprint; a bubblegum wrapper and a rustle in the bushes. It isn’t long before the Pet Detective has located the culprit. Gold/Band 9 fiction books offer developing readers literary language and stories with distinctive characters.Text type – A story by the same author.A storyboard on pages 22 and 23 provides an opportunity for children to retell the story in their own words.Curriculum links – Citizenship: Animals and us.Tortoise Trouble is another Pet Detective story by Jana Hunter in the Collins Big Cat series.This book has been levelled for Reading Recovery.This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.