Diane was born and educated in Lancashire. Her interest in children's books began when she used them to teach English in language schools in Italy. She returned to live in Cambridge, where she taught multi-cultural education before working as a radio and TV presenter. Diane has also been involved in script writing for TV and the stage. She was asked to write The Journey of Odysseus for a Children's Theatre, which gave her the inspiration to delve deeper into the world of the Ancient Greeks.
Interest Age:
7
Category:
Language
Strand:
Arabic
Collins Arabic Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 3 to 11. The series is structured with reference to the learning progression of Arabic at nursery and primary schools researched especially for Collins. This carefully graded approach allows children to build up their reading knowledge of Arabic step by step. Level 12 books feature greater use of literary language and more unusual and challenging vocabulary. Play scripts also feature from Level 12. Non-fiction titles contain longer, more formal sentences and a wide range of unfamiliar terms. Sentences become longer with greater use of conjunctions and relative clauses. Grammatical vowel endings are more evident to encourage fluent reading and to provide familiarity with some higher-level features of written Arabic. Peter's grandfather told him not to play in the meadow but it's his favourite place to play, why should he be afraid of a wolf? Diane Redmond presents a comic retelling of a well-loved tale. A poster on pages 22 and 23 recaps on elements of Peter's character, around which children can discuss the story.