The National Literacy Strategy has helped us to raise standards for pupils with learning difficulties. The Inclusive Readers Series is designed to support teachers in this area by providing attractive, stimulating and appropriate reading materials for children with moderate or severe learning difficulties across the 7-11 age range. It includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and could help to support a multi-sensory approach to learning.

The Inclusive Readers Series aims to do more than develop children's reading and writing - it aims to enable readers to extend their knowledge and understanding, to develop a fascination with language, to explore a range of emotions and, where appropriate, to help them to deal with difficult issues. The books represent positively many aspects of disability, and reflect the cultural diversity of society.

Each pack consists of a 16-page A3 (11-2/3 x 16-1/2) big book, with full color illustrations; a pull-out section of characters and images from the text to cut out and laminate for use in follow-up work; a teachers' book with half-term and weekly plans, plus activities for pupils at different levels; and photocopiable differentiated versions of the text at four levels (P5-6, P7-1C and 1C-2A) for use with individual pupils - the lowest level using words with symbols.

The Dragonfly Big Book is written by Maggie Walker and illustrated by Jane Bottomley. There's a monster at the bottom of the pond, lurking in the dark, gobbling little pond creatures who come his way. No one knows what he really looks like until one day he crawls out from his hiding place and climbs up, and up, and out into the daylight.

This story is written for Year 4, and presents realistically the life cycle of the dragonfly. The Dragonfly Teachers' Book, by Maggie Walker, Val Davis and Ann Berger, suggests ample opportunities for cross-curricular work in art and science, as well as work on handwriting patterns and initial letter sounds. This is a book that could suit everyone.

Introduction by: Jane Bottomley