Big Red Balloon (Reading Ladder Level 2)

Meet the queen in this sweet story by Anne Fine, perfect for children learning to read.

Pip’s class are sending big red helium balloons off to celebrate their school’s 100th anniversary. They ask the people who find them to tell them how far they’d gone. One lands just down the road, one is found in the next town – but Pip’s flies all the way to Buckingham Palace! And Pip gets an invitation to have tea with the Queen . . .

The Reading Ladder series helps children to enjoy learning to read. It features well-loved authors, classic characters and favourite topics, so that children will find something to excite and engage them in every title they pick up. It’s the first step towards a lasting love of reading.

Level 2 Reading Ladder titles are perfect for readers who are growing in confidence and are beginning to enjoy longer stories.

Clear type

Up to 8 lines per page

Bright, appealing pictures for added interest

A variety of sentence structures

A wider range of vocabulary

Strong themes and characters to discuss

All Reading Ladder titles are developed with a leading literacy consultant, making them perfect for use in schools and for parents keen to support their children’s reading.

Book band: Purple

Meet the queen in this sweet story by Anne Fine, perfect for children learning to read.

Pip’s class are sending big red helium balloons off to celebrate their school’s 100th anniversary. They ask the people who find them to tell them how far they’d gone. One lands just down the road, one is found in the next town – but Pip’s flies all the way to Buckingham Palace! And Pip gets an invitation to have tea with the Queen . . .

The Reading Ladder series helps children to enjoy learning to read. It features well-loved authors, classic characters and favourite topics, so that children will find something to excite and engage them in every title they pick up. It’s the first step towards a lasting love of reading.

Level 2 Reading Ladder titles are perfect for readers who are growing in confidence and are beginning to enjoy longer stories.

Clear type

Up to 8 lines per page

Bright, appealing pictures for added interest

A variety of sentence structures

A wider range of vocabulary

Strong themes and characters to discuss

All Reading Ladder titles are developed with a leading literacy consultant, making them perfect for use in schools and for parents keen to support their children’s reading.

Book band: Purple

A great favourite for discussions in reading groups, Anne Fine's work has been published in over forty-five languages. Despite this, she remains best known in her home country, Britain, as a writer principally for children. She has twice won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Awards, the Guardian Children's Book Prize and numerous other prizes and awards. She was the second Children's Laureate from 2001-3, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded an OBE for services to children's literature.

Anne Fine is an entertaining and engaging speaker on the subject of books and reading, and is in demand the world over for her tireless enthusiasm, common sense approach to literacy, and for the deliciously wicked humour that permeates all her writing. Find out more about Anne's dual lives at www.annefine.co.uk

Kate Pankhurst has an MA in Children’s Book Illustration. She has illustrated books by Judy Blume, Ian Whybrow, Steve Hartley and Marjorie Newman. She lives in Leeds with her partner and two rabbits.

Series consultant Nikki Gamble is the director of Just Imagine, a specialist resource and training centre for Primary English. She is Associate Consultant at the University of London, Institute of Education.