Additional information
by Sydney Higgins (Author), Anna Higgins (Author)
A real problem for young teenagers with severe reading difficulties, including dyslexia, is the shortage of stories they want to read. (Obviously books aimed at young children are not appropriate.) Based on their considerable research and wide-ranging trials, Anna and Sydney Higgins have written the graded series of books, FUN READ. 'FUN READ 1' is the first book in the series. Its Flesch Reading Ease score is 107.9. It is graded as 'very, very easy to read'. Based on 8 standard readability formulas, it is appropriate for absolute beginners (= 1st grade/year). The content is suitable for both male and female students aged 10-15. There are 66 pages and 64 illustrations. All four stories deal with common, problematic social situations experienced by many young people: 1. 'OLD MAN MOON' Ted and Jack reluctantly help an old man enter his house. Ted steals a silver cup. After Jack discovers this, there is a fight in the street. The cup is crushed and Ted takes it home. The next morning, the old man arrives at Jack's house. 2. 'SHOUTS IN THE NIGHT' During the night, a father and his two sons and two daughters are awakened by a drunken brawl next door. The dad gets up and leaves the house to stop the fight between the two teenage boys. The next morning he discovers that one of his pigeons has been shot. This leads to retaliation and more rows. 3. 'THE RUN-AWAY' While her mother is in hospital, young Pat becomes increasingly upset that she is being expected to do all the work in the house and look after her father, elder sister and two younger brothers. She decides she is going to run away. She steals some money from her father's pocket and leaves home - but not for long 4. 'AT THE DANCE' Because her dad has run off and her mum is ill, Susan goes to live with her gran. She is invited by two girls in her class to go with them to a dance. There she meets Jack who spends the evening trying to kiss her. Susan didn't like him but she did agree to go with him to another dance. There she met another boy and that led to many problems. On each page, there is a cartoon related to the text that is displayed not in complete sentences but in phrases - a system that the writers' research has shown to be the most effective printed lay-out for easy reading and comprehension. Both Sydney and Anna Higgins have many years of teaching experience. After being a Senior Advisor for English in the UK, Sydney moved to Italy where he became a professor of English. His wife, Anna, has been for over 20 years a university teacher and an examiner for the Cambridge EFL examinations. The other books in the FUN READ series are: 2. FUN READ 2 1) 'Down Rope Walk' 2) 'CRASH ' Graded as 'very easy to read' - for beginners (= 3rd grade/year). The content is most suitable for male students aged 10 - 15. There are 86 pages and 26 illustrations. 3. FUN READ 3 1) 'Lonely Girl' 2) 'No Time to Scream' Graded as 'easy to read' - for beginners (= 3rd grade/year). The content is most suitable for female students aged 11-16. There are 92 pages and 26 illustrations. 4. WHEN THE SONG WAS OVER Graded as 'very easy to read' - for beginners (= 3rd grade/year). The content is most suitable for female students aged 11-16. There are 94 pages and 26 illustrations. 5. VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, GHOSTS & UFOs Graded as 'very easy to read' - for beginners (= 4th grade/year). Content is most suitable for male students aged 11-16. There are 98 pages and 76 illustrations. 6. THE PRICE OF FRIENDSHIP Graded as 'easy to read' - for beginners (= 4th grade/year). The content is most suitable for female students aged 11-16. There are 114 pages and 8 illustrations.
Author Biography
Anna and Sydney Higgins have three sons and a lifetime's involvement in education. Both have taught in the UK, Uganda and Italy. Over sixty of their books have been published. Both have written books for children and he has written biographies including 'Rider Haggard: The Great Storyteller' and 'The Benn Inheritance'. He has also ghosted books, including 'Stroll On' for Tony Booth, 'Piper Alpha - A Survivor's Story' for Ed Punchard, 'The Pirelli Book of Motor Racing Heroes' for John Surtees and 'Nicola: A Second Chance to Live' for Nicola Owen. At the moment, both are English Professors at an Italian university. They are also examiners for the Cambridge ESOL examinations. Previously, Sydney was the Senior English Adviser for Suffolk. They both love travelling and together have written a two-part guidebook, 'Staying in the Châteaux Hotels of France'.
