The Ransom Library (Info Hub)

Real books to hold them captive – and support fluency/comprehension

Recent guidance emphasises the value of moving students onto ‘real books’ once they’ve secured their phonics knowledge via an SSP programme and fully decodable books.

We wholeheartedly agree there’s huge value in this – but recognise there are still some benefits that come with traditional ‘reading schemes’.

So meet our brand-new range of real books to move students onto after phonics – The Ransom Library.

Buy across the various series/standalone books we publish under this umbrella term and you’ll have what looks and behaves like a completely normal library for Years 2-6 – but in the background you’ll know:

● The books have been carefully edited by a literacy publisher who’s considering post-phonics reading fluency/comprehension. We’ve ensured they offer great opportunities to read with expression (prosody), great new vocabulary, great moments where the reader will need to infer something, etc.

● The books have been very subtly organised into levels so you can check/control the level of challenge a student is encountering in their reading. (The Ransom Library covers 12 ‘Ransom Fluency Levels’, which in Book Band terms roughly correspond to Orange Band through to Dark Red Band.) But we stress, we’re out the (phonics) world of strict rules! If a student is kinda reading at Level 3, but sees a book at Level 5 they love – go with it! The levels are simply there to help you realise the student might need a bit more support with this read.

● The books are supported with free fluency resources. That is, a vocabulary bank (showing you at a glance the interesting vocabulary a given title contains), pre-prepared comprehension questions (ranging from simple retrieval to inference), and pre-teach notes (suggesting things it would be useful to pre-teach any weaker readers who’re about to tackle a given title).

● The books have been developed to appeal to today’s children, fostering a lifelong love of reading. Expect hilarious illustrated chapter books, action-packed graphic novels, poetry, visually stunning non-fiction on ‘wow’ topics, as well as books that hit curriculum topics in a fresh way – all from experienced authors and a leading publisher of books for even the most reluctant readers.

In other words, it’s not a reading scheme (because there’s value in this) – but it has some of the benefits of a reading scheme (because there’s value in this).

That’s powerful stuff.

But perhaps more important to us, on top of all the above The Ransom Library is also designed to build a love of and sensitivity to language.

Indeed, this is something that partly happens through steady exposure to carefully considered, delicious text – and it’s a life-changing thing for an individual to possess. As a literacy publisher of children’s books in a world of AI, we believe it’s our duty to foster it.

Love what you’re hearing – and wondering when The Ransom Library will be available?

New series/standalone titles are coming every month!

Please get in touch for the full schedule of what’s out and what’s coming over the 26-27 academic year. Here’s a sneak peek at the next few months:

OUT NOW: Time Trippers – wild fiction stories that are part chapter book, part graphic novel (Level 6)

OUT NOW: The Little Town That Listened – rounded fiction stories that explore ‘British Values’ (Level 8)

JAN 27: Lessons from the Pitch – non-fiction books revealing ultimate football tips and tricks (Level 3)

FEB 27: Inside Out – super-visual part fact, part fiction books on ‘wow’ topics e.g. darts, historical scams, lost languages (Levels 1-6)

MAR 27: First Look – non-fiction books exploring various curriculum topics in an engaging way (Levels 4-6)