Magnificent Minnie Hero

Big Cat for Little Wandle Fluency has been developed in collaboration with Wandle Learning Trust and Little Sutton Primary School. It consists of a range of chapter books with increasing word counts across 10 fluency levels aimed at children in Year 2 and 3. Each book builds reading confidence, stamina and speed and nurtures a love for reading. Fluency 5 books have a word count of 4320 words with an expected reading rate of 90 word per minute. Everyone in the Hero family has super powers. Everyone, that is, except for little Minnie, who is far more interested in bugs and plants than capes and kerpows. Her family are worried she won't fulfil her superhero destiny but secretly Minnie is delighted to be perfectly ordinary. But everything changes on her 10th birthday, when a mysterious present arrives…

Superheroes are everywhere these days. But does it always have to be about shiny costumes and explosions? Can you be a superhero if you are small and quiet? Growing up, I used to cycle to the nearest patch of green, create acorn cup tea parties and marvel at marching ants. At this time I felt lost in the natural world, that I was part of it, as much as the grass and the daisies. I am quite short-sighted so getting close up to tiny things was essential! In writing this story I could put myself very much in Minnie's shoes. With climate change profoundly affecting our world, I wanted to write a story to show children that they don't have to wait around for a superhero to turn up to fix things. By learning the names of insects and plants, by caring about them, they can help to protect the natural world on their doorstep. Giant leaps begin with small steps. Minnie's story is about how every child has a superhero inside them, just waiting to emerge, like a special moth from its cocoon.