The Dragon in the Sewer: Collins Big Cat

Collins Big Cat supports every primary child on their reading journey from phonics to fluency. Top authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that children love to read. Book banded for guided and independent reading, there are reading notes in the back, comprehensive teaching and assessment support and ebooks available.

Emerald/Band 15 books provide a widening range of genres including science fiction and biography, prompting more ways to respond to texts.

On the way to the library with Mum, Ava finds a dragon in the sewer beneath the city. Can she use the breathing techniques her doctor taught her to help the young dragon control its fire-breath?

Pages 46 and 47 allow children to re-visit the content of the book, supporting comprehension skills, vocabulary development and recall.

Ideas for reading in the back of the book provide practical support and stimulating activities.

The Dragon in the Sewer was inspired by Cindy’s daughter, who loves dragons and wears knee braces to support unstable joints, as well as Cindy’s own experience with lung disease. Long frustrated by the way stories often portray kids with breathing problems as weak or anxious, Cindy wanted to show that children with disabilities can be proactive and have adventures, too!

Irma Ruggiero: ＂When they asked me to illustrate Dragon in the Sewer, from the first few words I realized it would be a wonderful adventure!

As a child I also suffered, and still do, from Asthma. I had to juggle doctors and inhalers, sometimes feeling embarrassed with my friends, with the fear of looking strange, weak or not being able to breathe!

I wished to bring a little of me into the fantastic story by Cindy Baldwin, empathizing with the characters, who are all so cute and a bit funny.