The Spaceship Saga and Other Stories: Read a Play - Book 1

By Helen Lawson

Read a Play together!

Will Yarg the alien take Sassie and Sam on an eight-year trip to outer space? Does an Egyptian mummy really come to life in a dusty old museum? Can Connie and her dog outwit the school bully? Just how are the Croaktown Cockroaches so good at football and is it really possible for children to travel back in time to wartime Britain? There’s only one way to find out…
Read a Play stories help bring reading to life as you take on different characters throughout the book. Have fun with accents and funny voices at the same time as engaging young readers. This is a truly interactive selection of satisfying stories you can enjoy together with your children.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
• Release date: Dec 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781780993584

Book preview

The Spaceship Saga and other Stories

Helen Lawson

Illustrations by Clair Read

Winchester, UK Washington, USA

First published by Our Street Books, 2012

Our Street Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK

[e-mail] www.johnhuntpublishing.com www.ourstreet books.com

For distributor details and how to order please visit the ‘Ordering’ section on our website.

Text copyright: Helen Lawson 2012

Illustrations copyright: Clair Read 2012

ISBN: 978 1 78099 357 7

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of Helen Lawson as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design: Stuart Davies

Cover design: Jennifer Ambrose

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all areas of our business, from our global network of authors to production and worldwide distribution.

CONTENTS

1. A SPACESHIP SAGA

2. THE DOG SHOW DARE

3. FOOTBALL MADNESS

4. MUM'S THE WORD

5. THE SECOND WORLD WAR SLEEPOVER

Acknowledgments

Inspired by, and written for, my very beautiful family.

How ‘Read a Play’ works

This is a series of stories that were written to be read together. Large pages of text can be intimidating for a young reader but broken down into small chunks and shared with someone can help to make the experience of reading more enjoyable. Also, readers need to remain engaged with the story to see when their parts are coming up. Just long enough to be read and enjoyed in one go, each story has a satisfying ending you and your children will love.

Before you begin, choose between you who will read the part of each of the characters in the story. Talk about the style of voice you think they would have and try out a funny voice or accent for each of them before you start. Then, simply read it out loud like a play with the most confident reader reading the narration.

Read a play – Story one

The Spaceship Saga!

List of characters:

Sam – A very brave boy who loves exploring with his twin sister

Sassie – More nervous than her twin brother but she always follows Sam

Yarg – An alien from outer space who speaks very good English

Cameron – The director who eventually befriends the two children

Sassie and Sam were spending their summer holidays at Grumpy Uncle Gary’s house. Their mum was at work so he looked after them every day. They really