War over Waterloo

Bonjour! Dr Darius Dire is at Waterloo, plotting to steal the battle plans of Napoleon Bonaparte. Can Spike and Mia stop him? Oui, ou non?

Part of Time Trek by Tommy Donbavand & Steve Beckett. These eight hi-lo stories follow an intrepid super sleuth duo — Spike and Mia — through time in an attempt to thwart the evil villain, Dr Dire.

Dr Darius Dire is the world’s greatest scientist and a keen collector. But, he doesn’t collect stamps, or porcelain pigs, or teapots shaped like famous actors… No — Dr Darius Dire collects important artefacts from history!

In fact, he invented a gizmo that allows him to travel through time for just that purpose. He calls it… The Gizmo! However, the trouble with stealing stuff from the past is that it changes the present, and may even destroy the future.

So Dr Dire’s nephew, Spike, and his best friend, Mia, are out to stop the shifty scientist before he can cause… THE END OF THE UNIVERSE! The adventures mean Spike and Mia meet Julius Caesar, Princess Elizabeth and William Shakespeare as well as taking them to Egypt, France and even Camelot!

This hi-lo series for struggling and reluctant readers has been written for children aged between 9 and 12 years, whose current reading age is between 7 and 8 years. These age-appropriate short reads have 32 pages and are written by brilliant author Tommy Donbavand. They incorporate a large font size and text separated into bite-sized chunks, along with carefully considered letter and paragraph spacing that can reduce visual stress. The series has plenty of practice at one level, allowing consolidation of learning before moving on to more challenging reads. The vocabulary list of tricky words can aid comprehension before reading the book.