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        Heather's Bookshelf

Scroll down this page or click on a link below to take a look at a selection of Heather's books and the series she has worked on. Any of these books can be purchased through the publishers. Simply follow the link at the top and bottom of the page to the links page, where details of the publishers can be found.

Blitz-It
Chill Out
Bookweb Plus
PM Library and PM Plus
Nelson Focus
Flying Colours
Scientists at Work
Money
PM Science Facts
Activity booklets and boxes
Edited by Heather...
Advertising Copy by Heather...
You can return to the top of this page any time by clicking at the bottom of each section.


Blitz-It
Thomson Learning Australia

Mystery, adventure, alien visitors, weird science, spooky happenings ... there's something for everyone in this entertaining series.
Designed to encourage independent reading by reluctant readers.
blitzit
                                                                       Three Blitz-It and two PM chapter books                                                       

Bargains from Outer Space
Rod and Sean get more than they bargain for when they flick through the channels on the new T.V. Who, or what, are these strange creatures selling fantastic gadgets? Find out what happens when the boys go on a shopping spree that is out of this world!

Monkey Business
Monty the Marmoset is like no computer program that Rod and Sean have ever seen. When Monty gets loose on the school's computer sytem, all sorts of strange things begin to happen. Will the boys be able to capture him, before it's too late?

Thunder Box
When Rod and Sean visit Grandpa Bill's musty old farmhouse, Sean expects to have a very boring holiday. Then he steps inside the mysterious Thunder Box. Is it alive? Is Sean being abducted by aliens? And can the boys count on the power of the Thunder Box to help save Grandpa's farmhouse, before the wicked Mr Evans burns it down?

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Chill Out
Thomson Learning Australia
A fantastic series full of adventure and excitement, designed especially for boys aged 10 - 13 years who are reluctant readers, or may be experiencing reading difficulties. Cool books that don't "talk down" to readers of this age, but are in an easy-to-read format.

Warp World
warpworld
Lee and Trevor are almost always at the games arcade. They even skip school to spend time there. Then they meet a very strange kid there, who Lee rudely nicknames Ping-Pong. "You reckon you can beat me?" asks Ping Pong. "I'm the best!" boasts Lee. But it soon becomes clear that Ping-Pong has some alien ideas about how to play the game... Beautifully illustrated by renowned New Zealand artist, Brian Harrison.


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Bookweb Plus
Thomson Learning Australia
(Also Rigby Bookweb Plus in the United States, Harcourt Publishers.)
This exciting series of guided readers contains a wealth of fiction and non-fiction titles in an attractive format that has proved to be extremely popular with young readers.

The Monster in Pitman's Pond
pitmanspond

There's something big, slimy and ugly hiding in the depths of Pitman's Pond.
Is it a monster, or something a little less scary.
Greg and his sister Jasmine surf the internet to find out!


Other Cultures, Other Lands

Ever wondered what it would be like to visit Iceland, or Nunavut, home of the Inuit? Take a world tour of eight different countries, learn about languages and design your own new land! This Bookweb Plus Big Book is designed for use in the classroom during shared reading. A variety of text types and structures feature throughout the book, and a detailed chart on the inside cover lists each, together with grammatical features and teaching points.

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PM Library and PM Plus
Thomson Learning Australia
(Also Rigby PM and PM Plus in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Also GB and GB Plus, Beauchemin Publishers Canada.)
The benchmark in guided reading! This high quality series of more than 500 carefully levelled books provide a complete guided reading program that meets the developmental needs of young children who are learning to read.

Titles by Heather:

Tiny Dinosaurstinydinos
The Giant Seeds
Bird Watching
Perfect Paper Planes
Trixie's Holidayskeeter
Super-Tuned!
Supernova!
Skeeter
Looking for Amelia



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Nelson Focus
Thomson Learning Australia
(Also Rigby Focus in the United States and Canada. Also Zap Sciences, Beauchemin Publishers Canada.)

Nelson Focus is a guided reading, writing, language, science and SOSE program featuring 128 titles for levels 1-28.
The books use a variety of text types and structural formats and progress to include organisational aids such as contents, index, diagrams, glossaries, tables and charts. Complimented by superb photographs and illustrations these books have proved extremely popular in the classroom. Eight big books are also available in this series, for use in the classroom during Shared Reading. Heather has written 64 of the books in this series, co-authoring it with her friend and colleague, Julie Haydon.
Focus titles by Heather:

Focus 1
Party Food
We Can Do It!partyfood
A Rainforest
A Rainbow
Big Cat, Little Cat
The Moon
This Little Seed
See the Shapes
See Our Show
Mix It Up!


Focus 2
Who Took Our Cake?wtourcake
When the Wind Blows
My Red Scarf
Fun at the Beach
Baby Animals
Using a Microscope
Talking to Our Friends
Making Paper
Look at the Stars
Animal Shapes


Focus 3
Fun with Plasternewquilt
Say Cheese!
Insect-Eaters
My New Quilt
Wetlands
Bones
Fossil Hunting
Giant Balloons
Mars
Salt


Focus 4
Grandma's Gardenggarden
Ice on the Move
Shadow Puppets
The Secret of Silk
Fantastic Fungi
Creatures of the Night
Rocks From Space
Steam Power
Weather Watching
Working with Metal


Focus 5
Mystery Ancestormysteryancestor
When Grandpa Was Young

Let's Go Shopping!
Green and Growingsavingenergy
Rubber
Our Town
From the Sea
Fun and Games
Saving Energy at Home
Buried Treasure


Focus 6
The Great Dog Washdogwash
The Dream of Flight

Water-Wise
Oil Spills
Sun Power
People and Placestthroughtime
Transport Through Time
Headlines from Space
Ice Age Safari
The Birthday Feast (co-authored with
Julie Haydon)


Focus Big Books
A World of Machines
The Four Seasons
Fantastic Food
Fossil Facts


Excerpt from a review of the first four levels of this series:

Let’s Find Out (magazine of the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria) Volume 19 No. 1 2002
Review by Karen Rehberger

 

Nelson Focus presents a colourful, informative and vivid presentation of science in everyday life. Titles such as "Mix It Up!", "Now It's Hot" and "Planet Earth" provide explanations and answers to many of the questions surrounding science in everyday life. Targeted at the junior primary market, these simple texts cover topics contained in the earth and space strands and well as basic biology, chemistry and physics…

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Flying Colours

Thomson Learning Australia (Also Rigby Flying Colours in the United States.)

Literacy really takes off with this brand new and very exciting reading program for the first three years of primary/elementary school readers. This complete literacy program focuses on the crucial components for teaching literacy and has been carefully levelled with broadband colour levels clearly identified on the back of each book. Bright, visually attractive books that children will love to read, backed by the educational consultancy of one of the most experienced and respected literacy consultants and authors in the world - Annette Smith. Heather and her friend and colleague, Julie Haydon, have authored all the non-fiction titles in this wonderful new reading program, from level 9 up.

Flying Colours titles by Heather:

Levels 6-8/9fcmybirthday
My Birthday
The Shopping List




Levels 9-11/12

Fishing is Funfcfishing
Ice Skating

Staying Safe in the Water
Boats
Water Birds


Levels 12-14/15
Super Strawberriesfcstrawberries
Seeds

Our Vegetable Garden
Look at the Leaves
Growing Peas



Levels 15-16/17 out now!
A World of Masks -
See masks of the world and learn how to make your own!
Costumes on Show - A look at some amazing theatrical costumes.
Learning About Art - Helping youngsters learn about different art forms.
Making Music - Discovering instruments that form an orchestra.
Stars of the Show - Putting on a school play.

Levels 17-18/19 out now!
Jewels of the Sea
- A look at pearls and how they are grown.
A Day at the Trout Farm - Learn all about how trout are farmed.
Corn - A book showing children how corn is farmed.
Growing Cotton - A look at cotton production and products made from cotton.
Eggs from the Chicken to You! - Learn all about egg farming.

Levels 19-20/21 out now!
Saving Water and Energy
- A look at sustainable homes and how they work.
A World of Homes - A look at homes around the world, as told by a travelling uncle.
Let's Go Camping! - A fun book for youngsters about how to have fun camping.
Living in the Rainforest - Animals of the Amazon rainforest and their homes.
Homes on Wheels - Learn all about different types of  mobile homes.

Levels 21-22/23 out now!
The Stagecoach Years
- A look back in time, at the history of the stagecoach.
Submarines - Dive into the world of submarines.
Sun Racers
- Learn about exciting solar car rallies.
Fresh from the Farm! - Discover how food is transported and distributed from the farm to us.
Lift-off! The Story of Spaceflight - A look at space travel, from its beginnings to today.

Levels 23-24/25
The final level of Flying Colours at this point - a set of books on animals.
Out now!

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Scientists at Work
Macmillan Education Australia (Also Smart Apple Media in the United States.)

Scientists at Work is a series of six reference books for upper primary/lower secondary (upper elementary lower middle school) readers. Each book in the series features a different scientist and science, helping the reader to learn about these fascinating professions. Scientists featured are geologists, meteorologists, astronomers, marine biologists, archaeologists and forensic scientists. Special features appear in each book, such as case studies presented in different text types, hands-on activities and "check it out" list of places and websites for more information. Proving very popular in both schools and libraries, these books are an excellent resource for school projects.

Scientists at Work titles by Heather:
Geologists at Work
Meteorologists at Work


mawork
Each Scientists at Work title features an interview with a scientist.


gawork













Excerpt from a review of the Scientists at Work series:

Reading Time Vol. 48 No. 2 May 2004
Review by PH

Macmillan has excelled itself with this collection of scientific occupations. Each book presents a lively discourse…on what the scientist does using case studies, interviews and activities to enhance the information…
Each topic is a double spread, and the books generally cover a brief history of each area as well as tools of the trade and recent developments. Photographs and diagrams mingle with e-mails, diaries and fact boxes, making each page busy and attractive…

Highly commended to add sparkle to middle years’ libraries.

Rating: Outstanding book of its kind.


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Money
Macmillan Education Australia
(Also Smart Apple Media in the United States)

A series of six non-fiction books for middle to upper primary school students, all about money and how to handle it. This series features books on banking, budgeting, earning money, fundraising, the history of money and how coins and banknotes are made. Examples of everyday 'real-life' situations are given to illustrate the text, together with informative information boxes. There are activities in each book for the classroom or home, too. Heather has written three of the books in this series of six. The other three titles are written by her co-author and friend, Haydon.

                                               money books
                                                   Budgeting, Earning Money and Banking
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PM Science Facts
Thomson Learning Australia
(Also Rigby in the United States)

The latest PM non-fiction series for reading levels 3-15. This series of thematically based titles are suitable for use as guided readers in the classroom and also for one-on-one remedial reading. Each set is carefully tailored to the key learning area of Science and has been written by Heather and her friend and co-author Julie Haydon. The series is backed by the world-renowned expertise of educational consultant Annette Smith and also features Activity Sheets which are available on CD-ROM. Presenting text types and using text types is a key feature of this informative series for young readers.
There are forty new texts in the PM Science Facts sereies. Below are images of six of the books.

                  PMSF-2                                PMSF-1
                   Theme: Exploring My Planet                                       Theme: Animals in My World
   
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Activity Booklets and Boxes from Hinkler Books
These books have been written by Heather and are part of a series of fun activity booklets and boxes produced by Hinkler Books Australia. They are very reasonably priced and aimed to provide loads of entertainment for six to ten-year-olds. Perfect for rainy afternoon activities! The booklets and activity boxes can be found in most bookshops and big retail stores throughout Australia.

Ancient Egypt - a 48 page activity box and booklet, all about ancient Egypt. The booklet contains activities for the budding Egyptologist to have a go at, as well as lots of factual information about ancient Egyptian mummies, tombs and how the people of those times lived. A good booklet for those looking to have fun but at the same time, get some information for school projects etc. Box also comes complete with 'ancient artifact' for children to discover.

                                                                   Egypt
                                                                       Full colour booklet
Play Clay Activity Pack

This activity pack comes with a 32 page booklet written by Heather and 12 sticks of modelling clay, to help get the budding modeller started. And the models featured in colour on the front cover were made by Heather too.

Stamping Activity Box
This box comes with a 48 page full colour activity booklet written by Heather, together with a set of block stamps, ink pad and roller stamp. All kids love stamps and this box will keep them occupied for hours!

Fancy Feet Activity Box
A bright pink activity box that is perfect for little girls. Comes with a 48 page colour booklet containing instructions for pampering and decorating your feet. Toe separators, nail polish, a nail file, stickers and a toe ring are also included in the box.

Spiro Craft Activity Box
Introduce your child to the fun world of geometric spiralling shapes with this fun activity pack. Includes a 48 page booklet written by Heather, pens and crayons, and a set of plastic spiro-craft stencils. Lots of activities for the budding artist to have a go at in this one!


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Edited by Heather...
Heather also works as a freelance editor and has edited both children's and adult books. Some of her editing credits include:

Shattering the Cancer Myth
Author: Katrina Ellis
Publisher: Hinkler Books Australia
Katrina Ellis, naturopath and iridologist, tells the story of her incredible battle with cancer, which she won with the help of natural medicine. She then goes on to provide a wealth of helpful information for cancer sufferers and their families on how to fight this disease and win, just as she did. An inspiring story and excellent self-help book.

Hinkler Illustrated Classics
Author: Archie Oliver
Publisher: Hinkler Books Australia
A series of 24 abridged and illustrated versions of some of the greatest classic tales ever told. Aimed at children of 8-12 years, these books make a great introduction to classic stories. There are titles in the series to suit every reader, from Black Beauty and The Wizard of Oz, through to The Time Machine and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Adapted by renowned author Archie Oliver, these books make the perfect gift and have proved extremely popular, selling throughout Australia and also in Britain and the United States.

Activity Booklets, Packs and Boxes
As well as writing activity booklets, Heather has also edited many titles including:
Spy Craft
Beading
Happy Sacks
Harmonica
Card Games
Magic Tricks
and many more...

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Advertising Copy by Heather...
Heather also works as a freelance advertising copywriter. Her work includes newspaper advertisements, real estate advertisements and a very successful national advertising campaign for Villaware Imports and Cleanskin Kitchenware, importers of fine kitchenware. To discuss your advertising needs, visit Heather's Contact page.

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