This story is part of Reading Champion, a series carefully linked to book bands to encourage independent reading skills, developed with Dr Sue Bodman and Glen Franklin of UCL Institute of Education (IOE)

Reading Champion offers independent reading books for children to practise and reinforce their developing reading skills.

Fantastic, original stories are accompanied by engaging artwork and a reading activity. Each book has been carefully graded so that it can be matched to a child's reading ability, encouraging reading for pleasure.

Chitra Soundar is an Indian-born British writer, storyteller and author of children's books, based in London. Darshika Varma is an illustrator from Mumbai. She always coveted the serenity of the countryside. With a natural preference for furry creatures over people, she was always a dreamer with a deep passion for reading and a natural affinity for colours. She pursued BFA in Applied Arts at Rachana Sansad in Mumbai and started off her career as a designer in digital marketing, from where she moved on to designing wedding invitations and eventually found her true calling as a children's illustrator.