Graded Readers

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Wyatt's Hurricane

Desmond Bagley
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

Hurricane Mabel is far out in the Atlantic Ocean and moving slowly northwards. Perhaps it will never come near land at all. But if it hits the island of San Fernandez, many thousands of people will die. There could be winds of more than 250 kilometres an hour. There could be a huge tidal wave from the sea, which will drown the capital city of St Pierre. Mabel will destroy houses, farms, roads, bridges . . .

Only one man, David Wyatt, believes that Mabel will hit San Fernandez, but nobody will listen to him . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Information Technology Audio CD Pack

Paul A. Davies

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

It is hard to imagine the modern world without information technology. At home, at work, and at play, mobile phones, emails and computers have become part of daily life.

The story of information technology is a story of machines - from the ancient abacus to the small powerful computer chips of today. But it is also a story of people. Meet a woman who wrote computer programs two hundred years ago, a teenage millionaire, a man who began with a paperclip and ended with a house - and the criminals who want your name and your money.

Come and discover the world of information technology.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Moondial

Helen Cresswell
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

'Moondial!' As Minty spoke the word, a cold wind went past her, and her ears were filled with a thousand frightened voices. She shut her eyes and put her hands over her ears - and the voices and the wind went away. Minty opened her eyes . . . and knew that she was in a different morning, not the one she had woken up to.

And so Minty's strange adventure begins - a journey through time into the past, where she finds Tom, and Sarah . . . and the evil Miss Vole.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Crown of Violet

Geoffrey Trease
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

High up on a stone seat in the great open-air theatre of Athens, Alexis, son of Leon, watches the Festival of Plays - and dreams of seeing his own play on that famous stage.

So, as the summer passes, Alexis writes his play for the next year's Festival. But then, with his friend Corinna, he learns that Athens has enemies - enemies who do not like Athenian democracy, and who are planning a revolution to end it all . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Star Zoo

Harry Gilbert

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

In our world today a hummingbird is a small, brilliantly coloured bird that lives in the tall trees of tropical forests.

In the far distant future, Hummingbird (Hummy for short) is a girl of sixteen who lives somewhere in the Galaxy, on a planet called Just Like Home. She has the name 'Hummingbird' in big letters on all her clothes, but she has never seen a real hummingbird. She has never seen any living animal or bird at all. The Book of Remembering says that there were once many animals on a planet called Earth, but that was before the Burning, a long, long time ago . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Three Strangers and Other Stories

Thomas Hardy
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Classics

On a stormy winter night, a stranger knocks at the door of a shepherd's cottage. He is cold and hungry, and wants to get out of the rain. He is welcomed inside, but he does not give his name or his business. Who is he, and where has he come from? And he is only the first visitor to call at the cottage that night . . .

In these three short stories, Thomas Hardy gives us pictures of the lives of shepherds and hangmen, dukes and teachers. But rich or poor, young or old, they all have the same feelings of fear, hope, love, jealousy . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - Classics

Down by the river bank, where the wind whispers through the willow trees, is a very pleasant place to have a lunch party with a few friends. But life is not always so peaceful for the Mole and the Water Rat. There is the time, for example, when Toad gets interested in motor-cars - goes mad about them in fact . . .

The story of the adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad has been loved by young and old for over a hundred years.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Mr Midshipman Hornblower

C.S. Forester
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

'Hornblower fired. There was a small cloud of smoke, but no bang. This is death, he thought. My pistol was the unloaded one.'

But Horatio Hornblower does not die. He survives the duel with Simpson, learns to overcome his seasickness, and goes on to risk his life many times over. It is 1793, Britain is at war with France, and life on a sailing ship of war is hard and dangerous. But the hardest battles are fought by Hornblower within himself.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Reflex

Dick Francis
Retold by Rowena Akinyemi

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

People who ride racehorses love the speed, the excitement, the danger - and winning the race. Philip Nore has been riding for many years and he always wants to win - but sometimes he is told to lose. Why?

And what is the mystery about the photographer, George Millace, who has just died in a car crash?

Philip Nore knows the answer to the first question, and he wants to find out the answer to the second. But as he begins to learn George Millace's secrets, he realizes that his own life is in danger.

• Where to order