"Oxford Reds" is our first major superseries for newly confident readers.

Each book is on a real-life subject, with a simple lively text and richly coloured, realistic illustrations.

Many are written by well- known children's writers. Each one is written by an author who communicates enthusiasm, passion and understanding for the subject.

Approved by educational experts, "Oxford Reds" contain clear type, simple sentence structures, information boxes, contents pages, alphabetical glossaries, and parents' and teacher's notes.

These books will appeal particularly to the beginner reader who prefers factual information to a story.

The series is planned to launch with 12 titles in 2000 followed by 8 per year.

Other subjects include: Snakes; Frogs and Toads; Dogs; Rockets; Wolves; Dinosaurs; Spiders; Whales.

About the author: Chris Powling was born in London where he still lives with his wife, Jan.

They have two daughters. He has been a head teacher and a lecturer in English and has contributed to Radio 4.He has had very many children's books published, too numerous to list, including the Harry series for A & C Black and two non-fiction books about Roald Dahl's life, and won the Smarties prize for "The Conker as Hard as a Diamond".