A brilliantly funny story of the seasons, written by Alice Hemming and illustrated by Nicola Slater.

Squirrel is so cross. Yesterday there were loads of beautiful leaves on his tree, but today? Today some are missing and Squirrel is convinced that someone has stolen them... there's a leaf thief on the loose!

From Alice Hemming, the bestselling author of The Midnight Unicorn, comes a brand-new unicorn fairytale.

If you were granted three wishes, what would you wish for?

For Marie, that dream becomes a reality when she stumbles across a magical unicorn deep in the forest. But when Marie - who is so kind and trusting in nature - decides to tell her father Jacob about the wishes bestowed upon her, he tricks her into giving the wishes to him.

Driven by greed, he enslaves the unicorn by demanding for never-ending wishes. Unable to say no, the unicorn submits...

Years later, the Kingdom of Quessia has slowly fallen into poverty and ruin under the rein of King Jacob. A spiteful and careless king, Jacob is disliked by all of his subjects, but little does he know that a revolution threatening his throne and his life is not too far in his future...

Will King Jacob keep the Blazing Unicorn enslaved forever and retain his throne? Will Marie ever be able to right the wrongs of her past? As exciting as it is gripping, this unicorn fairy tale from Alice Hemming will be your next favourite read.

• Enchanting dark fairy tales with magical unicorns, fearsome villains and inspiring heroines
• Perfect for fans of fairy tales, Disney and unicorns

Also available:

• The Midnight Unicorn
• The Darkest Unicorn
• The Cursed Unicorn

From Alice Hemming, the bestselling author of THE MIDNIGHT UNICORN, comes a brand-new unicorn fairytale.

In the faraway kingdom of Elithia, a powerful king holds the throne, with ten Royal Knights under his trusted command. Fearsome warriors and talented fighters, the knights are led by Samara, the most exceptional of them all.

Samara's brother, Hero, also works for the king, and his role as the king's advisor gives him a privilege unrivalled by most. So when he falls ill, the king sends for the wisest healers in the kingdoms. Many healers answer his call, but none are able to discover the reason for Hero's failing health.

In desperation, Samara seeks out a wizard called Ardis who practices dark magic. Ardis promises Samara the chance to save her brother's life, but the cost is her soul. When Samara refuses, Ardis curses her in rage.

Weaving his magic, he forces Samara to take the form of a unicorn and Samara becomes an outcastÑand a legend: the Cursed Unicorn becomes well-known in the surrounding kingdoms, though where the unicorn came from nobody could say.

Will Samara remain a unicorn forever, or will she break the magic that traps her? Her story started once upon a time, but who knows how it will end...

Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds features exciting fiction and non-fiction decodable readers to enthuse and inspire children. They are fully aligned to Letters and Sounds Phases 1–6 and contain notes in the back. The Handbooks provide support in demonstration and modelling, monitoring comprehension and expanding vocabulary.

King Chester has a problem – his vest has a rip and a food splash on it. What can he do? He can go on a quest for a better vest! This wonderfully humorous story is written by Alice Hemming.

Yellow/Band 3 books offer varied sentence structure and natural language

This book focuses on adjacent consonants with short vowel phonemes.

Pages 14 and 15 allow children to re-visit the content of the book, supporting comprehension skills, vocabulary development and recall.

Reading notes within the book provide practical support for reading Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds with children, including a list of all the sounds and words that the book will cover.

This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.