Book excerpt: Suitable for children in Year 2 (age 6), The Magic Sword is from the Cambridge Reading genre strand Stories about Fantasy Worlds, which contains motivating stories that are full of humour, action and surprise! The Magic Sword forms part of a set of nine books which are written by Rosemary Hayes and illustrated by Ian Newsham. Mr Mulch, a schoolteacher with special powers, is the central character in this and three other books. In The Magic Sword, Mr Mulch takes Class 8 on a trip to a castle – where there's magic in the air! Cambridge Reading at Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) offers fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays to introduce children to a variety of text types, authors and illustrators and provide a firm base for wider reading.