Houses and Homes by Lynne Rickards is a non-fiction Red band reader in Cambridge Reading Adventures, used for Prep at Lahore Grammar School (LGS). The cover is a photograph of a town of red-roofed houses behind an old stone wall, with the title in dark red letters across the sky.
Every child lives somewhere, and every child is curious about where other people live. In the 2027-28 session, this book takes Prep children around the world, house by house, and teaches them how an information book works at the same time.
What the book is about
According to the teaching notes, this is an information book that introduces early non-fiction features such as a simple index and the use of labelling. The reader meets a range of homes from around the world, each with a very different entrance and exit. New vocabulary is introduced, supported by the illustrations and the opportunity to use visual discrimination within a strong sentence structure. There are two lines of text on each page, and the reading challenge is in the second line, where each different way of getting into the house is explained.
The notes mention a bungalow (page 2), a town house (page 4) and a boat (page 8), and an index on page 15 that tells the reader where to look for each type of house. Words to sound out and blend include ‘lift’ and ‘ramp’, and the high-frequency words ‘go’, ‘up’, ‘live’ and ‘in’ return throughout; the phrase ‘I go up’ recurs.
What your child learns from it
The publisher’s teaching notes list these learning outcomes. A child who reads this book can:
- read simple words by sounding out and blending phonemes from left to right;
- use syntax and context when reading for meaning;
- locate, read and write high-frequency words;
- find information in non-fiction texts.
How to read it together at home
The guided reading lesson printed in the book gives a simple routine you can follow:
- Begin with a talk about where your child lives, and how each of us enters our home.
- Say: this is a book about different houses around the world. They all have different ways in which the children go in and out of their houses.
- Ask your child to turn to page 15, the index page, and find the boat; then turn to page 8 to see that the index works.
- Read page 2 together, pointing to each word, and talk about what a bungalow is; find the label for ‘ramp’ and blend its sounds.
- Find ‘I go up’ on several pages and check your child can read the three words together smoothly.
Fun learning links beyond the book
For geography, explore both the familiar and unfamiliar kinds of home around the world, building materials, and reasons why certain houses are built as they are, for example houses on stilts where floods are likely. For art and design, children can design their own houses with unusual entrances and exits and think about how they are adapted for the people who live in them, such as ramps for wheelchair users.
About the Red band
Red band is where the teaching notes ask children to start following the print with their eyes and to use a finger only at points of difficulty, while reading longer, repeated sentences.
Who, when, where and why
Whom: Prep children (about five years old). When: during the 2027-28 session. Where: at school, at home, on a walk through your neighbourhood. Why: to learn how an index and labels work, and to see the variety of homes. Book lists at LGS are almost the same from campus to campus, with a few campuses following their own for some subjects, so message us your campus name first and we will confirm this exact book with you.
Frequently asked questions
Is it fiction?
No. It is an information book with labels and an index.
Who wrote it?
Lynne Rickards.
What band is it?
Red band.
We deliver Houses and Homes to every city in Pakistan with Cash on Delivery, and you are welcome to collect it from our Lahore shop. If your school sent a book list, send it to us on WhatsApp and we will put the whole set together.
