My Dad Is a Builder by Lynne Rickards is a Pink B band reader in Cambridge Reading Adventures, used for Nursery at Lahore Grammar School (LGS). According to the publisher’s listing, the illustrations are by Timothy Hustache and the book has 16 pages (ISBN 9781107549739). The cover shows a smiling builder in a red checked shirt, blue overalls and a yellow hard hat, waving beside his daughter, who wears a matching hat, in front of a wooden fence and a stack of timber.
Children love a job they can see. For a four-year-old in the 2027-28 session, a father who builds things is exciting, and the book turns that excitement into a first reading lesson: a question that gets answered, page by page.
What happens in the book
According to the teaching notes, this simple text offers children a chance to attempt and practise one-to-one correspondence (matching each spoken word to one printed word). A question, ‘What is my dad building?’, shows that reading is about making sense of what is being read, and teachers and parents can support this by prompting and questioning as more information is provided. The sentence structure is a simple, two-line repeated pattern that the illustrations support well.
On pages 2 and 3 the child looks at the picture, including the tools in Dad’s belt. On page 4 he has some wood, and the reader guesses what he is building from the pictures. The words that repeat are ‘my’, ‘is’ and ‘Dad’; ‘some’ is a new high-frequency word, and initial letters (such as the /b/ of ‘builder’) help check what a word says.
What your child learns from it
The publisher’s teaching notes list these learning outcomes. A child who reads this book can:
- use some letters together with meaning to read the text;
- match spoken to printed word (one-to-one correspondence) across two lines of print and confirm this using a few known words;
- show some awareness of mismatches between their reading attempts and the printed text;
- work out the storyline by gathering information from the illustrations and repeated language patterns.
How to read it together at home
The guided reading lesson printed in the book gives a simple routine you can follow:
- Check that your child knows what a builder is, and ask them to share examples of things builders do.
- Say: in this book a little girl is watching her dad building something. I wonder what he is building. Shall we see?
- Ask your child to open the front cover, and point to the title as you read it again.
- On pages 2 and 3, talk about the picture and the tools in Dad’s belt; remind your child of the word ‘builder’ and get your mouth ready for the first sound /b/.
- On page 4, ask what Dad might build with the wood, and take your child’s suggestions.
Fun learning links beyond the book
For art, children can plan, design and build their own house with boxes, blocks or paper. For geography, link the book to homes in different parts of the world: the notes suggest ‘Houses and Homes’ (Red band) in the same series, and ‘Omar Can Help’, in which Omar helps his friends build a house. Both are among the LGS readers we stock.
About the Pink B band
Pink B is the second step of Cambridge Reading Adventures. According to the publisher, books at this level have about 30 to 60 words, colourful illustrations and plenty of repetition to help word recognition.
Who, when, where and why
Whom: Nursery children (about four years old). When: during the 2027-28 session. Where: at school, at home, and near any building site you pass. Why: to practise one-to-one matching with a story that answers its own question. Lahore Grammar School campuses follow almost the same book list, but a few campuses use their own list for some subjects. Send us your child’s campus on WhatsApp and we confirm the title before we dispatch.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote it?
Lynne Rickards. Timothy Hustache is credited as illustrator in the publisher’s listing.
How many pages?
16, according to the publisher.
What is the main question?
‘What is my dad building?’
Order My Dad Is a Builder online with Cash on Delivery across Pakistan, or visit our shop in Lahore. Message us the class and campus on WhatsApp and we will confirm the edition before we dispatch.
