Max Comes Home Levels 1-2

Max Comes Home follows the return of each family member, one by one, until the question arises-where is Max the dog? This warm and relatable story is filled with simple repeated text, using the phrase œcomes home to help reinforce sentence patterns and sight word recognition. As children read, they encounter familiar names and words associated with family, pets, and routines, promoting engagement and personal connection. With a focus on capital letters and full stops, along with expressive punctuation like exclamation marks, this text strengthens foundational literacy conventions. The final twist involving the missing dog sparks curiosity and helps support prediction and inference skills. Teachers can build on the narrative by encouraging students to sequence events, create dog-related crafts, or write simple stories about their own pets. The inclusion of phonics activities targeting b and a sounds, alongside rich visual support, ensures multiple points of access for early readers.

Educational Benefits

• Reinforces sentence pattern recognition and sight word fluency
• Builds understanding of sequencing in narrative structure
• Encourages prediction and inferencing from context
• Supports phonemic awareness of initial consonant sounds

Classroom Ideas

• Create a family house diagram to map out who comes home when
• Write and illustrate a new ending where Max has an adventure
• Make dog-themed crafts or models using play dough
• Practise one-to-one word matching with sentence strips

Safety & Information

• Ages: 4+
• Size: 14.5cm x 16.5cm; 16 pages
• Safety: Materials like scissors and play dough should be used with guidance