The Mythical Knight

Phonics School & Home MythicTahle Knight Focus: New spellings for known sounds



Phonics School & Home The Mythical Knight

The Mythical Knight This edition copyright © 2022 Scholastic Canada Ltd. 175 Hillmount Road, Markham, Ontario, Canada, L6C 1Z7 First published in the UK by Scholastic Education in 2021. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a license from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright license, call toll free to 1-800-893-5777. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders for the works reproduced in this publication, and the publishers apologize for any inadvertent omissions. Author Suzy Ditchburn Editorial team Rachel Morgan, Vicki Yates, Tracy Kewley, Liz Evans Design team Dipa Mistry, Justin Hoffmann, Andrea Lewis, We Are Grace Illustrations Angelika Scudamore/Advocate Art Scholastic ebook edition 9781443077118 Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support is appreciated. Can you spot the hedgehog on 10 pages?

Help your students read! This book practises these letters and letter sounds. Point and say the sounds with your students: eigh (as in ‘neigh’) ey (as in ‘they’) kn (as in ‘knight’) eer (as in ‘deer’) dge (as in ‘ridge’) ge (as in ‘village’) y (as in ‘mystery’) si (as in ‘mansion’) augh (as in ‘daughter’) ore (as in ‘more’) Your students may need help reading these common tricky words: one the of were who to people said through sure someone into whole once hours our Before reading • Look at the cover picture and read the title together. Read the back cover blurb to your students. • Ask: Why do you think the mythical knight wants to keep their identity secret? During reading • If your students get stuck on a word, remind them to sound it out and then blend the sounds to read the word: kn-igh-t, knight. • If they are still stuck, show them how to read the word. • Enjoy looking at the pictures together. Pause to talk about the story. After reading • Ask: Why do you think the villagers all assumed the brave knight was a man? • Do students think Princess Crystal did the right thing helping to fix Prince Cuthbert’s mistakes for him? Why or why not? 3

In the village of Deer Ridge was a huge mansion. A king lived there with his daughter and his son. 4

The king’s daughter, Crystal, was always in trouble. She was often out late and hated doing her chores. They were such a bore! The king’s son, Cuthbert, was a brave and sensible knight. The king was very proud of him. 5

Strange things kept happening in the village. It started with eight garden gnomes going missing. Then large smudges of paint appeared on people’s houses. Odd designs were painted on walls and hedges were damaged. 6

Who could be doing this and why? It was a mystery. 7

But there was an even greater mystery. Someone had started coming to Deer Ridge after dark. They would return the gnomes and repair all the damage in the dead of night. People called them the Mythical Knight and said they rode through the streets on horseback, fixing hedges and repainting walls. 8

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No one knew for sure who the Mythical Knight was. But word spread that it could be Cuthbert, the king’s son. People in the village adored Prince Cuthbert! 10

He was so brave and skilful on his horse. 11

One day, the king discovered that his precious horses had been taken. 12

He let out a loud roar. How had someone got into the stables? They must have climbed over the wall! Why hadn’t he heard the horses neighing? He pledged to find the thief straight away. 13

The king ordered a search of the whole village. His men knocked on every door. They searched all the gardens. But no thief could be found. 14

How would the king get his horses back? Would the Mythical Knight come to the rescue once more? 15

That night, the king’s men hid under the bridge near the mansion. They hoped to catch the Mythical Knight in action. They sat for eight long hours in the dark and cold. 16

They were about to give up when they heard a neigh in the distance. Next came the clip-clop of horses’ hooves on the bridge above. 17

It was the Mythical Knight with the king’s horses! They galloped over the bridge in the direction of the king’s mansion. 18

Outside the mansion, crowds of villagers were waiting. “My horses have been found!” the king announced. Was the mystery of the Mythical Knight about to be solved? 19

“Here is the brave knight who saved our village and found my treasured horses,” said the king. He pulled down the knight’s hood. The villagers gasped in shock. 20

“My daughter, Crystal!” said the king with pride. “It turns out she has been fixing the thief’s damage all along.” 21

“Have you caught the thief?” asked the villagers. The expression on the king’s face was full of sadness. “The thief is here by my side. It is my son,” he said, sadly. Prince Cuthbert was the thief! The villagers couldn’t believe it. 22

Whenever the villagers saw Princess Crystal, they cheered. “Hooray for the greatest knight Deer Ridge has ever known!” they shouted. 23

Retell the story 24



Phonics Focus: New spellings School & Home for known sounds MythicTahleKnight Decodable with tricky words written by Suzy Ditchburn illustrated by Angelika Scudamore School & Home Set 13 A mystery, mythical knight saves the day again. But who are they? Other titles in Set 13: Practise: new spellings for known sounds