Vocabulary that arrives through stories - not word lists.

The Word Stories Series teaches the advanced vocabulary children need for the 11+ exam the way words are actually learned and remembered: inside a story, in a moment, carried by a character. Across ten books, children meet 300 carefully chosen words - the exact register that CEM and GL comprehension papers favour - without ever sitting down to memorise a list.

Each book contains five original short stories that double as full reading-comprehension passages, followed by complete 11+ style assessments: glossary, eight comprehension questions with mark schemes, synonym and antonym matching, CEM-style cloze, and a "use it yourself" writing task. Answers are included for every exercise, so a parent can support without needing to be an expert.

Written by Dr. J. G. Knight, drawing on years in education, the series is built on a simple, evidence-backed idea: children remember words they have met, not words they have studied. Warm enough to read aloud together, rigorous enough to prepare for the real thing.

300 exam-level words across ten themed books, each taught in context 50 original stories, written in the literary register of real CEM & GL passages Full assessments with answers - comprehension, synonym/antonym, cloze and writing tasks For ages 9-11, preparing for 11+ (CEM and GL formats)

Book 1: The Feeling Words

The warmest entry point to the series. Children meet the language of emotion through situations they already recognise - waiting for news, losing something loved, hoping against hope. From apprehensive and despondent to jubilant, serene and elated, thirty feeling-words arrive inside five gentle, moving stories.

Emotion vocabulary is tested heavily in CEM comprehension - and it is the easiest place for a nervous child to begin. Each story is followed by a full 11+ style assessment: glossary, eight comprehension questions with marks, synonym and antonym matching, a CEM-style cloze, and a short writing task. Answers included.

Theme: Emotions and inner life. Quietly teaches: emotional awareness - naming what we feel, and the courage to feel it.

The Word Stories Series by Dr. J. G. Knight - 11+ vocabulary through stories, for CEM & GL, ages 9-11.