Lurie chooses to alert us to a sudden change as the point of departure for the sentence, then he tells 'where', and he leaves 'a great noise' to the end of the sentence. This allows a smooth transition to the noise at the beginning of the next sentence. Words are harder to decode if they're not where you expect them to be. Even if you decode with ease, comprehension might be lacking.

The exclamation marks affect the reading.

Instead of writing '(somebody) said', Lurie has written 'Edward heard'. Edward knows about this person because of what he heard.

'Make way' is a figure of speech that the children may not know .

Talk about each of the three words in 'the Mighty Sebastian'- that 'the' means 'the one and only' that mighty is how Sebastian describes himself, and that Sebastian is his name. Point out that it is Sebastian who is talking, who is calling himself mighty. Show that because Lurie has chosen to use the precise word 'mighty', and because it is Sebastian talking and not someone else, we know that Sebastian is a show-off. Explain the reason for the capital letters. Show how to decode Mighty and Sebastian.

This is another sentence where the words come in an order unexpected by many children. Lurie has turned the first sentence around so that 'who' comes last. By doing this, Lurie has made the first part of the sentence point to the last part. This is a useful and effective language choice, but inexperienced readers find such sentences difficult to read with comprehension.

Having put 'who' at the end of one sentence, Lurie begins the next sentence with 'he'. Children must know what 'he' refers to. As work continues, they will see how this makes a smooth transition to the next sentence.

The amount of information in these sentences could be overwhelming. Talk about the sentences in sections.

Children must be made aware that this description is partly through the eyes of Edward. Otherwise the word 'Edward' will trigger some children to think that the sentence is about Edward.

Meaning will have to be ensured for all the precise words (eg 'sleek', 'steering wheel') and phrases (eg 'fixed in a hard grin').

The very amount of information in this sentence could overcome inexperienced readers.

Ensure meaning in sections - first of all the words telling what he was wearing, then that Edward and Barney were watching, then that there are three things that Sebastian did and elucidate each one separately. Especially elucidate 'right up to', 'Official Numbers Given Here platform' (including the reason for the italics), 'sudden stop', 'squeal of brakes', 'and then', 'easy swaggering air', 'climbed out'.

Also, in the Transformations part of the sequence, show how the word 'he' is not repeated before each of Sebastian's actions. Inexperienced readers may want to insert 'he' each time, and, from oral language expectations, think it sounds better that way. By only writing 'he' once, Lurie ensures we see Sebastian's preposterous actions in one seamless sequence.

The insertion of speech into an action sequence may puzzle inexperienced readers, especially when the speakers are not the character in the previous sentence. Talk about this, and also about the reason for the italics on the word 'huge'. Show children how the italics let us know to read the word with emphasis.

Question marks.

Show how to read words that are 'announced', and talk about the meaning of the word. Show that the 'ing' ending of 'coming' is how Lurie chooses to let us know that Sebastian was announcing at the same time as he was coming up the stairs.

And clarify where Sebastian is at the end of the sentence.

Talk about the precise word 'mean' and that it means he is really positive about it.

Talk about best, strongest, fastest, that they mean that no-one is better or stronger or faster.

Talk about 'all Africa'.

Talk about the phrase 'the race will be mine' and that it means the same as 'I mean to win this race'.

Explain Official Entrant and its capitals.

Talk about the precise word 'whispered'.

'Then' means the next thing, 'just then' is exactly at that moment. Just then signals that there will be a change in the direction of the narrative.

Explain the capital on official and that the white coat shows that he is an official.

Explain that the Official asks an official kind of Question.

Explain the rudeness of Sebastian's answer. Show how you would read this.
Here is another turned-around sentence, with the point of departure being 'if you want a number' rather than 'you'. Explain that the Official wants to make it clear to Sebastian why he has to join the end of the queue.

Explain the difference between the way Sebastian said 'What if I am?' and 'bellowed'.

Show that Sebastian refers to himself by his name - he is advertising himself all the time.

Explain that the Official is still being official.

Show that 'who says' would be read in a rude voice.

Show the understatement of 'It might interest you to know'.

Point out that the Official never tells his name, but he gives his qualifications.

Explain the difference in Sebastian's voice.
Explain 'started to go off' - he realised he had to do what he was told, but he was not in a hurry.
Explain 'but'
Explain 'just before going'
Explain 'pounded his chest'.

'Isn't he a boaster?' whispered Edward.
'Even so,' said Barney,' he is the biggest hippopotamus I have ever seen.'

Explain 'boaster' and that it would mean that Edward does not like Sebastian.
Explain that 'even so' tells us that his boast may become true, because he is so big.
Show how to emphasise the word in italics.

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