A humorous poem with one couplet on every monarch from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth the Second. Purple/ Band 8 books offer developing readers literary language, with some challenging vocabulary. Text type – A poem. Curriculum links – History: ‘Pupils should be taught about … events beyond living memory that are significant nationally’. A royal timeline on pages 22–23, showing dates on the throne of all monarchs, allows children to place the poem in context.