Barney the cold cat is a Christmas special. It is winter and Barney is very cold. He meets some sheep and donkeys and watches as they follow a star. Then he sees some angels singing. Next he meets some shepherd boys and three kings who are all following a star. Barney decides to follow them and eventually finds a warm safe place to stay. The Barney books are for preschool children. There are full-colour illustrations throughout. These books create a sense of anticipation, and support the development of prediction, an essential skill for beginning readers. The Barney the cat books have been carefully designed to promote these prediction skills to support language and literacy. The books are large enough to use in a group setting and are designed so that children can join in with the predictable phrases. There is a song at the end of each book that supports phonemic awareness, in 'Barney the cold cat', the tune used is 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' and in the other books it is 'Old MacDonald had a farm'. The other books in the series are 'Barney the white cat' in which Barney explores in the house and gets up to mischief; 'Barney the brave cat' in which Barney explores the garden and shows just how brave he is; 'Barney the copy cat' in which Barney visits the zoo and has great fun imitating the other animals.