Posted on: 22/07/2019
We've taken the top of our TBR* piles and reviewed them for you in case you needed to create your own pile. And if if you didn't, well have a look and be nosey about what we've enjoyed of late. With the long holiday at last upon us, is there not a more perfect time of year to silence your brain with a book? We cannot wait to continue to catch up on our reading this summer so feel free to let us know if you read any of our recommendations and if you have any further ones yourselves. Our second favourite holiday activity is discovering new bookshops on holiday, so there's sure to be an opportunity for a browse or purchase. We can't be the only people returning with more books than we packed, surely?! Happy holidays everyone!
*To Be Read
We leapt upon this in our house and my youngest of 10 years and I enjoyed a week of cosy evenings reading this out loud, which is what, I believe, Katherine Rundell books are absolutely made for. We’ve consumed and devoured every single one of her books in our house in this manner since ‘The Girl Savage’ and she has the astonishing ability to captivate you from page one with characters you not only like, but want to be, and plots you desperately crave to be in the centre of. ‘If only I could have one of Katherine Rundell-esque adventure in our lives’ we bemoaned, reaching the end of this one. (No, really, we did.)
Set in the juxtaposed glamour and dirt of 1920’s New York, our heroine Vita and her mother arrive via boat to help her grandfather with what seems like an impossible case: facing a New York gangster to retrieve her grandfather’s family house that he was conned into selling. Tiny Vita, scarred by polio, is a steely-minded heroine and accompanied by the lockpicking, trapezing sidekicks she takes on board, they hatch a plan to take back what was rightfully owned by her family.
This proved to be a pacey plot with a genre that could be described as part thriller, part heist: we were on the edge of the sofa most of the time and I could genuinely envisage this becoming a film. In my mind, this is one of the books of the year and (I do not say this lightly having loved EVERYTHING Rundell has written) her best yet.
I’m recommending it for all teachers who want a guaranteed adventure this summer to read to themselves or their own children this summer (and then to read it again to their classes in September.)
As an author and a zooollogist, Nicola Davies’ writing on any creature is clearly informed, but this book, with this beautiful subject, showcases how beautifully she writes too, charting the journey of the arrestingly glamorous ruby-throated hummingbird from a garden Central America via the Gulf of Mexico to New York City. I adored this book and greedily read it by myself without either of my children at first, pouring over the intricate lines of Jane Ray’s illustrations and marvelling at her sense of movement on the still page.
Growing up in a rural area made me ever-appreciative of birds and their seasonal pilgrimages as we would watch swallows, house martins and chiffchaffs arrive and dance away en masse each year and so this felt so incredibly comforting. However I was completely enrapt with the new knowledge and facts gleaned from the pages about how these tiny miracles follow flowers to their final destinations, as well as how they migrate and nest and even what light they needed. As with many of the books on nature Davies has penned, the facts sit comfortably alongside a narrative, where in this case, a little girl who starts a whispered conversation with her grandmother, realises she has been a witness of the start and the end of the Hummingbird’s epic expedition.
I’m recommending this to anyone young or old who loves to pause time by observing nature. I’m certainly intending to do a little pausing of time myself this summer.
It’s completely refreshing that more and more books are being published for children with an LGBTQ+ theme or characters, particularly given the climate around some schools in the UK where some members of the community are calling for such books to be excluded from classrooms; we think it’s evermore important that children are exposed to books that reflect the world in which they live and recount the histories of the family units they may be growing up in. We think it’s especially important, in a time when LGBTQ+ rights are being questioned by some, that we do not take those freedoms for granted and that children are given the opportunity to learn about and celebrate the very beginnings of a movement that pushed (and still pushes) for the rights of people all over the world. This book does this in spades, taking us back in time to the humble beginnings of what would be a very significant building.
Set in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, ‘a place where you could be yourself, and where being different was welcomed and accepted’ one thing we love about this children’s historical narrative is that is tells the story from the perspective of that building itself – recounting the stories of the people and events it has seen: starting with its use as a stables; eventually becoming a restaurant; and finally becoming the Stonewall Inn, ‘a home for people who were told that they didn’t fit in or belong’.
The building as narrator certainly gives rise to some poetic language and adds to the sense of significance created in the story and this complements Christoph’s illustrations where colour is used so ingeniously to show the rise in the movement and the eventual freedoms that were fought for and won. Whilst this book doesn’t shy away from the arrests, detentions and violence that mark the riots themselves, we can’t help but be left with the overriding sense that ‘the good will out’.
We would strongly recommend this glorious true story to children in all Primary schools and think it is a must for non-fiction sections of school libraries and book corners everywhere.
What we love about this adventure novel for younger readers by Carl Hiassen is that it keeps you guessing throughout! Within it, Hiassen creates a range of characters who lead unusual lives and behave in unpredictable ways. The central protagonist, and also the narrator, Billy, is no exception. From Florida, he adores snakes (but less so other people) – in fact his mother’s lifestyle makes it difficult for him to make new friends. She is an eagle fanatic and as such moves the family from place to place as she chases the next best nest! This book explores different family relationships and we soon learn that Billy's father is absent, having left before Billy could form any real memories of him. The only person who knows his whereabouts is his mother, so Billy pieces together the evidence until he tracks him down… and so the adventure begins.
Billy travels across the country to track down his never-before-met new family that includes step-siblings. This is where the adventure really gets going that involves dodging grizzlies, shooting down a spy drone, saving cats (both the domestic and slightly bigger varieties!) and finally saving his own father.
Although this novel for younger children does feel somewhat uncohesive at times due to the plotlines and characters, we still think children will love the slightly haphazardness and sense of adventure that it creates, as well as the exciting climax. We think they too will like the first person, present tense narration and inclusion of lots of dialogue as it adds to the sense of adventurousness (even if, as an adult reader, this was at times jarring). We would definitely recommend this book to a younger reader just starting out on ‘chapter books’ who wants an adventure story to help them escape into their imaginations this summer.
This beautifully written debut novel is a coming-of-age story with all the ingredients one might wish for. The author has woven together a magical combination of rich vocabulary - some real and some imaginary- with well-developed characters, a plucky yet vulnerable main protagonist in Rayne, steady and down-to-earth sidekick Tom and a slightly sardonic fox named Frank who can speak but who cannot walk...
Rayne has been given the task of learning how to spell- breathe by her mother. And all eyes are on her because it would seem, as the novel’s title suggests, that Rayne is the last of her kind: the last spell-breather. But when a stranger is spotted from beyond the boundaries of hidden village Penderin, Mam leaves Rayne in charge of the spell book. As with situations such as these so often go, things go horribly wrong when Rayne drops the spell book into the fire. This sparks a terrible series of events which she and her non-believing friend Tom must seek to put right. Together they leave the safety of the village in search of Mam and of help. But what are the secrets Mam has been keeping? And will the uncovering of these mean that life is changed forever?
Magical, The Last Spell Breather makes us really think about the pressure that children might feel when faced with becoming the ‘last something’; the expectation to fill someone else's shoes when you're not really sure how.
A perfect sun-lounger read for a Year 4/5 child!
It is rare to have such a clear message for very young readers around feminism and the literal and figurative 'reaching for the stars' in terms of courage, ambition and potential but this picture book that has been written and illustrated by Wilson-Max cleverly ticks these - and several other - boxes. Astrid shares with her father her dreams of becoming an astronaut and, through a series of questions that challenge the little girl to explore what will be needed to fulfil her dream, they consider the qualities needed for space travel. Together they explore the need for scientific understanding while baking rocket-shaped cookies and Papa prepares Astrid for zero gravity by throwing her up in the air!
At the conclusion of this sweet and gentle story, we discover that Astrid's mother is an astronaut away for work. The final double-page lists women in space over the years and includes Mae Jemison amongst others. An important book about shattering glass ceilings; how strong a bond can be between a father and daughter and positive role-models. Good also for its links to STEM and important too in terms of diversity. Author-illustrator of some 50 books, the illustrations by Zimbabwe born Wilson-Max have that familiar boldness of outline paired with vibrant colour that we’ve seen in his other works.
I think that this would be lovely for a Reception/ Year 1 child to read on a day during the holidays when perhaps the weather isn't so good and a time for cosying up and doing a bit of baking with daddy (or mummy) is needed.
This collaboration by award winning poet Joseph Coelho and illustrator Kelly Louise Judd is simply a joy to experience and presents a year of nature poems, one for every month. The vividness of each page and its relish of nature is reminiscent of poets such as Seamus Heaney and John Keats.
Judd’s illustrations throughout are luxurious and radiant in their use of colour and preoccupation with shape and pattern in the natural world. They capture the essence of each month; from the warm showers of April to the magical quality of snow in winter. Coelho’s verse is concerned with detail, with observation, with natural rhythmic, temporal cycles and the stark realisation that these patterns are detrimentally changing due to human interference. The visual and textual language is a perfect meshing of the arts and science.
Each poem is preceded by a paragraph of prose illuminating an environmental topic of interest for that month. Coelho muses on subjects like the increasing ‘blooms’ of jellyfish in July; the blinking life span of the Mayfly, the ‘murmurations of Starlings’, the various forms of the ‘humble daffodil’ and the decline in amphibian life. The tone is that of curiosity and concern; a parent strolling through winsome gardens and parks with their child discussing growth and change.
I would recommend this book to children aged 9+ who will enjoy nature in some form this summer whether surrounded by verdant countryside on all sides or studying a cluster of daffodils in the local park.
Recent years have seen some fresh and inventive approaches to the way information is presented in non-fiction literature. This collaboration by award-winning illustrator Sam Brewster and explorer, army officer and documentary filmmaker Levison Wood is one such book and is a clarion call for those who thirst for adventure.
Incredible Journeys starts with the explorer, as a child, looking out his bedroom window daydreaming about what lies beyond the garden fence and the horizon. It leads us through the beginnings of times, presenting the reader with maps of the early migrations of Neolithic peoples, the Egyptian Empire, the Silk Road and takes us on the trail of some of history’s greatest explorers and conquerors from Alexander the Great to Captain James Cook to Nellie Bly and Amelia Earhart.
Levison weaves in his own adventures too, using them as springboards into history. He references his many expeditions through Africa, Asia and the Americas. His walk following the entire length of the Nile for nine months; his expedition across the plains of Arabia or his four months journey up the spine of Central America. It is a text that is immense in scope and manages to whet the appetite with each epoch and historical personage that it alights upon. Brewsters’ distinctive illustrations and graphics help to make these moves through huge swathes of time fluid and almost dream-like.
I would recommend this text for children aged 8+ to dip in and out of when preparing for a summer holiday. This book’s advice will be sure to get them into a more resilient and curious frame of mind!
A book brimming with magical creatures, imaginary kingdoms, accidental adventures, unlikely bravery, loyalty and heart, Rumblestar really is a summer must-read. The book tells the story of eleven-year-old Casper Tock, a boy who keeps himself to himself and detests all forms of adventure, as he accidently finds himself thrust into the magical Unmapped Kingdom of Rumblestar. Here he finds that the future of the Kingdom, magically intertwined with his own, is in mortal danger. It is up to him- alongside a lively, rebellious girl called Utterly Thankless and her miniature dragon, Arlo- to overcome the wicked Morg and her evil followers, the Midnights.
I recommend this book to children (and adults childish at heart) that love tales set in magical kingdoms and enchanted adventures. This book is a reminder to all who feel unworthy of adventures that, in truth, they have the capacity to do great things if they stay true to themselves.
This heart-warming book emphasises beautifully how hope, love and friendship endure even in the most challenging of circumstances. Lubna and her family find themselves living in a refugee camp (known in the book as the ‘World of Tents’). As they arrive, she finds a pebble on the shore. For comfort, she gives it a face and imagines it as her best friend. Through protecting, talking to and loving the object as if it were real, she is able to process and overcome her uncertainty and fear until someone else’s need is greater than her own.
The prose is made up of short, simplistic sentences which capture the child-like essence of the narrative. I would recommend this easy-to-understand book for children of lower Key Stage 2 age who are either undergoing a time of uncertainty or who have a curiosity about current global refugee issues. It will help any reader to see the humanity at the heart of current world affairs.
Malamander is a gripping maritime mystery set in Eerie-on-Sea, a quintessentially English seaside town, which during the winter months when the temperature cools and the tourist flee, becomes an eerily empty and chilling place to be. The story is told by Herbert Lemon, a foundling who was taken in by the owner of the Grand Nautolus Hotel and now appropriately, works in the Lost and Found Office, reuniting misplaced objects to their rightful owners. He finds himself helping Violet Parma in a quest to discover what happened to her parents who went missing 12 years ago when she was found abandoned at the hotel. As the pair set off on their action-filled adventure, they discover that every person and place holds a clue. Who can be trusted? Could the disappearance really have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander?
One of my favourite concepts in the book is the Eerie Book Dispensary, a book shop where a mechanical mermonkey resides and predicts the book you should be reading (rather like a Hogwarts Sorting Hat!). Each book is prescribed like a medicine for what troubles your mind - a wonderful metaphor for reading for pleasure!
This book has many similarities with Lemony Snicket due to its unsettling nature, quirky humour and parentless protagonists. I would recommend the book to any children who enjoy reading something a little scary and have a love for detective novels.
As a Year 6 teacher, this book was a fantastic non-fiction text to complement the Key Stage 2 science topic of Evolution and Inheritance. Charles Darwin’s revolutionary work on the Theory of Evolution is broken down into easily digestible chunks and explained in an accessible way for younger audiences to understand and appreciate. The book is filled with simply stunning illustrations and scientific drawings which complement the narrative and help to support the understanding of how species have adapted for purpose and evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. Scientific language and salient quotes are referenced throughout without over simplification. The addition of the glossary, appendix and common misconception page at the back of the book, provides a clear and concise explanation of some of the more challenging terms referenced throughout.This book is an absolute must for science enthusiasts who are curious about the world around them. It sparks imagination and inquisitiveness, and leaves children asking an abundance of questions about their surroundings.
The Garden of Lost Secrets is a story of kindness, bravery and friendship, woven into a page turning thriller that keep you guessing right to the end. The novel (a debut for AM Howell) came about after the author found an old notebook in a garden shed on the Ickworth estate, in Suffolk. It is a beautifully written story that offers a clear contrast between the beauty of the gardens (and the nurturing of the exotic plants and fruit which are grown there) and the destruction and devastation of the war, which feels like it just on the other side of the wall (and actually gets physically closer as the book progresses) affecting the characters’ feelings and actions.
I have to confess, The Garden of Lost Secrets initially appealed to my sense of nostalgia – I imagined a Secret Garden kind of story that would take me back to my childhood. It turns out that the Garden of Lost Secrets is a much more twisty, turny (not a word, I know..) story than that, which leaves you guessing until the last few chapters. The main protagonist, Clara, is sent to live with an aunt whilst her mother and father travel to the coast to give her father a chance to recuperate from gas poisoning (or so she is told – but you’ll have to read the last few chapters for yourself to find out more). On arrival, her once friendly aunt is now stern and unwelcoming and the sense of secrets and mystery begin at once. We are introduced to a mysterious boy, disappearing fruit, hidden letters, whispered conversations and much more, as the book weaves its way to an unexpected conclusion.
The Garden of Lost Secrets is a gripping read that immerses the reader in Clara’s world, making us root for her and her friend Will, as they face the dangers created by trying to keeping their own secrets and trying to work out other people’s, before coming to the conclusion that:
it was far better to talk about things that were bothering you than keep them hidden deep inside where they could fester and grow into weeds.
A page turning read for a 10/11 year old.
The Suitcase by Chris Naylor- Ballestreros is a gentle story of friendship and the kindness of strangers, with simple, but beautiful, illustrations that fill in the gaps that the text leaves. It deals with the difficult idea of arriving somewhere new with nothing other than memories and the need to start again, in an age appropriate way.
At the beginning of the book, a weary creature arrives dragging a suitcase and claiming that it contains items that are impossibly too large (..there’s a little kitchen in a wooden cabin where I make my tea. That’s my home.). He is not a recognisable animal, which helps to illustrate his sense of otherness. The three animals (a fox, rabbit and bird) he tells about his suitcase are sceptical so, when he falls into an exhausted sleep, curiosity gets the better of them and they open the case to take a look. In the meantime the strange creature dreams of his journey, giving the reader a sense of the risk and sadness that he has faced to get to this new land. What they find inside helps them to begin to understand their new friend, which in turn helps them to help him to begin to feel that he has a new home.
This touching story introduces young children to the idea of acts of kindness of strangers and the importance of belonging. Perfect for sharing with a 4/5 year old.
This book is clever. Its over-sized stature and obviously non-fiction content, as well as the two brightly grinning faces on its front cover, may be just enough to lure the reader into considering it another regular, albeit beautiful, information text about the achievements of two of the world's greatest explorers. And that would be great. But this is different... This is a story in disguise, told in glorious detail from beginning to end and beyond. No dipping in and out allowed!
Published to celebrate the centenary of Edmund Hillary's birth, this is the remarkable story of how he and fellow explorer Tenzing Norgay conquered the world's highest mountain. From birth, through their earliest experiences of climbing and on to their most famous expedition, this stunning text follows the journeys of these two most unlikely heroes. Complemented by Joe Todd-Stanton's wonderfully simple illustrations, every page vividly portrays the next step on their journey and along the way teaches us the intricacies of an expedition on this scale, from frost-biting temperatures and shifting ice shelves to collapsing ice towers and high altitude sickness. Despite being a true story and already knowing the ending, the reader will find themself rooting for the success of this most dangerous
mission.
One of the things I loved most about this book was its appreciation for the creativity and determination of the hundreds of people, many unrecognised,
who helped Hillary and Tenzing along their way. Celebrating not only the success that we all remember, this re-telling goes one step further in honouring the scale of human endeavour that made this the story that it is, including a double page spread that pictorially represents the 'Pyramid of Human Effort' involved in driving the two victors to the top. As Ranulph Fiennes so eloquently puts it in his foreword, 'You don't have to be a hero to make your mark on the world.'
Like the story it tells, this book is a triumph. I would recommend it to readers aged 9+ who have a sense for real life adventure - it's sure to get hem in to the right frame of mind for scaling the heights of their own achievements come September!
When I chose these two books, I hadn't intended on a theme. However, as with Everest, the notions of bravery, courage and adventure are here in abundance, only this time in fictional form and involving a mouse named Pip!
Drawing on the true stories of animals who played their part during World War Two, this is the tale of Pip Hanway, a young mouse whose world is changed forever when her home, James Smith and Sons umbrella shop, is destroyed during a bombing raid on London one night in 1944. Alone and desperate, Pip must fight in the face of adversity to find herself a new home. It seems her only hope is joining the top secret Noah's Ark underground network of animals fighting with the resistance in France. But who can she really trust? And how much danger is she willing to put herselfin to find what she is looking for? With her trusty umbrella in tow, Pip
travels across Europe on a perilous journey fuelled by new friendships and the pursuit of self-discovery.
Expertly weaving factual historical references into her gripping and suspenseful tale of bravery, Anna Fargher has created the perfect backdrop for teaching younger readers about the intricacies and emotion of war. Through courageous characters and their heart-warming bonds, she show us how war affects every corner of society and relies on the quietest of heroes to realise the freedom of the many. Complemented by Sam Usher's wonderful illustrations, this is epic story-telling at its best.
A brilliant introduction to World War Two, I would recommend it to readers in Year 4 or upwards who want to carry on with (a little bit of) learning
in the holidays!
Posted in: Literature Review
