Posted on: 26/08/2020
There's been many things we have missed about the routine of school in the past few months and we know plenty of teachers who have missed the treat of reading to their classes. But for many children being read to is more than a treat, it's a much-needed essential. As we start to look at how to cram more in to our very busy days we will need to make choices about worth and the class novel can be something which initally appears non-essential. However the class novel can provide a magical time where you can share something special together, delighting in the richness of language used by a skilled wordsmith. It can be a time when you have a moment of emotion together, empathising deeply eith a character who has experienced moments of joy or sadness. It can be a time where you stop to discuss a time in history, taking the tangent where it leads and allowing the children to question.
We've listed a few below that do all of the jobs above. These are books that have featured in previous Literature reviews or bibliotherapy write-ups and all are worthy of another mention.
This beautiful book is for slightly younger readers than her previous books but it is still beautifully told. Set in the Second World War, the Lockwood children are taken away to stay with their Uncle Peregrine in the grandly named Heron Hall in the countryside. Although you would be hooked by the exquisitely used language at the start, the adventure really gets going when the children discover two boys hiding in the half-ruined Snow Castle near to their Uncle’s. Who could they be and where have they come from? This book will be adored by Y5+ readers who love history and who will want to delve back into the past, but in this case you get more than one past to return to…
This book is both funny and heart-breaking, in equal measure. It follows the story of a group of friends, who are intrigued and puzzled by a new boy who arrives in their classroom one day, with a tatty rucksack and a look of sadness. As they get to know more about Ahmet, (through trying very hard to befriend him with gifts of fruit and slightly fluffy sherbet lemons), they discover that he has endured the most terrible journey from Syria, as his family fled the “war and lots of bullies throwing bombs and hurting people.” The beauty of this moving and heart-warming story of friendship and compassion is the simplicity with which it is told by the narrator who is the main character. As the children devise increasingly complicated plans (which involve cabbies, the Cold Stream Guards, the Home Office and the Queen, to name but a few) to reunite their new friend with his family, we watch their slow realisation about the extent of the horror of Ahmet’s experience, that we as adults recognise as the refugee crisis that so many families are caught up in. But because the story is told through the eyes of a child, it is both gently told and accessible. It is also, at times, very funny. I was particularly amused by the way that the main character interprets the strange world of school, and teacher, behaviour.
This book is an absolute must for anyone who wants to help their children to understand this current crisis with compassion and empathy; but at the same read a book that is full of hope, kindness, friendship and humour. We think it would suit any age class in KS2.
We adore all of Emma's novels as each one gives us a new slice of history to immerse ourselves within. This is perfect for classes of Y4+. It tells the story of pickpocket Magpie, a black, orphaned girl living in France at the time of King Louis XVI. When a thieving attempt backfires, Magpie finds herself drawn into the crazy world of the Montgolfier family as they attempt to be the first in history to fly. Magpie’s quick thinking, confidence and courage soon become invaluable to the family and she finds herself thrust into realms of aeronautical science, adventure, mystery, spies and even the dizzy heights of Versaille with the King and Queen of France themselves!
Carroll uses irresistible language to uncover experiences of early flight and friendships and it is deliciously easy to fall in love with the characters, colours and chaos of it all. We love that this book is based on a true story scarcely told and would recommend this to anyone who loves fresh historical fiction and tales where true bravery comes from unexpected places.
Not your average story-line this but so unutterably clever that it will spell-bind 10+ year olds. The story is told through the eyes of Aidan and Alfie - two boys who are seemingly of similar ages: one whose world has been turned upside down by the sudden house- move forced upon his family by an unfortunate set of circumstances; one who appears very different indeed with a twang to his Georgie accent that Aidan cannot quite place. But the steady, sparky old-before-her-time character that we were instantly drawn to is in the petite form that is Roxy Minto. It is Roxy who has spotted Alfie and his mother who somehow seem stuck in the past, living in an ancient-looking house in a part of the forest that is hidden from the rest of society. But when tragedy strikes, Alfie needs Roxy and Aiden’s help. Grieving the loss of his mother – something that he feels is his fault – the children help patch up his badly-burned arm, in an act of great tenderness, Aiden bathes Alfie, they feed him and provide him with a secret refuge. There are echoes of Skellig here as the children conceal and care for this strange being. But when Aiden’s younger sister Libby stumbles upon Alfie, his cover is blown and he is taken to a children’s home, having evaded ‘detection’ by anyone in an official capacity since… forever. He’s orphaned, has no obvious relatives and is only 11 years old… except he is not: he’s actually roughly 1011 years old, hails from Anglo-Saxon times and has lived through Viking invasions, two world wars and the 60’s yet hasn’t physically aged one bit.
The sense of betrayal that Alfie feels, suspecting Roxy and Alfie of breaking his trust and telling the police where he was hiding, is palpable and he seems utterly alone. But the children know his secret and, for the first time in hundreds of years, Alfie’s existence as a ‘Neverdead’ is acknowledged and accepted. But this business of eternal youth is tiring (and it is agelessness we are talking here; not immortality) and hiding is causing great weariness. And then there’s Aiden’s uncle Jasper, bearing the same odd-looking parallel scars on his upper arm as Alfie, and there appears to be a flicker of recognition between the two. Could he really be another Neverdead? And could they have met before? The memory of his bearded face leveling with mine on the creaking cargo boat all those years ago kept coming back and it scared me. Fear had replaced grief – and it was about to get worse.
But Alfie is nothing if not full of courage and knows he must set out on a quest to retrieve the last remaining ‘life-pearl’ that, once administered, will be the antidote to the first one that Alfie and his mother administered all those years ago and will restart the aging process: I just want to grow up, to be a man. I long to be in a hurry to do something before time runs out…to have friends like Aiden and Roxy, who will not look at me strangely, and then turn away from me when I fail to age like them.
Set in the present day with evocative flash-backs into many periods in history from the last 1000 years, this extremely clever and, at times delightfully hilarious (especially the bit about the school-trip), novel demonstrates the capacity that human-beings and, in particular, children have to accept and embrace difference. And we might have felt just a little tearful upon finishing reading this book: a highly satisfying and, at times, touching read.
A novel for older children, this is an exquisitely written piece about the deep bond between a child and an unusual pet and the trauma experienced when one is forced to let the other go.
Dealing with the themes of loss, loyalty and the need to be where you should be in the world, this will likely make you howl (but in that delicious way a really moving book does). It has the strong message, 'Just because it isn't happening here doesn't mean it isn't happening' and is utterly spellbinding and evocative. We would recommend this for Y6.
Set in a world of mechanicals and humans, Tin explores the concept of sentience as well as other huge ideas such as verisimilitude, which we had to look up as, beyond the Teenage Fanclub song of the same name, this isn’t something we knew much about. The Popperian theory of verisimilitude (or ‘truthlikeness’) is the idea that one false theory can be closer to the truth than another. And this adventure is full of false theories and misconceptions.
One of the first characters we meet is Absalom- the Biblical derivative being father of peace – an engineer of mechanical children. And thus Absalom could be considered to be a father of sorts but we’re not sure of the peace he has brought, if any. In fact, he has a haphazard approach to his work and clearly lacks integrity. We also meet Christopher and Estelle – Absalom’s assistants. They are ‘proper’ in the eyes of the mechanicals as they have feelings. The mechanicals, whilst having the ability to think, cannot feel. And think they do: evidently, they think that Absalom isn’t up to much: Rob hasn’t been properly finished and as a result, longs for respectable –looking eyebrows; Manda has legs of odd lengths. But the engineer harbors a dangerous secret and, when Christopher is involved in a terrible accident, it would seem that Absalom’s cover has been blown. Christopher is taken away by two men claiming to be from The Agency and the friends leave Absalom and set out on a quest to rescue their beloved Christopher, for the mechanicals think in a kind way and behave in a kind way even if they cannot feel kindness. But when they track down the famous mechanical engineer, Philip Cromier, they are not prepared for what they are about to discover.
A fast-paced and, at times, moving adventure that really explores the depths of love that beings – sentient ones or otherwise - can have for one another as well as the idea that knowledge is power and that, sometimes, just because we have the knowledge to do something it isn’t necessarily the best thing to do. Watch out for the emotionally charged moment when one of the characters carries out the ultimate sacrifice borne out of love.
Lovers of Peter Bunzl’s Cogheart books and Malorie Blackman’s Robot Girl are bound to enjoy this exciting and dangerous fantasy adventure which we feel would work well as a read-aloud for year 5 and up.
Rich in plot-twists, this isn’t as straightforward a tale as it would first seem. Chaya is a thief. And when we meet her at the very opening of this story, there’s a sense that she’s fairly well-versed in thieving. But her reason for stealing this time (and the loot being the Queen’s jewels, straight out of the palace no less) is a compelling one: another young villager named Vijay has been attacked by a crocodile whilst swimming and the only way Vijay might have a chance at walking again is for his family to take him to see a medicine man that they can in no way afford. Chaya’s plan is simple: pass on a jewel in order that Vijay’s family might be able to sell it to save him. But then, as these things have a habit of doing, it all goes dreadfully wrong when the daughter of a finely dressed merchant takes a liking to one of Neelan’s handcrafted boxes… a box that is concealing the stolen jewels.
Neelan is wrongly accused and imprisoned for the crime he didn’t commit - Chaya’s crime - and so Chaya must rescue him: not just to assuage her guilt but more pressing is the fact that he has been sentenced to death. And this is where steely Nour and Chaya, a girl with mettle in spades must grow to understand and support each other. And the theme of unbreakable bonds? Well between friends, yes, and also between a child and an animal. But the most intriguing bond is betwixt Chaya and Nour, for Nour knows. She knows what Chaya is guilty of and knows that Neel is protecting her. She also knows that, in part, she is to blame for Neel’s incarceration and comes into her own in the most unexpected (yet timely, as there are now a mere 6 hours before Neel’s execution) of moments and ways:
And that was where they saw them. Every one - and it did look like every single one - of the guards had returned and they were all staring at Chaya and Neel with undisguised anger…’Let’s see you try to get out of this,’ said a man. ‘You and your friend can both lose your heads.’
‘Hey!’ came a familiar voice.
A figure in a red floaty dress.
‘Hey, fools! Look behind you,’ yelled Nour.
After the ultimate decoy has been deployed, the children scarper and, injured, Chaya is separated from Nour and Neel. In agony due to her injuries, she desperately tries to steady her racing thoughts and here is a tender moment where she really struggles to believe that everything is going to be okay. She reasons that she’s done enough in terms of protecting her father and enough to clear Neel’s name. Here, there is so much love.
Then, in not so much an ‘exit pursued by a bear’ moment, rather an ‘exit upon the King’s own elephant’, the significance of the novel’s title becomes clear:
And then in the distance, through a blur of pain, Chaya saw her getaway vehicle. She hobbled up and untied the chain from her post. Black spots sawm in front of her eyes as she scrambled up and felt the calming, gentle sway take her off to find Neel.
Perfect for exploring the intricacies of characterisation with children and also meaty topics such as loyalty and the lengths that someone might go to save another being. A captivating read written with such lyricism that it would nicely support children in Y3+ with their understanding of a writer’s craft.
3 years in the writing, this exquisitely written novel, the idea for which grew wings when the author was living in the Himalayas, tells the story of a time in Tibet where two seemingly innocuous words could ‘get you locked in prison without a second thought… Dalai Lama’. When Tash’s mother and father are carted off in the back of a lorry one night during a curfew imposed at the end of a troubled day, courageous Tash is forced to flee with few possessions other than a borrowed yak but at least she has her dear friend Sam for companionship. Together they set off to find the help that their people have so desperately been seeking: help from the Dalai Lama himself. But first, they must escape a country with tight borders, carrying none of the necessary papers to be granted permission to proceed. Their intended destination? India, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. If Tash and Sam can get an audience with the figurehead of Tibetan Buddhists then maybe their people have hope. Maybe they will no longer be silenced by the brutal anti-religious regime of the communist Chinese; maybe the gentle peoples of the Himalayas might be allowed to return to their unique Buddhist ways of life and maybe, just maybe, Tash’s parents will be freed. With a huge dollop of ‘dragon-luck’ and a friendship that is built to last, the themes make this a moving and powerful book. We feel that this would make a brilliant class novel for Y4+
A novel that contains an author’s note beginning with the words, ‘It is strange to come to the end of a book and acknowledge that you wish you had not written it.’, is perhaps not what you would expect. However, the author – Robin Stevens (Murder Most Unladylike series) goes on to quantify this by explaining the mixed feelings that must have been at play, being asked to write something that was originally commissioned for another author, Siobhan Dowd (London Eye Mystery, David Yearling Publishing, 2007). Dowd sadly passed away shortly after the London Eye Mystery was published. So this is a sequel of sorts but it sits nicely by itself. Who doesn’t enjoy a whodunit? And who better to work out the perpetrator(s) of an art heist than Ted Spark: My name is Ted Spark. I am twelve years and 281 days old. I have seven friends. Ted is on the autistic spectrum with a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome. But it is the ‘different wiring’ of his brain that makes him so skilled at unraveling the complex mystery that we see unfold when Kandinsky’s painting, ‘In the Black Square’ disappears one morning from the Guggenheim. Whilst the museum is closed for refurbishment prior to the opening of the deliberately ironically-named Plain Sight Exhibition, and the main characters Ted, his sister Kat, their mother and their cousin Salim are being shown around by Salim’s mum, Gloria, who is one of the museum’s curators, fire breaks out…except, once the fire brigade have swept the building, they establish that there was no fire, only smoke from a pair of smoke bombs. When the staff and the 3 children are allowed back into the museum to resume their tour, they make a terrible discovery: someone has stolen the highly valuable painting. Things become even worse when Salim’s mum – Gloria – is framed for the heist. Held for questioning, unable to provide an alibi seeing as her bank- card was used to book the removal van seen speeding away from the scene, the three children set out to prove Gloria’s innocence and return the missing Kandinsky to its rightful home. But can they solve the mystery?
What we think is so lovely about Stevens’ portrayal of Ted is that the entire novel, written in first person and narrated by Ted, is written as a stream of consciousness where Ted is continually aware that he is a ‘different thinker’ and translates body language and idiom into something to which he can relate. He also has such self-awareness as a character, which carries a huge amount of charm: ‘…I could be a person who came to a new place and learned its pattern. I could change my plans, and still be Ted Spark’. And if we sometimes all tried to be spontaneous, change our plans and think differently, then who knows what we might achieve?
This would work well as a novel for year 5/6s especially for children who sometimes struggle with idioms/other vocabulary themselves as Ted translates these as the story unfolds. We think children would be begging for you to read ‘just one more chapter’ if you were to stop!
Arranmore Island is a place that we all wish we could visit! The question is: who will be the next Storm Keeper?
Fionn and his older sister have been sent away to the island of Arranmore to spend the summer with their grandfather. Fionn quickly discovers that the island is magical and evil lurks beneath the soil. His grandfather’s time as Storm Keeper is coming to an end and soon an heir must take over. Fionn is reluctant to assume the role as he is terrified of the ocean. A dark storm is on the horizon. Fionn must embrace his destiny as Storm Keeper and face his greatest fear.
This is a story of adventure, magic and mystery - think The Famous Five with an infusion of Harry Potter. This book would be a great read for a Y4+ class who love fantasy and elements of magical realism.
Imagine a world where everything is linked to your thoughts. This is the world Mouse Mallory found himself in following a devastating car crash on Christmas Eve: a strange, yet in some ways, familiar world where he realises he can use the power of thought to steer his story: 'If you wanted something badly enough, like a horse or a sheep running to your rescue, they appeared.’ And likewise, if you acted like you weren't scared, nothing bad would happen.' But dressed as a knight, his trusty steed Nonky at his service (sort of) and his new friend 'Bar' they must try to get to the castle to beat the predatory dragon. But there's something else too. Something following Mouse.
His sisters Violet and Esme are trapped in the wreckage of the car along with their unconscious mother who is alive but badly hurt and barely breathing. But Violet has her imagination too and, dressed as Irish pirate, Grainne O'Malley, takes courage from a heroine who has gone before her and sets about trying to get the help that all three- trapped in the car-need. But it's Christmas Eve, they're on the snowy moors and nightfall is upon them: will help come before it's too late? And where is Mouse? The reader is left wondering if he is unconscious, having been thrown from the car upon impact or something more unthinkable: has he died?
Torday has created in this novel such a beautiful tapestry of love, loss, adventure and courage woven with delightful elements of humour: a moving yet sensitively brave foray into broaching a highly emotive subject through literature. Whilst we wouldn’t want to spoil the ending, it did move us to tears and we feel that this book, handled carefully, would work for children from year 4 (age 8/9) and up, as a whole-class reader or for the teaching of whole-class reading. The novel would be especially good for supporting the development of children’s understanding of Language for Effect not least because the story splits between two worlds: one real and the other imaginary in the time of knights, jesters and jousting. Rich in language, Torday also deploys a number of sophisticated authorial devices that add so much to an already profound piece of literature. This line from p179 is a prime example of Torday’s prowess: ‘…there were two armies silently pitched on opposite slopes…’, where the dissonance (if one can call it that – the use of the long and short /i_e/, /i/, /o/,o_i/, /o_e/ pattern of vowels) perfectly complements the use of the words ‘pitched’ and ‘opposite’. This novel really is quite something!
This is an award winning book by Sophie Anderson and rightly so, as it’s a wonderfully original piece of work which reimagines the Baba Yaga stories that explore the meaning of life and death. Despite the trickiness of the theme, the story feels as if it has to be told; it’s timeless yet has a contemporary twist and we believe this will be a classic as it’s sure to be loved by children in years to come.
Our central character is a fiercely independent and headstrong girl, Marinka, who is desperate to live her own life and be free from the confines of her Yaga house and her Baba Yaga. It troubles her deeply that her destiny is to be the guardian of the dead, and as she finds herself uncomfortable with this future role, she starts to seek an alternative life. Feeling trapped in house that is on the move, Marinka rebels and then has to face the consequences before facing her own fears…
Marinka is a girl who knows what she wants and so I’ve bought this book for my ten-year old daughter, who like Marinka, knows her own mind – especially when it comes to Christmas! However it could also be a wonderful gift for the child who is seeking comfort when they know there is change around them, or for the child who needs to know that being brave isn’t always about making the right decisions the first time. We think it makes the perfect Y5/6 novel.
Life, death and all that lies between is encapsulated in this brilliant novel for older primary readers set during World War 1. It’s one of those books that so perfectly paints a picture of what life may have been like in the past with a most incredible level of characterisation.
The story begins at the turn of the century - 1902 to be precise - when the main protagonist Clarissa (Clarry) is born. Tragically, her mother dies just days later and Clary’s father - hardly ever there and emotionally absent - is left with a helpless newborn and toddler son, Peter. And the burden of knowing that it was her fault her mother had died (or at least assuming, seeing as there wasn’t anyone to reassure her on the matter) is something that Clarry must bear forever:
Right from her youngest days, Clarry had understood that all the uncomfortable difficulties of their lives - Miss Vane and the itchy knitting, the uncertain cooking of Mrs Morgan…and the desperate fierceness of Peter’s temper -were because she, Clarry, had been born and her mother had died.
In spite of this though, Clarry has indomitable spirit - the sort that means she sets the world ablaze. Through the novel she makes a steady set of friends who rally and support and they -along with her brother and Peter - become the family that she may not have had.
But then her brother is injured jumping from a train and whilst he survives, he later admits that this was a deliberate act to prevent him being sent to boarding school. Meanwhile, Clarry desperately wants better schooling and enrolls herself in the local grammar school.
When war breaks out, there are some grizzly scenes from the front line with much hiding of truths to protect others and this stoicism is prevalent throughout the novel as each character - now in their teens - protects the other. There is, towards the end, a hugely grief-filled moment that is just so beautifully done that it will send shivers down your spine but absolutely exemplifies just how an individual’s perception of what it is to be fulfilled varies.
This would work well in Y5/6 alongside Suffragette by David Roberts seeing as this is as much about feminism as it is war and there are strong links to War Horse too. This was one of our favourite novels a couple of years ago.
Posted in: Book Lists
