Posted on: 01/07/2017
In the height of summer and as the school holidays approach, we've selected some texts that we think would make lovely holiday reads for children. Whether sitting in the sun, travelling on a long journey or curling up on a cloudy day, everyone needs something to read on holiday. You may notice that we’ve gone slightly off-piste this month too as we usually feature a picture book in addition to our children’s novel and non-fiction selection. Seeing as school’s out soon, we’ve instead chosen something a bit different: a beautifully written activity book that even includes stickers…
If, like us at The Literacy Tree, you grew up in the 80’s then you may well be familiar with the fold-out fortune tellers that featured in many a childhood playtime. Well, this ingenious activity book incorporates gorgeous illustrations with nature facts combined to make a plethora of fold-outs- no scissors or glue needed. The first section contains templates to be torn out, folded and then played with, with four ‘Did you know…?’ facts on each. The second section has questions that the children need to find answers to so that they can complete the sections on the fold-out. Because of the way these questions are phrased, children will need to use their reference skills to be able to find the requisite information. It could even support children in using a key-word search on the internet. The third section is made up of some blank templates that the reader fills in with facts. What we think is brilliant about this section in particular is that the children first need to identify the flora or fauna depicted in the corner illustration before then reading for research in order to find relevant facts to include. Although we think this book would be brilliant for a long flight or train journey (no scissors or glue needed), we think that children would rather enjoy using this in class to support programmes of study in science. They could even go on to use the ideas and the language-style to create a series of fold-outs for a topic other than wildlife and habitats.
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, this is a moving and powerful debut from Butterworth. Suitable for children aged 9+, we feel that this would make a brilliant class novel or guided reading text- excellent for stimulating discussion around powerful issues (and issues of power, for that matter) and for developing vocabulary. But, for the summer? A really lovely, evocative book for children to escape into and let their minds wander.
The entire premise of this gorgeous new collaboration from the same duo who brought us Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes, (Walker, June 2015) is that there are so many living things – including humans – upon the earth, many sub-categories and varieties of species and aren’t we lucky? Until, that is, through continuing to live in the way that so many of us currently live – over-consuming, under-recycling, not caring enough about protecting what needs to be protected – then there won’t be ‘lots’ of anything but less, then some and then none… Davies uses words sparingly but the illustrations provide more than enough in the way of discussion points and the discussions that will likely arise from this beautiful book will be plenty. Along the way we see life-cycles, facts about flora and fauna and, sadly, a double-page that serves as a monument to those animals that have already been lost: ‘Many kinds of living things have already been lost. Perhaps some have disappeared, even before we’ve found them.’ Lost: a word which, curiously enough, is an anagram of ‘lots’. Don’t expect a ‘happy ending’ with this book, for – although everything is beautifully illustrated in soft pastel hues - there is a clear and technicolour message: we must act now else there won’t be ‘lots’ of anything anymore. Hopefully children will read this book and be inspired to try and prevent any more loss. Suitable for children from aged 5+, this book could be read and used in many different ways and would be brilliant for any young children who are travelling this summer or staying at home – a trip to somewhere like The Natural History Museum would bring to life the subject-matter very well.
