Summer Bibliotherapy 2023: Staff Picks

The Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning unearthed the truth about the dinosaurs by Kate Winter (Puffin, April 6th 2023)

As a frequent visitor to Lyme Regis, The Fossil Hunter was an obvious choice for a summer book review for me. Not only is it set in one of my most favourite places, but it’s the most beautiful book that tells the tale of Mary Anning and her amazing discoveries along the Jurassic coast in the 19th Century. Debut author-illustrator Kate Winter, has beautifully illustrated this book with superb panoramic fold-out pages, producing a stunning non-fiction book packed full of interesting facts about dinosaurs: did you know the largest flying animal that ever lived was a pterosaur called Quetzacoatlus, with a wing span of 12 metres? However, the facts are cleverly interwoven into the narrative of Mary’s life, and we learn of her story and her struggle to be taken seriously as a woman interested in palaeontology.

Anning was an extraordinary fossil hunter, scouring the cliffs and seashores of Lyme Regis for strange rocks, shells and fossils. Her amazing finds were dismissed by many male scientists at the time, and she fought to be recognised as an equal by the scientific community.

Mary's fossils paved the way for modern palaeontology and helped to piece together a picture of how the dinosaurs lived and evolved. Little did she know that 200 years later we would still be talking about her amazing discoveries and how she influenced our understanding of the history of the earth.

The clever use of questions throughout the book engages the reader and encourages them to wonder for themselves - “Have you ever found something mysterious? Something you had no idea what it was, but you had this feeling it was important, that it held a secret” The perfect opening to a story all of your own perhaps!

All children, particularly those in KS2, will love poring over the pages of this book and will enjoy the 4-page-fold out sections with time-lines, geological changes, amazing illustrations of little known dinosaurs and new and exciting vocabulary to learn.

This is a book to treasure and to read again and again, perfect for all fans of natural history and curious young explorers and a must-have for all teachers who love history and beautiful, strokable books!

The Thames and Tide Club – The Secret City by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s, May 11th 2023)

The discovery of a “tangly loop of metal that looked like nothing at all”, is the catalyst for this entertaining short novel, aimed at 7+ readers.  The quest to stop buildings from shaking, drains from overflowing and the Thames raging is embarked upon by characters Clem, Ash and Zara, mud larks in contemporary London.  Their adventure will take them to the undercity, beneath the river. A crumbling mirror image of the London above, where they will meet pirate eels intent on theft, a tiny snail who uses a shell as a megaphone to make his own importance known, and finally Barbara the porpoise queen, dressed in a pink ball-gown, who rules over the watery city and the river itself.

The book is funny, with plenty of action.  The children are relatable and likeable, whilst the creatures under the river are fantastical and humorous.  Balen’s underwater characters go about their everyday life in familiar ways.  There is a clam that is “going to get my shell polished right up.” whilst her companion decides, “I think I’ll go for some jewels this time.  Something subtle…”; there is the use of an Oyster card to travel anywhere in the city; and the familiar rubbish that has been discarded by the humans above, but which the river dwellers recognise has powerful magic hidden within.  Then there are the London place names.  The undercity of the Thames is a copy of the city above, with place names such as Guppingham Palace, Pikeadilly Circus and the Cutty Shark, to name but a few.  It even has a handy map with the almost familiar place names marked.    But there is also a message about the importance of looking after our environment and interdependency.   The book is supported with illustrations and plenty of humour to keep readers interested right to the end.  A great summer read for children 7+ who enjoy fantasy and/or adventure stories with a twist.

The Artist by Ed Vere (Puffin, April 6th 2023)

This book tells the story of a brave little artist – a young dinosaur whose heart compels her to turn the wonder, joy and beauty of what she sees in the world into artwork.  There comes a time where she knows she must go on a journey to take her art to new places and to share it with the world.  The tall, grey buildings of a busy city offer her the perfect blank canvas for her artwork and, soon after she arrives, the landscape is beautifully and colourfully transformed.

Crowds flock to see her at work, but sharing her art with others comes at a price and a moment of accidentally painting outside of the lines leads our artist to question herself. What follows is a beautiful lesson in not submitting to the need to be perfect (however strong that pull can be), seeing mistakes as wonderful learning opportunities and ultimately allowing heart to take the lead.

This story is inspiring, encouraging the reader to put heart at the centre of creativity and reminding us that the world is worse off if artists do not create and share what is within them. The gorgeous pictures working with the narrative demonstrate the vibrant and inspiring presence the artist has on her surroundings. The reader is drawn into her world through the illustrative style and you can’t help but feel alongside the artist as the flow of colour within and around her changes and develops.

There is something for everyone in this picture book, but I would recommend it particularly for children in EYFS and Key Stage 1. It has particular power for readers who perhaps find perfectionism holds them back in their creativity. This book with inevitably have any reader wanting to pull out the paints and create from the heart!

The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell (Usborne Publishing Ltd. February 2nd 2023)

"There are three questions that I need to find the answers to:
Where am I?
What am I doing here?
And... Who am I?”

Themes of mystery, self-discovery and friendship thread through this stunning novel, - the latest release from Zillah Bethen.  A young, nameless girl wakes up in the middle of the Australian outback with no knowledge of who she is, or how she got there.  Wearing a silk dress and one impractical shoe, her attire suggests she’s certainly not equipped for travelling in this part of the world.  The only item she has with her is a mysterious, heavy case – although she feels a strange sense of connection to it, she doesn’t dare open it.  

What is clear is that alone, the girl would have no chance of survival in the searing heat and treacherous terrain of the outback.  Cue Tarni’s arrival.  Tarni – a First Country Australian from the traditional Alaywarre community in the Northern Territory – is on her own quest to find her older sister who has gone missing.  Together, the two embark on a perilous journey across the outback; Tarni searching for her sister, and the girl seeking answers about her own identity.  In the harsh environment, the girl relies on Tarni for everything.  Tarni is ‘the song walker’ from the title; navigating the outback using songlines – songs created by her ancestors to map out routes across the outback passed from generation to generation.  As they travel, the beautifully poetic descriptions transport and immerse you so deeply you feel you are journeying with them, making what is probably an unfamiliar setting for many, feel palpable.  Over the course of their voyage, the girls’ similarities become as clear as their stark differences.    Memories of the narrator’s prior life begin to filter through with flashbacks to people she has known and places she has been.  The introduction of past and new characters feels almost mirage-like at times, and she finds it impossible to piece everything together.  

The Song Walker transports you to the wilds of Australia, exposes you to the plight of Aboriginal communities and introduces you to the land, history, wildlife and culture.  The glossary of Alaywarre terms gives a taste of the rich tapestry of language and culture, and links for further research are also suggested.  With countless twists and turns that leave you on the edge of your seat until the very end, this is a striking novel which would be perfect for anyone from Upper KS2 upwards, seeking an adventure into the unknown.

Wild Family by Ben Lerwill and illustrated by Harriet Hobday (Puffin, March 9th 2023)

If you’ve ever looked into the origins of your family and the genealogy of your family tree, you may not have immediately considered your connection to the monarch butterfly or the common myna bird. But that’s exactly what this brilliant offering from Ben Lerwill does, beginning with the concept of ‘family’, what that term might mean to each of us and the myriad shapes and sizes they come in.  Climbing along each branch of the tree, children will discover how some families include thousands of animals in a herd, a pack or a colony, while others are comprised of just one or two. They’ll explore habitats from the tips of the tallest rainforests to the teeth-chattering depths of the icy south, and understand how each and every living organism has not only found their own place to survive, but also ways to sustain the ecosystems within which they live. Along the way, the differences in each story are told and celebrated – did you know that adult female giant pandas can eat for up to 12 hours per day, while a three-toed sloth will sleep for 20? Or that bees keep each other cool by spitting out water they have collected for others to share? Did you know that lions have enemies too? Or that a sea anemone is actually an animal – a poisonous one?! Told in manageable, fact-filled paragraphs and gorgeously brought to life by Harriet Hobday’s vibrant illustrations, children (and the adults who read with them) will learn about the rich biodiversity on Earth and the ties that bind us all together - reminding us that we are all part of one giant, wild family, living together in one wonderfully diverse, shared home. This text will appeal to all children fascinated by the wonders of the natural world and will be a solid reminder that we live on a planet where every living thing – including them – matters.  This will be one to dip in to, savour and enjoy together through the fun-filled summer holidays.

My Heart was a Tree by Michael Morpurgo and Yuval Zommer (Two Hoots, June 1st 2023)

As we spend more time outside in the summer months this seemed liked the perfect seasonal read. We couldn’t resist this collection of poems and stories on the title alone (we love anything featuring trees of course!) but this beautifully written collection is much more than a themed anthology; it is a love-letter to trees, woods, forests and the nature that exists because of the trees. This is a beautiful keepsake book which we imagine being cherished in a family and living on a coffee table or by a bed. Each page is adorned by illustrations created by Yuval Zommer who has created a forest of trees as backgrounds, borders and beyond that, as the main event on many of the pages as the words sit on, and around the trees, seeds, skies and leaves. The book’s title is taken from a line in Ted Hughes’ ‘My Own True Family’ and as this inspired Morpurgo it has inspired him to create his own collection based on the beauty of the woods that he walks in every day. So many of the poems and stories feel like instant classics; we loved the leaf-shaped ‘High as the Clouds’ and the rhyming couplets of ‘Yew and Me’ make this the perfect page for sharing with a child, taking it in turns to bounce the words off the page. ‘Conker’, Whacks of Apples’ and ‘Here is Home’ made us feel a real sense of nostalgia as we realised the deep-lasting connection of childhood and nature. This is a book for reading under trees this summer, out loud and to help remind us of the importance of trees and the legacy of nature – what a gift!

A Child’s Introduction to Pride: The Inspirational History and Culture of the LGBTQIA+ Community by Sarah Prager and Caitlin O’Dwyer, (Black Dog and Leventhal, May 4th 2023)

We’ve been waiting a long time for a book like this to come along at Literacy Tree towers… an easy-to-navigate, brilliantly-written and uncompromising book that celebrates the Queer community, explores their history and contribution to the world both in terms of the arts and sciences, whilst also giving information that will be invaluable to children who will either grow up to be members of the LGBTQIA+ community, have queer parents, or who want to find out more about the Pride movement.

We love that this book doesn’t shy away from discussing and (most importantly) giving clear and researched information about pronouns, gender identity and same-gender attraction. There’s even an excellently-presented section about what to do if someone comes out to you and a lovely guide to the pride flags too.

What’s so great about this book though, is how it puts the Queer community in its historical context, starting with ancient history and moving through other significant periods in LGBTQIA+ history, again never shying away from discussing things like discrimination and decriminalisation, the Stonewall Uprising and the HIV/AIDs pandemic. There are potted-histories of drag and cross-dressing and a focus too on gender-diverse people from as far back as the 1400s! This book serves to remind us that there is nothing new about Gay and Trans rights being fought for, and that the Queer community has always existed.

The books finishes by bringing us bang up-to-date looking at LGBTQIA+ rights in schools and reminding us of the damage that discrimination, ignorance and lack of representation can cause. We would whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone wanting to find out more about the Pride movement and Queer history and would want a copy to be available in every UKS2 classroom. We think it would pair perfectly with Rob Sanders’ Stonewall book too!

The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Portraits and Poison by J.T. Williams, illustrated by Simone Douglas (Farshore, 30th March 2023)

We adored J.T. Williams’ debut mystery novel The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger, so much so that we had to write a brand-new Writing Root resource to accompany this wonderful, adventurous text. If you’re interested in using this book in the classroom, then our Writing Root will be available to download very soon.

We were thrilled therefore when Williams brought out this - her second novel in the series - and that this thoroughly lived up to the expectations created by her first instalment.

We continue to follow the much-loved historical characters Lizzie Sancho and Dido Belle as they face another wide-reaching and conspiracy-laden mystery. The novel opens with the bond forged between the two families and the two friends being celebrated with the commission of a family portrait. Kenwood House in High Gate, the residence of Belle’s uncle and renowned barrister, Lord Mansfield, is buzzing with excitements as they prepare for the unveiling party. This sense of security does not last for long however as the portrait is stolen. Lizzie and Belle are thrown into a new mystery that leads them through eighteenth century London and on to the coattails of a dangerous, shadowy organisation.

I would recommend this book to children in Years 5 or 6 who are looking for a great mystery story with rich characters to read over those long summer days.

Gory Rory Fangface Needs a Kiss by Ziggy Hanaor and Ollie Silvester (Cicada, May 18th 2023)

Gory Rory isn’t having a very good day at all. After a bad night’s sleep, in the way that the saying ‘getting out of the wrong side of bed’ goes, breakfast doesn’t go well either… they’ve run out of cereal. Mummy Fangface suggests that a kiss might make things better… Gory Rory thinks otherwise. Then his favourite sweater is in the wash (a kiss won’t cut it); it rains on the way to school (he’s now FURIOUSLY rejecting his mother’s attempts at soothing him) and then his homework has been forgotten, resulting in Rory having to stay in at playtime and missing Marco Sharko’s ‘goal of the century’. Back home, you’d think that Gory Rory would feel cocooned from the harsh realities of life but, no. The TV network is down and there’s even more homework to do! Gory Rory explodes!! ‘This has been the worst day ever. Every single thing has gone horribly wrong. Why oh why oh why do bad things always happen to me???’ Let me just give you a little kiss, mum says…

Written by the brilliant Ziggy Hanaor, this has the sweetest and funniest illustrations: the fury captured by Hanaor’s words and Silvester’s depictions of the little wolf-cub is so clever! An utterly relatable book that’s perfect for tired little ones at the end of term but also for those who are likely to struggle with change and the uncertainty that can set-in ahead of a new school year. And, if we’re being honest, tweens on the verge of starting secondary school would probably also enjoy snuggling up to read this too. When talking about this book, Hanaor cites her experience as a parent as her inspiration given that Gory Rory would put in an appearance at home from time-to-time. A gorgeous book that carries the timeless message that love and affection really do have the power to heal.