Author & Illustrators
A substantial hardback, beautifully illustrated in full colour to inform and celebrate 50 festivals from around the world. The endpapers are decorated with a riot of colourful fireworks leading to a helpful contents page categorised by continent. There is a handy glossary of words at the back and an alphabetical index.
Each double-page spread displays the date and location of a festival, explaining what and who is involved alongside some interesting and often surprising facts. There is much to interest both children and adults. We particularly liked learning about the Lotus Lantern Festival that takes place in Seoul, South Korea; we enjoyed the bright depictions of a dragon, elephant and Buddha.
The French Festival of Giants that happens in June was also fun to read about: every year people flock to Douai in France to celebrate with a parade of five ginormous puppets. Afterwards, there is a celebration just for children called Festival des Binbins with giant games, puppet shows, juggling and clowns.
A top non-fiction choice covering themes of festivals, celebrations, around the world and diversity.
This is an unusual illustrated non-fiction book all about food and eating around the world. This book goes beyond the usual sections one might expect to find in a non-fiction book about food. There are pages about eating utensils, smelly food, specific foods such as bananas and noodles and spices. Each page uses rich descriptive language and manages to conjure up the smells, tastes and sights of unusual food from around the world.
What is particularly useful are the handy phonetic pronunciation guides for each food. The list of different countries covered is diverse and includes countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Peru and Albania. Helpfully, at the end of the book, there is a world map with all of the 69 countries mentioned highlighted.
The book is simply illustrated with bold and clear pictures of the food and of children eating and enjoying food. On the final pages, there is mention of climate change and how food will change in the future, including some interesting insect-eating illustrations here.
The language will appeal to children in KS1, being both engaging but also clear and informative. The book provides interesting general facts, such as how many varieties of rice there are, but also unusual and specific examples that illustrate the general facts, including a variety of rice dishes from around the world.
Tonight I fancy a flight,
so I shuffle my short feathers
and jump…
Take off on a night flight, have a monster’s lunch, listen to birdsong, shout out the Apatosaurus rap and check out Alexander Fleming’s petri dish. The read the note Cinderella left for her Ugly Sisters!
A spectacular debut collection from an exciting new poet who is also a brilliant performer of her work in schools and festivals.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments