Frozen Worlds Topic

A retelling of Shackleton’s astonishing journey, well pitched for KS2. This recount of Shackleton’s expedition is accompanied by illustrations, maps and timelines, making it detailed and informative without losing any of the drama of the exciting tale. For more on Shackleton, you may also like William Gill’s fantastic visual retelling of Shackleton’s Journey available on Amazon.

This story follows a young boy who sets about to find his father, an explorer who appears to have gone missing in the North Pole. The boy has to prepare himself for the Arctic terrain by sourcing a map and packing his rucksack with all the things he thinks he might need. A fun and brightly illustrated picture book popular with KS1.

For story times on starry nights with the blackest skies – comfort and warmth will be readily found in Yuval Zommer’s Northern Lights inspired picture book The Lights that Dance in the Night. Completing Yuval’s ‘winter trilogy’, this is a lyrical celebration of the Northern Lights. From tiny specs of dust to gleaming rays in the dark, the Northern Lights travel across the Arctic, uniting every creature in a celebration that reverberates through land and sea. Illustrated in Yuval Zommer’s compelling style, this is a dreamy and gentle story poem that is perfect for bedtime with little ones or cosy classroom story sessions inspiring children to want to seek out the wonders of the sky at night.

There’s something about penguin-themed stories that always seems to charm both children and adults. This Antarctic story is a delightful and amusing tale about penguins that get stuck in their huddle due to a strong wind and then embark on a journey to find help in separating themselves.

Children will love the funny humour of the penguins’ situation (how much fun would it be to be stuck in a hug?). Along the way, the penguins meet a variety of animals and encounter a number of obstacles and giggle-worthy situations. Only an idea from the very smallest penguin of all seems to work in the end. This entertaining storytime hit with a heartwarming ending is sure to be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

This longer picturebook is the story of a polar bear who dreams of exchanging his snowy white coat for new fur that is as colourful as the rainbow he sees in the sky one day. The bear’s conspicuous new appearance leads him to be captured and exhibited in a zoo.

This engaging and thought-provoking story by master storyteller Michael Morpurgo is coupled with beautiful illustrations, making it one of our top choices for storytime in Year 2 and the surrounding year groups.

Seeing the elusive and never-before-seen Giant Arctic Jellyfish is Dr Morley’s life ambition. She adores jellyfish and has spent her life studying and researching the ultimate jellyfish: The Giant Arctic Jellyfish. Once her crew are assembled, they embark on their adventure to the cold Arctic on their boat to search the icy waters. They find a whole array of Arctic creatures in their polar habitat, including narwhals, polar bears, beluga whales and orcas.

They travel around the Arctic taking scientific samples and measurements, trying to find clues about the whereabouts of the jellyfish.

A moving adventure story which shows the importance of perseverance in finding, chasing and achieving one’s dreams. The book is beautifully illustrated and adds to the story and adventure. As you read along, you can spot the Giant Arctic jellyfish on most pages – Where’s Wally? style – which is engaging for younger readers and makes you urge on Dr Morley and her team.

The story is easy to read and follow, and some of the language is suitably challenging for children of different ages.

Percy the Penguin lives in the South Pole and is a post-penguin who runs his own post office, but there is one problem – there is no post to deliver! He keeps busy by cleaning and tidying up his post office, but there is still no post – nobody seems to know where his post office is.

Not wanting to give up his dream, Percy sets himself the challenge of making his post office known and starts his advertising campaign – handing out leaflets and putting up signs. Has his determination worked? Will he ever be a fully functioning post-penguin?

This picture book is all about determination and not giving up on your dreams and goals. It teaches young children that hard work pays off and that you may face hurdles in the pursuit of your goals. The book is full of beautiful and detailed illustrations that add to the story and make it more enjoyable to read through the use of different size fonts and the text in different formats including a letter within the story.

Early Years children will love looking at the illustrations and finding Percy on each page. It is not too long which makes it easier for little ones to remain focused on the story. It would link to some PSHE topics about perseverance and People Who Help Us, and would make a great Reception class storytime read.

A captivating picture book that marries a lyrical and rhythmic story about a mother’s care with striking artwork inspired by Indian folklore. This story features a mummy polar bear with her young cubs. With each new wave of curious anxiety that the cubs raise about the world outside their den deep in the snow, Mama Bear’s response gently explains more about the rhythms of their natural habitat, coupled with her reassurance of “you’re snug with me.” A beautiful book that captures a mother’s natural instinct to protect, reassure and equip her young.

Written by a real-life polar explorer, this is not the book you were expecting and is full of dead-pan humour.

Clive simply doesn’t like the cold and is determined to do something about it. Penguins are usually cuddly and cute, and Clive really isn’t that sort of penguin. The story is told with Clive’s ‘voice’ showing his displeasure at his situation. The text is simple but effective and Clive comes across clearly using few words. The illustrations are in a similar vein, using limited colour and a serious-looking penguin, for a very unserious book.

The pictures show the story’s humour perfectly; ultimately concluding that that you may get what you want, but it isn’t always what you need. Clive’s voice is strong and children will love with dry humour in the the story just as much as adults do.

If you are looking for something to read that is fast-paced and humorous, this laugh-out-loud adventure story is the one for you! This is the whacky tale of cabin boy Shen and his friend Sika, who together with a motley crew of pugs enter an exciting race through vast and varied Arctic landscapes. This exciting and amusing tale is a great story to read aloud.

The topic of polar exploration is a popular one in primary schools with teachers and pupils easily being able to reel off a list of famous arctic explorers: Shackleton, Scott, Cook, Peary. But how often do you hear the name Matthew Henson among the list, the man who travelled with Captain Peary and claimed to be the first to reach the North Pole?

In Race to the Frozen North, best-selling author Catherine Johnson offers a fictionalised retelling of Matthew Henson’s story, including how his achievements were unfairly suppressed for decades because of the colour of his skin. Published in Barrington Stoke’s ‘super-readable’ and dyslexia-friendly style, this is an accessible read for children in KS2.

A charming story from the author of The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. This story follows a young penguin chick called Otto who finds that it is not easy being small and living in the South Pole! This well-loved story is suitable for Years 1-3.

A magical adventure story with a strong female lead and overtones of Pullman and C.S. Lewis, ‘Sky Song’ will quickly whisk you away into an enchanting fantasy world. Set in an icy landscape populated by a power-hungry Ice Queen, tribes of children living in secret hide-outs and delightful magical animals, this text cleverly explores how the ‘magic’ of acceptance and tolerance can advance personal and societal change. On their quest to save the kingdom from the clutches of the Ice Queen, adventurers Eska and Flint discover that long-standing borders between different tribes can be broken down and that openness and courage are better markers of identity than ethnicity or class. Fast-paced and sparkling with magic on every page, this book is a real delight. A free scheme of work for KS2 is also available via the author’s website.

This new adventure story is a great choice for upper KS2. After fighting hard to gain her place on an expedition, young Stella and her explorer friends embark upon an exciting adventure through vast Icelands. A wonderful mixture of fantasy and adventure, the narrative weaves its way through dangerous and magical encounters with snow queens, unicorns, frost fairies and wolf-whisperers.

A beautifully heartfelt and moving story with strong environmental themes. This story highlights the topic of global warming, but also draws a picture of the wonderful connection that can develop between children and animals.

When April heads to a remote Arctic island with her father, who is there for scientific research, she’s not sure exactly what to expect. The trip to ‘Bear Island’ has the potential to be a very lonely trip – with endless summer Arctic nights, an isolated wilderness and, according to her father, no actual polar bears left on the island for April to spot despite its name.

Surprisingly, April encounters a real polar bear on the island when nobody else is around. Isolated from his family, the bear is starving and alone, with nobody to help him. Over time, a friendship develops and April becomes more determined than ever to save the bear. 

There’s something magical about this story – from the wonderfully evoked Arctic setting to the glorious friendship that develops between April and the bear. This is a powerful and important story that will stir the heart through its gently unfolding message that places hope in the hands of the young to make a difference in the planet’s future.

This well-researched and highly readable historical fiction book takes its title from the name of the medal that honours the Arctic Convoys during World War II and in recognition of the particularly harsh conditions they endured.

Tom Palmer has taken facts gathered from the Imperial War Museum, among other sources, to compose a gripping fictional story about three teenage Royal Navy recruits from Plymouth: Frank, Stephen and Joseph. Their resilience, fortitude and courage shine as brightly as the Arctic (North) Star against the surrounding darkness. Their very survival, both physical and mental, is threatened by constant attacks from German U-boats, submarines, planes and, most terrifying of all, the German battleship known as the Scharnhorst – not to mention freezing conditions, fierce storms, shattered dreams and rocky relationships. The life-and-death struggle is played out until the very last page.

This book, with its concluding Author’s Note together with the accompanying online teaching notes available from Tom Palmer’s website, provides an exciting and informative classroom resource for the teaching of WWII as a curriculum topic, besides being a book many children will choose for the sheer enjoyment of reading. A thoroughly recommended read, just like Tom Palmer’s other well-researched and highly readable novels.

The Good Bear is a superb story to snuggle up with in the winter months, exploring themes of families, relationships and ‘togetherness’ through the tale of a young girl and a life-changing visit to the Norwegian winter. Thea, the main character, retells her story as a first-person narrative and sets the scene for the action to come through the first chapter, where she is beginning to settle down to tell her tale to her daughter as a part of a long-standing Christmas tradition.

In her story, set 30 years before, Thea receives an invitation to spend the Christmas holidays with her estranged father, who works as a carpenter and lives with his wife and her children in Norway. As she arrives, there is news that a bear has escaped from a circus and may be hiding in the forests near to where she is staying.

Thea’s complex emotions towards her father are sensitively and honestly written; particularly Thea’s anger towards Henry’s new family and their seemingly perfect life. Thea’s relationship with the bear is central to the story and gives the book a sense of Christmas magic that is warm and gentle; a welcome contrast to the more overtly tinsel-filled Christmas books.

A beautiful story brimming with winter magic.

We love this full-throttle mystery adventure series set on trains, with likeable characters and well-paced plots. This latest instalment invites readers onboard a journey through the never-ending night of the arctic winter towards the Arctic Circle and Northern Lights. The clues and red herrings unfold one by one and the high spirit of adventure and atmospheric setting are enough to set imaginations tingling just as much as detective senses. An absolute winner of a story – just like the rest of the series.

This is a brilliantly visual re-telling of Ernest Shackleton’s adventures from pole to pole, published to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s historic expedition.

This engaging text is filled with diagrams, maps, infographics and fascinating facts that will both delight readers and transport them through an imaginary exploration of frozen worlds.

We recommend Shackleton’s Journey as a good non-fiction text to use for engaging reluctant readers in KS2. There is also an accompanying activity book available from Amazon.

‘Emperor of the ice’ is a beautifully written story based on fact. The book informs the reader about the life of penguins through the year and the struggles they face.

The illustrations are stunning and help to make it clear what time of year each event takes place. The information at the back of the book about climate change and how it is affecting emperor penguins was clear and well-explained.

This is a great book for children in Year 2 and beyond to learn about the topic of polar regions. Highly recommended for the classroom.

This beautifully illustrated non-fiction book begins with an Arctic tern and her newly laid small, speckled egg in its grassy nest. It goes on to illustrate how the baby bird develops inside the egg, then its life from a small, fluffy chick through its life cycle up until full adulthood where the now-adult tern lays its own egg, ready for the process to begin again. It covers the trials and tribulations of a wild bird’s life, from the dangers posed by predators to the long, exhausting migration journey.

The book is full of fascinating facts about the lives of Arctic terns, including their diet, how they catch food and how they fly. It concludes with a large fold-out page illustrating the life cycle of the Arctic tern as well as a map showing its migration routes. As an added point of interest it also includes a list of animals to look for when reading the book.

This book would work equally well as a book for storytime or as a reference book. With stunning illustrations and easily accessible text, this would be a fantastic addition to any primary classroom, but especially Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2 when looking at life cycles, birds and/or arctic animals.