United Kingdom (UK Countries) Topic Booklist

Life on the Thames is full of beautifully intricate watercolour style drawings and interesting information. Following the River Thames from its source, the information is written in a story-like way which makes for a fascinating read. Each page contains drawings and facts. The book also includes information about the environmental challenges that the River Thames continues to face.

This book would be perfect to use when looking at a river topic in Geography, or to find out facts about different species of animals or plants. The illustrations are exquisite and so wonderfully drawn they help to bind all the information together. You feel as if you are going on a journey through the winding course of the river every time you read it.

This wow-factor history book takes the reader on a 12,000-year journey to find out the story of a single UK street, showing the street during a different historical period on each page.

Many young readers love any non-fiction books that explore or peek behind closed doors. A Street Through Time does this in the best possible way and over thousands of years. You can see what people’s kitchens and bedrooms (and loos!) looked like from the Romans to the Victorians (Roman toilets I’d avoid….!).

We also love how busy this book is, so many brilliant details to explore again and again and how it shows the change in a single place over a long period. A classic among children’s non-fiction – and for good reason.

This new illustrated children’s edition of David Olusoga’s account of Black British history is an essential book for schools – not only as an accessible and informative non-fiction read for KS2, but also as a book that I would thoroughly recommend for improving primary teachers’ own historical subject knowledge and especially those with input into their school’s curriculum design. As expressed perfectly by Lavinya Stennett (CEO of the Black Curriculum) in the Afterword, ‘This book is a testimony to the rich experiences of Black people of Britain in different periods of our history, and a reminder of the dearth of Black history in our curriculums.’

In the book, Olusoga explains the overlooked history of Black people in Britain from Roman times to the present day. Readers may be surprised to imagine the multiculturally diverse make-up of Roman Britain – and indeed to question why sources of history in primary schools may paint a historically misrepresentative picture of Roman society. Equally interesting is the development of notions of race throughout the periods of history, as the book walks chronologically through key eras. Did you know that it was only during the time of James I that the term ‘white’ was used as a description of racial identity, or that long after the abolition of slavery, the Victorians were propagating their own racist theories to justify profiting from slave-powered commerce?

The new illustrated version adds an impressive visual element with full-colour illustrations, maps, portrait galleries, timelines, and photographs. This edition makes the history behind the book accessible to a younger audience still and makes for a highly recommendable and informative non-fiction read.

This is a fact-filled history of the UK, covering prehistoric times right up to modern times – including Covid and King Charles’ coronation. An outstanding resource for any school, the book covers history and also cultural aspects of the UK over the ages, and also makes sure that the diverse cultural aspects of the UK are included in terms of historical events regarding racial equality and music icons such as Stormzy.

It is hard to put an age group on this book. It would be a great “free reader” for older primary children but there are aspects of the book, such as the British Empire and events in Northern Ireland, which teachers may need to explain to children, so it would be wise to monitor who reads it alone.

The illustrations in the book add detail to the text, making this an excellent overview of UK history. This is quite possibly the best overall history book that I have seen for primary school classes.

A collection of four stories featuring Paddington Bear in London. Paddington Bear had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same… for ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is around.

Baroness Floella Benjamin offers her own story of the 6000-mile journey from Trinidad to England, told for the youngest children in a picture book called Coming to England – An Inspiring True Story About the Windrush Generation.

The story explores and celebrates what it means to be a British person with Black Caribbean heritage, as well as opening doors to learning about the impact of Operation Windrush and experiences of racism. Speaking about the background to the book, Baroness Floella says,”Britain has always been a nation that’s evolved due to different races coming in, from as far back as you can go. I hope Coming to England makes people of colour feel worthy, appreciated and that they belong and that it makes white people say, ‘That could be me, what would it be like if I moved somewhere else?’.”

This is a stunning hardback book with Laura Carlin’s beautiful illustrations under the dust jacket as well. The contents page at the beginning means you can skip to a particular period of interest or just enjoy a chronological journey through London’s history. There is just a small amount of text on each page, making it accessible for children and it also allows the illustrations to take centre stage.

I enjoyed taking my time to look at the details in the illustrations. I like that as well as the author’s words, there are quotes and poems throughout the book adding additional information to the pages. There are also some extra notes at the back of the book related to some of the people and events mentioned throughout the book.

The language used within the book makes it suitable for children and it includes lots of events and time periods that children may recognise from learning about in school, including the Great Fire of London, suffragettes and WWII.

A really lovely and interesting book to have in a non-fiction collection.