A heavily illustrated chapter book full of interesting and unusual facts about Ancient Egypt woven into a funny, action-packed time travel adventure. The book includes an engaging mix of visual features, including comic strips, maps and full page spreads and also has bonus activities at the end include hieroglyphic codes to crack – a winning combination for reluctant readers and those who enjoy fact-finding in a story.

Part of Philip Ardagh’s popular ‘The Secret Diary of…’ series, this is highly entertaining historical fiction for a young audience, bringing a place, a time and a way of life alive for its readers. This one is set in 18th century Cornwall, where Kitty and her family live in a small fishing village. Kitty’s father is the head of a gang of smugglers who are trying to keep their contraband and illegal activities hidden from the excisemen. Kitty is supposed to stay safely at home but she regularly creeps out at night to watch her father and his men at work. Very soon she gets caught up in the action, including a shipwreck, secret caves, betrayal and a prison break.

Published in collaboration with The British Museum, this children’s information book offers a humorous and informative introduction to daily life in Ancient Rome and has a high appeal to readers in KS2.

Through words and pictures, the book compares modern-day life for children to different aspects of daily life for the Ancient Romans, including clothes and hairstyles, education, family life, pets, food and hobbies. The book sets itself apart from the myriad of other non-fiction texts about the Romans as each topic is viewed through the eyes of a child. Did you know, for example, that emperor Elagabalus was a cheeky prankster who was known to feed his dinner guests food made of wax? If you think that your school has too many rules, wait until you read about the vow that new students at gladiator school had to make. And the next time you begin to think that your bedroom is too small, spare a thought for Roman slaves, who often had to sleep in the doorway to their master’s bedroom.

This is the third in the ‘So You Think You’ve Got it Bad’ series, with the other titles focusing on Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. This is the kind of non-fiction series that makes the information visual, presenting facts through speech bubbles, diagrams and bright cartoon-style illustrations as well as accessible chunks of text.

This is the kind of book that helps young readers to move beyond hard facts and begin to reflect on what life might have felt like for those living in ancient times.

A gripping novel that provides plenty of background information about life in Ancient Roman times. The plot of The Thieves of Ostia centres around a young girl called Flavia who investigates the mystery of who is killing the dogs in the Roman port of Ostia. This is a popular choice for KS2 classrooms and is part of the well-loved Roman Mysteries series

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.  It was the winner of the BooksForTopics Book of the Year Award for Best Curriculum Support.

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. How will they pull through? Indeed, will they?

The life-and-death struggle is played out until the very last page, but it was no game for those who lived the adventure back in the 1940s – that much is clear. It is also very clear how much the author respects those who served and how determined he is to portray accurately their service to the nation. He has done so with huge success.

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.