Filled with warmth and humour, Sam’s chatty narrative is really the star of these books and is what makes the stories so relatable. This book will strike a chord with anyone who knows what it feels like to be more frightened then they want to admit (which, let’s face it, is most people). Coupled with Nathan Reed’s appealing cartoon-style illustrations that are perfectly placed to bring a visual element to the book’s humorous tone, this is a brilliantly fun book that would make a wonderful addition to Year 3 & 4 classrooms. I also really like the way in which Sam’s Chinese heritage is represented positively in this series without necessarily being central to the plot.
Princess Florizella may live in a classic fairy-tale world, but she’s no ordinary princess…
In Philippa Gregory’s The Princess Rules, rebellious Prince Florizella broke all the rules and embarked on some daring adventures across the Land of the Seven Kingdoms.
With beautiful illustrations from Chris Chatterton, the Princess Rules series make a perfect gift for little princes and princesses who don’t want to obey conventional rules.
A brilliantly funny first guide to genetics that is perfect for children aged 5 years and over.
This stunningly illustrated book will boggle your brain with astonishing facts, as it shows how we’re all related to every living thing on the planet. Did you know that a grain of rice has more genes than you? Or that you’re related to dogs, dung beetles and even daffodils? Luckily, even though you’re 99.9% like a chimpanzee, you’re still 100% YOU!
The extraordinary world of genetics has never been explained so simply. You’ll be amazed at what makes you YOU.
We recommend this classic children’s books series about a boy who becomes flattened by an incident with a pinboard.
Learning to navigate life with his new flat-as-a-pancake body, Stanley finds himself enjoying the novelty of sliding under doors, being posted in the mailbox and flying in the sky as his brother’s kite. Soon, being flat presents challenges too, and the usually positive and optimistic Stanley begins to long to return back to his old self.
These short chapter books go down a treat with children aged 5-7.
This is a deliciously fun story that minibeast fans will love!
This classic chapter book follows the story of Harry, who is a poisonous centipede, and his best friend George. It’s not easy being small and navigating a world where everything bigger feels confusing and scary, especially flying swoopers, furry biters and the most dreaded creatures of all – Hoo-Mins!
Children love the centipede’s-eye-view world of the story, told with brilliant humour and a dash of empathy. A great chapter book choice for Year 1 and Year 2 children.
A laugh-out-loud short graphic novel, bound to get even the least enthusiastic readers engaged.
The three short comic-style stories would be great for introducing a graphic novel to reading sessions for those children moving on from phonics; exploring the characters, the humour and how the illustrations support the storytelling and help the reader make inferences about the characters. It is jam-packed with possibilities for the classroom. There are Narwhal and Jellyfish facts that could lead to information writing and the final text is a reflection on imagination and storytelling the blank pages would be a brilliant prompt for children to unleash their own creativity and design their own comic strip style stories.
A reading-for-pleasure ‘must have’ for the KS1 classroom! I highly recommend it!
The Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond are classic stories for children and have been enjoyed for years. Paddington is a real bear, all the way from darkest Peru, and his well-meaning misadventures in England are funny.
Paddington moves in with the Brown Family in London and has a series of accidental adventures with his new clan. The stories have a timeless appeal and there is something charming about all the mishaps that Paddington finds himself in.
Paddington is a loveable and memorable iconic children’s character and the stories are really well told, with warmth and gentle humour that is perfect for children aged 5-8.
This beautiful story about a little barn owl who struggles to fight his fear of the dark is a true classic story book for children.
Plop the barn owl is afraid of the dark. To help him overcome his fear, Mummy Owl sends Plop on a mission to seek out the opinions of others about the dark. He finds out from children, adults and a cat that they all have things they love about the dark. In the end, Plop decides he can embrace the night time darkness like a true nocturnal creature.
This is a joyful short chapter book, tenderly told by Jill Tomlinson, whose animal stories are highly recommended for Key Stage 1.
This is the story of Tad, the smallest tadpole among her siblings. Tad desperately tries to keep up with the others, not wanting to get left behind – especially as she has heard that ‘Big Blub’ is lurking in the depths of the water. Over time, Tad watches her siblings grow and change, and eventually make the leap out of the water as they become fully grown frogs. When the time comes for Tad to follow in their path, it will take a heap of courage to embrace the next adventure and leap into life.
This is a vibrantly illustrated nature story by Benji Davies, with plenty to spot and count. A good book for Reception or KS1 about life cycles, growth and change or facing new challenges.
The classic picture book The Tiger Who Came to Tea has brought joy to children and adults for over 50 years. Author Judith Kerr is said to have written the book based on a bedtime story that she made up for her young daughters.
Sophie is all set for a quiet afternoon with her Mummy. The doorbell rings, and to her surprise there at the door is a big, stripey, furry tiger. The loveable tiger is welcomed in and wreaks a small amount of chaos, eating the food and drinking everything in sight.
The sheer joy of the afternoon tea with the tiger makes for a delightful story and is a crowd-pleasing storytime favourite for preschoolers.
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