The story begins with a small, green dung beetle on a fresh pile of soft elephant poo. From here we see her form a small ball of poo which she seeks a mate to help her roll. Together they roll it to a soft patch of earth where they bury it. She lays an egg in the middle of the soft ball of poo. Then they start again until there are several buried balls of poo, each with an egg inside. The book then follows the life cycle of the dung beetle through all the stages until it hatches and then repeats the cycle itself.
This book is jam-packed with facts and information not just about the dung beetle but about the African Savannah and the animals who live there. The illustrations are beautiful with lots of elements for children to spot, aided by an eye-spy on the large, fold-out page at the end. The fold-out page also includes a map showing the distribution of dung beetles around the world and illustrates clearly the life-cycle of the beetle.
This book would be a beautiful addition to any classroom or school library. Valuable both as a reading for pleasure book as well as when teaching about Africa, animal life-cycles or food chains.
If you’ve ever watched a dandelion seed float away on the breeze and wondered what happens next, Fluffy, Flying Seed by Mary Auld is the perfect book to explore that journey!
This non-fiction book follows a tiny seed as it drifts through the air, eventually landing and growing into a beautiful wildflower. The story is told in the first person, making the seed’s adventure feel even more engaging for young readers. Along the way, key facts about nature and plant life are introduced in a way that’s easy to understand without feeling overwhelming.
A real highlight is the giant fold-out poster at the back of the book, which lays out the entire life cycle of the dandelion in a clear and visual way. Plus, there’s a fun I-Spy activity where children can search for meadow creatures hidden in the pages, prompting them to think about whether these animals are active during the day or night.
This book is a great choice for primary-aged children, whether they’re learning about plants in the classroom or just curious about the world around them.
Small, Sparkling Raindrop by Mary Auld is a beautifully written non-fiction book that takes young readers on an engaging journey through the Earth’s water cycle, told from the perspective of a raindrop. This first-person narrative makes the science behind water movement accessible and relatable, capturing children’s imaginations as they follow the raindrop’s journey.
Lou Baker-Smith’s clear and simple illustrations perfectly complement the text, ensuring that younger readers can easily grasp the key concepts without feeling overwhelmed. The balance between text and imagery makes this an ideal resource for primary-aged children.
Children will show great interest in this book, eagerly sharing the facts they learn, which highlights its effectiveness as an educational tool. Whether used for display, cross-curricular learning, or independent exploration, Small, Sparkling Raindrop is a highly recommended addition to every school library.
This is a wonderfully endearing story of our ‘little blue dot’ – planet Earth – offering important facts about our solar system to a younger audience.
Whilst many books have been written about our solar system previously, this one is full of the latest facts and discoveries about our solar system; the facts are interweaved with Earth’s story about its friends, the other planets, and its own important role in our universe.
This book is unique with Earth’s first-person narrative about its environment and the other planets. With wonderful scenic colours and cute planet characters, the illustrations in this book are beautiful. This book would appeal to budding young scientists and children who stare up into our night sky wondering what is up there.
Following a tiny coral planula, this book gives an insight into the interesting life of coral as it becomes a part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
The text is written in the first person narrative integrated with lots of factual information for the reader. The illustrations would attract younger children however, the non-fiction aspect would also interest older children (and adults) who want to discover more about this animal as it looks for the perfect place to settle, divide and grow. There is some challenging vocabulary in the text but this is supported by the simplicity of the story running through this book.
At the back, there is a wonderful fold-out map showing the coral reefs of the world that also includes a Coral I-Spy game for children which takes them back through the book locating different reef animals.
This book would be a fabulous addition to a home, primary school library or 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.
Little Brown Nut is the newest addition to the series, ‘Start Small, Think Big’ covering growth and life cycles. This non-fiction picture book tells the story of the Brazil nut tree and shows why the rainforest is important to local people and the wider world. The book features full-colour illustrations, a textured cover with a peep-through hole and giant fold-out map, and covers themes of life cycles, tree germination, photosynthesis and habitats,
The reader is instantly transported through the peep-hole cover into the Amazon Rainforest to experience the story of the brazil nut, as told through first-person (or first-nut!) narrative. The journey spans from the nut falling from its tree, to encountering a wide variety of animals on the forest floor and being buried to finally meeting humans, who will use the nuts they gather in the forest in different ways. The non-fiction/story blend explains the life-cycle of the nut with questions for the reader to explore further, such as ‘Can you see…?’ sparking interest and interaction. The interaction continues through to the end pages, with an impressive six-page fold-out section inside the back cover that will go down a treat in the classroom (including a life-cycle diagram and map of South America) and an I-Spy type game to encourage readers to have a second look.
The main text is aimed at emerging readers, with additional information for confident readers and shared reading with an adult. We particularly like learning new vocabulary, eg: agouti (rodent-like guinea pig of the rainforest) and that it’s filled with facts about how something as small as a single brazil nut is so interconnected with both its local habitat and the wider world. Schools will value this as an interactive non-fiction text that immediately captures children’s interests as well as one that aids learning in topics about rainforests, life cycles and habitats.
Tom Lehrer’s funny yet educational songs have engaged and enthused children (and adults) for over sixty years. His song, ‘The Elements’ can still be heard on TV shows today!
This book celebrates ‘That’s Mathematics’, another of Tom’s songs, which was handed over for public use in 2020. Author Chris Smith cleverly uses the songs to introduce mathematical puzzles and activities. The song is printed in full on the first page (with a QR code which gives even more content to use!) and then each double-page spread is inspired by a line from the song.
The first set of puzzles is all about counting sheep and has some lovely open-ended problems to enjoy. The book continues with pages on a variety of mathematical topics including division, shape and measure. There are many activities to try and all can be linked to the National Curriculum programme of study. Chris Smith has helpfully added key vocabulary on each page and an appendix which gives parents pointers to help them to unpick the maths within each page (there are also the answers if you really need them!).
The illustrations are delightful, with Elina Braslina’s joyful images of children exploring mathematics dotted throughout the book. It is a pleasure to pick out the little details on each page which are all there to complement the mathematical ideas. There are so many ways in which the book could be used within the KS1 classroom to extend learning following a maths input or to stimulate discussion and problem-solving, linked to topic work.
This is the story of a class of children learning about different animals. At the end of the term, when they have discovered all kinds of amazing things, the teacher asks them to share their ideas about which is the most important animal of all. The pupils share fascinating facts and illustrate how each species fits into a wider ecosystem. We loved this precise perspective and it seems that the British Ecological Society do too, as it is the first children’s book they have endorsed. The book fits neatly into KS1 Science curriculum and is accompanied by school resources to download.
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)
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