A fun and easy-to-read book, and a good addition to the Year 2 book corner for enhancement when looking at fantasy creatures or adventure narratives.
Matty Long – known for Super Happy Magic Forest – has an iconic illustrative style that appeals to younger children. The main character Croaky Hopper is funny and the storyline moves quickly. Croaky is different to other frogs and not content to stay home when his dreams of wild adventures are just a leap away – especially when he signs up for Woggle Scouts and ends up on an expedition to find the legendary Sasquatch.
We love the vibrant character of Croaky and his energetic personality will resonate with readers in the age group of the intended audience – his thirst for adventure, his frustration at not being able to bound away and recklessly follow his dreams and his impulsive spirit that causes him to sometimes leap before he thinks. This story sells the benefit of being part of a club or team, and shows how different personalities can achieve their goals in different ways through working together.
The book feels like a chapter book, but the printed format is familiar to those who like picturebooks or early graphic novels. Children enjoy the full-colour illustrations and ease of reading. The text is large and the sentence structure is easy enough for children to understand and read in a short session.
A wonderfully detailed picture book about life in a rockpool. Crab thinks he is the king of the rockpool because of his strength, but Prawn thinks differently and is all for playing safe. So, off the friends go on an adventure to discover who rules the rockpool meeting all sorts of colourful and interesting creatures on the way.
The story is told with great humour full of fishy puns. Parents and children will have great fun sharing this book as every time you look at the illustrations you find new details. There is a great section at the back of the book giving further information on rock pooling and the creatures you may find.
A beautiful, colourful and bold picture book that encourages children to notice the small things, think big, and express themselves! Matisse is a young snail who loves to create beautiful drawings with his trail. The trouble is most of the time people are far too busy to even notice them. It’s only when a child notices Matisse’s beautiful trails that his art is finally celebrated – and they inspire a whole class of children to get creative too!
In this inspired adaptation of the Red Riding Hood tale, Marie Voigt has made good use of the familiar structure, but Red journeys to Grandma’s house not through the woods but through the city. This imaginative twist allows Marie Voigt to explore what are the most dangerous threats in modern society, now that wolves no longer prowl the country.
When Red finally makes it to the safety of Grandma’s house, Grandma confesses that she was swallowed by the city too – once. The book ends optimistically with their joint plans to do the wonderful things that are possible in cities. The constrained red and monochrome palette adds to the impact and subtlety of the illustrations and storytelling.
The KS2 children I read this with began by enthusiastically spotting the traces of wolf and making comparisons with the original. This was fun, and useful for them as storytellers. Then, as the story progressed, the discussion deepened, quite naturally, into one of those rare and precious conversations about big issues and modern day problems.
This book is not just charming and entertaining but important too. It would make the perfect introduction to the importance of healthy eating, the dangers of fake and sensationalised news or the pitfalls of a consumer society. My group had covered all three by the end of our 45 minute reading session.
This gem of a book could be used with every class in a primary school to broaden responses to traditional tales, to stimulate writing, or to open rich discussion of difficult issues. My group declared it should win a prize. I say buy it and try it!
This flagship gift edition illustrated by Lauren Child is a glorious celebratory tribute to the strongest girl in the world in her 75th anniversary year. Pippi Longstocking lives in Villa Villekulla with a horse, a monkey, and a big suitcase full of gold coins. Pippi and her friends Tommy and Annika have the best time together-going to the fair, buying ALL the sweets in the sweet shop, and getting shipwrecked for the weekend. But the fun might stop all too soon if Pippi agrees to go back to sea with her father.
Half vampire, half fairy, totally unique! Isadora is special because she is different. Her mum is a fairy and her dad is a vampire and she’s a bit of both. Isadora and her family are visiting the Frost Festival, a huge celebration of the winter fairies! There’s ice skating, fairground rides, gingerbread houses and lots of delicious fairy hot chocolate. It’s magical! But in the hustle and bustle Isadora gets separated from both her family and Pink Rabbit. Can she find them before the grand fairy lights are switched on?
Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen chimes the old grandfather clock in the communal hallway of Tom’s Aunt and Uncle’s rented accommodation. Thirteen chimes? Surely this is impossible. What might happen in this magical extra hour? As Tom leaves the flat and explores the old house, he finds himself in an expansive garden full of life. It soon comes to light that this enchanting garden comes alive only in this thirteenth hour. Tom watches people go about their lives, invisible, until a little girl spies him and he finds himself a new companion. How can this be, and why does the girl and the garden change every night?
This classic children’s story by Philippa Pearce is full of adventure, mystery, history and emotion.. The book is hard to put down, with chapters leaving you wanting more and wondering where Tom will find himself next.
Baby Koala likes to stay close to Mum as the pair snuggle up together, safe in the treetops. But one day, when danger threatens, Baby Koala must be brave and bold… This heartwarming story about an animal family living in the wild has big flaps to open and koala facts to discover. Readers will love interacting with the big non-fiction flaps, where they can measure their finger against a tiny newborn koala! With a feathertail glider to spot on every page. Amazing Animal Tales is an exciting and innovative new series following baby animals’ incredible stories of survival, with big flaps that can be opened to reveal amazing facts. The books can either be enjoyed with the flaps closed, as an engaging narrative story, or with the flaps open as a combined story and non-fiction experience. Also available: Amazing Animal Tales: Little tiger. Look out for more books coming soon!
A new, hilarious book from author Tom McLaughlin, creator of the highly-acclaimed The Accidental Prime Minister. Funny by Name. Funny by Nature. Jasper Spam is mad about science, the problem is that all of his experiments tend to end in a BANG, until one day quite accidentally Jasper manages to invent something that will change the world forever . . . One crazy experiment involving a shed, a mallet, and a poorly aimed laser beam results in Jasper’s cat Rover, becoming the world’s first talking cat. Finally an invention that works – the Cat Chat 2000! Soon people are handing over all of their cash to get a talking cat. With his new found wealth Jasper can finally live the life he’s always dreamed of – buying a mansion, sports team, and producing a Hollywood blockbuster. But is there a huge price to pay for bringing talking cats to the world, and money won’t be able to solve the problem that the Cat Chat 2000 has caused.
The Witches’ Sports Day is another classic tale from Valerie Thomas about Winnie the Witch and her reliable black cat Wilbur as they prepare to take part in the witches’ sports day. The story is told with the help of humorous and colourful illustrations from Korky Paul, which helps to bring the language on each page to life. Readers of the Winnie the Witch series will be familiar with Paul’s iconic drawings and this book will not disappoint, for readers will enjoy seeing and hearing the preparations both Winnie and Wilbur undertake in training for the races, involving her whizzing and looping on her broomstick throughout the pages. The vocabulary used within the book certainly links to elements of magic, including the well-known phrase ‘abracadabra’. The choice of language and sentence construction also make the story easy to follow, especially for older children in KS1 who might want to read the book independently. Some of the races that the witches take part in are similar to that of a traditional school sports day, such as the egg and spoon race, which will help younger readers to understand how Winnie must have felt at the start of each race. There is also a link to perseverance and kindness to others throughout the story, which could be explored through a PSHE lesson or circle time discussion. Overall, this was a very enjoyable, light-hearted read and it is bound to be another great addition to the Winnie and Wilbur series.
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