An absolute hit with pupils who love the biological side of science, plus a good dose of history!
This funny non-fiction compendium of knowledge explores the history of human medicine from Egyptian mummification and strange Tudor remedies to modern medical marvels.
Authored by doctor-turned-author Adam Kay, this comprehensive guide digs deep into the weird and wonderful ways that people have attempted to diagnose, cure and treat the human body through time.
Funny and informative – a sure hit!
This bright and colourful picture book is a joyful celebration of the uniqueness of each individual. The positive message of the book is not to worry about what you are not but to enjoy the things you are and “all the brills you’ve got!”. The illustrations are bright and fun, adding to the celebratory feel of the book.
This is a feel-good book for EYFS class book corners or to support primary pupils with an ‘All About Me’ topic. It encourages children to be confident in who they are and to embrace differences and accept others.
Folklore and short stories are a brilliant way to introduce children to cultures different from their own. These retellings, which maintain a traditional feel, hint at the diversity within ‘Indian culture’. Educators can pick and choose from twenty lively stories to share with young people learning about India (and there’s a glossary and extra activities included!).
Jed’s mission started off simply – to write a poem about trees. But Jed’s desire to help the environment spread beyond the message in the poem, prompting the Mayor to improve his carbon rating, more people to re-use paper, recycling of wood and everyone to be much more aware of their environment and their responsibility towards it. What more can you ask for? This easy read could be any child’s typical day to demonstrate just how easy it is to help save our environment by recycling all materials. In the Flying Foxes series, this book is aimed at emerging readers, so the text is short and to the point and the illustrations engaging as well as being a Really Useful Book.
The Paperbag Prince is a charming picture book, beautifully written and illustrated by Colin Thompson. The main character determinedly recycles and reuses other people’s discarded items from all across his land, in order to save and repair it throughout the years of it being used as a dump. It is only when the council finally leaves and hands him his land back that the land is able to heal and recover after years of damage. As with all of Thompson’s books, the detailed illustrations add so much to the story and every page could tell a story in its own right. A beautiful book with a beautiful message about sustainability and the impact even one person can have when they are determined.
This longer picturebook is the story of a polar bear who dreams of exchanging his snowy white coat for new fur that is as colourful as the rainbow he sees in the sky one day. The bear’s conspicuous new appearance leads him to be captured and exhibited in a zoo.
This engaging and thought-provoking story by master storyteller Michael Morpurgo is coupled with beautiful illustrations, making it one of our top choices for storytime in Year 2 and the surrounding year groups.
In this story Grandfather, together with his canine companion Roo, sets off on an Arctic expedition to find the last polar bears. The story is told through a series of letters from Grandfather to a grandchild, through which Grandfather gives a first hand account of the highs and lows of his exciting journey. We like the way in which this book balances an appropriate level of humour at Grandfather’s amusing escapades along with an underlying concern for the melting ice caps and the survival of creatures living in polar regions.
A twist on the traditional Little Red Riding Hood story with a clear message about environmental sustainability. When Little Red is invited in for tea at the Last Wolf’s house, which also happens to be the home of the Last Lynx and the Last Bear, she soon comes to empathise with her new friends as she learns how the destruction of their natural habitat is the cause of the endangering of a number of wonderful forest species. After she is chaperoned home, Little Red sets about to make a plan to help restore some of the damage and learns how to plant new trees to repopulate the forest for the future. Humorously detailed illustrations, timely themes and a link to traditional tales make this a great book for the whole school to get their teeth into.
“This is Planet Earth: A beautiful blue marble suspended in a sea of stars. Unlike billions of other planets in the Milky Way, 71 percent of Earth is covered by ocean.” In collaboration with BBC Earth and based on the Blue Planet II TV series, this illustrated non-fiction book is designed to help children to dive into the beautiful wilderness beneath the waves and to emphasise the unique importance of ocean life to our planet.
The book is structured as a journey through different ocean settings – starting with The Deep, where we meet the weirdest and most wonderful creatures that look like something from a sci-fi movie but are – the book assures – as real as you or me. From there we move through shimmering coral reefs, to learn about the secret coral cities in shallow, tropical waters that are filled with a delicate ecosystem like no other. The next section covers ‘green seas’ – so-called due to the underwater forests and seagrass meadows that populate them. Interestingly, these areas form some of the most crowded underwater worlds and together they help to feed marine life across our blue planet. Here the book cleverly draws out the interdependent nature of the vastly varied but thoroughly interconnected parts of our blue planet. The author calls these green areas the ‘superheroes’ of the sea, and emphasises that, just like our forests on land, these precious ecosystems need our protection. After this we visit the world of coastlines, where human and ocean worlds collide and the theme of environmental protection is further drawn out. The final stop of the ocean tour is the big blue outback – an oceanic desert that is seemingly empty but is the home to majestic giants like sperm whales and great white sharks. The book ends with a call to action – a plea for ocean heroes to safeguard our seas by heeding the advice of scientists and taking everyday actions that can help to protect our Blue Planet.
With a foreword from David Attenborough and beautiful illustrations by Emily Dove, this informative book offers a fascinating insight into the wonder and fragility of the oceans.
A little boy lives in a house with his family. Unbeknown to the humans, a family of mice secretly shares the house too. But one day the mice are spotted and the mouse catcher is called in. The mice become fugitives and leave their home, which is now too dangerous for them, and they seek solace in the back garden instead. Will it ever be safe for them to return to the house?
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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
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Curriculum links (if relevant)
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