This month sees another impressively comprehensive non-fiction offering from Britannica and What On Earth Books, following from Christopher’s Lloyd’s Children’s Encyclopedia and Kate Hale’s Factopia. Listified is a robust, 400-page hardback compendium brimming with intriguing information on a range of topics – each presented in list form. This is an absolute treasure trove for readers who love dipping in and out of information books and impressing their friends and family with a host of unusual trivia.
Divided into eight chapters on various themes – from space and nature to inventions and the body – the book is bursting with pocket-sized facts and snippets all grouped into lists. It’s easy to get lost in the list of animals that have visited space (although I’m sure I’m not the only one who was grateful for the footnote explaining what a Tardigrade is) or in the list of five things that scientists would need to do in order to clone a T-Rex. Many readers will be intrigued to learn that a bolt of lightning is the same width as a human thumb and five times hotter than the sun, or that on Liechtenstein’s National Day (15th August), the monarch invites the whole population for a party and funfair at the castle.
Many of the lists are just as humorous as they are informative (it’s easy to imagine that some readers will jump straight to ’10 Sounds the Body Makes and Why They Happen’ or guffaw at the section about smart underpants that can automatically measure how much your buttock muscles move in order to tell you if you need to exercise more). Coupled with Andrés Lorenzo’s appealing illustration as well as photographs, diagrams and prompts to move to other pages to find out further related information, the book takes on a playful nature without ever compromising on the density of content.
Suitable for KS2 and beyond, this is a cornucopia of information that would make a great gift for inquisitive individuals or a worthy investment for school libraries.
Mystery of the Night Watchers is a gripping historical adventure set in East Anglia. It’s May 1910 and the blazing Halley’s comet is drawing closer to the earth, when Nancy is uprooted to start a new life in Suffolk with a grandfather she has never met. Nancy is forbidden from leaving her grandfather’s house and discovers its secret observatory. As the mysteries begin to pile up Nancy must bring dark secrets from the past to light – even if doing so will put her own life at risk…
Michael Morpurgo‘s The Puffin Keeper is a beautiful story of friendship, love, family, hope and new beginnings, which pays homage to memories of family holidays to the Scilly Isles and is set alongside Benji Davies’ colour illustrations that evoke the untamed coastal setting.
The book tells the story of a young boy named Allen and the friendship he forges with solitary Benjamin Postlethwaite, the lighthouse keeper who saves his life. The ship that Allen and 30 others are sailing on becomes washed up on some rocks near the lighthouse, Benjamin saves them all and give them shelter until help can come. Although he doesn’t have much to say, Benjamin and Allen sow the seeds of a friendship that will last a lifetime.
As years go by, Allen grows up and seeks out Benjamin. He returns to Puffin Island and rekindles his friendship with Benjamin, who is feeling unwanted as he no longer has the job of keeping the lighthouse going. Together, they rescue an injured puffin and nurse it back to health. Over time, the puffin returns and brings more puffins to the island. Thus Benjamin becomes known as the puffin keeper.
This story is so beautiful and heart-warming. It will appeal to readers of all ages, although at just over 100 pages it sits well among Morpurgo’s much-treasured shorter illustrated stories like The Rainbow Bear and Dolphin Boy, which are well loved for capturing hearts in KS1 classrooms before readers progress onto the author’s lengthier chapter books.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
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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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