Following on from the much-loved ‘The Apprentice Witch’, James Nicol returns with the second story in the series. The magical world of ‘A Witch Alone’ is an immersive one that balances all different kinds of magic, from the dark and dangerous kind lurking in the woods to the warm and wonderful kind where compassion resides and a tea and cake can solve everything.
The story sees the return of Arianwyn, a newly-qualified witch who needs to find courage and self-belief as she seeks to work her magic to help those around her. Somewhat thrown in at the deep-end, Arianwyn returns to the town of Lull as the resident witch and is immediately kept busy by the demands of the townspeople, whether it’s removing bogglins from farmers’ fields or dealing with infestations of tamble-rats and nesting snotlings. However, there are much bigger fish to fry, as the High Elder has set Arianwyn a secret magical mission that will require courage, perseverance and skill. And alongside it all there’s the small matter of Arianwyn’s old rival Gimma making an appearance and acting very strangely indeed.
James Nicol’s style of storytelling is cosy and compelling. There is always enough danger and mystery to give the magical world depth and drive the plot, but never so much that it becomes threatening to the young reader. I recommend ‘A Witch Alone’ to readers across Key Stage 2 who will enjoy magical worlds that mix with the very human themes of courage, friendship and self-belief.
This is a superb non-fiction text that incorporates history, geography and STEM by exploring the topic of lighthouses through a series of interesting questions. The text has both simplicity and depth which means that you could use it across the whole primary age range and I can imagine it pairing really well with related popular children’s fiction, such as Ronda and David Armitage’s ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’ books in KS1 or Emma Carroll’s ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ in KS2. It is also a great example of a non-fiction text that could be read for pleasure over and over just because it is fascinating in itself.
Each double-page spread addresses a different question about lighthouses, such as ‘What Is it Like on the Top Deck?’, ‘How Does the Light Shine So Far?’ and ‘What Happens When It’s Foggy?’ and the text is cleverly structured so that each question builds on knowledge from the previous pages.
Accompanying the text are striking illustrations in primary-coloured tones, designed to emphasise the yellow light across the blue of the water and the reds of the lighthouse structures. The diagrams show a range of lighthouse types from all different angles and tend to highlight the way in which lighthouses are carefully constructed and engineered according to their geography and purpose. This is a text that covers the topic in such a way that every page is interesting and appealing and at no point through the book does the topic lose appeal. On the final pages, the reader is challenged to walk through the steps of designing their own lighthouse. A highly recommended addition to your primary library.
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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
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
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