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Topic: History

Graphic Novel

The stories of Sinbad the Sailor are some of the best loved tales from The Arabian Nights. Travel over the seas and follow Sinbad’s adventures retold in Marcia Williams’ vivid comic-strip style. These seven stories are presented in an entertaining and accesible way packed with hilarious creatures and spectacular feats!

Picturebook

In 2014 the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. Internationally acclaimed author, Gary Crew, and multi-award-winning illustrator Shaun Tan have created a powerful picture book to help us all remember.

When the soldiers return in 1918, a memorial tree is planted… ‘Lest we forget’. But generations later, what do those who pause in the shadows of the tree’s immense branches remember? A message we should never forget.

Memorial serves as a reminder of the lessons to be gained from the past and examine the significance of conservation, respect and remembrance.

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly

Lily has lots of worries. She’s struggling to compete in her fell-running races and, worse, she’s losing her gran to Alzheimer’s. But then she discovers her great-great-grandfather’s diaries from the First World War. Could his incredible story of bravery help her reconnect with her gran and even give her the inspiration she needs to push through and win?

Chapter book

September 1939. When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn’t be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place. But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed.

Finding an ally in someone he never expects, they set out together to uncover the secrets that lie with the skull. What they discover will change Jimmy – and the village – forever. A mesmerising mystery about bravery and brotherhood from an outstanding new voice.

Picturebook

Set during the First World War, in simple rhyme, Where the Poppies Now Grow takes readers on a journey of friendship set against a changing landscape of innocence, of war and then finally, of peace.

Chapter book

England is at war.

Growing up in a lighthouse, Pet’s world has been one of storms, secret tunnels and stories about sea monsters. But now the clifftops are a terrifying battleground, and her family is torn apart.

This is the story of a girl who is small, afraid and unnoticed. A girl who freezes with fear at the enemy planes ripping through the skies overhead. A girl who is somehow destined to become part of the strange, ancient legend of the Daughters of Stone …

The highly-anticipated second novel by Lucy Strange, author of the bestselling The Secret of Nightingale Wood and The Ghost of Gosswater.

A haunting wartime tale about a girl who lives in a lighthouse, woven through with an unforgettable legend.

Picturebook

Peace Lily follows on from Where The Poppies Now Grow, The Christmas Truce and Flo Of The Somme and finds childhood friend, Lily, follow Ben and Ray to the battlefields. Peace Lily marks the contribution made by women to the First World War and celebrates the common humanity shown by all, on all sides.

Non-fiction

A personal, powerful and resonant account of the Holocaust by one of this country’s best-loved children’s authors. By turns charming, shocking and heart-breaking, this is the true story of Michael Rosen’s search for his relatives who “went missing” during the Second World War – told through prose, poetry, maps and pictures.

When Michael was growing up, stories often hung in the air about his great-uncles: one was a clock-mender and the other a dentist. They were there before the war , his dad would say, and weren’t after .

Over many years, Michael tried to find out exactly what happened: he interviewed family members, scoured the internet, pored over books and traveled to America and France. The story he uncovered was one of terrible persecution – and it has inspired his poetry for years since.

Here, poems old and new are balanced against an immensely readable narrative; both an extraordinary account and a powerful tool for talking to children about the Holocaust.

Poetry

Published in Association with Imperial War Museums

Poems from the First World War is a moving and powerful collection of poems written by soldiers, nurses, mothers, sweethearts and family and friends who experienced WWI from different standpoints. It records the early excitement and patriotism, the bravery, friendship and loyalty of the soldiers, and the heartbreak, disillusionment and regret as the war went on to damage a generation. It includes poems from Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Vera Brittain, Eleanor Farjeon, Edward Thomas, Laurence Binyon, John McCrae, Siegfried Sassoon and many more.

Picturebook

A young soldier is fighting in the trenches of wartime France when he finds a hen, skinny, scruffy, and starving. He tucks her into his jacket and takes her with him. The other soldiers laugh when they see him looking after her and sharing his meagre rations of food, but when the hen thrives and begins to lay eggs for them, they realise that perhaps survival and hope are possible after all. A beautiful story of unexpected friendship in the midst of fighting and devastation.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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