British Values Booklist
Since November 2014, the DfE and Ofsted are asking schools to demonstrate that they are promoting British Values, specifically the values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We recommend some key books for your classrooms that help to promote these values.
Simon James Green, author or Fabulous Frankie, has picked out five favourite books for children all about being kind.
Simon told us, “In my new picture book, Fabulous Frankie, a rather ostentatious flamingo learns it isn’t the glitz and glamour that makes him fabulous, it’s being kind. In a world that can often feel like kindness is in short supply, here are my top 5 books to remind everyone (big or small!) just how wonderful it can be.”
Topics of germs and the importance of hand washing are not always easy for children to understand. BooksForTopics founder Alison Leach has picked out five books that help to address these concepts with children.
As children return to the classroom in September, books about mental health, class transitions and coping with change are more important than ever. We’ve handpicked a list of picture book recommendations to share with children returning to school – grouped into themes of community, resilience, rules, being yourself, starting a new class, feelings, friendship etc….
Class Transitions Booklist
Moving up a class can be a big deal for many children and transition days are a wonderful opportunity for teachers to break the ice and get to know a new class. With transition day just around the corner, we’ve handpicked a list of picture book recommendations to share with children to prepare for move up day or a class transition – grouped into themes of being yourself, starting a new class, community, togetherness and friendship as well as books that provide inspiration for transition day art projects and icebreakers.
Starting School Booklist
On this booklist we have picked a selection of recommended books to read to children starting school for the first time. It’s normal for young children to feel all sorts of emotions about starting in Reception, from excitement and anxiety to apparent indifference – and picturebooks can be a great way to open up conversations about those feelings. Here are some of the best children’s books about starting school.
This list includes children’s books that explore the topic of bereavement, with an emphasis on stories that support children and families to talk and think about the loss of a loved one.
Books can help children to empathise with others, explore big emotions and gently open conversations about difficult experiences including the death of a parent, relative, teacher or friend. The stories on this list have been specially selected by the experts at BooksForTopics to cover the topics of grief and loss as well as stories about finding ways to remember beloved friends or relatives after they die. These topics are not always easy to discuss with children, but the stories selected on this list are included because they can provide a suitable stimulus for exploring experiences of bereavement and loss.
From animal tales like Badger’s Parting Gifts and The Memory Tree to stories about the loss of a parent or grandparent like Mum’s Jumper and Dadaji’s Paintbrush, these stories are here to help explore experiences of grief for children.
To celebrate the launch of her pre-school book series Mini Monster, author Caryl Hart has picked out five recommended books about friendship.
“Science shows that empathy is learnable and that reading is an important empathy-building tool. This collection will help parents and educators to surround children with empathy experiences, inspiring them to understand others better, and tackle societal problems like racism.” EmpathyLab Founder Miranda McKearney OBE.
The aim of the Read for Empathy collection is for schools, libraries, families and community groups to use the books to help raise a generation with strong empathy skills. Chosen by expert judges, the primary collection features 40 books for 4-11 year olds, including picturebooks, novels, poetry, non-fiction and graphic novels, all published within the last three years.
Each title on this list was selected because of its empathy-building job, offering children the opportunity to expand their understanding of different people and life experiences, and helping them to find ways of experiencing and building empathy.
The 2024 Read For Empathy book collection comes at a time when empathising with others has never been needed more. Themes of this year’s collection include: changing society for the better; the world’s big empathy issues (war, climate change, refugees); handling and sharing emotions; the power of empathy in relationships; understanding people’s experience of challenging life circumstances; hope for the future; empathy for characters; and identity.
You can see the full collection here. More information is available on the Empathy Lab website.
© BooksForTopics 2015-2024
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