Tomorrow is a poignant picture book offering a window into what life might be like for children living under conditions of war, portraying the all-consuming darkness that war can bring into family life. A young boy called Yazan lives in a war-torn Syrian town. Yazan senses everything changing around him as he is no longer allowed to visit the park or to enjoy playing outside in the street.
Even Yazan’s parents are changing. His mother watches the news with the volume turned up and his father fearfully makes phone calls before daring to leave the house. Fear and anxiety invade the household like a dark cloud filling each room with gloom and despair.
Yazan is bored of being stuck inside and decides to cycle to the park by himself. Venturing outside, he sees the once lively streets are now desolate and crumbling. To Yazan’s relief, his father appears in time to take him back home and the family work together to create a new way to bring some colour and joy back to the house despite the troublesome circumstances outside.
Tomorrow is an important and accomplished picture book that evokes empathy and opens avenues to start discussing real experiences for other children around the world. The use of pattern and colour is wonderfully striking, with splashes of colour amid the gloom and a joyful final page that leaves the story with hints of hope.
Nominated for Favourite Books of 2018 by: Leanne Woolcock (@Mrs_Woolcock), Literacy coordinator & Year 6 Teacher
An extraordinary tale about a girl, magic, good and evil and how love and courage can prevail over all.
Fantasy fans will be blown away by this exciting and original adventure. Imagine a cross between How to Train Your Dragon and The Pied Piper of Hamelin and throw in some musical spells, dracogriffs, spectacular battles and a quest of epic proportions.
Patch Brightwater wants to be a successful piper, using the music from his pipe to make magical spells. But things do not quite go to plan when he tries to help a village with a rat problem and ends up being put in jail for playing a forbidden spell song.
In prison, Patch uncovers a disturbing secret about the infamous Piper of Hamelyn. Patch soon seizes an opportunity to escape his cell. Together with Wren (a girl living under a curse that has turned her into a rat) and a friendly dracogriff called Barver, Patch sets about on a world-saving mission to stop the Piper of Hamelyn. The trio encounter sorcerers, dragons, magical substances and evil villains, with their adventure culminating in a nail-biting climax that readers will not want to put down.
This is a clever and original spin on a well-known story. S.A. Patrick has created an immersive magical world that will thrill its audience with its action-filled fantasy plot, its dark magic and its homage to the power of music.
Nominated for Favourite Books of 2018 by: @MrsKnjH via Twitter
A Darkness of Dragons was captivating from the first chapter. It provided unexpected twists at perfect opportunities and a constant desire to read on. It truly encapsulates the classic tale of the Pied Piper with a magical new universe.
Nominated for Favourite Books of 2018 by: Fleur Hitchcock (@fleurhitchcock), bookseller and author of children’s books including Murder At Twilight (available here) and Murder In Midwinter (available here)
Smoothly written, clever, warm and funny, this story about families, friendship and divorce really stood out. A quiet book that should have been louder.
This is the first book in a new series called ‘Hope in a Scary World’ from publisher Tiny Owl. The story uses words and images to tackle the subject of immigration in a sensitive and creative way, with a positive message about the impact of kindness.
The narrator of the story recalls a childhood with enough space for everything; from the toys in his bed to the stars in the sky to the fish in the sea. Growing older, he begins to observe that human beings constantly seem to be fighting for space. The narrator puzzles over the spaces for which people fight when surely, he says, if we are kinder then there will be enough room for everyone.
There is so much to think about in Anahita Teymorian’s painted illustrations as each page is cleverly filled with shape and pattern motifs that emphasise the contrast between the open and crowded spaces. Readers will have fun noticing the playful composition of the double-page spreads as Teymorian manipulates the page boundaries to fit the amusingly tall characters and oddly shaped creatures into the page.
The author had the idea for the story as she was feeling angry watching news items on the television, but the mood of the book is more of a call to positive action and tolerance than an expression of frustration.
A striking picture book with much to discuss and think about, this is highly recommended for KS1 classrooms.
A captivating picture book that marries a lyrical and rhythmic story about bedtime fears with striking artwork inspired by Indian folklore.
It is bedtime for the baby animals; the dark blanket sky is filled with an enormous moon and twinkling stars. But the comforting allure of night time soon gives way to fears when the winds rise and a thunder storm begins to set in. “You’re Safe With Me,” reassures Mama Elephant, as she explains the natural processes behind each stage of the storm, from the water raining down on the plants to make them grow to the clouds colliding to create crackling thunder. Through Mama Elephant’s storytelling and simple explanations, the animals are reassured in the knowledge that the noises and movements of the storm are natural processes and eventually feel safe to sleep soundly again.
The lyrical narrative has a lullaby feel with its onomatopoeia and lilting rhythm, evoking the connection between the environment’s natural processes and the baby animals’ instinctive sleep cycle. The text weaves its way beautifully through the distinctive artwork that embodies the sensuous and exotic jungle through a filter of earthy tones and an intricate pattern design inspired by traditional Indian prints.
This is a beautiful story about feeling safe and about how gaining an understanding of the natural world can help to overcome fears, and it would make a lovely classroom library addition for EYFS and KS1.
Amy Wilson’s Snowglobe is a beautifully written, heartfelt fantasy in a convincing world.
Young Clementine is sure that the curious house she finds in the middle of town was never there before. Drawn to look inside, she discovers hundreds of snowglobes each containing trapped magicians, including her classmate Dylan.
Headstrong Clementine bravely ventures into the worlds of the snowglobes on a mission to rescue Dylan and free those trapped by the house’s enchantments. As she struggles against the strange and powerful sisters in charge of the house, Clementine’s own magical identity is awakened as she grapples with her past, present and future.
Gripping and exciting, we loved the complexity of the characters and the strong female lead, the enchanting magical worlds in the snowglobes and the emotive narrative that is gripping from the first page. Snowglobe is simply spellbinding as Amy Wilson spins her own brand of enticing magic and masterfully demonstrates the charm of middle-grade fantasy at its very best.
The Lost Magician is a clever fantasy story that takes its premise from the Narnia books and crafts it into something fresh and unique. Author Piers Torday is like a magician himself when it comes to spinning stories and this one is spellbinding, combining enchanting fantasy worlds with well-developed characters and a convincing post-war setting of 1945.
Siblings Simon, Patricia, Evelyn and Larry discover a mysterious library door that leads to a magical world called Folio. This is a world in which the library’s stories are locked in an eternal war and the only hope of restoring peace is by finding the original librarian, a magician who has been missing for hundreds of years.
As the siblings become tangled in Folio’s battles, they encounter fairy knights, robots and bears among the cast of both familiar and unfamiliar story characters. Each of the four siblings has their own journey to undertake as they engage with the world of reading and imagination. While some feel naturally at home among the realm of stories, there is no glossing over the fact that not everyone finds it easy to immerse themselves in books and others need space to explore the whys and hows of their reading choices.
The world building in this story is delightful and it is heaps of fun for readers to journey through fantasy worlds where fairy-tale characters meet sci-fi scenes. There are plenty of nods to the Narnia stories and readers familiar with the original books will enjoy to spotting them dotted in among the narrative.
A fun and adventurous story where anything is possible and imagination is king.
Nominated for Favourite Books of 2018 by: ClassBooks (@classbooks1), Librarian
An enchanting and magical tale with adventure… it’s a must read!
This original book is a quick and quirky read with a heartwarming message about the value of true friendship, told in rhyming couplets.
The Truth Pixie lives in a faraway magical land and has been put under a spell that means she can only speak if she tells the truth. Finding that truthful words cause others to turn away from her, the Truth Pixie sadly discovers that friendships of any kind have become too difficult for her to form.
After a scarily truthful encounter with a larger-than-life troll, the Truth Pixie finds herself flung through the air all the way to Helsinki (which, as it turns out, rhymes perfectly with ‘that troll who is stinky’). Once there, the Truth Pixie befriends a downhearted girl called Aada, who is filled with worry and sadness as she faces an impending house move away from her friends.
Of course, the Truth Pixie has no choice but to agree – truthfully- that the girl’s situation looks bleak. But wise in her truthfulness, she also knows that while hard times may be inevitable in life, they are also temporary and that brighter times will lie ahead.
Before long, the Truth Pixie’s words turn into an enormous encouragement and a friendship begins to blossom.
This is a sweet story – and one that is just as suitable all year round as it is for Christmas – that is full of warmth and humour in its plot, its lilting rhyme and perfectly pitched illustrations.
This eagerly-awaited story by award-winning author Kiran Millwood Hargrave is the perfect winter adventure story, telling of an extraordinary adventure through the frozen north in a quest to reunite families and to break a cycle of endless winter
Mila lives with her siblings in their small cabin deep in the wintry forest. One night, mysterious strangers arrive near their village looking for shelter. The next morning, the men have gone but they have taken Mila’s brother Oskar with them. Mila sets out on a perilous quest to rescue Oskar, leading her through frozen landscapes. Mila will have to find a way past the eternal winter to reclaim spring again and reunite her family.
Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a masterful storyteller and this spectacular new tale about siblings, bravery and not losing hope is likely to capture imaginations and whisk readers on a mesmerising pursuit through magical realms. A captivating read to warm hearts on cold, winter days.
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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.)?
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