Which animal will win the race and get the first year of the Chinese calendar named after them? Race along with Rat, Monkey, Dragon, and their companions while discovering the origin of the Chinese Zodiac. This bright and colourful book includes intriguing notes about the Chinese calendar, the festivals, and the animal that rules each year.
Five Books That Celebrate Dads! With Father’s Day just around the corner, BooksForTopics founder Alison has picked out five favourite children’s books all about fabulous fathers.
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, BooksForTopics founder Alison has picked out five favourite children’s books all about marvellous mums.
Mix a pancake, stir a pancake, pop it in the pan; fry the pancake, toss the pancake, catch it if you can! With Pancake Day just around the corner, BooksForTopics founder Alison has picked out five great children’s books all about pancakes!
We love seeing the seasons change, and this Autumn booklist perfectly encapsulates the season for young readers! From kicking up Autumn leaves and collecting conkers to picking pumpkins and spotting nocturnal animals, there are plenty of delights for children to enjoy during Autumn time.
For children who like animal stories, explore the busy Autumn-time activities of squirrels and foxes in The Leaf Thief and Fox’s Favourite Autumn. For stories about windy Autumn weather and falling leaves, try Nick Butterworth’s classic picturebook After the Storm or Emily Gravett’s Tidy.
For those wanting to learn about the changing seasons, try Tree: Seasons Come, Seasons Go or head over to our Weather & Seasons booklist to explore more books about seasonal change.
So cosy up under a blanket and dive into our list of recommended children’s books about Autumn, which is here to take you on a seasonal tour as the evenings draw in and the mornings become frost-filled and crisp…
Whether you are joining the celebrations or exploring the customs and traditions of the Lunar New Year festival, we’ve got the best books to help.
A popular choice of story about Chinese New Year for EYFS and KS1 is I Love Chinese New Year by Eva Wong Nava and Li Xin, which provides an introduction to Chinese New Year traditions for one girl and her family -including the special food, decorations and exciting dragon dance. Another recommended option is Chloe’s Lunar New Year, which explores how Lunar New Year is celebrated in Taiwan and is a lovely story book detailing traditions including new shoes, good-luck oranges, red envelopes and tasty treats.
If you are looking for Chinese New Year children’s books that explore the story of the Chinese Zodiac, Christopher Corr’s The Great Race is a recommended picturebook exploring the traditional story of the great animal race, featuring wonderfully colourful spreads painted in an oriental folk style.
For a non-fiction children’s book that extends beyond China, try Lunar New Year Around the World, which our review panel described as ‘a brightly coloured delight’ containing information and activities to help extend children’s awareness of the global festival.
From firecrackers and fortune cookies to stories of the great animal race, browse this list of recommended children’s books about Chinese New Year to help you to bring the festival to life in the classroom…
Best Easter Books for Children
Our Easter booklist features books that celebrate the traditional Easter Story as well as stories about springtime, new life, Easter bunnies and chocolate egg hunts. Enjoy our egg-cellent selection of the best children’s books for Easter time, featuring cracking stories to be given as Easter gifts or to snuggle down with after a busy morning of egg-hunting…
Our curated list of the best children’s books about Christmas features books that celebrate the traditional Christmas Story as well as stories about the joy of gift-giving, magical snowmen and winter celebrations.
It’s not the taking part, it’s the winning that counts for Patina!
Patty, as she’s known to her friends and family, has lost a lot in her life – her dad died when she was young, her mum has lost her legs and now she has to live with her uncle and his wife. On top of that Patty has to go to the poshest school that ever existed. Now her running team has become a relay team and independent “I can do everything by myself” Patty has to work with her team mates to win.
AJ’s grandfather has always been the one to keep his unusual family together, so when he dies things start to unravel at the edges. AJ is worried about his parents but they don’t really seem to notice. In order to deal with his grief and to keep his anxiety at bay, AJ does what he and his grandfather did best: running. Round and round the Olympic Park, aiming for the cross country trials. Running to escape, AJ only seems to be heading ever closer to disaster.
Running On Empty is a beautiful book about false starts and emotional journeys, with hope as the ultimate finishing line.
From the author of Little Bits of Sky and Talking to the Moon
Cover illustration by Rob Biddulph
review
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
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