We are all huge fans of fairytales, whether that be the classic stories we know and love, or discovering new retellings and twisted takes on the originals. Not only are they great fun, engaging in the classroom and familiar to us, but they can also increase your children’s reading ability!
On 6th May 2023, we will be celebrating King Charles III Coronation. To commererate this special occasion, there are a number of wonderful books that have been printed, with titles suitable for EYFS up to KS2.
There have been a range of teacher resources and activities created too, to help schools honour this significant event, and we have pulled together some of them to help inspire you, guide your lessons or help shape your celebrations in school.
We are so pleased to announce that this year we are celebrating our 35th anniversary. In collaboration with Walker Books we have created a wonderful new Primary and Secondary catalogue, and we are offering a huge 30% discount off the entire collection, for orders of 5 books or more.
The United Nations recognises the importance of happiness and wellbeing and invites people to celebrate the International Day of Happiness on March 20th each year. This year the theme is ‘Be Mindful. Be Grateful. Be Kind.’ Here are some book recommendations that fit into the theme ‘Be Kind. Be Grateful. Be Kind.’, and I hope you will be able to use this to promote happiness in your schools on this years International Day of Happiness.
On Wednesday 8th March we celebrate International Women's Day (IWD). The theme for 2023 is to Embrace Equity, and the aim is to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren't enough on their own, because not everybody starts from an equal place. IWD raises awareness for this theme and celebrates success stories and achievements made by women from around the world. However, as teachers, we also have a duty to teach all our pupils about strong female role models. Here are some amazing books that will enable you to do exactly that and some teaching resources to use immediately too.
Oi Frog, by Kes Gray and Jim Field, is a hilarious rhyming tale about a frog who discovers that all animals have their special places to sit. All year groups will love this award-winning book and the following strands from the grammar and punctuation appendix can be taught at the same time!
February is LGBT+ history month. Books can have a huge impact on helping children understand the world in which they live, and can help them to feel seen and understood, whether that's through the characters, or the story itself. Though there are many wonderful titles available with LBGTQ+ representation, below are just 10 books I'm loving lately which would make perfect additions to your bookshelves. I have included both fiction and non-fiction, and while learning about LGBTQ+ history shouldn't happen just on these special occasions, now would be a great time to have that focus in schools.
I have fallen in love with the picture book 'You Must Bring a Hat' cleverly written by Simon Philip and humorously illustrated by Kate Hindley. It is a quirky text all about what happens when a young boy receives an invitation to a very interesting party that seems to have very strict rules about who can attend!
Recently, I delivered a training day at the Book Centre focusing on how to create a reading school. It was a really productive day and I thought I would share some of the main elements that were focused upon and offer further ideas about how to bring reading to life in your school!
Bookseller Sophie shares her five reasons to read the bestselling graphic novel series Heartstopper, which has taken the world by storm ever since it was originally published as a web comic, shared by author and illustrator Alice Oseman.
