Awe-inspiring non-fiction – discover and explore the wonders of our planet.

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For almost 15 years of my adult life I read  mainly non-fiction. Then three years ago I discovered middle grade fiction and have read mainly fiction since. However, a Reading Rocks ( Twitter: @_Reading_Rocks) chat for non-fiction November got me thinking about the way’s we engage with non-fiction texts and that non-fiction is often not talked about as much as fiction. Looking into a selection of recent non-fiction books I am discovered that many are expanding the boundaries of  ‘more traditional’ non-fiction, creating some truly awesome books that you will want to return to time and time again . For someone that also loves picture books, modern day fiction with its blurring of curious facts and information with awe-inspiring illustrations and photographs is a real treat. I kick-start my non-fiction discovery with 3 fabulous books that explore planet earth and some of the creatures we share it with.

Natural Wonders of the World – Molly Oldfield and Federi Bordoni

Get set to travel to some of the most awe-inspiring places on earth.

Molly Oldfield introduces her book:

“I love to travel and explore I wanted to create a book that is like a passport to the world, filled with pages that take you to the most incredible natural wonders on Earth. Get ready for adventures”

This is a coffee table style non-fiction book, with huge pictures, of animals, plants and trees and double page spreads featuring some of the most amazing landscapes in the world. It also has an annotated map, to show you where in the world you can find them and an index. Making this a really versatile book that will appeal to many sorts of readers.

There are facts about some intriguing creatures, including the Christmas Island crabs, Tenrecs of Madagascar, birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea. But, it is the landscapes this book takes you to that really excited me.  For each landscape featured in the book you get information about the physical features, how they look and some information about how they are formed. There are also some great size comparison so you can get an idea of the size of some of these natural wonders, such as the Crystals are:  ‘so big that people can walk along them!’ or a spring that is ‘deeper than a ten-storey building’. You also get snippets of stories about people discovering the landscapes and some examples of helping wildlife too. Here are two examples:

Molly Oldfield describes the moment when two brothers, who were working in a mine, discovered some giant crystals in Mexico:

“Imagine how the brother must have felt when hard at work, they suddenly broke through a wall into a magical space filled with enormous, ancient crystals!”  p21

Crabs on Christmas Island, in the South Pacific:

“The people of Christmas Island are careful during the migration. The crabs are ushered towards tunnels called crab grids that go underneath the roads so they don’t get squashed. A crab sized bridge has even been built on one road” p24

There is so much to explore in this book. To help you to begin to do that I have made a list of 6 things to find.
NaturalWonderminiQuiz.

Fanatical About Frogs – by Own Davey

I have to confess this is the first of Owen Davey’s fabulous non-fiction books, published by Flying Eye Books that I have seen. I will be definitely be looking up the others after seeing this! What I love about this particular book is that it chooses a creature that most children and adults know little about. Which means it will both introduce animal lovers to a new creature and potentially appeal to children that would not normally pick up a book about animals.  It takes a classic non-fiction topic of exploring the characteristics and behaviour of a particular animal, in this case frogs and toads and through a unique layout and truly amazing illustrations transforms it into something truly special. That you are going to want to dip into time and time again.

In what is mainly bite-sized information I learnt so much about frogs, with those eye-catching illustrations drawing you in to look closer every time. This includes: how they catch their prey, regulate their body temperatures, the different croaks and calls they make. There is lots of variety in the presentation of the information, from almost full-page pictures, labelled diagram of the features of a frog, and a page of the life cycle of a frog. With detailed, accurate and precise information, and truly amazing artwork, Owen Davey’s books set the gold standard for a new generation of non-fiction books. There is a contents page and index, making it easy to explore this great book.

 

We Build Our Homes – by Laura Knowles and Chris Madden

A little different to the other two non-fiction books. This is written more like narrative fiction, with a different bird, insect or animal on each two-page spread telling it’s storey of how it builds it’s nest or home. The soft coloured and textured illustrations give a warm feel to the book, and bring the animal homes to life, leaving you in awe about what creatures on our planet can create. It includes: some unique bird’s nests, each using different materials and techniques, a peep into the world of bees, ants, wasps and spiders and animals such as: Gopher tortoises, moles, polar bears and beavers. A timely reminder that we are not the only creatures on Earth to create amazing things, and that we may even have things to learn from them.

At the end there is a simple map of the World and a mini fact files on the bird, insect and mammal builders, which adds another dimension to this book. The book gives three different ways to explore the way creatures build their homes: first person narrative, detailed illustrations and the fact files. Giving different children the opportunity to engage with this intriguing topic in a way that suits them, and plenty of scope to explore different ways of presenting non-fiction information.

 

Thank you to Flying Eye Books for a review copy of Fanatical About Frogs, the other two books I bought my own copies.

 

 

Maisie’s Scrapbook by Samuel Nash and Jo Loring-Fisher

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Maisie’s scrapbook is a gentle but inspiring story about a girl who is brought up by parents from two different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In many respects it is a simple story, about the little things in life. From playing hide and seek with her mum to watching the stars and the sunset with her dad. Her two parents, nurture, play and chat to their daughter, helping her blend two cultures and become her own person. It is cleverly linked to the passing of the seasons, which gives lots of emotion and atmosphere.  The colourful collage like illustrations by Jo Loring-Fisher are wonderful and really bring the tale to life.  The fact that the story progresses over different seasons has enabled the illustrator to make good use of a range of warm and bright colours, which add so much more to the story’s message. It is quite a tricky story to review as the subtle interplay between the words and the text give it it’s own special magic.

It is great to see a mixed race family doing ordinary things together. It is also a celebration of a parents love for their child, and how both parents and their child often ‘grow’ together in their understanding of themselves and their place in the world.  This is a story that will resonate across cultures and with all sorts of  families. There are also some wider messages. These includes celebrating differences, whilst also recognising that people can be different but work towards the same goal in a mutually supportive way, in this case bringing up their own child.  It would make a heart-warming addition to any home or school library, and I would highly recommend it for any child or parent.

I also wanted to see what a mixed race family made of this story. So I leant it to a mum called Emily. She is white and her husband is from Jamaica (where he was born and raised), they have a mixed-race toddler.

Emily’s review:

“Maisie’s Scrapbook is a refreshing read for the young and old. Maisie’s parents have grown up in very different cultures, this story highlights some of the cultural contrasts faced by mixed race partnerships.  Although Maisie is adventurous; she’s grounded by the love of her parents. They have different cultural references and they use different words to describe the same thing, ‘Mama says tomato. Dada says aamo’, but they love and nag her in the same way. “

“I enjoyed the way the author portrays the differences between the parents through the eyes of Maisie and how each parent contributes to raising her to be herself. The illustrations are beautiful and compliment the story well. Hopefully more stories like Maisie’s will help a generation of mixed children feel more visible.”

 

Thank you to Lantana Publishing for a review copy. You can find out more about their books here.
You can find out more about the author Samuel Narh here.
You can find out more about the illustrator Jo Loring-Fisher here.
You can buy it direct from Lanta publishing or  me at Readers that Care or  a good local independent bookshop.

Trees and weird creatures – some quotes for writing inspiration

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A teacher in the fabulous bookish twitter community I am part off, recently posted this question:

“We are using this picture as a writing stimulus. Y6 children thinking hard about the effect of the reader. Looking for extracts from books of strange, unfamiliar creatures (harmless or dangerous) and/or forest descriptions (again peaceful or scary)”

 

Trees and Suspense

All three extracts feature trees or a tree, and some great suspense writing . In Celine Kieran”s Wild trilogy, MUP is on here way back home from visiting her sick Aunt; as she drifts in and out of sleep in the car she sees through the window witches in the trees.  In Kathleen Fidler’s the Boy with a Bronze Axe, they are not sure what’s lurking in the water in a cave they’re exploring. later they discover it is a tree trunk!  Finally in Barbara Henderson’s Punch a young boy is running away from a fire and climbs up a pine tree, but then something starts to climb up after him.

“outside the night was streaming past, Mup had slumped against the door with her face tilted to the sky, and she was looking up through the branches of the roadside trees, the trees were falling away as the car sped by, and there were witches in the branches and they were following the car.
Mup wasn’t startled – half asleep as she was, with the taste of warm custard in her mouth – but she frowned up aT the witches with an inkling that something wasn’t right……….….Mup was filled with the knowledge that she was awake, and there were witches in the trees, following the car.
There were men witches and women witches, and they leapt from branch to branch, racing along at tremendous speed. They were nothing but shadows among shadows, so that Mup had to strain her eyes to see them……….Then one of the witches jumped the gap between the two trunks, her silhouette dark against the fine grey of the sky. She descended in a falling arc, her clothes blown back like ragged black wings. As her pale hands reached for the branches of the next tree, she looked down into……”
p10-11  The Wild Magic Trilogy: Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan
It was Brockan who first saw the strange thing in the water below the ledge. “Oh look! What’s that?” he cried in terror, clutching at Tenko. “What’s that dark thing, waving terrible arms? Is it the spirit of the cave come to snatch us?”
He turned to run and would have fallen into the water below if Tenko had not grabbed him. Tenko’s heart had leaped and thudded for a second, but he saw the object did not move any nearer to them. All at once he knew what is was.
“Stay here!” he said to the other two. “I am going to have a closer look.”
……………Tenko crouched down, crawling nearer and nearer to it as he would creep up on an enemy. One of its arms was outstretched towards him. Suddenly Tenko dealt it a blow with his axe. There was splintering sound but the arm did not move. Tenko stood up and gave a cry of joy.
“Come here! Come here!” He shouted. ” It is what I thought.” Kali and Brockan came slowly timidly, not quite sure of their safety.
“What is it Tenko?” Kali whispered, Even her low voice echoed mysteriously round the cave.
“It’s a tree!”  Tenko shouted triumphantly.
They drew closer staring.
P69 The Boy with the Bronze Axe, Kathleen Fidler.
A young boy called Phineas is running away from a his boss, after he accidentally started a fire. 
“ A sob rips through my lungs and my vision blurs, a mix of smoke and despair; until more flutterings and rustlings disturb me and the trunk sways alarmingly. I hold my breath. There is no mistaking it.
Someone is climbing my tree.
Someone heavy.
I cling to the trunk as tight as I can and I peer down, and my blood freezes.
Through the dense needle branches. I recognise the subtle stripes of a prisoners clothes.”
p12 Punch by Barbara Henderson

Some ginormous and rather unusual spiders:

In the Christmas holidays I read Dan Smith’s Below Zero. Which features some brilliant robotic spiders that get rather out of control, but to find out the reasons why they do you will have to read the book!  Then my son suggested I include the giant spider in Larklight.
“At the back of the room there were three large bays………Right now HAL and ROY were empty, but the bay with ED above it was home to something that was one of the most amazing things Zak had ever seen. But, also one of the scariest.
The Spider were slightly bigger than a two-seater Smart car, and was made of a flat oval casing, about a metre and a half deep that housed the robot’s ‘brain’. On top of that, the bulk of the body was a ribbed dome, like a bloated tick that had filled itself with too much blood. It had four legs, each joined in six places, giving it a look of a weird grey metal spider. Close to the front, it had four narrow arms designed to accept interchangeable attachments. For now the arms were tipped with pincers.”
P91   Below Zeor by Dan Smith
“Down in the hall, the monstrous spider squeezed it’s prickly ball of a body in through the door with a faint scraping sound. A cluster of black eyes glittered like wet grapes at the front end. Above them a shabby brown bowler hat was perched upon it’s spines. Beneath, hairy mouth-parts twitched and fidgeted. It tilted itself upwards, and saw me starring down at it.
“The names Webster ‘ it said, lifting it’s hat with one huge claw. I’m expected.”
P27-p28  Larklight by Philip Reeve and illustrated by David Wyatt
Some follow-on ideas:
Think about what sort of spider you would create. What size would it be? Is it a friendly spider or a monster?
Can you draw what Dan Smiths robot spider looked like? What features of your own might you add?
What other stories do you know that feature a spider or spiders?

 

Friendly, spoon collecting Alien’s

And finally but by no means least is my son’s favourite creature from Cakes in Space, written by Phillip Reeve and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre. Astra IS in a spaceship, with her family, which is travelling from earth to the planet Nova Mundi in deep space. They were all put to sleep in little sleeping pods. But, astra wakes up whilst everyone else is sleeping. she has already dealt with some rather unsual cake monsters.
“ It was a monster alright, but a different sort of montster: a squat plump one in a grease-stained spacesuit like a grubby chimney pot, with a nest of eyes on stalks poking out of it’s helmet.“
“Ploogah stofie!” Shouted the creature, it’s voice loud and buzzy on her helmet radio. “Britxit Floop”.
“I am sorry said Astra. I don’t understand.”
Astra remembered her mum and dad telling her that there were not such things as aliens. But, then they’d probably thought there were no such things as a man-eating fairy cakes, either. She was going to have lots to tell them when the woke up.”
P105-p107 Cakes in Space by Philip Reeve and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre

 

Maverick Early Readers – Engaging and Fun

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I have been following Maverick Publishing growing early reader collection with considerable interest. What immediately struck me about the illustrations, was how bold, colourful and full of ‘character’ they were. And how they were more like the kind of pictures you find in a good quality picture book than the pictures you often see in reading scheme books. The combination of fun and often original stories with eye-catching pictures really helps to engage the reader. Whilst each book look like it might be part of a collection. I love that there are many authors and illustrators. And I am especially excited by the later, and it was something my observant son was quick to spot. Despite the fact that my son is now in year 3 and a very competent reader I asked him last term to help me review some of the Maverick Readers. I also enlisted the help of some friends who have emerging readers of various ages.

Lorraine Pemberton (Twitter @merryboookworm) said:

“My son is picky when it comes to books.  He enjoys reading, but he will not tolerate what he calls ‘boring books’– if there is a whiff of Biff, Chip and Kipper about them, then quite frankly, it is easier to stick pins in my eyes than it is to get him to read.  Interestingly, in school he was initially labelled a reluctant reader, but it swiftly became apparent to me that this was because the ‘mandatory’ school readers didn’t grab his attention.”

“He wants real stories – the sort that capture the imagination, make him laugh and have interesting story lines: in short, books that encourage reading for pleasure.  These Maverick Early Readers do exactly that.”

Dog in a Dress and Run, Tom, Run (Band Red)  
By Katie Dale and illustrated by Giusi Capizzi

A book with a picture of a dog wearing a dress was going to get my attention. This is in part because one of our families favourite all time picture books is ‘Dog’s Don’t Do Ballet’ by Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie, where there is a Dog wearing a tutu on the front cover. So I was curious to see what an early reader with a few words might say! At this level there are two short stories. Each introducing a different letter, which are W and I. I love everything about the introduction to the story. The fact that the’ familiar words’ were shown as labels to mini-pictures. Which is much more eye-catching and less daunting than the usual lists. Clear guidance for parents and letter shapes to trace with your finger, the later of which my son would have loved when he was learning to read. My son enjoyed both stories and he especially liked Run Tom Run. The simple message of the story that ‘you can still have fun and not win’ was one he identified with and I think enjoying the outdoors himself he identified with a boy who was getting wet and muddy. Would make a great addition to any school or home collection.

 

   

Can I have My Ball Back?  (Yellow Banded Reader)
By Alice Hemming and illustrated by Ed Myer

When I was looking through Mavericks website, and they now have a website dedicated to their Early Readers, you can view it here.  It was helpful to see pictures of inside the books which is really usesful when you are looking for a story or stories that may interest a particular child. What struck me was how unique it was to have an early reader that included ‘factory like diagrams’ as part of the illustrations. One of my son’s favourite picture books when he was younger was Eroll the Squirrel, by Hannah Shaw where a squirrel accidentally ends up in a packet of nuts, and my son loved the ‘diagram page’ which showed how he ended up there. In fact it was this page that got him hooked into listening to the story. In this story Grandad has an inventing shed. And when the neighbours ball hits the shed for the second time all the inventions started to go wrong, and my son loved spotting what was going wrong. So much potential for this Yellow reader for guided reading, which will help engage any reader. For those that already like books the illustrations are so much more fun than the average reader, so they are less likely to get bored. And for kids that do not have much exposure to being read aloud  picture books, it would help them to begin to discover the detail in pictures and the fun of doing so.

  

I Don’t Care said Bear (Blue Banded Reader)
By Katie Dale and illustrated by Kathyrn Selbert

At this stage the stories are still quite basic. But for some kids that started out being fairly positive with phonics it is as early as this they can start losing interest. I believe that one of the reasons for this is that they fail to have empathy with the characters. And some stories are so much better at building empathy than others. With the clever used of speech bubbles this story encourages the reader to have empathy brilliantly. It’s a wonderful story about a bear who doesn’t want to help his friends, but learns the errors of his ways. A read aloud of the Little Red Hen would make a great follow up to this story. It could also promote some interesting discussions on what happens when the ice melts?

Hocus Pocus Diplodocus  (Turquoise Band)
By Steve Howson and illustrated by Kate Daubney

Lorraine Pemberton (Twitter @merryboookworm) had this to say about this book:

“One of his favourites is ‘Hocus Pocus Diplodocus’.  The story is hugely entertaining – what’s not to like about a dinosaur magician who can make things disappear? – and the full-colour illustrations are bright, interesting and complement the story superbly.  My son has read this book a number of times now, and it still makes him laugh; in fact, I caught him talking to his Nanna about it during one of their weekly telephone chats!  He also loves the quiz at the back, which he sees as a fun activity rather than a method of checking understanding, so it’s a win-win all round.”

Thank you to Maverick books for a couple of free books.  And for Lorraine for agreeing to provide a review of Hocus Pocus Diplodocus’ which she bought from my ‘Reader that Care’ book shop on Abe books . See here. You might also be interested in the review she did of Maverick books on her blog, 

Lot’s of great information on Maverick Publishing dedicated Early Readers website, see here.

Caged – a wordless picture book that makes you think

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I am a big fan of wordless picture books so was delighted to be given the opportunity to review Caged, written and illustrated by Duncan Annand and publishers Tiny Owl. Through simple but very effective drawings it explores issues of greed, freedom, our connection to nature, and the courage shown by individuals to help others. It is a book that would be great to share, either as a group or as individual’s that then feed back their responses. I also felt it might work particular well with children aged 9+years. Not having the right group of kids myself  I asked Shenaz Bagshaw to help. She shared the book with a couple of groups of year 5’s at St James CE Primary School in Northampton. The children loved the book. One of the main reasons was: “because it makes you think”. This is one of the clever things about this wordless picture book, it actively invites the reader to try and work out what is happening and to question.

The pictures are a wonderful combination of line drawings in black and white. These contrast with a single blue bird and the multi-coloured parrots. Some things the children said when Shenaz ‘read’ the first part of the story with them were:

  • “Why is the bird blue, and everything else just outlined?”
  • “The man’s clothes look like Willy Wonker”

From these two comments there are so many things you could explore and discuss further.

Along with spot on observations and descriptions of what they saw. There were some interesting questions raised by the kids about what they were seeing as the story unfolded:

  • “Are the men knocking down the trees to make paper from the wood?”
  • “The circle on the ground looks like a helipad – a helicopter is coming to collect the wood.”

What I love about these questions is how different ‘eyes’ can see different things in the same picture and also how as the story unfolded they were inspired to do try and work out both what was happening and why it was.

“At first they thought the men got rich from selling the wood, (they thought they must be rich because they were wearing posh clothes), but later they thought that they were clearing the trees to make space for the aviary and to destroy the colourful birds habit to make them easier to trap”. Shenaz Bagshaw

In the last stage of the story here are some of the comments the children made. I have omitted some comments as I don’t want to give away completely how the story ends!  After reading it they commented that “one person or bird can make a big difference.” 

  • “They have alcohol – they are celebrating capturing the birds.”
  • “The blue bird sits on the cage and it brakes  – he must be heavy!”
  •  “One bird saves maybe 50 birds……”

There is some great information and resources, about Caged, including a free downloadable freedom poster  on Tiny Owls website. Including some quotes from authors about why wordless books are so powerful:

“Wordless picture books give a starting point to create and invent a story, giving readers the confidence to embroider what they are saying. ” Elizabeth Laird 

 

 

 

 

Bird Migration: Remarkable Journeys, Narrative Non-fiction at it’s very best.

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This blog post reviews two books:

Moonbird – A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 – Philip Hoose

Farrar Straus Giroux books for young readers

The Peregrines Journey – A Story of Migration – Madeleine Dunphy and Kristen Kest

Published by Web of Life Children’s books

  

Moonbird is about a remarkable superbird who has flown the distance equivalent  to the moon and half-way back again in its life time.  When I first read this book 8 years ago I remember being in awe of the migration journeys this bird (and other birds) make each and every year. It is one of my favourite all time non-fiction books. I have always been curious about how birds can navigate their way to such precise locations. This book doesn’t answer these questions. But, it did give me a fascinating insight into the annual journey of a rufa red knot (known as B95), a robin-sized shorebird. It opened my eyes to the multiple challenges it faces on its migration, and in particular finding enough food to give it enough energy for long flights. I gained an appreciation of the importance of stepping stones, key places that birds stop on their migration route where they can feed and re-fuel to be able to successfully complete the next stage of their journey. And how vulnerable these places are to changes , which are threatening the very existence of the red knot.

Since I discovered Moonbird I have been looking for a picture book that would communicate to a younger audience the excitement of a birds migration journey. I found some quite good ones, but they did not follow or capture the magic of the journey in quite the same as Moonbird, until I discovered the Peregrines Journey: A Story of Migration, by Madeleine Dunphy and illustrated by Kristin Kest. What a gem of a book it is. It covers the Peregrine Falcons 8,000 Mile journey from Alaska (where it raises it chicks in Summer) to Argentina where it spends the winter. Kristen Kest beautifully captures with bold distinctive colours the different environments the Peregrine passes through. Madeleine’s Dunphy has the ability to make you feel like you are experiencing things from Peregrine’s perspective, with just the right detail to be informative and realistic. And the combination of author and illustrator create a story that flows beautifully, like the very best of narrative non-fiction should do.

Please note:

The Peregrine Falcon is a bird of prey so it eats other animals, including birds, and the red knot (but not in this story). How might you might ask can I possibly love both stories! Well the Moonbird won me over to rooting for and loving the very small red knot bird. But, I have always been fascinated and in awe of the birds of prey.  In the story there are a couple of time’s that the Peregrine eats other birds, such as a Dove and a Pigeon, though you don’t see the eating part just the intent. Which may upset some younger children who do not yet understand that every animal or bird eats something to survive.

More about ‘Moonbird’:

The core of the book focuses on the journey the bird B95 makes in one year. With a combination of prose written as you were actually were the bird, backed up with detailed information of the scientists involved, with pictures, maps and information boxes, this is the ultimate in non-fiction for young adults and adults. It also includes detail about how the scientists learnt about the red knot, tagged and tracked them and by doing this discovered just how far this remarkable survivor B95 or ‘Moonbird’ had travelled. It concludes with a final chapter on what people are doing to save the red knot and an Appendix with ways you can help.  I would highly recommend this for anyone aged 12 years and above, including adults.

The start of an epic journey:

“Meet B95, One of the world’s premier athletes. Weighing a mere four ounces, he’s flown more than 325,000 miles in his life – the distance to the moon and nearly halfway back again. He flies at mountaintop height along ancient routes that lead him to his breading grounds and back”.

The reader is taken on the birds amazing journey. From Tierra del Fuego (where he spends October to February) an archipelago (group of islands) off the coast of South America to Mingan Archipelago in Quebec, Canada. After capturing your attention with what it might feel like to be a small migratory shorebird about to embark on a long journey, and the need for it to stuff itself with food, such as worms, muscles, and tiny crustaceans to store reserves and propel its flight on it’s long journey.

  

“The only way for us to know for sure whether B95 has made it safely from Delaware Bay to the Arctic Circle this year is for someone to spot him after his breeding time ends and he and other red knots stream back south to a stopover site.” P73

More about the Peregrine’s Journey:

In a relatively small number of words and beautiful whole page pictures you get a unique insight into the awe-inspiring journey this bird of prey makes each year. You are taken through the birds experiences of flying, feeding, drinking, resting and watching as well as some of it’s stopping of places. I would recommend this for children aged 6 years to adult. But, for younger children do remember this is a bird of prey so it eats other birds and animals.

“She also has very good eyesight…. To her the mountains and rivers are like maps and street signs. These landmarks help her know where she is.” P7

“Today, she bathes in a desert pool in New Mexico. She splashes around dipping her head in and out of the water until every feather is wet. One by one she carefully preens each feather with her beak.” P14

 

 

Sing to the Moon – Nanubuga Nagadya Isdahl and Sandra van Doorn

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This story opens with a boy imagining (or dreaming) of all the adventures he could have.  Then he wakes up and discovers it is raining and that he is stuck inside.  But then his Jjajja (grandfather) takes him on an adventure doing ordinary Ugandan things around the house, such as packing away the peas, gardening and cooking a fish stew for supper. The detail in the pictures and warmth of the soft pastel colours bring domestic Ugandan life alive for the reader and they also radiate with the warmth of the relationship between the boy and his grandfather.

As night begins the story takes on a magical dimension:

“With daylight now done and the dark settled in, Jjajja says our night adventures begin.”

They share African stories together

“tales of lost cities and great heaps of gold..African kingdoms a sight to behold.”

I can think of a number of bedtime stories where a child shares a story with a parent or grandparent. But, this is different in the stories the characters are sharing are African. The text and pictures work brilliantly together to communicate excitement about these stories. There could be some great follow up to this part of the story in looking for stories from different African countries.

As the night ends the boy and his grandfather share a magical moment outdoors and the reader is introduced to the noises of the Ugandan night.

I love the strength of the relationship between the boy and his grandfather. At night time this also includes Jjajja telling the boy that a star will always be watching over him. For anyone with a strong relationship with a grandparent or older person this story is sure to resonate whatever their ethnic background.

At the end of the book there is a lovely letter from the author Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl. Inviting you to look and listen to the wildlife around you (where every you live) and think about

  •  “What sounds do you hear in nature”
  • “ What stories do they tell?”

This is a lovely story which introduces you to Uganda, whilst also encouraging you to look a bit closer at where you live and who you share special times with, and encouraging each of us to celebrate the ‘every day’. It would make a great addition to home and school libraries.

Thank you to the publishers Lantana Publishing for a free copy of this book to review.

There’s Room for Everyone – Anahita Teymorian

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From the front page it is almost as if this book is reaching out to hug you. In uncertain times this is exactly what this picture book does. It provides reassurance and hope. It is the first title in the publisher Tiny Owls ‘Hope in a Scary World’ series. Which aims to build up a collection of books which help children (and adults) who may feel frightened or worried about world events. It is written and illustrated by award winning Iranian author Anahita Teymorian.

On one level this is a simple tale about a boy who grows up with the acceptance he needs, who then notices as an adult that everyone around him is fighting for space big and small, and then reflects with some very sound advice that through kindness and acceptance we can make room for everyone.

It is supported by the most wonderful illustrations, which have been drawn by the author. For anyone who has followed me on twitter (@melissacreate15) you know how much I love children’s picture books, despite this I can honestly say I have never seen illustrations quite like this before. Each page is backed by a warm comforting colour palette, and the choice to draw people with over extended arms is really effective. As a couple of my bookish twitter friends have also said this is the kind of book you keep being drawn back to.

On another level there are multiple layers and overlapping messages.  Each reader may interpret things differently.  This book is suitable for younger children aged 5+ years, but it’s real power as a book that helps you make sense of the world and find hope may lie with older children, teenagers and adults.

It ‘s the possibility of multiple messages from this story that has made it challenging to write about this heartwarming, thoughtful and hopeful book. Below are some of my reflections on what this story means to me.

My personal RESPONSE this story

Reflecting on this story I found the piece at the back of the book in which the author explains where her ideas came from was useful. It was a response to the fighting in the world that is always on the TV and a desire to show that we can accept and make room for each other and show kindness – a desire to give a positive message as an antidote to all the uncertain things that are happening in the world.

In the first part of the story the boy is growing up, and at each stage in his development he uses an example of how there was always enough space. On another level this reflects what many parents feel when a child is born, that their house feels small and they wonder how they will make room. But, one does accommodate, adapt and find space and this space is re-negotiated as the child get’s bigger. At the same time a strong and powerful parallel is drawn to nature, where the author says “there is enough space for the stars” and the “birds in the garden.”. For me there is another message here of how taking time to notice and observe nature can both centre and calm us.

   

I love how as the boy grows up the scale of what he notices and sees gets bigger a bit like a child and young person’s expanding view of the world. So we go from space for all his toys to space for all the fish in the sea.

As he grows up he notices people are fighting for small and big spaces. And once  again the wonderful pictures add power and emotion to the words. In a world of uncertainties where so much has changed and is changing this story both acknowledges the existence of things that may make us feel scared or worried, whilst also providing us with the reassurance of the constant presence of nature. There is one thing we can control and that is we can choose to be kind to ourselves and to each other.

   

You can find out more and view a great video by the author on Tiny Owls website

You can purchase the book from me at Readers that Care or order it from a good local bookshop

Flight – Vanessa Harbour

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Sometimes you read a story that you enjoyed so much and which makes you think that you just need to write about it. Last  week that book was Flight by Vanessa Harbour. A thrilling epic journey which is both heartwarming and at times heart-wrenching.

I am a big fan of middle grade fiction with a journey narrative and of accessible historical fiction, and this does both brilliantly. It is a well paced exciting journey, with the strong sense of the threatening presence of  the Nazi’s adding to the risks and excitement and there are lots of horses!

It is a about a Jewish boy called Jakob who when he is orphaned takes shelter in a nearby stables. His guardian takes him on to look after the Lipizzanner stallions.  They are very famous horses owned by the Spanish Riding school of Vienna, who are renowned for their almost dance like dressage performances. When the horses become endangered Jakob and his guardian and a Roma girl called Kizzy set off on an epic journey across the countryside and over the mountains to safety.

I loved this story just as much as ‘Sky Chaser’ by Emma Carroll. Flight by debut author Vanessa Harbour is every bit it’s equal.  Each cut’s across genre, creating modern historical adventures that will appeal to readers of all ages. This book also reminded me of  ‘Running on the Roof of the World’ by Jess Butterworth, where Tash makes an epic journey with two Yaks across the Himalyas. Both stories bring a real strength to the journey narrative in that the main characters have to care for themselves and their animals.

Reading the story I got a real sense of what it might have been like to have lived in a Nazi occupied country in World War Two. The risks are especially high when you are a Jewish boy trying to sneak across country with a large group of highly prized horses! The story opens with Jacob hiding in a hayloft:

“If Jacob sneezed he could die, he passed a sweaty hand over his nose. Every part of him was shaking. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears….”

Early on you learn the power that the Nazi’s have when Jakobs favourite horse is shot. There is more to come, and because of this I would recommend Flight for children aged 9/10 years and older. However, having said that the constant presence of the Nazi’s is effectively integrated into the story in a way that you feel like you are really there At the same time the full impact is ‘softened’ a little for the reader, as is often the case in the very best of middle grade fiction.

The first two thirds of this story is fast paced with plenty of action to keep you reading as you want to find out what happens next. Then the excitement of the journey appears to be over and you are briefly left wondering what will happen in the rest of the story. Less experienced readers and/or children who prefer fast paced stories may need a little encouragement to get past this. The last one third of the story doesn’t disappoint. It is very clever. You get a hint of what life might be like for Jakob and Kizzy after their adventure and for horse fans there is an absolute treat to come!

Set within an exciting adventure with horses, is a running theme of prejudice, which is superbly handled by the author and leaves plenty to discuss. This includes: attitudes towards Jews in World War Two, and towards Roma children both then and now, and attitudes to women in sport at this time.

I really enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to see what Vanessa Harbour writes next.

 

Nimesh Adventures – Ranjit Singh and Mehrdokht Amini

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I was delighted to receive a review of copy of Nimesh the Adventurer from Lantana Publishing. The illustrations in this book are gorgeous and really bring the story to life. Nimesh goes on many imaginative adventures on his journey home from school. The chatty conversation style keeps you engaged and wanting to find out where he goes next. Many of the pictures give insights into East Indian culture and it is great to see an Indian family being the focus of such an imaginative story.

The journey narrative was really effective. It reminds me of Emily Brown, by Cresida Cowell and Neal Layton. Nimesh Adventures will appeal to older children and adults too. It begins at the end of the school with Nimesh and his friends excitedly looking at a book about Dragons. This draws the readers in and is sure to capture the attention of even the most reluctant of readers. Nimesh then goes on a number of other imaginative journeys, including: swimming with sharks, the North Pole, meeting a guardsman for the Indian Maharaja’s, and a princess in the garden. I love how something ordinary is the inspiration for imaginative ideas. The picture on the wall of a shark, turns into a corridor full of sharks. And the dogs walking down the street turn into a dog sleigh at the North Pole.

The author Ranjit Singh is a British children’s author of East Indian heritage . The illustrations are drawn by Mehrdokht Amini an Iranian born illustrator.  They vividly capture the Indian culture whilst at the same time depicting many ordinary things that all children will identify with. There is lots of detail and clues for the reader to look for to help them to guess what will happen next.

This would be a great book to share with children of all ages. One to one this book could be shared with children as young as 4 years old. But, as a whole class read I think it has most potential from year2/year 3 upwards as there is so much to explore and possibilities for discussion. It could be used across the whole of KS2 and I think it even has potential as an inspiration for story writing in KS3.

You can buy copies from me at Readers that Care

Or direct from Lantana publishing’s website.