Posts Tagged with kidlit

Darwin’s Dragon by Lindsay Galvin

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I loved reading Darwin’s Dragon, one of my most anticipated books of the year which has finally arrived. My daughters a big fan of Lindsay Galvin’s the Secret of the Deep, so I was expecting great things. It didn’t disappoint. 

The story begins in 1835. It’s about what could have happened during one of Darwin’s expeditions to the Galapagos Islands.  It is written from the perspective of Syms Covington. Who first joined Darwins ship the Beagle, as a cabin boy and a fiddler. He then worked his way up to become Darwin’s assistant. With short chapters, and plenty of nail-biting action there is lot’s to draw readers in. 

The story is a most intriguing and unique combination of historical fiction, weird and wonderful detail on the animals and habitats of the Galapagos, and fantasy (a real life Dragon). There is a survival theme running through the story. To begin with is is how Sym survives on an uninhabited island and later it’s about the lizard.  

In chapter 2 Syms rescues Darwin from the sea, but is then swept away and is washed up on a strange uninhabited island. On the island he is befriended by a lizard, who he names Farthing after his copper coloured eyes. She helps him survive on the island and escape the dragon. 

I found some of part 2 harder to read. I think at that point I was still getting my head round there only being one human character and lots of the weird landscape of the Galapagos which is so well portrayed in Lindsays writing. If using in the classroom some real pictures of the Galapagos might help. I mention this as some readers may benefit from being read the beginning of part 2 as they will love the next bit. 

I loved how Syms fiddle features in his survival story, and serves as a tool to introduce us to some of his back history and to help him survive the present. And the clever placing of the objects in the cave, which helped Syms and the eggs to escape the island was really clever storytelling, which could be used to help children write their own stories.

After Syms is rescued, Darwin’s ship makes its voyage back to London.  In London we get to find out more about Farthing, the lizard and the dragons eggs. We also see Syms taking on a role in looking out for Farthing.  There is also a great fictional connection to Queen Victoria.

The story covers a number of years in Darwins’s life, not just his expedition to Galapagos. With insights into the collating and publishing of his work on evolution in London, and the need for him to stay away from additional controversy as his ideas on the Origin of the Species were controversial enough at the time.  Finally a the end Syms re-visits the island with one of his daughters.

Cleverly interweaving real facts and information with action packed adventure, and fantasy and cleverly twisted facts to create believable fiction this is not to be missed.  A story that will keep you in the moment and which you will want to re-visit. Highly recommend for 9/10+ to 99 years. 

Thank you to the publishers Chicken House books for a free advance copy.

 

Darwins’s Dragons is published on 7th January 2021. Available to pre-order from me an independent bookseller at Readers that Care. In a special 2 book bundle, choose 2nd book from a selection of over 20 titles. 

Original stories with a nature and science connection for young readers

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Introducing two wonderful stories which will appeal to children who like to explore the natural world around them and/or are interested in animals. They are aimed at 6 to 9 year olds, but many older children and adults would love them too.

In the summer of 2014, my daughter who had just turned 7 was transitioning to chapter books, and was finding it difficult to find something she wanted to read. She liked animals and was interested in being a vet. However, we found many of the classical animal stories didn’t have enough human interest and other more readily available animal series my daughter quickly lost interest in as she said: ‘they had little plot, nothing really happened in them”. Both these book are distinctively different from many other books with an animal theme for 6 to 9 year olds. They deserve a place in any primary school library, as for some they may be a ‘game changer’, as the book/series that gets them reading.

Zoe and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows
Author: Asia Citro Illustrator: Marion Lindsay.  p96

This was a great find I stumbled across whilst looking for something else. It  got my attention initially because I have been keeping an eye out for stories for 6 to 9 year olds, with black protagonists that are the kind of story that might appeal to any child. I had no idea when I ordered a copy of this book what a gem of a story and series it was, published by an innovative fairly new publisher called Innovation Press.

It is about a girl called Zoey and her cat called Sassafras who loves exploring the natural environment near her home. One day she makes an amazing discovery that her mum has the ability to see and speak to magical creatures, and that she has inherited this gift too. If an animal needs help a magical doorbell rings in the Barn next to their house. Whilst Zoe’s mum is away at a science conference Zoey and her cat have to help a baby dragon.

A beautiful blend of real and magical with an introduction to scientific questioning and hypotheses, this engaging story has plenty to appeal to a variety of readers. Add to this some great role models, from a dark skinned girl with frizzy hair as the main character, a mum who is a scientist and a stay at home dad, and you have a very original story.

This is the first book in a series of 4, soon to be 5 books. It is probably a good idea to read book 1 first (or at least read aloud enough p1 to p28), but they can then be read in any order.

 

A Kitten Called Holly
Author: Helen Peter Illustrator: Ellie Snowdon.  p132

In case you haven’t guessed from one of my previous posts, my son (who is now 7 years old) is cat crazy, so a story with a cat in is a great start. But, like his sister he is very particular about the books he reads and does prefer stories with a strong narrative and a bit of depth to them, which this story certainly has.

One day Jasmine and her friend Tom find an old shed in the garden to play in, and they accidentally come across a wild cat and her kittens. Jasmine’s mum is a vet, from whom she has learns a lot about how to look after animals. So Jasmine and Tom know not to touch the kittens and wait for their mum to return. When the mother cat returned she took the kittens somewhere else. But, later one of the kitten’s gets left behind and Jasmine and her friend help to feed and look after it. But, will Jasmine have to give the Kitten away at the end? You will have to read it to find out!

My son loved this story being read aloud to him. The strong narrative along with detailed and accurate information about how to look after a kitten really kept his interest. He kept asking for one more chapter.

With great descriptive detail you feel like you are really there, a story which is heartfelt and sometimes funny. This book is sure to appeal to a variety of children, including those that usually prefer non-fiction.

It is part of the Jasmine Green series published by Nosy Crow. This is not the first book in the series, but the characters are introduced well so I think you could read them in any order. I suggest starting with which ever animal your child is most interested in.

Zoe and Sassafras Series:

Jasmine Green Series:

 

 

 

Reading for pleasure: becoming a reader for pleasure is a dynamic process with ups and downs

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One of the wonderful things about being a parent is seeing your children grow in confidence, you don’t always notice the small changes, but when all those small changes add up to a bigger change you do. One of the things my nearly 9 year old has grown in confidence in is her reading. This includes her confidence that she will find another book she likes and her increasing ability to accurately choose books she does like. Both are essential skills in reading for pleasure: a belief that there are stories out there you will love and, the ability to find them. It has been a two year journey to get to where she is now. It is only as she moves into a new phase in her reading that I realise just how far we have come. I say we, because in parallel to her journey I have re-discovered a love of fiction, after reading mainly non-fiction for 10 years. I have discovered I much prefer reading children’s fiction, to adult fiction, and that I especially like middle grade fiction!

My daughter and I have, over the last two years, both become readers. We have discovered authors we had never heard of two years ago, and that there is so much more variety in children’s chapter book fiction than we could have possibly imagined. Yet, what is interesting is that until a month ago, there weren’t any books I had read or suggested to her that she had picked up and read. We have read different middle grade stories.

As an indepedent bookseller I was initially interested in reading children’s books, so I could tell my customers about them. But, then I quickly realised I was picking stories out of my selections that I really wanted to read. Through becoming a reader myself I have a new understanding of what it takes to become a child  who wants to read. Most importantly I realise that becoming a person who wants to read is not a linear journey. It is instead a dynamic process with up and downs. I have also discovered that there a multiple routes to becoming a reader, and for many children (adults) this is something that has to be worked at.

It was about two years ago this month, that my daughter discovered the first book she loved reading for herself. That story was Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson, and was very important in getting her reading. You can read about it in my blog post. However, as we were to discover that was just the start of her journey towards reading for pleasure. Along the way there are many things and people that have helped. My decision last May to book us into our first live author events at the Linton Book Festival was one of them, and I will be talking about this in my next blog post. We hope that by sharing some of the things that helped us, that more people will realise there are many ways to becoming a reader and that you may find out something that will help a child you know, in their journey to becoming a reader.