Posts Tagged with KS2

Grim Falls Academy Blog Tour

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Review of Grim Falls Academy by Louise ForShaw

 

I am delighted to be part of the Grim Falls Academy Blog Tour. Introducing to you a fantastic new series for children aged 7 to 11 years. A  great book for those that prefer a shorter read (each book is about 120 pages). It has the perfect mix of inventive characters, adventures and mishaps, and great character development to keep the interest of all years in KS2. The story is set in a boarding school for monsters, and focuses on three main characters. Seb who is a werewolf, his best friend Victor, who is a vampire bat, and a new student called Tabitha who is probably a human and just discovering her talents. As the title of the first books ‘Don’t Eat the Soup’ suggests, the cooks’ soup causes chaos. I love that the teachers are affected by the soup, leaving the students to sort out the chaos. Unfortunately, this coincides with a school inspection, so Seb, Victor and Tabitha have a race against time to put things right and save the school. But, luckily for the trio they are supported by two ‘enchanted suits of Armour’ called Clunk and Clang, who guard the school.  The school inspector has trouble solving Clunk’s riddle so is delayed at the front door to the school.
I love that the publisher Maverick Books has decided to publish the 3 books in the Grim Falls Academy series at the same time (I really hope there will be more in the series). So that developing readers can keep their interest by jumping straight into the next book. There are a number of things that set this new series apart. Firstly, the way the the story is built up, there is good story telling and plotting and Louise ForShaw perfectly balances introducing the reader to information they need to understand the story with an exciting action packed plot. This is further enhanced by the excellent and well placed illustrations that make this a very readable series. Louise ForShaw is both author and illustrator. She has illustrated many children’s books, this is the first book she has also written. I think her background in illustration has really enabled her to make good use of the illustrations to support the story, which is not always as well done in short reads. The second thing that distinguishes this short read for KS2 is the strength of the characters and the strong friendship between Seb and Victor. 

Exploring Mishaps and character development

As part of my stop on the Blog Tour I wanted introduce you to two aspects that I think Grim Falls Academy does especially well. 
Exploring Mishaps
There are a number of accidents and incidents that happen. So let me introduce you to a few of them.
The incident with the mop
As Seb is rushing to class at the the start of the story he has a run in with a mop, With a combination of text and illustrations this is brilliantly executed. So you have a laugh and feel sorry for one of the main characters.
“Seb was in too much of a hurry to see the sign on the floor. Or the bucket full of soapy water. Or even Brian the zombie caretaker, mopping. That’s why he suddenly found himself with one foot in a bucket, slipping and sliding across the damp floor.
“LOOK OUT!” he wailed, flapping, his arms wildly. But it was too late.”
P11 Grim Falls Academy, Don’t Eat the Soup! (Book 1)
The start of the chaos in the lunch hall 
Absolutely love how the school cafeteria went from calm lunch hall, to chaos in minutes!
“The cafeteria exploded into chaos.
Miss Hallow quickly sprouted two more tentacles that wrestled and grappled with each other, “WHAT’S HAPPENING?! WHAT AM I?IN FACT, WHO AM I?” she wailed. 
Dr Fink the Mad Science teacher, was lying on the floor sobbing with his hand covering his ears….”
P40 Grim Falls Academy, Don’t Eat the Soup! (Book 1)
Character Development: characters that care and want to do their best 
One of the things I love about this series is the care Louise Forshaw takes in developing her characters and the insights she gives into how they are feeling. It is also great that book 1 has profiles of each of the main characters in the book, which would be great for recapping the story, and helping the reader understand the characters. 
Seb being a wererwolf is the perfect opportunity to explore in a broad sense what happens when you get angry. So you get introduced to Seb being frustrated by getting angry in certain situations and trying to control it. 
Another, is when Clang feels he’s a failure because he let the school down with something. I love how the illustrations that go with this tell the reader more and you can see how Seb and Victor are comforting him.
 
There is so much to enjoy in this imaginative new series, full of mishaps and adventures and characters young readers will really warm too. Highly recommend for 7 to 11 years. Do check out the rest of the posts in the blog tour. 
You can support an independent bookseller and purchase from me at Readers that Care.
Check out the other post in the blog tour. 

 

Book review: Rewilding: Bringing Wildlife back where it belongs

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David A Steen and Chiara Fedele, published by Neon-Squid

Welcome to my stop on the FCBG News blog tour for Non-Fiction November #NNFN2022

“Rewilding projects are wildlife reintroductions that try to reverse the trend. They bring animals and plants back to areas where they used to live, but that they have disappeared from – usually because we overhunted them or changed their habitat too much”

p1 Rewilding

This is a clearly written and informative non-fiction book, with realistic colour illustrations that help to bring the animals and habitats to life. It gives examples from across the globe, in a range of habitats of the many ways humans have tried to return wildlife to their natural habitats. Neon-Squid the publisher is a relative new comer to children’s non-fiction but their books are definitely worth checking out. 

It raises some interesting questions about the interplay between humans and wildlife, both in creating problems and as positive forces for change. In some locations it recognises that local people are dependent on their local habitat to survive and the need to involve them in decisions about conservation projects.

One of the really special things about this non-fiction book for children is the breadth of mini re-wilding case studies included from all over the world. These include: animals, birds, fish, plants, reptiles and insects and a few plants. Each double page spread focuses on certain aspects that affect a creature or plant and some of the actions humans have taken, working together, to re-introduce them to the wild. These provide examples of hope, that despite the threats to our planet there are things we can do to help.

Some examples of the case studies of re-wilding:

  • Flying a light airplane thousands of miles to try and teach Whooping Cranes brought up in captivity about their annual migration routes.
  • Several examples of the impact of building dams on building wildlife are explored. Such as the: toads dependant on the spray and mist from a gorge in Tanzania (East Africa), and the Chinook salmon affected by a dam in the USA.
  • The idea of keystone species is introduced with two main examples. Beavers in England, and their dam building skills that can help to control a river and protect from flooding. The wolves in Yellowstone park, USA and how the removal of a predator can affect the whole ecosystem.

As well as the case studies there are number of pages throughout the book which explore wider issues relating to habitat preservation and conservation. This provides some good pointers to discuss issues related to re-wilding. In the classroom there’s great potential to use this text alongside a fictional re-wilding story (there are a few suggestions at the end of this post).

There is one small area in which this book could perhaps be improved. I would like to see clearer signposting with different colour headings to more clearly visually distinguish the concept/issue pages from the case study pages, making them easier to find. To assist with this a copy of the contents page is attached with the concept/issue pages highlighted in red. 

I highly recommend this detailed and informative text, with realistic and eye-catching illustrations for 10+ years, to be enjoyed at home and in the classroom. Do check out some of the other non-fiction titles by Neon-Squid the publishers.

 

Fictional stories about re-wilding

The Rewilders by Lindsay Littleton .  Read my book review here.

The Last Bear by Hannah Wolf 

Fourteen Wolves: A Re-wilding story by Catherine Barr.  A an illustrated narrative non-fiction book about the returning of wolves to Yelloston Park in 1995.

When Things Went Wild by Tom Mitchell.  For a humorous take on re-wilding

This book is available to Order at Readers that Care