The new academic year is looming and although most of you still have a month to go (and let’s hope the weather is nice so you can actually feel like you’ve had a summer break), those of you beginning your PGCE will be starting next week. So here’s a chance to feel a step ahead with some brand new children’s book titles up your sleeve. Another way to feel prepared to face the new term is to remind yourselves of recent award winners which you can do by clicking here.
Early Years
A Great Big Cuddle: Poems for the Very Young by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Chris Riddell (Walker). This is a new poetry collection from the exuberant Michael Rosen. Expect warm, playful and engaging poems complemented by illustrations from the new Children’s Laureate, Chris Riddell.
What the Ladybird Heard Next by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Lydia Monks (Macmillan). A second adventure featuring the clever ladybird from What the Ladybird Heard. The rhyming text and language play from Julia Donaldson’s books make them excellent choices for children learning to read.
Key Stage 1
The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (Harper Collins). The follow-up to the hugely successful The Day the Crayons Quit which won nearly every award going last year. This time, the crayons send postcards to Duncan berating him for the situations they have gotten into through his neglect.
Footpath Flowers by JoArno Lawson and illustrated by Sydney Smith (Walker). A beautiful wordless book featuring a young girl walking home with her distracted father. Seen from a child-perspective, the story shows the wonder and joy of little things.
Key Stage 2
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury). The new book from the author of the award-winning Rooftoppers. Inspired by the writer’s father’s love of storytelling, The Wolf Wilder is part fairytale and part historical fiction. Set during the Russian Revolution, the story tells of Feo and her mother who live deep in the forest and have the dangerous job of re-introducing pet wolves back into the wild.
The Marvels by Brian Selznick (Scholastic). The author of the outstanding work of art that is The Invention of Hugo Cabret has a new book due out later this month. The Marvels weaves together two stories, one set in 1766 and told in pictures whilst the other is told in words and set in 1990. How they are related is part of the mystery presented to the reader.
Key Stage 3
One by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury). This is the new book from an author who is fast becoming one of my favourites. The Weight of Water, her first book, was a beautifully crafted story of a young Polish immigrant in England told entirely in free verse. One is also narrated in free verse and tells the story of teenagers Grace and Tippi, conjoined twins who are sent to public school after their parents can no longer afford homeschooling.
Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead (Andersen). Stead’s books always appear deceptively light on the surface yet are deeply layered with carefully constructed puzzles. Her new book about female friendships is told by multiple narrators, one of which is unusually written in the second person, the unamed You. Includes themes of cyber bullying, internet safety and feminism.
Teenage and Young Adult
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (Walker). Ness takes a swipe at fantasy and dystopian fiction (and himself then presumably!) in this new story where 18 year old Mikey just wants to live a normal life in a town where vampires and apocalypses are common. Maybe some people don’t want to be heroes, they just want to go to the prom before their school blows up.
Unbecoming by Jenny Downham (David Fickling). Told across fifty years through three generations of women in one family where the grandmother’s dementia begins to unravel the family secrets that have pushed them apart. There have been quite a few picture books covering dementia recently so it is great to see a book for older readers tackling an illness that has become so prevalent.
New blog for teachers!
I have recently come across a great blog aimed at teachers from Bags of Books, the children’s bookshop in Lewes near Brighton. They also have useful booklists and a book clinic service for teachers.
