About
The Children’s Literature Book Club is for students studying on our undergraduate and postgraduate primary teacher training courses to support your subject development.
Launched for the 2021 academic year, the club will help expand your repertoire of contemporary children’s authors and books that can be used in the KS1 and KS2 classroom. The club will help you model the engagement that, as a teacher, you’ll need to consider when reviewing books for the classroom and open discussion around texts to consider elements such as themes, imagery and characters which can then inform lesson planning.
It will also help you to develop your own personal reading repertoire so you can teach with texts that you genuinely enjoy and demonstrate to future employers a wide range of texts and authors that you can adapt to meet the needs of the children in the classroom.
Book club meetings
Our online book club is held monthly on Microsoft Teams – use code ‘d5uq6re’ to join.
Upcoming book club meetings:
- Wednesday 1 December 2021 at 2pm
- Wednesday 5 January 2022 at 2pm
Follow our Instagram account to keep up to date with future meeting dates.
How to get your book
Our library team are part of the book club and will make sure the library has some copies available.
University of Brighton, School of Education students, get a 15% discount with The Book Nook. – please contact curriculumcentre@brighton.ac.uk for further details.
You may also be able to pick up a second-hand copy on sites such as eBay.
Book selection
January 2022
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
A fierce coming-of-age verse novel about identity and the power of drag, from acclaimed poet and performer Dean Atta.
December 2021
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll.
The book tells the story of 11-year-old Addie as she campaigns for a memorial in memory of the witch trials that took place in her Scottish hometown.
November 2021
The book choice for November is Blackberry Blue by Jamila Gavin with a synopsis of ‘Prepare to enter a world of magicians, enchanted forests, talking animals and wicked witches…’
“These joyful stories are a delight.” – review in The Times
October 2021
Our first book for discussion was The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Rauf. The book is a story about friendship, kindness, and adventure that is centred within the refugee crisis.
It was overall winner of the Waterstone’s children’s book prize in 2019 and shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award in the same year.
“Research shows that teacher attitudes towards reading and teacher subject knowledge of books as the ‘enabling adult’ has a significant impact on children reading for pleasure.” Perkins, 2015