Welcome to this latest round up of what has been happening in the world of children’s books over the last month, plus details of some book related events to look forward to. There has been such a wide range of articles, discussions and comment over the last few weeks that it would be impossible to include it all but I do hope that this selection of links and reviews will be helpful to you.
My October reading included spies and a wartime mystery, a storytelling mouse, nature activities and fun for every season and perfect picture books for encouraging creative play and overcoming shyness. I reviewed them here and I hope there is something among the titles that is suitable for the young readers in your life. This week I read Glassborn by Peter Bunzl and was immersed in the story from the first pages. This standalone sequel to Magicborn, is a treat of a read. A story in the best tradition of children’s literature, a magical, historical fantasy tale of riddles and curses, secrets, spells and excitement set in an icy world ruled by a wicked Fairy Queen and featuring four brave children. Glassborn is a captivating story with literary connections to Narnia and Bronte and containing so much hope in its pages.
Book Trust: SF Said talk and Q&A – it’s not too late to register for this free online event for schools taking place next Friday 10th November at 2pm. Suitable for: Year groups 5, 6 and 7 and with subtitles available two days after the recording. SF Said will tell the story of how he went from being a young reader like the children to writing award-winning books such as Tyger, Phoenix and Varjak Paw, which was listed by BookTrust as one of the 100 best children’s books of the past 100 years. His talk will include material about his own childhood reading, insights into the writing process, a reading from Tyger, and a live Q&A at the end.
National Non-Fiction November – National Non-Fiction November is the Federation of Children’s Book Groups’ annual celebration of all things factual. Born out of National Non-Fiction Day, the brain child of Adam Lancaster during his years as Chair, the whole month now celebrates all those readers that have a passion for information and facts and attempts to bring non fiction celebration in line with those of fiction.The theme this year is ‘Wonderful Water’ and you can download a list of suggested titles here. There is a competition for children to enter too, lots of events around the country and a blog tour to follow. Chris Routh’s welcome above tells you all about it.
Remembrance 2023: teaching resources and activities – the National Literacy Trust are partnering with Royal British Legion again this year on a programme of events and resources to support Remembrance teaching and learning in schools. These include: A live assembly on Friday 10 November and new resources to support learning in the classroom. They also have book club resources based on age-appropriate stories to help children explore themes of Remembrance, and to develop core reading comprehension skills.
Remembrance Day Resources from Tom Palmer – This year’s Remembrance Sunday will be marked on 12th November, with Armistice Day on Saturday 11th November 2023. To help schools mark the occasion and link it to developing literacy in the classroom, award winning author Tom Palmer will be offering FREE resources for schools to use based around his books. These include a video assembly message, a signed certificate and a free story to download with linked resources.
Educating for Empathy:the reading factor – online conference – on 5th December EmpathyLabUK are running the first ever conference focused exclusively on using literature to build empathy. In partnership with the University of Sussex and St Matthews Research School it features a line up of the country’s leading psychology, empathy and literacy experts. The conference explores how to harness reading’s power to build empathy understanding and skills. You will take away a rich understanding of the evidence base for using reading to build empathy, practical tools and next steps to deepen empathy education work. Although the Early Bird offer has now finished you can still book tickets and found out more about this excellent CPD via the link above.
Empathy Action Month is here! – prior to the conference highlighted above EmpathyLabUK are inviting you to join them all through the month of November to put empathy into action, and be inspired by stories. Every Wednesday, catch exclusive videos featuring incredible authors, illustrators & schools! New content available now including book lists and author video read-alouds.
CLPE’s October’s New Books Round-Up – Each month CLPE’s Librarian, Phoebe Demeger, reveals some of her favourite books she has recently added to their Literacy Library. This month’s selection includes Zeki Hikes With Daddy (also highly recommended by my grandson!) and All Bodies are Wonderful, an inclusive, informative and empowering guide to bodies, plus Katya Balen’s latest.
Puffin Autumn Term Virtual Author Visits – Real-life authors and illustrators will be streamed live into classrooms across the country via Zoom, with the chance for pupils to put their questions directly to the creators (sent in advance of the event). It is still possible to book for sessions with Jamie Littler, author of Arkspire. Ages 7 – 11, Vashti Harrison, author of BIG. Ages 4 – 8 and Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart, creators of You Choose Christmas. Ages 3+
Festivals and Celebrations: Or, How To Really Pronounce Reading Festival – we will soon be heading into winter festival season. In his latest blog for Just Imagine, Roy Moss reflects on some considerations that we can bear in mind when introducing these topics into our classrooms. Some excellent book recommendations included too.
World Kindness Day National Literacy Trust Resources – the National Literacy Trust has partnered with Penguin Random House UK and Charlie Mackesy to create KS1/P2-3 and KS2/P4-P7 cross-curricular literacy and PSHE resources to help you celebrate World Kindness Day on Monday 13 November. The suite of resources explore Charlie Mackesy’s powerful, illustrated book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and help pupils to explore the importance of being kind to others as well as themselves. They can be downloaded via the link above.
The Diverse Book Awards Winners Announced – From 160 books to 4 the judges decided on their winners of The Diverse Book Awards including their first picture book winner, Dadaji’s Paintbrush by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane. Many congratulations to all the winners. You can discover the winners in each category plus the long and shortlisted titles on the official website above.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award – A total of 245 candidates from 68 countries have been nominated for the 2024 award, including 66 candidates new from previous years. The list includes authors and illustrators, as well as storytellers and reading promoters. The laureate will be announced on 9 April 2024. The nominations for the UK included authors and illustrators such as David Almond, Malorie Blackman, Quentin Blake and Neil Gaiman plus organisations such as the Bookmark charity and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.
Children’s and teens’ roundup: the best new picture books and novels – A celebration of family; a guide to animal languages; Stonehenge spells; classroom crises; and dreams of becoming an alchemist are among the books reviewed by Imogen Russell Williams in her latest round up for the Guardian.
Julia Eccleshare’s Picks of the Month – Each month Julia Eccleshare, a leading authority in children’s literature, chooses a small selection of her favourites from the month. They will be generally new releases but occasionally she may select a new edition of a firm favourite and we will list them here. All are highly recommended with Julia’s seal of approval.
The Reader Teacher Monthly Must Reads for October – Scott Evans has chosen his five favourite children’s books published over the last month in different categories so there is something here to tempt a wide range of interests.
BookTrust research highlights the importance of multiple ‘reading influencers’ – Findings from the BookTrust Family Survey show what a difference it makes when children are read to by lots of different people. The research finds that the more people in a child’s life who are involved in influencing their reading, the more likely the child is to become a keen independent reader.
A Treatise on the State of Middle Grade and Young Adult Publishing Today – an article by librarian Karen Jensen for the School Library Journal: Teen Librarian Toolbox which although US based in content will be of interest to anyone involved in what world of children’s books in any capacity.
Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2023 – Shortlist Announced- perfectly timed for National Non-Fiction November! The Young People’s Book Prize celebrates the best science books for under-14s, highlighting books that communicate science to young people in creative and accessible ways. You can find out more about the award, the shortlist and how children can get involved in the article on the Literacy Hive website linked above.
Establishing a Primary School Library – SLA Member Development Librarian and former manager of Worcestershire County Council SLS, Dawn Woods, shares her vast expertise on how to establish a successful primary school library in this new publication from the School Library Association. It costs £15 for non-members and £12.50 for members and would be particularly useful for education professionals based in a primary school planning to establish a school library, or those looking to enhance their existing one.
The Reader Teacher Books I’m Most Excited About November 2023 – Scott Evans’ selection of books being published in November include Peter Bunzl’s Glassborn, mentioned above, a lovely new information book for young children Little, Brown Nut (Start Small, Think Big) by Mary Auld and Dawn Cooper and the poignant picturebook, Do You Remember? by Sydney Smith.
Christmas History Special: WWII Arctic Star 80th Anniversary – A Christmas History Special this December as Mr Dilly’s WORLD OF HISTORY presents a perfect event for schools and all children KS2 plus. Join Mr Dilly and multi award-winning children’s author Tom Palmer commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the WWII Battle of North Cape, a Second World War battle that took place across Christmas1943, and immortalised in Tom’s thrilling naval adventure novel Arctic Star, described by School Run as ‘one of the best children’s books about WWII’. Fri, 1 Dec 2023 11:00 – 12:00. Tickets and more details available on the link above.
Waterstones Book of the Year 2023 – there are three children’s books on this year’s shortlist; How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? By Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen; A Whale of a Time: A Funny Poem for Every Day of the Year by Lou Peacock and Matt Hunt; and Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell and Tomislav Tomic.
Autumn Non-fiction Round Up – Kate Heap has read and reviewed a selection of books that are perfect for this month’s celebration of information books. From publishers who specialise in non-fiction such as Nosy Crow, Buster Books, Templar, Weldon Owen and Prestel, these eye-catching books will fly off classroom library shelves as children enjoy them together.
Kicked Out by A.M. Dassu – I have read several extremely positive reviews of this new book but am sharing this excellent one by teacher Ben Harris as it highlights the importance not only of this particular book but also of children’s fiction in general. And it really made me want to read the book!
That’s everything for this month and I hope you have found something of use or interest among the linked articles and events. I will be posting reviews over the next few weeks of some excellent new non-fiction for younger children and picturebooks on a Christmas theme so you may want to keep an eye out for those if you are on the hunt for present ideas. Reading Matters will be back next month.
What I’m reading…
My October reading included spies and a wartime mystery, a storytelling mouse, nature activities and fun for every season and perfect picture books for encouraging creative play and overcoming shyness. I reviewed them here and I hope there is something among the titles that is suitable for the young readers in your life. This week I read Glassborn by Peter Bunzl and was immersed in the story from the first pages. This standalone sequel to Magicborn, is a treat of a read. A story in the best tradition of children’s literature, a magical, historical fantasy tale of riddles and curses, secrets, spells and excitement set in an icy world ruled by a wicked Fairy Queen and featuring four brave children. Glassborn is a captivating story with literary connections to Narnia and Bronte and containing so much hope in its pages.
News, articles and resources…
Book Trust: SF Said talk and Q&A – it’s not too late to register for this free online event for schools taking place next Friday 10th November at 2pm. Suitable for: Year groups 5, 6 and 7 and with subtitles available two days after the recording. SF Said will tell the story of how he went from being a young reader like the children to writing award-winning books such as Tyger, Phoenix and Varjak Paw, which was listed by BookTrust as one of the 100 best children’s books of the past 100 years. His talk will include material about his own childhood reading, insights into the writing process, a reading from Tyger, and a live Q&A at the end.
National Non-Fiction November – National Non-Fiction November is the Federation of Children’s Book Groups’ annual celebration of all things factual. Born out of National Non-Fiction Day, the brain child of Adam Lancaster during his years as Chair, the whole month now celebrates all those readers that have a passion for information and facts and attempts to bring non fiction celebration in line with those of fiction.The theme this year is ‘Wonderful Water’ and you can download a list of suggested titles here. There is a competition for children to enter too, lots of events around the country and a blog tour to follow. Chris Routh’s welcome above tells you all about it.
Remembrance 2023: teaching resources and activities – the National Literacy Trust are partnering with Royal British Legion again this year on a programme of events and resources to support Remembrance teaching and learning in schools. These include: A live assembly on Friday 10 November and new resources to support learning in the classroom. They also have book club resources based on age-appropriate stories to help children explore themes of Remembrance, and to develop core reading comprehension skills.
Remembrance Day Resources from Tom Palmer – This year’s Remembrance Sunday will be marked on 12th November, with Armistice Day on Saturday 11th November 2023. To help schools mark the occasion and link it to developing literacy in the classroom, award winning author Tom Palmer will be offering FREE resources for schools to use based around his books. These include a video assembly message, a signed certificate and a free story to download with linked resources.
Educating for Empathy:the reading factor – online conference – on 5th December EmpathyLabUK are running the first ever conference focused exclusively on using literature to build empathy. In partnership with the University of Sussex and St Matthews Research School it features a line up of the country’s leading psychology, empathy and literacy experts. The conference explores how to harness reading’s power to build empathy understanding and skills. You will take away a rich understanding of the evidence base for using reading to build empathy, practical tools and next steps to deepen empathy education work. Although the Early Bird offer has now finished you can still book tickets and found out more about this excellent CPD via the link above.
Empathy Action Month is here! – prior to the conference highlighted above EmpathyLabUK are inviting you to join them all through the month of November to put empathy into action, and be inspired by stories. Every Wednesday, catch exclusive videos featuring incredible authors, illustrators & schools! New content available now including book lists and author video read-alouds.
CLPE’s October’s New Books Round-Up – Each month CLPE’s Librarian, Phoebe Demeger, reveals some of her favourite books she has recently added to their Literacy Library. This month’s selection includes Zeki Hikes With Daddy (also highly recommended by my grandson!) and All Bodies are Wonderful, an inclusive, informative and empowering guide to bodies, plus Katya Balen’s latest.
Puffin Autumn Term Virtual Author Visits – Real-life authors and illustrators will be streamed live into classrooms across the country via Zoom, with the chance for pupils to put their questions directly to the creators (sent in advance of the event). It is still possible to book for sessions with Jamie Littler, author of Arkspire. Ages 7 – 11, Vashti Harrison, author of BIG. Ages 4 – 8 and Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart, creators of You Choose Christmas. Ages 3+
Festivals and Celebrations: Or, How To Really Pronounce Reading Festival – we will soon be heading into winter festival season. In his latest blog for Just Imagine, Roy Moss reflects on some considerations that we can bear in mind when introducing these topics into our classrooms. Some excellent book recommendations included too.
World Kindness Day National Literacy Trust Resources – the National Literacy Trust has partnered with Penguin Random House UK and Charlie Mackesy to create KS1/P2-3 and KS2/P4-P7 cross-curricular literacy and PSHE resources to help you celebrate World Kindness Day on Monday 13 November. The suite of resources explore Charlie Mackesy’s powerful, illustrated book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and help pupils to explore the importance of being kind to others as well as themselves. They can be downloaded via the link above.
The Diverse Book Awards Winners Announced – From 160 books to 4 the judges decided on their winners of The Diverse Book Awards including their first picture book winner, Dadaji’s Paintbrush by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane. Many congratulations to all the winners. You can discover the winners in each category plus the long and shortlisted titles on the official website above.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award – A total of 245 candidates from 68 countries have been nominated for the 2024 award, including 66 candidates new from previous years. The list includes authors and illustrators, as well as storytellers and reading promoters. The laureate will be announced on 9 April 2024. The nominations for the UK included authors and illustrators such as David Almond, Malorie Blackman, Quentin Blake and Neil Gaiman plus organisations such as the Bookmark charity and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.
Children’s and teens’ roundup: the best new picture books and novels – A celebration of family; a guide to animal languages; Stonehenge spells; classroom crises; and dreams of becoming an alchemist are among the books reviewed by Imogen Russell Williams in her latest round up for the Guardian.
Julia Eccleshare’s Picks of the Month – Each month Julia Eccleshare, a leading authority in children’s literature, chooses a small selection of her favourites from the month. They will be generally new releases but occasionally she may select a new edition of a firm favourite and we will list them here. All are highly recommended with Julia’s seal of approval.
The Reader Teacher Monthly Must Reads for October – Scott Evans has chosen his five favourite children’s books published over the last month in different categories so there is something here to tempt a wide range of interests.
BookTrust research highlights the importance of multiple ‘reading influencers’ – Findings from the BookTrust Family Survey show what a difference it makes when children are read to by lots of different people. The research finds that the more people in a child’s life who are involved in influencing their reading, the more likely the child is to become a keen independent reader.
A Treatise on the State of Middle Grade and Young Adult Publishing Today – an article by librarian Karen Jensen for the School Library Journal: Teen Librarian Toolbox which although US based in content will be of interest to anyone involved in what world of children’s books in any capacity.
Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2023 – Shortlist Announced- perfectly timed for National Non-Fiction November! The Young People’s Book Prize celebrates the best science books for under-14s, highlighting books that communicate science to young people in creative and accessible ways. You can find out more about the award, the shortlist and how children can get involved in the article on the Literacy Hive website linked above.
Establishing a Primary School Library – SLA Member Development Librarian and former manager of Worcestershire County Council SLS, Dawn Woods, shares her vast expertise on how to establish a successful primary school library in this new publication from the School Library Association. It costs £15 for non-members and £12.50 for members and would be particularly useful for education professionals based in a primary school planning to establish a school library, or those looking to enhance their existing one.
The Reader Teacher Books I’m Most Excited About November 2023 – Scott Evans’ selection of books being published in November include Peter Bunzl’s Glassborn, mentioned above, a lovely new information book for young children Little, Brown Nut (Start Small, Think Big) by Mary Auld and Dawn Cooper and the poignant picturebook, Do You Remember? by Sydney Smith.
Christmas History Special: WWII Arctic Star 80th Anniversary – A Christmas History Special this December as Mr Dilly’s WORLD OF HISTORY presents a perfect event for schools and all children KS2 plus. Join Mr Dilly and multi award-winning children’s author Tom Palmer commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the WWII Battle of North Cape, a Second World War battle that took place across Christmas1943, and immortalised in Tom’s thrilling naval adventure novel Arctic Star, described by School Run as ‘one of the best children’s books about WWII’. Fri, 1 Dec 2023 11:00 – 12:00. Tickets and more details available on the link above.
Waterstones Book of the Year 2023 – there are three children’s books on this year’s shortlist; How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? By Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen; A Whale of a Time: A Funny Poem for Every Day of the Year by Lou Peacock and Matt Hunt; and Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell and Tomislav Tomic.
Finally, some book reviews that caught my eye this month…
Autumn Non-fiction Round Up – Kate Heap has read and reviewed a selection of books that are perfect for this month’s celebration of information books. From publishers who specialise in non-fiction such as Nosy Crow, Buster Books, Templar, Weldon Owen and Prestel, these eye-catching books will fly off classroom library shelves as children enjoy them together.
Kicked Out by A.M. Dassu – I have read several extremely positive reviews of this new book but am sharing this excellent one by teacher Ben Harris as it highlights the importance not only of this particular book but also of children’s fiction in general. And it really made me want to read the book!
That’s everything for this month and I hope you have found something of use or interest among the linked articles and events. I will be posting reviews over the next few weeks of some excellent new non-fiction for younger children and picturebooks on a Christmas theme so you may want to keep an eye out for those if you are on the hunt for present ideas. Reading Matters will be back next month.