Topic: English, History, PSHE & Citizenship, Race & identity
Related Book: Ghost Boys
Book Creator: Jewell Parker Rhodes
A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a white police officer, drawing connections with real-life history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes.
Themes: Race & Identity | History | Prejudice
Topic: English
Age Range: 7-11
Related Book: The Wizard In My Shed
Book Creator: Simon Farnaby, Claire Powell
Meet Merdyn the Wild (the world’s most badly-behaved wizard), Rose (the world’s most ordinary girl) and Bubbles (the world’s best guinea pig) on a hilarious adventure that might just end in an epic wizard battle in the garden – if you’re lucky.
Download these fun activity sheets, including colouring in and a wordsearch.
Topic: Climate change, English
Related Book: Pop!
Book Creator: Mitch Johnson
An outrageous theft. A huge reward. Two friends on the run. POP! is an uproariously funny, action-packed new adventure about the power of courage, standing up for what’s right, and fizzy drinks, from the award-winning author of Kick, Mitch Johnson.
Tackling themes of consumerism and the environment, this is a great book for starting discussions and projects with children aged 9+. These resources have been created by Shapes 4 Schools.
Watch a video from the author here.
Topic: English, Growing up
Related Book: Bone Music
Book Creator: David Almond
A timely and original masterpiece that explores the connections between the past and the present, between civilisation and wilderness. From David Almond, the multi award-winning author of Skellig and one of this generation’s finest storytellers.
Topic: English
Related Book: Hollowpox
Book Creator: Jessica Townsend
Discover the magical and mysterious world of NEVERMOOR in this spell-binding series for readers aged 9+ and fans of His Dark Materials. The accompanying resources, linked below, are full of classroom ideas and cross-curricular activities for KS2, ideal for use in literacy lessons or as extra-curricular activities.
Themes: Magic | Family | Literacy
Topic: Climate change, English, Geography
Related Book: The Adventure Club: Red Panda Rescue
Book Creator: Kirsti Beautyman, Jess Butterworth
A brand new illustrated series for younger readers about animals and adventure from much-loved author Jess Butterworth – writer of classic adventure stories in vibrantly described settings.
Fun in-class activities following The Adventure Club series.
Themes: Adventure | Environment | Animals | Family
Topic: Empathy, History, Non-Fiction, PSHE & Citizenship
Age Range: 7-11
Related Book: We Will Remember Them
Book Creator: Oliver Averill, S. Williams
The book includes poems and quotes from veterans across different conflicts, and who served and sacrificed in different ways.
We Will Remember Them is a helpful introduction to Remembrance for children in Lower Key Stage 2. The book, and especially the detailed illustrations, will help prompt discussion about who we remember and how we remember them.
Themes: World War I and II | Family | Grief | Politics
Topic: Empathy, History, Non-Fiction, PSHE & Citizenship
Age Range: 7-11
Related Book: We Will Remember Them
Book Creator: Oliver Averill, S. Williams
The book includes poems and quotes from veterans across different conflicts, and who served and sacrificed in different ways.
We Will Remember Them is a helpful introduction to Remembrance for children in Lower Key Stage 2. The book, and especially the detailed illustrations, will help prompt discussion about who we remember and how we remember them.
Themes: World War I and II | Family | Grief | Politics
Topic: Climate change, English, Growing up
Related Book: Wilder
Book Creator: Penny Chrimes
These Teaching Notes focus on the opening pages of Wilder by Penny Chimes to introduce the themes and ideas in the story. The notes include book cover prompts, reading questions for pages 1–14 that support children’s reading comprehension, inference and predictive skills, accompanying activities, and a ‘spotlight’ extract from Chapter One.
A beautiful and enthralling adventure about love, belonging, the delicate balance of nature – and the wildness within us all, for fans of The Last Wild and Where the Crawdads Sing, for 9+ readers.
Download an extract here.
Topic: Careers, English, Life changes, Non-Fiction, Science
Related Book: The Superpets (and Me!)
Book Creator: Noel Fitzpatrick
Discover the amazing true stories of the heroic animals saved by the nation’s Supervet, Noel Fitzpatrick!
This inspiring memoir recounts the incredible stories of Noel’s animal patients, celebrating the unbreakable bond between humans and animals. Supported by curriculum-linked activity sheets.
Subjects: English | Science | Art & Design | PSHE (The World of Work)
Topic: Empathy, History, Non-Fiction, Race & identity, Science
Related Book: Where Are You Really From?
Book Creator: Adam Rutherford
An unmissable new guide to human history from award-winning geneticist and bestselling author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived and How to Argue with a Racist. Uncover where we came from, exploring evolution, demystifying genetics and prompting important conversations about what race is and what it really means to be human.
Supported by downloadable KS2 resources linked to the science, history and PSHE curriculum.
Themes: Evolution | Science | History | Race & Identity | Family
Topic: English, Modern Classic
Related Book: Hedgewitch
Book Creator: Skye McKenna
An enchanting new series brimming with mystery and magic, for children age 9+. Books 1, 2 and 3 are out now.
Themes: Adventure | Fantasy | Nature and Wildlife | The Sky | Learning Together