In this blog, our Literacy team shares their latest book recommendations, giving you all the inspiration you need to enrich your school’s reading curriculum offer.
With summer around the corner, now is definitely the time to settle down with a good book. Whether reading aloud in the fresh air, enjoying a new book independently or recommending some holiday reads to pupils, these new titles are sure to spark reading excitement!
At One Education, we are keen to champion new authors, diversity and find you texts to complement your children’s reading experiences, develop quality learning and inspire children to develop their reader identities.
We hope you enjoy these new titles across the age ranges. As always, our partners, Peters are on hand to support you. Please visit www.peters.co.uk/oneeducation to find out more and to access the One Education discount code for up to 30% off.
For Readers in EYFS Upwards
Wild by Katya Balen, is a wonderful lyrical story with beautiful atmospheric illustrations which explore the theme of nature in all environments. Having moved from the wildness of the countryside into the city, she feels she has lost her wild, however perhaps she can find wildness where she least expects it. A perfect book to link to outdoor learning and nature topics in EYFS and KS1.
A celebration of how the sun touches all life can be experienced in this new title, Good Golden Sun by Brendan Wenzel. Providing wonderful thought-provoking ideas through atmospheric illustrations, this text showcases the mysteries of light from sunup to sundown inspiring hope, change, wonder and curiosity, leaving readers with much to ponder!
For Readers in KS1 Upwards
If you are looking for a humorous story of a tree’s lifecycle to add to your nature collection, Once I was a Tree by Eoin McLaughlin is a wonderful addition. With cheeky humour and expressive illustrations, the story of how a seed becomes a tree and finishes as the actual book you are reading is one to enjoy over and over again.
A Billion Ways to be Me: Celebrating our Diverse World by Chitra Soundar is an upbeat, positive and light text full of impact. A perfect celebration of human diversity from how we look to how we think and celebrate. This text focuses on the brilliance of variety in humankind with interesting illustrations, and provides an introduction to important concepts and values; particularly that of respect, kindness and tolerance.
Frog: A Story of Life on Earth by Isabel Thomas effectively explains scientific concepts in an accessible style with beautiful artwork alongside by Daniel Egneus. This is the incredible story of how frogs evolved taking us back to when the universe began through a lyrical text that takes readers on an adventure through space and time. A wonderful recognition of an ongoing story of lifecycles on our extraordinary planet.
For Readers in LKS2 Upwards
Another gem from Jacqueline Wilson, The Seaside Sleepover provides readers with the same family and friendship storylines we know from the author with diversity and compassion as an additional focus. Daisy is longing for a holiday but with her sister in a wheelchair the seaside trip she has planned can become tricky to navigate. With understanding and a bonus character of Scruff the dog, readers will enjoy navigating the challenges of Daisy’s seaside sleepover.
A Mermaid’s Diary brings together Chris Riddell’s amazing illustrations and humorous authorship into a diary format where we meet a shy mermaid, Atalanta Scrimshaw who leads a perfect life of collecting messages in bottles, riding seahorses and ‘walking’ on the beach until she finds out that her home is threatened by developers hoping to turn Sleepy Cove into a luxury resort. A wealth of writing opportunities will stem from this book to encourage pupils to ensure Atalanta and her friends can stop this unwelcome change!
A fascinatingly immersive multi-modal text, Rainforest by Andrew Becket, Chris@KJA and Sofian Moumene, will provide a much-welcomed textual insight into the extraordinary world of these delicate ecosystems. Full of fascinating facts about animals and plant life, the geography of the countries in which they inhabit, this book shows life on earth at its most vivid and vibrant.
Another wonderfully engaging non-fiction title, Epic Cities by Sam Sedgman takes readers on a tour of the most impressive and complex cities around the world. An eye-opening insight into the most unique infrastructures that keep these complex cities going is provided for the 24 cities featured in this engaging book where every destination has something to tell us about how the clever, hidden ways in which our world works.
For Readers in UKS2 Upwards
A great introduction to Shakespeare’s most famous speeches can be found in Pocket Shakespeare, an amusing and insightful commentary by Michael Rosen which can be treasured. Readers will be delighted by a celebration of Shakespeare’s words, how he explores love and jealousy as well as his famous one-liners and insults of course! Rosen’s commentary brings insight and a different perspective to those studying Shakespeare, really bringing it to life.
Our World in Numbers by William Potter, Alicia Williamson and Richard Mead is a wonderful addition to a classroom or school library, offering the more reluctant reader a delight of number-crunched information on our planet. This book offers over 1,000 astonishing Earth facts across 5 topic chapters, with eye-catching pages, photographs and graphics on every topic. You will soon have a class of experts after finding out all they’ve ever wanted to know about their world.
Struan Murray has created another enticing tale in Dragonborn aimed at Y6-Y9 readers. The characters are not always wat they seem in this tension-building tale, where Alex, who is struggling under parental pressure and grief, awakens her dragon-self. Led to a legendary island where she must train amongst other dragon children, she learns to unlock the power of her birth right to be able to save the human world and everyone she has left in it.
This is another action-packed by heart-warming tale for a want-to-be celebrity, who in Blockbusters, by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, uses his likeness to a real VIP to get access to some amazing experiences! On a quest to find his missing brother, Cillian must play the part of a movie star in Hollywood to solve the mystery. With lots of references to film production and even Shakespeare, this is another crowd-pleaser from our Children’s Laureate.
For Readers in KS3 Upwards
Full of strong characters, What Happens Online by Nathanael Lessore makes an engaging and entertaining read full of humour alongside the earnest realities of the subject matter. Fred’s online persona is the complete opposite of his real-life existence, so he uses his online influence to shun bullies and get noticed. When Fred gets in too deep, he has to face reality: that he should get people to like him for who he really is.
We Are Your Children: A History of LGBTQ+ Activism written and illustrated by David Roberts depicts a timeline of LGBTQ+ activism showcasing figures from history, their activism against oppression in the face of discrimination. Touching on the major moments in history, We Are Your Children is an inclusive account of a multifaceted movement.
For Readers in KS4 Upwards
A modern gothic fiction, Moonstone by Laura Purcell is full of scandalous heroines, werewolves and has a regency theme to boot. With an inclusive LGBT romance link, the story follows Camille and Lucy who are thrown into a world of other-world mystery. An enticing story for older teens.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our recommended reads overview. If you would like to enjoy any of these texts this Summer, One Education customers can receive 30% off books from our partners Peters. Just visit www.peters.co.uk/oneeducation to find out more and to purchase using our money off code.
How One Education can help:
Our specialists can support you to review your existing book stock, ensuring the texts your pupils and students have access to are up to date and truly representative of them and the wider world. For more information about how we can support you and your reading offer, please contact our Literacy Team Leader, Laura Buczko at laura.buczko@oneeducation.co.uk.
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