Resources
How schools can get involved with Summer Reading Challenge 2020 article
The Summer Reading Challenge, presented by The Reading Agency and funded by Arts Council England, encourages children aged 4 to 11 to set themselves a reading challenge to help prevent the summer reading ‘dip’. For the Summer Reading Challenge 2020, we are asking everyone to get silly. The theme for the Challenge is “Silly Squad”- a celebration of funny books, happiness and laughter, featuring bespoke artwork from award-winning children’s author and illustrator, Laura Ellen Anderson. This...
June 2020 - Pride booklist for children and young people
June is Pride Month, so it is the perfect time to share our favourite LGBTQ+ positive books for children and young people. These books highlight family dynamics and stories to help develop the values of acceptance and kindness towards themselves and others, regardless of identity. You can join in with the conversation online using #PrideBooklist and tagging us using @readingagency on Twitter and @SummerReadingChallengeUK on Facebook.
June 2020 - Brilliant Books to Share booklist for children
Due to the disruption caused by Covid-19 and the impact of social distancing, sharing books at home has never been more important. To help, we have created a list of some of our favourite books to read with children. We’ve picked some brilliant poetry, picture books, non-fiction and chapter books to read aloud together. You can join in with the conversation online using #BrilliantBooksToShare and tagging us using @readingagency on Twitter and @SummerReadingChallengeUK on Facebook.
Kiran Millwood Hargrave reading notes, videos and activities
Kiran Millwood Hargrave is the author of three Chicken House novels – The Girl of Ink & Stars, The Island at the End of Everything and The Way Past Winter. Between them, her children’s books have won numerous awards including Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Historical Association Young Quills Award, and the Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Year. Perfect for both middle-grade and YA readers, Kiran’s award-winning books...
Who Let the Gods Out? reading notes, videos and activities
Maz is the author of the bestselling middle-grade series Who Let the Gods Out? – perfect for ages eight and up. The relentless and fast-paced series comprises four books, and is full to bursting with Ancient Greek mythology, adventure and laughs! ‘The laughs come thick and fast’ DAVID SOLOMONS ‘Very, very, funny’ PIERS TORDAY ‘Blistering humour, mortal danger and immortal heart’ KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE Chicken House has worked with some fantastic teachers to create downloadable...
Beetle Boy reading notes, videos and activities
M. G. Leonard is the author of Beetle Boy, Beetle Queen and Battle of the Beetles – a middle-grade series that is ideal for children aged eight and up. Grounded in entomology, the Beetle Boy series is mysterious, thrilling, and certain to encourage an interest in creepy-crawlies! ‘Truly great storytelling’ MICHAEL MORPURGO ‘I predict Beetle-mania’ THE TIMES ‘Perfect for fans of Roald Dahl’ BOOKTRUST Chicken House has worked with some fantastic teachers to create downloadable...
The Dinoteks - Reading Notes and Activities
The Dinoteks by NS Blackman is a beautifully illustrated chapter book for young readers and an excellent read aloud story for families and teachers to share. It is proven to encourage reading for pleasure in both reluctant and enthusiastic readers. The story features antique museum dinosaur models that come to life and befriend Marlin Maxton – together they embark on some amazing adventures. In this activities pack you’ll find lots of fun Dinotek activities, including the famous Dinotek...
The Reading Agency Hub
Here you can access The Reading Agency at home. You’ll find ideas, activities and challenges from across our programmes to entertain and educate yourself, your family or those you are teaching remotely. The activities will be refreshed every couple of weeks and we have The Reading Agency Toolkit available for you to download, which gives some great hints and tips for keeping well and reading during this time of isolation.
A reading group guide to The Porpoise by Mark Haddon
The new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author – the perfect book to read with your book club or reading group ‘ Just downright brilliant… a transcendent, transporting experience ’ Observer A motherless girl grows up in isolated luxury, hidden from the world by her wealthy father. She believes their life together is normal – but as time passes, she has a growing sense that something between them is very wrong. She cannot escape, so she seeks solace in her books. Her favourite tales...
On Chapel Sands - reading group guide
Waterstones Book of the Month for April 2020 A deeply moving story of family and community that is striking and unforgettable, On Chapel Sands is part-true crime narrative, part-investigation into the subjectivity of memory and part-witness to a vanishing provincial way of life. Why not start reading with your Zoom book club with Vintage’s reading group discussion pack, available here. More about Laura Cumming Laura Cumming is the art critic for the Observer. Previously, she was a presenter...
Animal colouring sheets
Get creative with these colouring sheets inspired by three brand new picture books, all published this month: Clem and Crab by Fiona Lumbers, Super Sloth by Robert Starling and A Fox Called Herbert by Margaret Sturton
Extraordinary - reading notes and activities
A gentle tale about reaching for the stars and being extraordinary . . . but remembering the ordinary too. Extraordinary celebrates the best moments in life: the ones we share with friends and family. They may be simple, they may be ordinary, but they are moments we will cherish forever. New Frontier Publishing has put together reading notes and activities to help children understand and appreciate these moments.
Stay home with the Walker Bear - Walker Books author videos and activities
Walker Books have LOTS of great resources to keep children entertained. Alex Rider Goes Live To celebrate the publication of Nightshade, the explosive new novel in the Alex Rider series, award-winning writer Anthony Horowitz will be hosting a virtual book launch at 10am BST on Thursday 2 April. Horowitz will be introducing the highly anticipated new novel in a special celebratory live stream hosted on YouTube, reading an exciting extract, and answering lots of questions from fans of the...
Chicken House's Schools' Hub
Teachers, librarians, kids’ club leaders – gather round! In Chicken House’s Schools’ Hub you’ll find educational resources that sit alongside their brilliant books and align with the Key Stage 2 and 3 curriculums. With content created by teachers and librarians that have a passion for reading, their PDF downloads of chapter-by-chapter guides, schemes of work, videos and useful links to external resources are here to help with class or book club planning. Chicken House’s resource library is...
April 2020 children's and young people booklist - Around the World
It is World Book Night on 23 April. World Book Night is a national celebration of reading and books for adults and young people that takes place every year. To help children and their families join in with the celebration we have created a booklist of our favourite books about other cultures, set or written by people around the world. We hope the booklist will help children experience a world outside of their own. You can join in with the conversation online using #AroundTheWorldBooklist and...
Brain Games: Free Downloadable Learning Resources
The perfect books and brain games for your Bright Spark or Clever Kid! Compiled by puzzle master and author of hundreds of puzzle books Dr Gareth Moore, the Bright Sparks (for ages 7-9) and Clever Kids (for ages 9-11) series will keep your children both learning and entertained – covering everything from brain games and logic puzzles to crosswords and word searches, they’re proving an invaluable help to parents. You can download the free downloadable resources here.
The Farm - Book Club Kit
The Farm was chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club. Ambitious businesswoman Mae Yu runs Golden Oaks – a luxury retreat transforming the fertility industry – where women get the very best of everything, so long as they play by the rules. Jane is a young immigrant in search of a better future. Stuck living in a cramped dorm with her baby daughter and her shrewd aunt Ate, she sees an unmissable chance to change her life. But at what cost? A brilliant, darkly funny novel that explores the role of luck...
The Farm by Joanne Ramos - First Chapter
The Farm was chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club. Ambitious businesswoman Mae Yu runs Golden Oaks – a luxury retreat transforming the fertility industry – where women get the very best of everything, so long as they play by the rules. Jane is a young immigrant in search of a better future. Stuck living in a cramped dorm with her baby daughter and her shrewd aunt Ate, she sees an unmissable chance to change her life. But at what cost? A brilliant, darkly funny novel that explores the role of luck...
The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal - First Chapter
The Doll Factory was chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club. London. 1850. The greatest spectacle the city has ever seen is being built in Hyde Park, and among the crowd watching two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a moment – forgotten seconds later, but for Silas, a collector entranced by the strange and beautiful, that meeting marks a new beginning. When Iris is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also...
Adventure on Trains: The Highland Falcon Thief by MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman - Wordsearch
Adventures on Trains is a major mystery series from bestselling authors M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman. First stop, The Highland Falcon Thief, a breathless train journey full of deceptions, puzzles and clues to solve. Harrison Beck is reluctantly joining his travel-writer Uncle Nat for the last journey of the royal train, The Highland Falcon. But as the train makes its way to Scotland, a priceless brooch goes missing, and things are suddenly a lot more interesting. As suspicions and accusations...
Morag Hood - Reading Notes and Activities
Bold, bright and brilliant join the colourful world of Morag Hood. All Morag Hood’s books are great for storytelling sessions but also provide a great stepping-off point for further discussion, retelling and art activities. You could create a ‘Steves’ beak and retell the story using it, or cut out different fruit and vegetable shapes and create your own characters like Colin Carrot and Lee Pea, and create your very own hanging bat.
The Beekeeper of Aleppo - Reading Group questions
The Beekeeper of Aleppo was chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club. Nuri is a beekeeper; his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo – until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind, and so they must embark on a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece towards an uncertain future in Britain. On the way, Nuri is...
The Beekeeper of Aleppo - First Chapter
The Beekeeper of Aleppo was chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club. Nuri is a beekeeper; his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo – until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind, and so they must embark on a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece towards an uncertain future in Britain. On the way, Nuri is...
Tyll - Readers' Guide
On 27 February the International Booker Prize revealed the longlist for the 2020 prize. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin by clicking below.
The Other Name: Septology I-II - Readers' Guide
On 27 February the International Booker Prize revealed the longlist for the 2020 prize. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title The Other Name: Septology I-II by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls by clicking below.
The Memory Police - Readers' Guide
On 27 February the International Booker Prize revealed the longlist for the 2020 prize. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder by clicking below.
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree - Readers' Guide
On 27 February the International Booker Prize revealed the longlist for the 2020 prize. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar, anonymous translor, by clicking below.
The Discomfort of Evening - Readers' Guide
On 27 February the International Booker Prize revealed the longlist for the 2020 prize. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, translated by Michele Hutchison by clicking below.
The Adventures of China Iron - Readers' Guide
On 27 February the International Booker Prize revealed the longlist for the 2020 prize. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh by clicking below.
Serotonin - Readers' Guide
On 27 February the International Booker Prize revealed the longlist for the 2020 prize. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq, translated by Shaun Whiteside by clicking below.
