Resources
Funny Fiction Chatterbooks activity pack
Ahead of this year’s Summer Reading Challenge when we will all get silly we’re celebrating all things funny. Here’s our Funny Fiction Chatterbooks pack with a bumper collection of some of the latest funny books for children…and some old favourites. The Chatterbooks pack has suggested books, discussion questions and lots of activities!
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...
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...
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...
Free Nosy Crow books, activities and resources
Nosy Crow is offering an exciting range of activities, teaching resources, free books and other content to keep children busy, inspired and entertained. Activities, Quizzes and Teaching Resources Download a brilliant range of engaging activities, craft ideas and puzzles for children of all ages. Nosy Crow also offers teaching resource packs for KS2 and KS3. Visit Nosy Crow’s activity hub here Nosy Crow Book at Bedtime Listen to a new, FREE Nosy Crow audiobook every week! From laugh-out-loud...
A Moon Girl Stole My Friend - activity pack
Imagine that it’s 2099 and the world looks very different! Download this pack and get busy designing technology and clothing for the future in these activities inspired by Rebecca Patterson’s funny futuristic young fiction books, A Moon Girl Stole My Friend and A Robot Girl Ruined My Sleepover.
The Little Island - teaching notes
These teaching notes for The Little Island by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Robert Starling have been written by the teachers at the CLPE. The concepts in the book and these resources are more suitable for children aged 7+.
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.
Bear Was There - reading notes and activities
Love is the first thing Mouse feels as he lies in the warmth of his mother’s fur. Then one day, Mouse meets Bear. Mouse is frightened, but what if Bear is not as scary as he seems . . . A gentle and sensitive story of a little mouse’s journey, his fears and the eventual comfort he finds, beautifully written and illustrated by Sally Anne Garland.
Under the Same Sky - reading notes and activities
Two children on opposite sides of the world crave friendship. Is it possible to be friends across the miles? Under the Same Sky is a gorgeous picture book that features two children from diverse backgrounds. The book introduces children to the idea of a long distance friendship, cultural differences and very subtly hints at a child living in a country experiencing conflict.
Twelve Days of Kindness - reading notes and activities
One little girl realises that a girl in her class is struggling to make friends. With the help of their football coach they come up with a plan. Can their school football team bring them together, and expand their friendship group? Twelve Days of Kindness is the perfect book for teaching children about empathy and inclusivity. The book addresses pertinent issues such as bullying, friendship and teamwork in a hopeful, warm-hearted manner.
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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.
