Resources
Skycircus by Peter Bunzl - Activity sheets
Skycircus by Peter Bunzl Roll up roll up! Calamity and courage meet in this Victorian showstopper bursting with invention and adventure. Perfect for fans of The Greatest Showman and Mortal Engines. When a travelling skycircus arrives in Brackenbridge, Lily and Robert can’t wait to step aboard… But there’s something sinister about the hybrid children who appear as part of the act. And before Lily and Robert can do anything, they’re captured by shadowy figures and whisked off in the mysterious...
Children and Young People booklist - Spine-tinglers
Children and Young People booklist for October 2018 Spine-tinglers This month we have selected our favourite Spine-tinglers and Spooky Stories. What does ‘spine-tingling’ mean to you? Often we first of all think ‘scary’ – something that will make us shiver with fear – but something spine-tingling could equally give us shivers of laughter or thrills of pleasure! ‘Very special and exciting’ is another definition, and in this pack for your Chatterbooks reading group there are lots of different...
Spine-tinglers Chatterbooks Activity Pack
Here is our Spine-tinglers Chatterbooks pack. It is filled with activities based upon Spine-tinglers and Spooky Stories. What does ‘spine-tingling’ mean to you? Often we first of all think ‘scary’ – something that will make us shiver with fear – but something spine-tingling could equally give us shivers of laughter or thrills of pleasure! ‘Very special and exciting’ is another definition, and in this pack for your Chatterbooks reading group there are lots of different books with stories that...
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison - Activity Pack and competition
Little Leaders Meet the Little Leaders. They’re brave. They’re bold. They changed the world! Author and Illustrator Vashti Harrison’s book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History features 40 trailblazing black women in the world’s history. This book educates and inspires as it relates the true stories of both iconic and lesser-known female figures of black history. From nurse Mary Seacole to Politian Diane Abbot, readers will find heroes, role models and everyday women who have done...
Washington Black - themed booklist
The Man Booker Prize celebrates the finest works of fiction written in English. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan is one of the six shortlisted titles for 2018. All of the suggested books follow similar themes, styles or settings as Washington Black. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
The Overstory - themed booklist
The Man Booker Prize celebrates the finest works of fiction written in English. The Overstory by Richard Powers is one of the six shortlisted titles for 2018. All of the suggested books follow similar themes, styles or settings as The Overstory. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
The Mars Room - themed booklist
The Man Booker Prize celebrates the finest works of fiction written in English. The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner is one of the six shortlisted titles for 2018. All of the suggested books follow similar themes, styles or settings as The Mars Room. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
The Long Take - themed booklist
The Man Booker Prize celebrates the finest works of fiction written in English. The Long Take by Robin Robertson is one of the six shortlisted titles for 2018. All of the suggested books follow similar themes, styles or settings as The Long Take. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
Milkman - themed booklist
The Man Booker Prize celebrates the finest works of fiction written in English. Milkman by Anna Burns is one of the six shortlisted titles for 2018. All of the suggested books follow similar themes, styles or settings as Milkman. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
Everything Under - themed booklist
The Man Booker Prize celebrates the finest works of fiction written in English. Everything Under by Daisy Johnson is one of the six shortlisted titles for 2018. All of the suggested books follow similar themes, styles or settings as Everything Under. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
Night of the Living Ted by Barry Hutchison - Library Competition
Night of the Living Ted Competition Create-a-Ted! Draw your own Teddy at a Teddy Bear’s Picnic. When Lisa Marie and her step-brother Vernon pop into town to get their dad a birthday present, they discover the Create-a-Ted shop is offering free Halloween bears! Making two grisly bears for themselves and choosing an Elvis bear named Bearvis for Dad, they head home. That night the shopkeeper brings the bears to life for nefarious purposes … but Vernon’s bear, Grizz, doesn’t want to be a slave to...
We Are Together by Britta Teckentrup - Activity and Library Competition
We Are Together Competition Continuing with their commitment to publishing diverse and inclusive books for children of all ages, Little Tiger Group presents the latest peep-through, richly illustrated picture book from Britta Teckentrup, We Are Together. To support the book’s themes of strength in community, they have created an activity sheet that allows children to think about similarities and differences, and to draw themselves. The idea is that a gallery of individuals can be grouped...
Eve and The Mermaid’s Tears by Jess Black - Activity Pack
Eve and The Mermaid’s Tears Keeper of the Crystals is an adventure fantasy series full of secrets and mystery. Eve discovers she can harness the power of magic crystals she finds, giving her the ability to open portals to other worlds. Along with her best friend Oscar they find danger and difficulties await them on their quests, but also great fun and excitement. Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone book. In Keeper of the Crystals 3: , Eve and Oscar find themselves in a...
Ella on the Outside by Cath Howe - Lesson plans and activity ideas
About this pack Ella on the Outside is the first children’s book by KS2 teacher, Cath Howe. These lesson and activity ideas have been created to encourage discussion around the book’s themes in the classroom. They cover important PSHE, literacy and poetry objectives, focusing in particular on the different ways that we present ourselves, and the way we feel inside when confronted with new or difficult situations. About this book Ella is the new girl at school. She doesn’t know anyone and she...
The Long Take - Readers' Guide
On Thursday 20 September the Man Booker Prize revealed the shortlist of six books for the 2018 prize. The prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the excellent books that have been chosen for the Man Booker Prize shortlist. You can download a Readers’ Guide for shortlisted title The Long Take by Robin Robertson by clicking below.
The Overstory - Readers' Guide
On Thursday 20 September the Man Booker Prize revealed the shortlist of six books for the 2018 prize. The prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the excellent books that have been chosen for the Man Booker Prize shortlist. You can download a Readers’ Guide for shortlisted title The Overstory by Richard Powers by clicking below.
The Mars Room - Readers' Guide
On Thursday 20 September the Man Booker Prize revealed the shortlist of six books for the 2018 prize. The prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the excellent books that have been chosen for the Man Booker Prize shortlist. You can download a Readers’ Guide for shortlisted title The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner by clicking below.
Everything Under - Readers' Guide
On Thursday 20 September the Man Booker Prize revealed the shortlist of six books for the 2018 prize. The prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the excellent books that have been chosen for the Man Booker Prize shortlist. You can download a Readers’ Guide for shortlisted title Everything Under by Daisy Johson by clicking below.
Washington Black - Readers' Guide
On Thursday 20 September the Man Booker Prize revealed the shortlist of six books for the 2018 prize. The prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the excellent books that have been chosen for the Man Booker Prize shortlist. You can download a Readers’ Guide for shortlisted title Washington Black by Esi Edugyan by clicking below.
Milkman - Readers' Guide
On Thursday 20 September the Man Booker Prize revealed the shortlist of six books for the 2018 prize. The prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the excellent books that have been chosen for the Man Booker Prize shortlist. You can download a Readers’ Guide for shortlisted title Milkman by Anna Burns by clicking below.
The Wishing-Chair by Enid Blyton - Activity Pack and Competition
Egmont are celebrating the brand new rejackets of the classic The Wishing List adventure stories from the world’s best-loved children’s author, Enid Blyton. The stunning new covers have been designed by Mark Beech. They have created a fantastic activity pack – perfect for Chatterbooks groups, children to work through independently or a class. If you use the pack, we would love to hear some feedback. You can do this online by using #blytonwishingchair and tagging @EgmontUK and...
The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane - an Activity Pack
The Lost Words The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of nature words and the natural world they invoke. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustration by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages. Hamish Hamilton have created an activity pack to celebrate the first anniversary of this important book’s publication on Friday...
Angry Cookie by Laura Dockrill - an author reading
What happens when a little cookie gets up on the wrong side of bed? Prepare to fall absolutely in love with this irresistible cookie, crumbly chocolate chips and all. OH NO! Barbra the cactus won’t stop playing her recorder, the yummy strawberry toothpaste has run out, and now – to top it all off – Cookie has to have his hair cut! Which all makes for one VERY ANGRY little cookie… But perhaps you, the reader, can find a way to turn his grumpy frown upside down? This wildly inventive,...
And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness - A reading by the author
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Monster Calls comes a richly illustrated and lyrical tale, one that asks harrowing questions about power, loyalty, obsession, and the monsters we make of others. With harpoons strapped to their backs, the proud whales of Bathsheba’s pod live for the hunt, fighting in the ongoing war against the world of men. When they attack a ship bobbing on the surface of the Abyss, they expect to find easy prey. Instead, they find the trail of a...
Children and Young People booklist - Perfect Poetry Picks
Children and Young People booklist for September 2018 Perfect Poetry Picks This month we have selected our Perfect Poetry Picks. We’re getting in the mood to celebrate National Poetry Day on the 4th of October! We have selected some of our favourite poems or books that have a theme about poetry. You can find out more about some of our picks on the Summer Reading Challenge news page.
National Poetry Day Chatterbooks Activity Pack
To celebrate National Poetry Day on 4 October, they have created a fantastic and fun, new Poetry Chatterbooks Activity Pack. National Poetry Day is an initiative of the Forward Arts Foundation, a charity that celebrates excellence in poetry and widens its audience.
Secrets of a Sun King by Emma Carroll - Activity Pack and Competition
Secrets of a Sun King London, 1922 A discovery from ancient Egypt… A cursed package… The untold story of a young pharaoh… When Lilian Kaye finds a parcel on her grandad’s doorstep, she is shocked to see who sent it: a famous Egyptologist, found dead that very morning, according to every newspaper in England! The mysterious package holds the key to a story… about a king whose tomb archaeologists are desperately hunting for. Lil and her friends must embark on an...
Treehouse series Chatterbooks activity pack
This Chatterbooks pack is all about the ever-expanding Treehouse Series by writer Andy Griffiths and his best mate, artist Terry Denton. In this pack are activity and discussion ideas for your Chatterbooks group, inspired by the fantastic and fun series. Macmillan Kids UK and Andy and Terry would love to see your groups enjoying the books. You can share images on social media of any displays or your group using #Treehousegarden and tagging @MacmillanKidsUK and @readingagency. You can tag...
The Giant Jumperee by Julia Donaldson and Helen Oxenbury - Activity pack
The Giant Jumperee “I’M THE GIANT JUMPEREE AND I’M SCARY AS CAN BE!" The Giant Jumperee follows the story of Rabbit, who is hopping home one day, only to discover that there’s something lurking in his burrow. It’s the Giant Jumperee, and he’s as scary as can be! Rabbit’s friends Cat, Bear and Elephant come to help, but they are no match for the mysterious, booming voice… A read-aloud picture book by Julia Donaldson, full of suspense and humour and beautifully bought to...
Dahl Dictionary Activity Sheets
Get Gobblefunking with Roald Dahl Oxford University Press have some fantabulous activity sheets for children to use and enjoy this Roald Dahl Day (13 September). If you do use the resources in your library or school, we would love to see photos. You can share these by using #GetGobblefunking and tagging @OUPChildrens and @readingagency. Competition There is also a great competition for children aged 13 and under on the Summer Reading Challenge competition page. If they enter they could win a...
