What a fantastic theme from Year 6 for the final Challenge Miss Cleveland of this school year – books about books.
My first choice, for our youngest readers is Wild Book Day by Karl Newson, illustrated by James Brown – an exhilarating adventure, that will spark a lifelong love for books.
Characters from different stories collide to celebrate our rich tapestry of children’s literature. As pages wildly come to life, this riotous read not only entertains but also shows the magic of storytelling and the importance of keeping the joy of reading alive. With every turn of the page, it’s a celebration of the limitless worlds within books, encouraging young minds to become active participants in their everyday reading adventures.
Next, I’ve picked Books And The People Who Make them by Stephanie Vernet and Camille De Cussac. I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked by a child how they become and author or an illustrator, and how a book goes from being an idea in someone’s head to a physical entity ready to entertain. Well, this book has all of the answers and much, much more.
Packed with facts about the publishing journey from conception to print and the journey to a reader’s hands, this is also filled with quirky facts about the wider world of books, including the world’s oldest bookshop, some of the more peculiar libraries our world has on offer, and details relating to the myriad of choices to be made which determine how books look and feel in your hands.
These extra details open young readers minds to the breadth of the literary landscape and the intricate pathways traversed by a whole team of people to make fantasy a reality, and inform and engage readers of all ages. Bright illustrations accompany each fact, drawing the eye from one to the next.
The perfect accompaniment to any bookcase for readers curious as to how the books they have chosen to fill their shelves got there.
My final choice based on this week’s theme is Big Ideas From Literature which introduces children to books through the ages, showing how they can develop both empathy and resilience through exploring the stories they tell.
Books can be so powerful, helping us through tricky times, offering us wisdom we haven’t learnt yet, showing us that there are people like us, or showing us the opposite, that other people live very different lives. Books can be a friend when you need one the most and you can use them to help and inspire others, too. From an early age, we tend to be told that books matter, but very rarely are we properly allowed to examine why – and therefore we can miss out on a genuine engagement with books. Big Ideas from Literature dares to ask the obvious but crucial questions about the whole business of reading: What is reading really for? What are stories trying to do for us? Why should we care?
In a tone that’s engaging and playful, we’re shown how books help us to grow, why we cry about the fate of certain characters and how to read for genuine pleasure rather than to please a teacher or parent.
And finally, this is nothing to do with the theme, but I couldn’t have recommendations for Year 6 without mentioning Moving Up: How To Ace Secondary School by Christian Foley. This is the title for children moving from Primary to Secondary school.
Moving up from primary to secondary school can be scary. Going from being the bosses of the benches, to the youngest in a massive playground is hard. The classrooms are bigger, older students look like adults and don’t even start on the piles of homework, stressful exams and complicated friendships. Whether you’re heading to secondary school next year, or you’ve just started and are still adjusting, Moving Up is here to help you on your journey.
From your first day all the way up to your final exams and your leaving party or prom, this handy guide book will be the perfect companion for transitioning to secondary, and get you feeling confident, building strong friendships, achieving great things and generally being the greatest that you can be.
Happy reading!
