Literacy Resources

This is a fairly dark story about what happens when we destroy nature.  As the buildings and ‘others’ take over the text becomes harder and harder to read – just as it becomes harder to hear in the story.  This is an interesting book telling a story that is occurring more and more frequently in children’s fiction.  The trailer for the film of the book that Marc Craste has made with STUDIOaka is excellent.

Definitely one to listen to without the images first to see what sort of story it suggests.  The camera angles are interesting  and worth exploring.

What I find most disturbing is that although nature seems to win through at the end it doesn’t really because the wild area is created in a glass dome rather than being a true ‘outside’ space.  The book reminds me of The Paradise Garden by Colin Thompson where the boy escapes the noise by visiting and staying in the park – or that is one reading of the story.  It also has some links with The Rabbits by john Marsden, illustrated by Shaun Tan who by the way would make a great author/illustrator study.

Other things worth exploring in the book are the use of light and dark and the use of  anthropomorphism.

Reviews of the book can be read here and here.

Let me know what you think.

People often ask us for recommendations for books to use for guided reading so here is my top 100 list. This is a personal list and may well not contain your favourites.  Please add yours by leaving a comment.  The levels come from my experience of using the books with children and talking to teachers – you may feel differently about them.  Please let us know.

Level 3

1. Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett
2. The Jolly Postman by the Ahlbergs
3. I am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Christina Bunting
4. I is for India by Prodeepta Das (non-fiction)
5. P is for Pakistan by Shazia Razzak and Prodeepta Das (non-fiction)
6. Traction Man is Here by Mini Grey
7. The Big Red Trouble by Carmen Harris
8. Tadpole’s Promise by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
9. Little Wolf’s Postbag by Ian Whybrow
10. Mind Your Own Business by Michael Rosen (poetry)
11. Amazon Diary: The Jungle Adventures of Alex Winters
12. Shortcut by David Macaulay
13. The Tunnel by Anthony Browne
14. Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne
15. Fair’s Fair by Leon Garfield
16. Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine
17. Thomas and the Tinners by Jill Paton Walsh
18. Who’s Been Sleeping in my Porridge by Colin McNaughton

Level 4

1. Seasons Songs by Ted Hughes (poetry)
2. Beowulf by Kevin Crossley-Holland
3. Beauty and the Beast by Geraldine McCaughrean
4. Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocento
5. Way Home by Libby Hathorne and Gregory rogers
6. Black and White by David Macaulay
7. The Paradise Garden by Colin Thompson
8. Anno’s Aesop by Mitsuma Anno
9. Until I met Dudley: How everyday things really work by Roger McGough and Chris Riddell
10. Outsiders by Kevin Crossley-Holland
11. Watertower by Gary Crew
12. Prowlpuss by Gina Wilson
13. The Highway Man by Alfred Noyes and Charles Keeping
14. Crack Another Yolk by John Foster (poetry)
15. Great Estimations by Bruce Goldstein (non-fiction)
16. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
17. the Owl Tree by Jenny Nimmo
18. The Fib and Other Stories by George Layton
19. Secret Freinds by Elizabeth Laird
20. Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
21. George – Don’t Do That by Joyce Grenfell
22. Varjak Paw by SF Said
23. Heard it in the Playground by Allan Ahlberg (poetry)
24. Wicked World by Benjamin Zephiniah (poetry)
25. Blue John by Berlie Doherty
26. The 18th Emergency by Betsy Byars
27. Blabbermouth by Morris Gleitzman
28. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Selina Hastings
29. The Knight and the Loathly Lady by Selina Hastings
30. Iron Man by Ted Hughes
31. Eye of the Wolf by Baniel Pennac
32. Mufarao’s Beautiful Daughters by Johhn Steptoe

Level 5

1. Clockwork by Philip Pullman
2. Zinder Zunder by Philip Ridley
3. Safe From Harm by Rollo Armstrong
4. Beware Beware by Susan Hill
5. The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan
6. Classic Poetry: An Illustrated Collection selected by Michael Rosen
7. What is the Truth? by Ted Hughes
8. The Cantebury Tales retold by Geraldine McCaughrean
9. Holes by Louis Sacher
10. Pig Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman
11. Skellig by David Almond
12. The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis (I’ve put it here for children to really understand this book)