Welcome to the second edition of ‘The Rothley Review’ of the 2019-2020 school year, which has been created by Mr Mclugash!
Welcome back to school in this new decade - I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas breaks and New Year celebrations!
We have lots of exciting reading things planned for this term, including: a visit from award-winning author Stewart Foster for years 4-6 (Monday 20th January), a year 5/6 book club (who will be reading an unreleased book!), LitFilmFest filming book reviews for YouTube Kids in February and another author visit planned for FS-Year 3 in March.
Year 5/6 book club information
The aims of the Rothley Review are: to promote reading for pleasure, to help parents/carers with buying/borrowing books for their children, to share what the teachers are reading, and to recommend new and exciting literature.
Roving Bookshop
The Roving Bookshop will be visiting school again on Monday 10th February (the first day of parent interviews). More information will be released closer to the date.
New for 2019
Adult recommendations
Reading should be a shared experience and something people of all ages enjoy. In a bid to build more of a reading community, there will be a book recommendation for the adults in each Rothley Review! The books will be kept next to the hatch in the school office. This edition's review comes courtesy of Mr Phillips!
The book people and scholastic
We are linking our school to The Book People's and Scholastic's websites, meaning the school will earn rewards whenever you buy books through them over the value of £10. I have added a button under each recommendation which provides direct access to each book. The books are competitively priced, with free delivery on offer for purchases over £25 through both websites.
Rothley Community Library
The Rothley Review has teamed up with the Rothley Community Library! This means that all the books recommended in the review will be available to borrow from the Rothley Community Library, as well as the school foyer. The library have created a dedicated area for the Rothley Review, which should make the books easier to find. If you do have any questions, please get in touch with one of the library volunteers.
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One of the buttons under each photo labelled 'Read The First Chapter Now!' will take you to a website called lovereading4kids.co.uk (if the chapter is available). It is free to sign-up and will allow you to download the first chapter of most children's books for free.
Also included are buttons labelled 'Waterstones' and 'Amazon' (dependent on availability) which, when pressed, will take you directly to the website page of the book recommended, just in case you would like to purchase it!
Alternatively, you could try and borrow the book from the Rothley Community Library, or from the school foyer.
As always, copies of the books are available to borrow from the ladders in the new foyer area of reception. Please remember to put the book back on its stand once it has been read.
If there are no books left in the foyer, there may be spare copies of the books in my classroom, so please come and find me anytime to borrow a book! I am also happy to recommend other children's books of all ages.
Year 5/6 recommendation By Mr Mclugash
Shadows of Winterspell by Amy Wilson
Deep in the forest, magic is waiting...
Fitting perfectly with our current wintery weather, Shadows of Winterspell is a magical tale of sprites, fairies and sinister shadow kings.
Stella lives on the outskirts of the forest - a forest thought to be haunted and concealing secrets. She feels a pull to it, but her nan, who happens to be a ghost, forbids her from entering.
When Stella enrols at the local school, she begins to discover more about her past that was once concealed from her, but with more secrets revealed, the danger to her life, and the continued existence of the Winterspell forest, is increasingly threatened.
Can Stella make the right decisions to help save the forest and, more importantly, save herself?
Mr Mac's rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Year 2/3/4 recommendation By mr Mclugash
The Adventures of Harry Stevenson by Ali Pye
Harry Stevenson is just your average guinea pig: all he concerns himself with is: what his next meal will be, how often he can sleep and when his next meal will come!
Our unsuspecting protagonist does not realise; however, how his family's upcoming house move will turn his life upside down!
Cue Harry embarking on multiple silly adventures that sees him achieve things no ordinary guinea pig has done before!
This is a funny book - perfect for the 5-8 age range, with interesting pictures to compliment the story along the way.
Mr Mac's Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
FS + year 1/2 recommendations by Mr Mclugash
Two environmentally-based books to help younger children understand the current environmental crisis the world is experiencing.
Greta and the Giants by Zoë Tucker and Zoe Persico
Younger children may have seen Greta Thunberg's name in newspapers or seen her on the TV. They may wonder who she is and why she is in the news.
This book is the perfect introduction.
Greta and the Giants re-tells the story of Greta's journey from humble beginnings to her mission to save the world from climate crisis.
A lovely story, with beautiful illustrations, that I think will prove extremely popular in many households.
Mr Mac's Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Planet Full of Plastic by Neal Layton
Another ever-present issue in the world is plastic pollution.
This engaging book, which is full of interesting pictures and facts, helps introduce the problem we have with plastic and ways that we all can help to tackle it.
Neal Layton's book could serve as an excellent discussion starter about plastic pollution and may encourage families to consider if they are too reliant on it.
Our village of Rothley is also trying to help fight the plastic pollution issue by recently pledging to attempt to go plastic free. Click on the article for more information.
Mr Mac's Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Adults Only...
Parent/carer recommendaton by Mr Phillips
The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey
Not every gift is a blessing...
Each day, Melanie waits patiently in her cell to be collected for school. Sergeant Parks keeps his gun trained on her when they arrive while two of others restrict her into the wheelchair. She feels loathed, despised, hated. She teases that she won’t bite them, but they never laugh.
I won’t tell you who – or what – Melanie is, but this book asks serious questions to the reader about what it means to be human, and, most importantly, whether being human automatically makes you one of the ‘good guys’.
This book is utterly gripping, terrifying, and beautiful at the same time. There was a point in the story where I genuinely whispered in case my voice was heard amongst the events in the pages. M. R. Carey’s description and world-building is sensational – something you will no doubt found yourself lost in.
This book is for fans of Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. Strap in! You will not be able to put it down.
P.S. There is a prequel/sequel (I’m deliberately not telling you which one) called The Boy on the Bridge. Read The Girl with All the Gifts first!
Mr Phillip's Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If your child (or you!) would like more books recommending in between the half-termly Rothley Reviews, then please come and see me: my door is always open!
Mr Mclugash
Credits:
Created with an image by Jonas Jacobsson - "untitled image"