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Find out moreDavid MacPhail left home at eighteen to travel the world and have adventures. After working as a chicken wrangler, a ghost-tour guide and a waiter on a tropical island, he now has the sensible job of writing children’s books. He lives in Edinburgh.
Reading Planet - Level 7: Fiction (Saturn) - Reading age: 10-11 years | The Apollo Time Capsule is included in the Rising Stars Reading Planet reading scheme at the Blue-Red level. The book is an engaging fantasy story involving two characters: Ryan and Clare. On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Ryan’s class, 6A, unearth the time capsule buried by the pupils of 6A in 1969. Ryan discovers a letter written by Clare in which she seems to predict the details of several space missions undertaken after the famous events of 1969, and so the mystery unfolds. After much investigation, the now adult Clare is brought back to her old school where she meets Ryan, and both experience an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. This is a delightful fantasy asking pupils to consider the possibility of time travel whilst framed in the familiar setting of home and the primary school. The book also deals with the themes of aspiration, hard-work and honesty and includes several characters who have fulfilled their potential through pursuing STEM subjects at school and beyond. The Apollo Time Capsule includes comprehension questions from across the range tested in the KS2 tests and provides children with sufficient additional activities to extend and secure their understanding of the text.
Shortlisted for the Laugh-Out-Loud Book Awards 2016, 6-8 years Category - September 2015 Book of the Month Thorfinn is a charming boy, polite, tidy and he makes a lovely cup of tea. Unfortunately, he’s a Viking and this particular skill set doesn’t do anything to impress his family or neighbours – in the words of Erik Ear-Crusher, his dad’s arch rival for chief, ‘he has all the fighting spirit of a plate of boiled turnips’. But Thorfinn is smart as well as nice, and when he’s sent on a raiding mission proves that he more than deserves his place. Thorfinn’s politeness in the face of the Viking’s terrible behaviour provides lots of laughs and his eventual triumph is very satisfying for readers. Packed with illustrations and a whole host of extras too – games and activities – this is a very good addition to the canon of silly Viking stories for young readers. ~ Andrea Reece
Thorfinn is a charming boy, polite, tidy and he makes a lovely cup of tea. Unfortunately, he’s a Viking and this particular skill set doesn’t do anything to impress his family or neighbours – in the words of Erik Ear-Crusher, his dad’s arch rival for chief, ‘he has all the fighting spirit of a plate of boiled turnips’. But Thorfinn is smart as well as nice, and when he’s sent on a raiding mission proves that he more than deserves his place. Thorfinn’s politeness in the face of the Viking’s terrible behaviour provides lots of laughs and his eventual triumph is very satisfying for readers. Packed with illustrations and a whole host of extras too – games and activities – this is a very good addition to the canon of silly Viking stories for young readers. ~ Andrea Reece