Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders
Key Stage 2February 2019 Book of the Month | Here’s another inspiring, information-packed picture book in what’s becoming something of a series (see also Great Women Who Made History and Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World). It tells the stories of pioneering women who achieved amazing things, often in the face of prejudice or downright hostility from society. There are familiar names – Rosalind Franklin is included – plus lots that are lesser known, but just as fascinating: balloonist Sophie Blanchard for example, and Sarah Breedlove, beauty entrepreneur. Their stories are told through lively, engaging text and pictures, it’s a treat to read. Kate Pankhurst is something of a fantastically great woman herself, and there’s lots for all readers to marvel at and enjoy in this book.
British Museum: So You Think You've Got It Bad? A Kid's Life in Ancient Greece
Key Stage 2A kid's life in ancient Greece might sound like fun, what with all that brilliant sunny weather and watching the Olympic Games, but actually life for kids could be pretty hard. In this hilarious book, written by award-winning author Chae Strathie, children will learn just how tough life really was, from living on a diet of blood soup whilst wearing nothing but a cloak, to having to learn a poem that was over 15,000 lines long! Thanks, but no thanks, Homer! Probably the first book about ancient Greece to feature a race between a go-kart and a goose, this is a must read for kids with a passion for horrible history!
Fantastically Great Women Who Made History Gift Edition
Key Stage 2It’s impossible not to be inspired by this picture book and the great women featured in it: their stories are told across bright spreads, which are enticing to look at, and packed with information all presented in a way that will make readers excited about the remarkable achievements described. It’s a varied line up of subjects, including a scientist, a writer, an athlete, an explorer and fashion designer alongside civil rights campaigner and even secret agent! Each page explains what these pioneering women did, and shows that everyone has the potential to change the world – just follow your heart and don’t listen when people say you can’t do something!
Julius Zebra: Grapple with the Greeks!
Key Stage 2October 2018 Book of the Month | Who better to introduce children to the world of ancient Greek myth than gladiator Julius Zebra (and if you don’t know, he really is a zebra). Julius and his band have already survived being kidnapped by Romans and thrown into the Colosseum, a stay in Britannia and a shipwreck in Egypt, but can they survive a challenge from the hero Heracles (or as Julius knows him Hairy Keith)? It brings them into contact with the Minotaur and King Midas, and ends with a trip into the underworld no less. The story is brilliantly funny as always, and action packed while there’s loads of proper information on ancient life amongst the silliness. Glorious stuff!
The Silk Roads A New History of the World - Illustrated Edition
Key Stage 3 Key Stage 4Adapted for a younger readership from the author’s celebrated adult book of the same name, this illustrated history of the Silk Roads, bound in a majestic gold and blue package, is the perfect present for fledging historians. The book’s journey leads armchair adventurers along thrilling, far-reaching roads, taking in the history of ancient Persia, Constantinople, Rome, Attila the Hun, the emergence of Islam, Viking slavery, Genghis Khan, Columbus - and more - from a holistic perspective. “You might even think of the Silk Roads as the world’s central nervous system, linking all the organs of the body together”, the author suggests in the introduction, and his engaging exploration of the interplay between politics, science, religion and trade certainly gives this book far greater tang than your standard textbook. Indeed, generously spiced with exquisite illustrations and maps that inform as they enthrall, young history buffs will undoubtedly devour this pitch-perfect treasure, and grown-ups will get much from it too.
Poppy Field
Key Stage 1A new illustrated story celebrating the poppy's history. Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman have teamed up with the Royal British Legion to tell an original story that explains the meaning behind the poppy.In Flanders' fields, young Martens knows his family's story, for it is as precious as the faded poem hanging in their home. From a poor girl comforting a grieving soldier, to an unexpected meeting of strangers, to a father's tragic death many decades after treaties were signed, war has shaped Martens's family in profound ways - it is their history as much as any nation's. They remember. They grieve. They honour the past. This book also includes a full-colour, illustrated afterword that explains the history that inspired the story.
Fantastically Great Women Who Made History Activity Book
Key Stage 1August 2018 Book of the Month | Kate Pankhurst inspires thousands of young readers with her books about the fantastically great women who made history. This book reunites us with those women, including astronaut Valentina Tereshkova, dancer Josephine Baker, and code breaker Noor Inayat Khan – and encourages readers to think more about them while they complete some fun and creative write in activities. There are writing and drawing tasks, a set of postcards to send to the great people in your life, and the book concludes by asking how you will make history, inviting readers to make a list of their own hopes and dreams for the future. Bright stickers featuring Pankhurst’s lively drawings of her subjects make it even more appealing.
Athena: The Story of a Goddess
Key Stage 2Sisters Imogen and Isabel Greenberg make brilliant use of the comic book/graphic novel format to tell stories of Athena, probably the most appealing of all the Greek goddesses, weaving different myths into one coherent adventure. It starts as Athena springs from Zeus's head fully armed and 'ready to do battle in the world'; next is the story of her relationship with Athens and, more crucially, rivalry with Poseidon, then interventions in human lives with Perseus and Arachne (the latter a good learning experience for the goddess), before the lead up to the Trojan war and finally the wanderings of Odysseus. The stories are unbeatable and text and illustrations do them full justice. A terrific introduction to the world of Greek mythology and a great bit of storytelling.
Three Cheers for Women!
Key Stage 2UKLA Longlist Book Awards - 2019 | Three Cheers for Women is a hugely inspirational book for children. It is full of facts, quotes and jokes brought together in a really fun way to ensure you remember them. You may even feel having read about some of these women that one of them was you in an earlier life? Joan of Arc perhaps - the teenage warrior, Florence Nightingale or even Marie Curie - probably the most famous female scientist of the 19th & 20th century. This book could even be the catalyst to what you want to be when you grow up - a pioneer and adventurer, a leader and world-changer, a scientist that finds a cure for cancer or an environmentalist that stops global warming Marcia Williams' much-loved comic-strip style will encourage even the most reluctant reader to enjoy this inspirational book packed with facts, quotes and jokes. So be inspired by these incredible women and think beyond the ordinary.
Emmeline (Pankhurst)
Key Stage 2A brilliantly accessible, fantastically funny biography in the First Names series all about Emmeline Pankhurst. A strong and inspiring woman who led the suffragette movement which gave British women the vote one hundred years ago! Get to know Emmeline on FIRST NAME terms! First Names is a series of fun, lively and highly illustrated biographies that introduces some truly amazing individuals who lived incredible lives, to an audience of young readers. EMMELINE fought a tough battle to win the vote for British women and inspired others around the world to do the same - find out why she hated school, how she had to take lessons in stone throwing, what she thought when her daughter spat at a policeman and an awful lot more besides. Get to know Emmeline on FIRST NAME terms!
Greek Gods and Heroes Meet 40 mythical immortals
Key Stage 2Stylish and artfully designed, this book is jam-packed with enough information on the Greek gods and heroes to satisfy even the most inquisitive reader. Forty different characters, from Gaia, Cronus and Zeus to Electra, Achilles and Odysseus, are featured on double page spreads; boxes of text tell their stories with impressive brevity, while extra gobbets of information are conveyed via shorter text boxes or in captions that accompany the stylised, colour illustrations. It’s a book that encourages browsing, while simultaneously making clear the timeline and interconnectedness of the various gods and heroes. This is the latest in an eye-catching and effect series.
The People Awards
Key Stage 2What an interesting and original way to think about important people! This book picks out fifty men and women from different centuries and continents and gives them ‘awards’ for their achievements. Most get very specific awards just for them – Einstein for example gets the Curiosity Award – but there are categories too: the Brilliant Idea Awards recognise Isaac Newton as well as Sejong the Great who created the Korean alphabet. All sorts of people feature from David Bowie and Simon Bolivar to J.K. Rowling and Ana Nzinga. Most are represented with full page portraits opposite smaller pictures showing scenes from their lives. A useful timeline at the back puts everyone in their place chronologically. Here are stories to entertain as well as inform, and maybe to inspire too.
