Book Reviews

The United Nations recognises the importance of happiness and wellbeing and invites people to celebrate the International Day of Happiness on March 20th each year. This year the theme is ‘Be Mindful. Be Grateful. Be Kind.’ Here are some book recommendations that fit into the theme ‘Be Kind. Be Grateful. Be Kind.’, and I hope you will be able to use this to promote happiness in your schools on this years International Day of Happiness.

February is LGBT+ history month. Books can have a huge impact on helping children understand the world in which they live, and can help them to feel seen and understood, whether that's through the characters, or the story itself. Though there are many wonderful titles available with LBGTQ+ representation, below are just 10 books I'm loving lately which would make perfect additions to your bookshelves. I have included both fiction and non-fiction, and while learning about LGBTQ+ history shouldn't happen just on these special occasions, now would be a great time to have that focus in schools.

Bookseller Sophie shares her five reasons to read the bestselling graphic novel series Heartstopper, which has taken the world by storm ever since it was originally published as a web comic, shared by author and illustrator Alice Oseman. 

Having lots of different books written by a wide range of authors helps your children to get excited about the books they've chosen, and enables them to pick up books that they can relate to.  Access to diverse books also means that children can learn about people in different situations to themselves, promoting empathy and kindness, and helps to create a wider reading diet. 

A short review of one of bookseller Helene's favourite children's books.

In this blog, I aim to explore the many ways that Shirley Hughes can be remembered in the modern-day classroom. My biggest challenge was choosing which books to present to you… so I have settled for the following few.

Over the years, teachers have always asked me why I didn’t create my own picture book as I was so passionate about them and was married to an artist. It made perfect sense! Mick and I wanted to create a book that would be loved by children but also used by teachers to show their pupils how to bring their reading and writing to life.