Literacy Hour books

Level 2c

A thoughtful book on the issues of children not being listened to and the imagination of a child in an attempt to get attention from its parents. The illustrations have a great deal of scope for talking points and can be related to by any child. A poignant and sharp look at life through a child's eyes.

Level 2b

A delightful book outlining the issues of prejudice. Colour and character are the main issues. Elmer is a patchwork, multi-coloured elephant that makes grey elephants realise that she is an entertaining but differently-coloured elephant from the rest. She dyes herself the same colour as all the other elephants but it is soon evident that everyone prefers Elmer the way she was before.

Level 2b

A story that few children can comprehend, as they are unlikely to encounter a working lighthouse in real life. The story is inconceivable and unrealistic. However, children enjoy the book as a "story". The illustrations are good and the use of speech bubbles are a good introduction for children to see different ways of writing and presenting information.

Level 2b

A great favourite with children because of the repetition of language and its rhythmic pattern, which can be read time and time again. The story is an adventure of a family hunting a bear, the circumstances they encounter and how they deal with them. Good sound effects and actions can be used to emphasise the story. The book gives excellent scope for developing memory skills and sequencing events.

Level 2c

This is an award winning book based on becoming less vain and sharing your good things. The Rainbow fish has beautiful scales, which are illustrated wonderfully, which s/he is proud of but will not share. The fish eventually discovers it is better to share to make and keep friends. Well recommended book with great potential to talk to children about moral issues.

Level 2

The theme of the story does not address the issues that it is meant to. Two herds of elephants are at war because of their colour, one white, one black. The ending sees all the elephants grey. This is supposed to be addressing the issues of racism. However, to the elephants all ending up the same colour is not how society is. They should have agreed to be different colours but equal. I do not think it is a good example of trying to educate children into being unprejudiced about colour, creed and race.

Level 2a

A wonderful story based on a cat who has six owners in one street, none of them realising that the cat, Sid, is being fed, named and looked after by them all. The truth is revealed when Sid becomes ill and has to go the vet six times by six different owners. The vet becomes wise to this and unravels the tale. Sid, therefore, escapes to a different street with another six owners only this time all the owners know about each other and about Sid's antics. An interesting story to discuss about being neighbourly.

Level 2

This is a truly superb book. A must for any child. It is a story of Angie who is frightened of the dark and thinks there are monsters under the bed. The story teaches children that they can deal with their problems and achieve success without trauma. The text is rhyming so is easy to read and teaches children literacy skills. It is an enchanting and exciting tale that all children can relate to. It has great scope for discussion with children and their feelings.

Level 1

A very silly story, but children enjoy it. A pig gets very hot in the sun and dives into a pond to cool down. The other animals on the farm find this disgraceful as the farmer is away. When the farmer returns, he also dives into the pond followed by all the other animals. Not a great story!

Level 2a

A delightful story about a baby bear who does not understand hibernation. He spends all winter time discovering about the season when he is supposed to be asleep and when spring comes he is fast asleep. He encounters lots of experiences including bear hunters and birds. His naiveté is endearing. A book children will enjoy.

Level 2b

This book won the Smarties Prize for children's books and a Grand Prix Winner, quite rightly so! There is a great deal of text in the book but it is a superb story around the subject of being afraid of the dark. All children have at sometime been afraid of the dark and this book addresses the problem of getting to sleep without any light. It's magical! A good read for infants.

Level 2c

A good book for teaching rhyming words. This book is for a young reader. Aged 5 to 6. It has good reviews by Nanette Newman and The Sunday Telegraph. It is an amusing and sensitive story that will delight young readers.

Level 2a

This book can be read in Bengali as well as English. The illustrations are beautiful. The language used is easy to read. The Story is based on an owl family and the babies who thought that their mother had abandoned them. An enlightening story about children who think they have been left unattended and feel scared and lonely in a big wide world.

Level 2b

A book based on 'The House that Jack built' but with a very different ending. There is no stretching vocabulary and no great story line. However, it provides good use of structure to a story for 6-7 year olds and has lovely illustrations.

Level 2c

I do not like this book. I hate the illustrations. It is a story based on getting home first. Alfie has his own ideas on how to beat everybody else in getting home. Any child with a competitive nature will relate to this , but, I don't think it is a significant book for infants.

Level 2

A lovely book with equally good illustrations. A good rhythmic pattern and lots of rhyming words. Large text and a good use of punctuation and italics to highlight text. A delightful story about a monkey traveling around a zoo with the zoo-keeper, indulging in all the animals habitats. Not to be missed!!

Level 2c

A marvellous book to introduce the concept of the passage of time to young children. It is a story about a young harvest mouse discovering the meaning of time and how it affects him/he, and how the mouse is reconciled with its mother because of an understanding of time. The illustrations by Alan Marks are beautiful.

Level 3

I like this this book. It is about a hippopotamus who has a good friend, a cheetah, who is bad at telling jokes but hippopotamus always enjoys them. Until Hippo prefers setting up a cafe to hearing jokes. Cheetah is always on the sidelines watching the progress of the cafe, but being aware that he is being dismissed as a friend. Everything turns out all right in the end. Great illustrations.

Level 2c

John Burningham is a respected children's book writer. These books about Mr. Gumpy are very popular with children of ages of 5 to 8. Mr. Gumpy goes on an outing and various animals want to come on board. Mr. Gumpy has specific things they are not allowed to do. Of course, they all do them. An amusing tale but has no hidden meaning or outcome.

Level 1

An easy book to read based on a young boy whose parents have recently had a new baby. Every relative and friend brings the new baby a teddy. Tom, the boy in the story is a little resentful of the new baby's attention, but soon realises his error of judgment and so do his parents as they realise they have not been spending enough time with Tom. Any child with a pending new brother or sister will relate to the story.

Level 2c

A book about children being afraid of sleeping on their own in the dark. The story does nothing to alleviate a child's fear of the dark and nightmares. Horrid illustrations for children. Not at all recommended.

Level 2b

A good story that will engage a child's imagination. This book was a Smarties Prize winner for the best Picture Book. The story is about a Mum whom says there are no such things as giants. However, Sally and Joe know better!!! An imaginative tale of two youngsters who are trying to defy their Mum.

Level 1

One of Martin Waddell's lovely young reader books with big text. Three young bears go and get honey and a big Guzzley bear steals it. Mummy bear soon scares old Guzzley and the little bears soon have honey in their tummies. Very good introduction to rhyming words and the moral of all bad things get their just reward! A great book.

Level 2a

A book in Punjabi and English addressing the issues of other languages that we don't speak or understand. Purnima has a beautiful parrot. Her father is disappointed that it does not appear to talk but just makes strange noises, and threatens to take the parrot back to the pet shop. Purnima discovers that the parrot does talk, but not the same language as she does. An interesting book with a great deal of scope for appreciating other cultures and languages.

Level 3

This is a horrid book. A depressing tale of a man who's life is made a misery when he sells his shadow for gold to impress the parents of his lady friend so he can marry her. The illustrations are spooky and there really isn't a moral to the story. He eventually gets his shadow back but loses everything else. Not a happy tale but a very old, traditional tale, apparently!!!

Level 3

A book about a boy whose mother is having a baby and, therefore he has to be looked after by someone else for a few days. Henry is a much loved dog. He belongs to the little boy, who has to choose where to go when Mum goes into hospital. He has 3 alternatives, a neighbour, Gran and his Uncle all of whom have certain characteristics that are not suitable, according to his checklist. The main reason for choosing Granny is because she doesn't mind Henry staying too. A lovely story.

Level 2b

A book of simple poems which have great content and children related ideas. I like the book because of its simplicity and rhythmic qualities. A joy to read. The illustrations are typically Quentin Blake i.e. humorous. Not to be missed!

Level 2a

An interesting story about a young girl who has a cat a boy at school who is a bully and torments the girl about her passion for the cat. The boy gets his comeuppance in the end and becomes remorseful. Children like this book and they are made aware of the issues of bullying. Not bad, but the illustrations are not good.

Level 2a

I really like this book. There are a series of stories, all unrelated but have a similar theme of the future. Any child who enjoys computer technology will enjoy this book. The content is fascinating and has rich language that will be engaging for a 7 year old. There are stories about a letter from an alien, a dog on the moon and an adventure in space. A good book.

Level 2b

This a fantastic book. It is a collection of poems about jungle animals. The text is written in various ways that express each animal. The poems are short but well written, with good rhyming vocabulary and excellent illustrations. Well recommended.

Level 2a

This book became a best seller because of its imaginative language and great descriptive use of words for various types of dog. It's a great book with superb illustrations. Great use of rhythmic pattern and rhyming words. I think it is a must!!

Level 2b

This is a great and humorous book about a prince who is treated just as Cinderella was, but with dire consequences. For example, he is turned into a big hairy monkey by his incompetent fairy. He turns up at the local disco wanting to meet his bride but is very much humiliated. The princess comes to find him and proposes marriage. There are many gender stereotypes to be discussed here which can be amusing to any young child. This book is tremendous!

Level 2

This is a fantastic book. It is funny and wise. It is a story based on an alien looking at humans and how they perceive the earth world. The illustrations are brilliant. It is a well written book with tremendous scope for discussion and humour. Well recommended.

Level 1

A modern version of 'The Little Red Hen', A duck does everything on the farm and is not helped out by the farmer himself, who is a lazy man. The other animals on the farm get together and run the farmer off the premises because of their respect for the duck. The outcome is that all the animals muck in together and run the farm. They realise that they did not need the farmer and that the duck was the manager of the farm all along.

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