Literacy Time Ages 5 to 7 Recommended Read
3 Oct 2007
This month’s recommendation for five- to seven-year-olds
Start-up History: Toys by Stewart Ross (Evans Brothers Ltd, 9780237524081)
Finding good non-fiction for early readers is not always easy, but the Start-up History series seems to have got it right and deserves a place in any Key Stage 1 classroom. Top quality photographs illustrate each page, information is simply and clearly presented, and key words are highlighted and repeated across the bottom of the page. As well as the essential contents and index, a section of further information for parents and teachers lists new topic words, provides background information and key dates, and suggests follow-up activities, discussion topics, places to visit and further resources on the topic. Toys traces the history of toys and explores what they are made of, how they move and how they can help us learn. The series also covers: Seaside Holidays, Homes, Florence Nightingale, Remembrance Day and The Great Fire of London. All titles are available in hardback, and all in Big Book format, with the exception of Remembrance Day.
The Hare and the Tortoise, The Lion and the Rat, and The North Wind and the Sun retold by Brian Wildsmith (OUP, £5.99 each PB)
As it is their centenary year, Oxford Children’s Books have given some of their best titles a makeover. Among the titles to receive a fresh new look are three well-loved fables retold for young children and stunningly illustrated by the award-winning Brian Wildsmith – The Hare and the Tortoise (9780192727084), The Lion and the Rat (9780192727091) and The North Wind and the Sun (9780192727077).
Elephant Wellyphant by Nick Sharratt (Alison Green Books, ISBN 9780439944434)
Fans of Nick Sharratt’s brilliant novelty books should take a look at _Elephant Wellyphant _. Full of wonderful wordplay that five- to seven-year-olds will love, the book features a parade of weird and wonderful elephants, some brought to life with pull-tabs or flaps to lift. There’s a Fruit Jellyphant, a Rude Smellyphant and even a Chocolate Caramelephant!
