Hi. I’m Tom, an Assistant Headteacher from Solihull and an avid reader. I am very passionate about reading and the importance of fostering a great love of reading from a young age – last year, I co-led an Open University/UKLA Reading for Pleasure teacher group for Solihull and Worcestershire schools. I am a big fan of detective thrillers, middle grade novels, picture books and graphic novels. I buy a lot of books but am also extremely lucky to work with some book publishers to review some of their upcoming releases.
I’m married with two young children so the days are pretty busy but that’s nothing better than relaxing with a good book and getting lost in another world. That might be why I love travelling too.
Recent Book Reviews
- Tasty Tales – Anna Lena FeunekesDrawing inspiration from both history and lore, this book explores the mouthwatering stories behind some of the world’s favourite foods. From a plant-loving pirate to an Ethiopian goat, from the crescent of the croissant to a tofu trailblazer, Tasty Tales offers a fascinating, surprising and appetising journey across history and culture. How did England becomeContinue reading “Tasty Tales – Anna Lena Feunekes”
- Dino Dad – Andy Day & Steven LentonRuby Thumb lives on a very normal street, in a very normal house where everything is completely normal… until she discovers her dad can change into a dinosaur and travel to a secret island called Dinotropolis, where real life dinosaurs live! Dino Dad is a POOPA (Protector Of Our Prehistoric Allies) so touch that magicContinue reading “Dino Dad – Andy Day & Steven Lenton”
- Ettie and the Midnight Pool – Julia Green & Pam SmyEttie lies in the dark, eyes wide open, listening. What was Grandma remembering, earlier? Something sad and secret from long ago, that she won’t tell Ettie… The music drifts and curls through the house like smoke; fills it with such sweet sadness. Ettie’s heart aches too. For the last few years, Ettie has been contentContinue reading “Ettie and the Midnight Pool – Julia Green & Pam Smy”
- The Secret Society of Very Important Post – Alexandra PageJust days until the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and as Penny Black prepares to move to London, she and Wishyouwas are summoned by the Royal Postmistress herself to locate an extremely valuable letter, one which is essential to the coronation. Who is behind this shocking theft? Penny and the Sorters will findContinue reading “The Secret Society of Very Important Post – Alexandra Page”
- The Beast of Farrowfell – Ravena GuronNothing – the magic was completely gone. Jude’s right arm was becoming sore from having to hold her up. Maybe she could slide down the chimney carefully… But before she could decide on a plan, her right hand slipped. After leaving their family, Jude and sister Moorley are now living with the Weston family… butContinue reading “The Beast of Farrowfell – Ravena Guron”
Whole Class Reading activities
Having moved away from guided reading to whole class reading, I have created whole class reading activities for Year 4 (but easily adaptable for other year groups). Each text has 4 days worth of activities: Day 1 is vocabulary (ensuring key language is understood first), Day 2 is reading the extract and discussion time, Day 3 is comprehension questions using VIPERS and then Day 4 is a task around an element of VIPERS e.g. an inference or prediction task.
By focusing on one text per week during lockdown, we’ve had great engagement from the children and it’s widened their knowledge of current texts. All the resources are available in my Dropbox (available here). Here’s what you’ll find:
– The Shark Caller (Zillah Bethell) – Vi Spy (Maz Evans) – Amari and the Night Brothers (B.B. Alston) – The Boy Who Met A Whale (Nizrana Farook) – The Night Bus Hero (Onjali Q Rauf) – The Castle of Tangled Magic (Sophie Anderson) – The Valley of Lost Secrets (Lesley Parr) – Murder Most Unladylike (Robin Stevens) – Malamander (Thomas Taylor) – The Highland Falcon Thief (Sam Sedgman & M G Leonard) – Return to Roar (Jenny McLachlan) – Musical lyrics (Hamilton, Matilda & Dear Evan Hansen).
I am currently creating unseen texts for Year 6. So far there’s recent releases from Crater Lake (Jennifer Killick) to The Christmas Carrolls (Mel Taylor-Bessent) to When the War Came Home (Lesley Parr): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gu42vpgbzkrt5qb/AACg0djr92GYgrk68orlaTsRa?dl=0
Check ‘Em Out Books 