posted on 19 Feb 2024

Year One at Moor Green Primary Academy agree that ‘Beautiful Books Build Brilliant Brains’

I always enjoy sharing a selection of my favourite books at Moor Green Primary Academy in Birmingham. This time I was welcomed by the Year One children and staff in Beech and Elder classes who all listened carefully, looked closely and participated in the sessions with great enthusiasm.

I showed them quite a few of my special novelty books including ‘Endangered Animals‘, illustrated by Sarah Young and ‘Pop-Out Know-It- All Atlas’ by Frances Castle and Emily Stead which are interesting examples of books that unfold horizontally. These were quite difficult to hold on my own because they are so unwieldy - thank you to all the children who helped me!

They were intrigued by ‘Inside the Villains‘ by Clotilde Perrin which opens up to reveal what lies beneath the exterior of a Wolf, a Giant and a Witch.

‘Is That You Wolf’ illustrated by Steve Cox required some brave children to put their hands inside secret pockets containing some potentially scary things like the Wolf’s claw, fur or even his teeth. ‘Mommy?’ by Maurice Sendak and ‘The Wizard of Oz’ by Frank Baum and Robert Sabuda were two examples of impressive pop-up books that were very well received.

‘Around Antartica’ by Tanya Medvedeva and Maria Vyshinskaya tied in with the current curriculum theme of Explorers, and showed how an unusually shaped non-fiction book can be really exciting with fold out pages. They also enjoyed the beautifully illustrated ‘Bee and Me’ by Alison Jay, which is one of my all time favourite wordless books.

‘The Healthy Wolf’ by Mandy Stanley and David Bedford showed how a funny story can challenge negative stereotypes. ‘Bears Don’t Cry!’ by Emma Chichester Clark has a particularly dramatic front cover to entice readers into enjoying a very moving story.

I left some of my books with the classes to allow some extra time for close looking and discussion. A week later I was delighted to receive these excellent drawings of their favourite book covers plus some comments. Parents should be very proud of their creative children who will receive a special certificate from The Letterpress Project.

Scroll the gallery below for a real visual treat.

 

Karen Argent

February 2024