Book's of the Week

This week, the Junior Librarian, Sophie, from Hawk class shares with us one of her favourite books. Ahelia, also from Hawk class, joins us to share one of her favourite reads

Sophie recommends Grrrrrrr! written and illustrated by Rob Biddulph

Sophie’s reason for her choice:“I like funny books and this is my favourite story by the author Rob Biddulph”

Mrs Harvey supports Sophie’s inspired choice. This story, along with other books written and illustrated by Rob Biddulph, is available to borrow from our school library. As well as working on his own books, Rob also illustrates for other authors, including Michael Bond (of ‘Paddington’ fame) and Jeff brown (the ‘Flat Stanley’ series). We have all his books in our library – Grimsdell is a Rob Biddulph fan, particularly after he opened our newly refurbished library in 2018! Rob Biddulph is a very popular reading choice at Grimsdell – his books always contain a strong story line, and the illustrations draw in and engage his reading audience.

The story is about a bear in the forest – each year, for as long as the forest has stood, a contest is held for the bears of the wood. Fred is the champion. He’s the best. BUT being the best takes time and training, especially when it comes to having the loudest growl. Then, one morning, disaster strikes – Fred’s GRRRRRRR is gone! Will Fred find his GRRRRR and realise that there’s more to life than being a winer?

All of Rob Biddulph’s stories are rhyming and I have written before of the importance of rhyme in the development of early language and literacy skills. Research into early literacy skills shows the importance of rhythm and rhyme. Developing literacy skills begin with listening and verbalising rather than reading and writing. That comes later. Children need a good grasp of phonics and the ability to discriminate sounds and rhyming patterns in an audible way in order to become confident readers.

Stories written in rhyme and rhythm help our children develop auditory discrimination, listening skills, a rich and broad vocabulary, a love of words, concentration skills, phonemic awareness and poetry skills. This in turn stimulates imaginative, descriptive skills – an essential component of creative writing.

Recent research (Sullivan and Brown, 2015) into the development and acquisition of early literacy skills has conclusively shown that rhythm and rhyme play a hugely important role. This is because children’s early literacy skills are about listening and speaking rather than reading and writing. These first two skills are the bedrock foundation for the latter and create much stronger ability in the latter if ingrained deeply and early on. It’s simply not possible to be a good writer if you don’t first have a good vocabulary. Similarly, it’s very hard to learn phonics and sight words if you can’t discriminate sounds and rhyming patterns in an audible way.The research states that when comparing the literary abilities of school age children, those who had a good understanding of rhyme from an early age, vastly outperformed those who had little exposure to it before they started school.

Our second Book of the Week has been recommended by the Junior Librarian, Ahelia.

Ahelia recommends Daisy, Really, Really by Kes Gray and illustrated by Nick Sharratt.

Ahelia tells us: “I like the character in this series of books – Daisy. She is a little bit cheeky and lots of fun!”

Mrs Harvey would also recommend the Daisy series – we have both the picture book form and chapter books in our Grimsdell library. In this story, it’s an exciting night for Daisy - she's having her first ever babysitter! Impish Daisy convinces Angela that she only eats chips and ice-cream for supper; her bedtime is at midnight; her mum prefers her to drink lemonade; she never has a bath; and she always sleeps in her clothes! Every time Angela asks Daisy if she is really telling the truth, Daisy replies 'Really, really.'

So, what should Angela tell mum when she enquires if Daisy went to bed at 8pm after a sensible supper and a hot bath? It's a really, really tricky decision for Angela… Lively and comical illustrations accompany this appealing and entertaining story about a mischievous little girl who wraps her babysitter round her little finger, by telling a stack of fiendish fibs.

Not only is the book a great read but from a literary perspective, the text has much to recommend it. The varied font size and style used throughout the book encourages the reader to think about the author’s intent. What is Kes Gray trying to convey? It challenges the reader to think more deeply about the story and the author’s purpose – which, in turn, develops the reader’s wider reading comprehension skills. 

The are many reasons why an author changes the font size and style in a story. The use of certain fonts can make a reader feel a specific emotion. Alternatively, it can be used to express the personality or characteristics of a particular individual in the story. A change in font may indicate the internal thoughts of a character as opposed to what it being said aloud. An author may use font size and style to draw out the subtle nuances within a story. 

Gray’s use of thought bubbles adds a deeper meaning to the story. His utilisation of this fundamental comic book feature to his story helps to explain the speaker’s identity and emotional state, as well as the sequence of interaction. Thought bubbles afford the reader access to characters’ voices- their private inner thoughts as opposed to their public verbal expressions. 

Happy Reading!

Mrs Harvey