Final Book Review of the Academic Year: Junior Librarians' Picks

This is our final book review of this academic year. This week, our Junior Librarians, Felix and Vish, have selected two very different fiction books.

Firstly, Felix recommends Mr Men: Adventure Under the Sea by Roger Hargreaves.

Felix’s reason for his choice:

“I love the Mr Men series of books and this is one of my favourites!”

Mrs Harvey can also vouch for the continuing popularity of the Mr Men and Little Miss series of books. We have a varied selection of these books in our library. The writing style of Roger Hargreaves is simple and direct, the humour and personality traits that come with each character are a lot of fun and memorable. The illustrations are bright and vivid, drawing the reader in to the story.

As I am sure you already know, each character is named after what represents their personalities. The books go deeper than that though, they teach that it is ok to be who you are. They make readers aware that you should embrace who you are yourself. Whether you are as loud as Mr Noisy, moody like Mr Grumpy or a talker like Little Miss Chatterbox, it is important to love yourself. The compassion that we should all have towards each other shines throughout the books too. Using the interaction between other characters within the narrative teaches us how important it is to not only accept ourselves, but also to appreciate the different traits that others possess. Working towards self-acceptance and respect for others is important from a young age.

Extending from self-acceptance and compassion towards others, the books also teach us the importance of helping each other and ow paramount selfless acts can be. The examples being that Little Miss Chatterbox ensures that nobody feels lonely and Mr Tickle uses his long arms to rescue cats from trees. The stories represent that everybody has a worth and that it is important to help those who need your personal skills. The moral of each story often portrays how

important it is to work as a team together.

Vish’s choice is Into the Wild by Thomas Docherty

Firstly, Felix recommends Mr Men: Adventure Under the Sea by Roger Hargreaves.

Vish explains his choice: “I have enjoyed the Reading Road Map as I have discovered new authors. This is my favourite Road Map book.”

Mrs Harvey is delighted by Vish’s choice, as his sentiments are the reason behind this reading for pleasure initiative for Year 2. The Year 2 Adventure Reading Road Map programme is a reading for pleasure initiative, aimed at broadening children’s horizons. All the titles on each map (apart from the Classics genre) have been published in the last twelve months and no author has more than one title on the map. We believe that the best way to increase literacy levels is through reading for pleasure and having a strong reading culture across the school. Research by the Open University found that the children in schools who participate in the Road Maps read a wider range of books and discuss reading with their peers more than they would before.

This reading for pleasure initiative has been endorsed by the Open University, whose research has shown the important role reading for pleasure plays in a child’s development. In England, reading for pleasure in schools is receiving increasing attention in both policy and practice. Teachers are required by the National Curriculum (DfE, 2014) to ensure children read for pleasure, but one cannot oblige children to develop a love of reading, they need to be enticed, tempted, and engaged, and build a legacy of satisfactions that will sustain them. In the current culture of testing and high accountability it is not easy to balance reading instruction and reading for pleasure. However, there is international research evidence that indicates that the will to read influences the skill and vice versa (e.g., OECD, 2002; Schugar and Dreher, 2017). Furthermore, young people who make the time to read in childhood accrue significant benefits, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Reading for pleasure is associated with a wider general knowledge, richer vocabulary and narrative writing, enhanced empathy and imagination as well as raised attainment in both literacy and numeracy in adolescence (e.g., Sullivan and Brown, 2015; McGrane et al., 2017; Senechal et al., 2018).

Happy Reading!

Mrs Harvey