National Non-Fiction November has been part of the book scene for nearly 15 years years now and its importance has grown dramatically over that time. As chair of judges for the Information Book Award I have been very conscious of the impact that these different projects have on highlighting information books and their importance, not only in studying but also as part of Reading for Pleasure.
This book is not just about the first roller coaster, it also covers a wide range of amazing inventions from skyscrapers to cars, but also including the domestication of wild dogs and the development of fizzy drinks. As you can see from the illustrations, this is intended for lower KS2 readers and shows how learning about things can be enjoyable, as well as informative. There is a
real sense of fun in many of the facts and I particularly enjoyed finding this comment which is very amusing; it is definitely a case of “what goes around, comes around”, as cotton nappies were the norm until the 1980s in the UK; I am sure many people still have memories of the daily task of washing them.
The book is divided into 8 sections, which each focus on a different theme and have titles such as ‘Fun and Games’, ‘Run and Jump’ and ‘High and Mighty’. The contents page is clear and easy to follow and when showing an article about a person, it is actually highlighted, which is very helpful. there are two really useful sections at the back; one of them has information about inventors, many of them from around the world and very young when the first had their ideas, whilst the second gives information about how you can patent your ideas to keep them safe.
With the new report on ‘Reading for Pleasure’ from the National Literacy Trust it is even more important that young people are able to access as wide a range of reading materials as possible. The ability to chose what you read is something that most adults take fore granted, but children are often told that books are ‘too difficult’, ‘too easy’, or even ‘not a real book’. All of these things are likely to put young people off reading for enjoyment. Beautiful, well written and fascinating information books are a large part of the positive support that we can give children in making their reading choices and developing a sense of enquiry and enjoyment. This is one of those great books that people love to just dip into, so that they can impress their friends with weird and wonderful facts, but it can also be used as part of the curriculum when studying STEM topics such as friction, velocity and digital technologies. It is very highly recommended for primary schools.
Most of us assume that we have a right to self-determination and the idea that we are restricted by a fate that is given to us at birth, is something that we might have real problems with. This is the idea behind the adventures of the feisty Ember Shadows. In the first book she is looking forward to receiving her fate card, which will decide if she can follow her dream of being an inventor; however, things do not happen as she hopes. Firstly, there is no fate written on her card and then her younger sister receives her card, saying that she only has a short while to live. This leads to a fantastic adventure as Ember tries to change the way that the fates work.
safety in the old system and they have problems coping with having choice. Someone is taking this fear to an extreme and they are gathering the strands of fate and cutting them, so that the owners are killed. Ember and her brilliant sidekick Hans (yes, he is a hand from a clock, brought to life by magic) decide that they need to try and stop any further disasters taking place. They meet a wide variety of characters on the way, from giant spiders to mon-keys (who manage the weather patterns), but there is always the lurking menace of the line cutter. The author manages to throw a lot of red herrings in our path and especially in Ember’s way, so that she is often caught out in her thinking about the culprit. The denouement sees an unexpected villain and an upsetting discovery about someone she had thought was a friend.