This intriguing story features a boy who is compelled to find coping mechanisms for real and metaphorical darkness. What is exceptional in this text is the way in which the real and the imaginary are seamlessly merged so that its sober themes (including domestic abuse) can be processed through fairytale filters of cottages in the woods, jars of light and mystery treasure hunts. This brave and thought-provoking book brilliantly captures the feeling of finding oneself caught on thresholds that will seem familiar to readers in upper KS2, such as childhood versus adolescence, attachment versus separation and reality versus imagination.
A World of Cities
This is a true treasure of a non-fiction text! Illustrator James Brown follows on from the popular ‘A World of Information’ in a similar style; an almost-A3 sized high quality information book filled with double-page spreads in his striking print-maker style, this time with each one containing information about a different world city. The written text is cleverly integrated into the pictures (e.g. on the page about London, facts are placed seated on a bus, around the archways of the bridge and ascending Big Ben’s tower, among other places) and you get the feeling that you will discover brand new trinkets of information each time you read. An engaging, original book that makes you want to climb into the pages!
About this month's reviewer
January's Top Texts have been chosen by Alison Leach, an experienced primary teacher and English lead who now helps teachers to discover quality children's books for their classrooms and school libraries through the website booksfortopics.com. Alison completed a Master of Education in Critical Approaches to Children's Literature at the University of Cambridge, during which time she was awarded the Jacqueline Wilson Award in Children's Literature Research. Find her on Twitter as @booksfortopics.