Book Review: 'The Dog Who Saved The World' by Ross Welford

'The Dog Who Saved The World' is Ross Welford's fourth book since 'Time Travelling With A Hamster' was published in 2016. In his latest novel for children Ross returns to the North East of England - Whitley Bay to be specific - and to the theme of time travel.

Except, there's a nice modern twist to the time travel aspect of the plot: Georgie Santos must travel forward in time in order to bring back a cure for a worldwide epidemic which is killing dogs and humans. Oh, and she doesn't actually need to really time travel - she's going to a virtual-reality 3D version of the future!

It all starts when Georgia and her best mate Ramzy meet the mysterious Dr. Pretorius when walking Mr Mash, the dog who will eventually go on to save the world. But before he does Georgie and Ramzy are going to wade through composting dog waste to rescue him, keep him secretly in a barn, evade the police in a rickety VW campervan, barricade themselves inside the Spanish City and nearly win the lottery. To begin with, the reader is left wondering how all the aspects of the story presented in the first half of the book will eventually entwine; this gives way to an adrenaline-filled sequence of events which results in triumph for the heroes of the story.

Once again bringing sci-fi themes to easily accessible children's literature, Ross Welford assembles a realistically diverse cast of well-drawn characters to embark on this barmy adventure set in the near-future. Along the way, Welford subtly causes readers to think. What was life like for Ramzy before he came to the UK if he had to slash the tyres of rebel soldiers without being shot? What's it like for children like Ramzy who don't have much money? How would I feel if my mum had died and my dad had a new girlfriend - could I grow to love her? How would we deal with a world-wide crisis?

The story is all told from Georgie's point of view and children will enjoy the chatty, informal style but will benefit from this being really well written. Although written from a child's perspective, perceptive readers will pick up cleverly placed clues and be one step ahead of Georgie at times - that feeling of being let in on secrets by the author is a very enjoyable one for children to experience.

A great holiday read for upper key stage 2 and key stage 3 readers, 'The Dog Who Saved The World'  will be enjoyed by girls and boys alike, and if its a shared read aloud, parents too will be happy to dig in and get involved.

Times Tables Fluency and the KS2 SATs

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From The @TES Blog: Why Etymology Boosts Vocabulary And Spelling

"This lesson just got interesting," exclaimed one of my more vocal pupils.

No, I hadn’t just introduced the latest piece of edtech or revealed laminated resources that took me all evening to prepare.

I wasn’t even crouching in a home-made cage dressed as an elephant (yeah, I did that once).

All I did was look up the etymology of a word.

Continue reading here: https://www.tes.com/news/sats-why-etymology-boosts-vocabulary-and-spelling

What Should Adults Be Doing When Children Are Working?

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https://www.aidansevers.com/post/what-should-adults-be-doing-when-children-are-working

Book Review: 'Kick the Moon' by Muhammad Khan

This is a first for my blog: a review of a Young Adult (YA) title. I read a few YA books but so far haven't written reviews of them, although I have featured them in a couple of book round-ups and it is true that some of the books I review are also suitable for older audiences than the primary age range I have focused on previously.

What other books might centre on as main themes, this book sidelines, making them the very fabric that the story is woven from: growing up, racism, sexism, family, friendship, gang violence, mysogyny, masculinity, homophobia, culture, religion, love, sex, and so on. In fact, the main thrust here is one of ownership.

Some might dismiss stories such as this as encouraging sentimental slush about finding yourself and then being true to self. But 'Kick The Moon' is about more than that: it allows that sometimes the self you find isn't always that great. A pre-teenage Ilyas, the story's unlikely hero (but only unlikely because we're conditioned to think that way), joins a gang as a way of being protected from bullies, only he finds himself in the hands of another bully. This version of Ilyas' self is not the self he should be true to, although he has believed it for some time. No, there is more to Ilyas, but breaking out of the grip he's in proves difficult.

In this book so many of the characters are owned: Ilyas' dad by a warped view of what it is to be a man, his sister by social media followers and society's views of beauty standards, the supporting cast by a desire to be popular, scary, noticed, loved, clever... Ilyas' mum stands out as one who understands more of what it is to be free from the judgement of others and the constant seeking of approval but even Kelly, the seemingly strong, proud feminist, temporarily betrays the values she seemed to hold so confidently. A rich tapestry of characters makes the story hugely multi-dimensional, making for a very believable read.

'Kick the Moon' is not about becoming perfect - it deals in overcoming and mastering personal flaws - but it is about taking ownership of one's life. Yet it is anti-individualism: yes, we might take ownership of our lives but that needs to include having the right people around us. And to make that happen we need realtionships; we need the right people around is. Ilyas finds his tribe, but not in a tribalistic sense - he finds those who are positive, supportive and who have the same verve for life that deep down he has always had.

Bravely tackling issues such as revenge porn and gang affiliation whilst shedding light on British-Pakistani culture and life in a South London school, Muhammad Khan uses the protagonist's love of comic books and art to weave a compelling narrative that many teenagers will identify with and hopefully learn from. Stereotypes are drawn on only to be broken down in this great follow up to debut YA novel 'I Am Thunder'.

Book Review: 'The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Wood' by Samuel J Halpin

'The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Wood' is a great tale of the paranormal aimed at readers aged 10 - 14. Creepy enough to provide a pleasant thrill without having to resort to hiding the book in the freezer, this debut from Samuel J Halpin has just the right amount of darkness to intrigue readers looking for something a little more disturbing.

But Halpin doesn't resort to cliches to achieve the unsettling atmosphere of this story - it's that subtle subversion of what's considered as normal that does it. Poppy goes to stay with her grandma, but something's not quite right in her town. There have been mysterious disappearances, yet life goes on just as normal life does in the 21st Century. There are plenty of clues for the reader - enough to know that something isn't right, but not enough to be properly aware of what's going on. And there aren't enough clues as to whether the occurrences can be explained away as criminal activity or whether something more sinister, more magical is going on. Halpin certainly leaves the reader guessing, which is quite unsettling, even as an adult reader!

And, as a result, this is a tale of two parts. Once the stage has been set, and Poppy and her new friend Erasmus' investigations seem to have ground to a halt, things start to get very strange, and fairytale-like. Fairly suddenly the reader is swept into a world of ancient witches and legends of old - a place where evil goings on can only be halted by those with the quickest of wit. And for while it looks like the game is up for Poppy and Erasmus - there are no easily-won happy endings in this book.

There is wit in the other sense of the word here, too. The darkness of the tale is balanced by plenty of quips and amusing set pieces. There are also plenty of sub-themes running through which enrich the substance of this novel - the death of a parent, old age, bullying, alcoholism - which would make for interesting conversation starters with children who are beginning to observe the real dark side of life.

It's hard to find genuinely disturbing but child-friendly novels - this could just be the book that some children, unsatisfied by the funny books, the adventure fantasies and the grown-up-books-for-kids, have been waiting for.

Book Review: 'The Girl With Shark's Teeth' by Cerrie Burnell

Cerrie Burnell (of CBeebies fame), author of picturebook 'Snowflakes' and 2016 World Book Day special 'Harper and the Sea of Secrets', has broken into the middle grade fiction world with style: 'The Girl With The Shark's Teeth' is a brilliant adventure story set in a fantasical but oh-so-immersive world.

And it's immersive in two senses of the word. Not only does the plot take place above and under water, it is also so well written that you don't doubt that this magical sub-marine kingdom could actually exist. Although the above-surface parts of the story draw on the reality of places such as Brighton, Reykjavik and Barbados, as well as the Carribean sea and the Atlantic Ocean, a huge portion of the story takes place in the Wild Deep - a well-imagined underwater world where all manner of seafolk live.

Right from the very beginning the reader is clued into the fact that there is more to Minnow than at first meets the eye. And when her mother, Mercy, is kidnapped, she begins a voyage of discovery, finding out along the way that her heritage is more amazing than she could ever have imagined. After a frosty first meeting with Raife, the two children set out to outwit the Greenland shark who guards the gate into the Wild Deep, leading them into a place where they aren't exactly welcome, and to an adventure they weren't quite expecting.

The convincing world building is aided by the fact that the story we read is rooted in a seemingly comprehensive mythology - I for one would quite happily read a real-life version of 'The Book of Sea Myths: Tales of the Sea', if Burnell fancied doing a JK Rowling Tales of Beedle The Bard-style spin-off volume. Not only are there stories, there are also songs - crucial for a novel so tied up in seafaring - I'd also love to hear them set to music.

Family, friendship, trust, betrayal, courage and discovery are all central themes to this wonderful, convincing book. And it's not just for fans of mermaids, or for girls - give this to your boys and they will be drawn in to this world of intrigue. I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked up this book and I'm so glad that I did: here's to a sequel!