Autumn Term

The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

 

A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest (1990). One day, a man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant kapok tree.

While he sleeps, the forest’s residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how "all living things depend on one another" . . . and it works. Cherry’s lovingly rendered coloured pencil and watercolour drawings of all the "wondrous and rare animals" evoke the lush rain forests, as well as stunning world maps bordered by tree porcupines, emerald tree boas, and dozens more fascinating creatures.

 

 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen. In the end, Puck reverses the magic, and the two couples reconcile and marry.

 

Spring Term

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 

 

During the World War II bombings of London, four English siblings are sent to a country house where they will be safe. One day Lucy finds a wardrobe that transports her to a magical world called Narnia. Narnia was once a peaceful realm filled with talking animals, fauns, giants and dwarves but has now fallen into a cursed eternal winter. After coming back, Lucy returns to Narnia with her brothers, Peter and Edmund and her sister, Susan. There, they join the magical lion, Aslan, in the fight against the evil White Witch, who imposed the enchanted, eternal winter on Narnia and become Kings and Queens of Narnia.

Summer Term

The Street Beneath My Feet by Charlotte Guillain & Yuval Zommer

 

What’s under our feet as we go about our day? We might think about the roots of the trees we pass by, or the worms in the soil, but what about all the other stuff? Water pipes, electrical cables, storm drains and sewers and underground trains are all represented in this unusual fold-out concertina book, as well as the remains of older civilisations, caves, underground rivers and even the centre of the earth itself.

The Street Beneath My Feet is a charming informational text that takes us on a journey under the ground, through the Earth, and out the other side again! The book covers a wide range of subjects, including animal life, man-made objects, geology, fossils, and more.

 

Holes by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats, a boy who has bad luck due to a curse placed on his great- great-grandfather, is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, for a crime he did not commit. Stanley and the other boys at the camp are forced to dig large holes in the dirt every day. Stanley eventually realizes that they are digging these holes because the Warden is searching for something. As Stanley continues to dig holes and meet the other boys at the camp, the narrator intertwines three separate stories to reveal why Stanley's family has a curse and what the Warden is looking for.