News
Books of the Week
Our final Books of the Week for this academic year have been chosen by our Junior Librarians, Mahi and Inez, both from class 2NS.
Mahi has chosen the fiction book, Super Snail, written and illustrated by Elys Dolan. This text formed part of our Year 2 Reading for Pleasure initiative in 2019, The Adventure Reading Road Map. It has proven to be a popular choice ever since!
Mahi’s reason for her choice:
“I like the cartoon style of this story and it is VERY funny!”
Mrs Harvey would support Mahi’s choice. Super Snail is about an unlikely superhero. By day Kevin is just an ordinary slug with a tedious job and an unkind boss. However, by night he puts on his shell and transforms into…Super Snail!
As with any superhero, this mighty mollusc has everything a superhero is expected to have, such as a secret lair, a faithful butler and amazing gadgets including a firework jet-ski, laser-show parachute and cordless vacuum cleaner. However, he still feels that something is missing and so he seeks advice from the League of Heroes to become an even more super superhero. With their suggestions will Kevin then be able to save the day from the evil Laser Pigeon using his wits, his strength and ‘the power of slime?’
This is a brilliantly funny parody of the classic superhero story and will have children (and adults) of all ages laughing, as Kevin tries to impress Susan the worm and the League of Superheroes. Some pages of the book are written in a graphic novel style, and the use of the bright cartoon-like illustrations help tell the story. I loved the relationship between Kevin and Wilfred the Butler, which reminded me of the old Batman series on TV. The use of speech bubbles and text boxes is a great introduction to graphic novels, and this would appeal to all ages.
Our second book of the week forms part of our current Year 2 Reading for Pleasure initiative and has been chosen by Inez. Ten Delicious Teachers is written by Ross Montgomery and illustrated by Sarah Warburton.
Inez tells us:
“This is my favourite Reading Road Map book – it a brilliant story and very funny too!”
Mrs Harvey endorses Inez’s choice. This is a glossy, humorous counting book which fully engages the reader. The story centres around ten teachers who have missed their bus home, so they decide to take a walk home through the woods. However, monsters are waiting for them and as they slowly make their way through the woods, there’s less and less teachers remaining in the group.
The text’s infectious rhyming and repetitive pattern is reminiscent of the ‘Ten Green Bottles’ song as there’s constantly one less teacher on every page as the sentences repeat.
The bold and vibrant illustrations capture the individuality of each of the hapless teachers in a subtly irreverent manner. Sarah Warburton’s illustrations effectively bring the author’s words to life and her fine details expand the story still further.
The choice of language reflects the perils of the journey with great effect, whilst making an efficient use of rhyme to learn counting and counting patterns for a young audience.
Young readers and audiences will be entertained by this comic countdown chant, especially when it is read aloud, and it is certain to become a story time favourite, either at school or at home.
Happy Reading!
Mrs Harvey
