A heartwarming story that celebrates family relationships and the special bond between grandparents and grandchildren.
This mini lesson is designed especially for parents who enjoy sharing reading time with their children, offering a simple and meaningful way to explore the story together.
📖 Book Information
Publisher: Andersen Press (2021)
Topic: Family relationships
Age: 6–8
Level: Young learners
Skills: Reading for pleasure
🎯 Learning Aims
Reflect on family relationships
Talk about the importance of grandparents
Discuss holidays and activities families enjoy together
💡 Language & Learning Focus
Learn and review vocabulary related to everyday activities
A new and funny adventure for Clarice Bean fans and for parents who enjoy sharing reading time with their children.
Full of humour and relatable situations, this story explores family life, everyday experiences, and the ups and downs of relationships at home—perfect for engaging young readers.
What happens when you want to rescue someone who doesn’t want to be found?
An unmissable summer read full of mystery, intrigue, and unexpected twists. This story invites readers to follow clues, question assumptions, and uncover the truth.
📖 Book Information
Author: Fiona Longmuir
Publisher: Nosy Crow (June 2022)
Topic: Children’s fiction, mystery
Age: 8–12
Pages: 272
Level: A2–B1
Skills: Reading comprehension
🎯 Learning Aims
Use facts and clues to solve a mystery
Develop critical thinking and comprehension skills
A gentle and touching story that explores the special bond between a child and their pet.
Through the story of a goldfish, young readers are invited to reflect on care, connection, and emotions, while also discovering interesting facts about these fascinating animals.
📖 Book Information
Author & Illustrator: Catherine Rayner
Topic: Children’s fiction, pets, goldfish
Age: 6–8
Pages: 32
Level: A1
Skills: Reading
🎯 Learning Aims
Learn interesting facts about goldfish
Reflect on the relationship between a pet and its owner
A new house, a new school, new friends… and a very special bench!
Tilly has just moved to a new home by the sea. She loves playing on the beach, doing cartwheels in the sand, and spending time with her mum and her dog, Shadow.
But starting at a new school feels very different. Inside, everything is unfamiliar, and everyone is a stranger.
When Tilly finds herself alone, her teacher suggests she try The Friendship Bench—a place where children can go to find someone to play with. But when Tilly sits down… someone is already there.
📖 Book Information
Author: Wendy Meddour
Illustrated by: Daniel Egneus
Publisher: Oxford University Press (April 2022)
Age: 5+
Pages: 32
Level: Young learners
Topic: Children’s fiction, friendship
Skills: Reading for pleasure
🎯 Learning Aims
Talk about making friends
Explore feelings and emotions
💡 Language & Learning Focus
Revise verbs in the present and past tense
Learn vocabulary related to:
The beach
Friendship
School routines
💬 My Opinion
All the Summer Reading recommendations are meant to be shared with children during a relaxed time of the year. They also aim to encourage meaningful conversations during and after reading.
Summer is a great opportunity to talk about changes in our lives and how we feel about them. After all, life is about adapting to change.
This book is a warm and beautiful story that gently opens the door to conversations about:
Moving to a new home
Starting a new school
Making new friends
Exquisitely illustrated and deeply comforting.
🌐 More by the Author
Wendy Meddour – Children’s writer, illustrator, and academic
It often feels like time is chasing us… and that’s exactly how Joe feels.
Everything in his life seems rushed—his mum is in a hurry, he has to get ready for school quickly, his teacher is in a hurry, and he must finish his work before time runs out.
Joe feels overwhelmed. He can’t enjoy the little things, finish his drawing, or even stop to understand why his little sister is crying.
So, he makes a bold decision: to stop time.
By doing so, he begins to notice the small details around him and truly experience the world. But… will he be able to stop the clock?
📖 Book Information
Topic: Children’s fiction
Age: 5–8
Pages: 32
Level: Young learners
Skills: Reading, reflecting, speaking, writing (telling the time)
🎯 Learning Aim
Encourage children to reflect on the value of slowing down
Appreciate the importance of small moments and sharing them with others
💡 What Children Can Learn
Telling the time: asking and answering questions about time
Understanding how to manage time in a positive way
Observing “stories within the story”:
What are people in the street doing?
Where are they going?
How are they feeling?
The detailed illustrations—especially of the houses—invite children to imagine and create their own stories.
💬 My Opinion
This is a simple yet deeply meaningful story.
It carries an important message not only for children but also for adults. Even after everything the world experienced during the pandemic, many people have returned to living in a constant rush—trying to do too many things at once.
Children, too, often have their time filled with activities, leaving little space to play, explore, and simply experience the world.
This book is a gentle and inspiring reminder to slow down and truly live each moment.
Martha’s world is full of maps… even for the impossible!
Martha LOVES drawing maps—of everything! From outer space to her own bedroom, and even her thoughts and dreams, she invites readers on a journey through her imaginative world.
Starting in space, the story zooms in step by step: to our planet, Martha’s community, her home, and beyond… into a future where anything is possible.
Packed with quirky details and fun non-fiction labels, each page offers new discoveries and sparks curiosity about the world around us.
📖 Book Information
Illustrated by: Leigh Hodgkinson
Publisher: Oxford Children’s Books (June 2022)
Age: 6–8
Pages: 32
Level: Elementary
Topic: Map reading
🎯 Learning Aim
Introduce children to geography and map-reading skills
🧠 Skills Developed
Map reading
Spatial awareness
💡 What Children Can Learn
General concepts about the universe (Solar System, planets, Earth)
How to read and interpret maps
Development of spatial skills
How to read a city map (locations, prepositions, directions)
Vocabulary related to places in a city
How to read and describe a house map
💬 My Opinion
This book is a fantastic source of vocabulary for language learners and a great introduction to map reading through familiar and imaginative contexts.
Children can explore places they know and places they might visit. It’s also a perfect resource for holidays—encouraging them to look at maps of new cities and think about how to get around.
The idea of zooming from outer space into Martha’s bedroom is simply brilliant! Children will love peeking into her home, comparing it to their own, and describing their favourite room.
Every page is filled with details that invite exploration and can easily turn into fun activities like guessing games (“I spy with my little eye…”).
What happens when you’re a bored child… but you have imagination?
This delightful story shows how boredom can turn into creativity. A young girl feels lonely at home—there’s no one to play with. But everything changes when she begins a “name game” with the nature and animals around her, inventing imaginative names and personalities for each of them.
Soon, she creates her own playful world, full of wonder and possibility.
📖 Book Information
Illustrated by: Olivia Holden
Publisher: Tiny Owl Press (2022)
Age: 6–8
Pages: 32
Level: Elementary
Topics: Nature, imagination
🎯 Learning Aim
Develop nature-related vocabulary
Spark and encourage imagination
🧠 Skills Developed
Reading
Observation skills
💡 What Children Can Learn
Expand vocabulary related to nature and the environment
Improve observation and naturalistic skills
Discover new ways of describing the world around them
Use adjectives for richer descriptions
Develop listening and musical awareness (identifying sounds in nature)
Strengthen linguistic skills (naming and describing)
Understand that boredom can be an opportunity to spark imagination
💬 My Opinion
Children naturally love exploring and discovering the world around them, and this book is a wonderful, creative, and engaging story that celebrates both.
Every page is filled with shapes, colours, and details that invite readers to observe closely. The rich illustrations offer a great opportunity for children and adults to interact, play, and enjoy meaningful time together.
Can you imagine what ten cats and a few cans of paint can do? The result… a wonderfully messy and hilarious adventure!
In this playful story, ten curious cats discover three cans of paint—and soon, blotches, splodges, and splats are everywhere!
10 Cats is a fun and engaging exploration of colour, brought to life through simple text and delightful illustrations. Perfect for reading aloud, this picture book will keep young readers entertained while they learn.
📖 Book Information
Author & Illustrator: Emily Gravett
Publisher: Pan Macmillan (August 2022)
Category: Picture book
Themes: Animals
Target: Young learners
🎯 Learning Opportunities
Children can learn:
Counting from 1 to 10
Basic maths concepts: plus, minus, before and after
Primary colours and what happens when they are mixed
Vocabulary related to patterns and shapes (e.g. stripes, patches)
What’s your favourite type of dog? Is it big or small? Soft? Spotty? Stripy?
In this playful and engaging story, readers are introduced to a variety of dogs with distinctive personalities. But there’s a twist—the narrator turns out to be a cat, adding a humorous and unexpected perspective!
The rhyming text is simple yet effective, enhanced by a light, humorous tone. Combined with beautiful illustrations, this book is sure to capture the attention of even the youngest readers.
Ruffles is an adorable and playful puppy. There are lots of things he likes… and lots of things he doesn’t!
Ruffles perfectly represents a toddler in dog form—sometimes he laughs, sometimes he doesn’t, but with a little help and understanding, he always gets there in the end.
This charming series invites young readers to connect with everyday emotions and experiences in a gentle and engaging way.
📖 Book Information
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Recommended age: 3+
Pages: 32
Reading level: Beginning Reader
Genre: Fiction
🐾 About the Series
Dog lovers will instantly fall in love with Ruffles, a delightful character created by the author of Hugless Douglas.
Titles in the series include:
Ruffles and the Red, Red Coat
Ruffles and the Teeny, Tiny Kittens
Ruffles and the New Green Thing
Ruffles and the Cosy, Cosy Bed
🎯 Learning Value
Each story offers:
An opportunity for young children to reflect on everyday situations
A chance to learn and review vocabulary in a natural and meaningful context
Can a squirrel with superpowers bring happiness to a hopeless girl?
Flora and Ulysses is a charming and humorous story about an unlikely friendship between a cynical young girl and a squirrel with extraordinary abilities. Together, they embark on an adventure that explores hope, friendship, and the power of believing in something more.
📖 Book & Film Information
Book by: Kate DiCamillo
Publisher: Candlewick Press (2013)
Pages: 256
Recommended age (book): 10–12
Reading level: Elementary+
Film adaptation: Disney (2021)
🎯 Lesson Plan Overview (Based on the Film)
This lesson plan has been designed to work with the film adaptation, rather than the book.
Suggested age: 8–11
🧠 Learning Focus
Vocabulary
Learn about squirrels
Parts of the body
What they eat and do
Writing Skills
Create a comic strip
Describe friends (physical appearance and personality)
Design a poster
Create and describe a character
Speaking Activities
Teacher-led discussion about “superpowers” (can be introduced in L1)
Being an immigrant myself, I often wonder: Where is “home”? Is home something we carry in our hearts? Is it tied to the people we left behind? Can we truly define what “home” means?
Home is a heartwarming tale that invites readers to reflect, explore emotions, and better understand their own feelings.
Follow Bear’s journey far from home and back again, and discover the true meaning of home. Written in rhyme and supported by beautiful illustrations, this is a story readers will want to return to again and again.
📖 Book Information
Author: Smriti Halls
Illustrated by: Alice Courtley (Klaus Flugge Prize shortlisted)
Publisher: Andersen Press (June 2023)
Category: Picture book
Recommended age: 5+
Pages: 32
Genre: Family, stories about families and friends
Skills: Reading, speaking, writing, drawing
🎯 Learning Aim
This story may help children:
Talk about the importance of home and family
Reflect on belonging and identity
💡 Ideas to Explore the Story
Explore the difference between “house” and “home”
Discuss what home means to different people
Talk about refugees and their experiences of home
Reflect on the challenges of moving to a new place
When asked about the inspiration behind this beautiful rhyming story, Smriti Halls shared that her idea of home has been shaped by living in many different places—from South India to the UK and beyond.
She reflects on the challenges of starting over, making new friends, and trying to belong. Through these experiences, she came to understand that home is not just a place, but something we carry within us.
In a world where many people are forced to leave their homes, this story reminds us that:
Home is something we can share with others
We can create a sense of belonging for someone else
We can help others feel welcome and at home
🏆 About the Author
Smriti Halls has been shortlisted for the Oscar’s Book Prize and the British Book Awards, among others.
A spellbinding rhyming story that brings to life the precious moments between mother and daughter, with a touch of magic and a supernatural twist.
This story celebrates the importance of shared memories and meaningful moments. It also includes interesting facts about the world and some wonderfully original recipes!
The beautiful illustrations, soft colour palette, and even the choice of font invite readers to enjoy the story from the very first page.
📖 Book Information
Illustrated by: Jess Rose
Publisher: Owlet Press
Category: Picture book
Recommended age: 5+
Pages: 32
Genre: Family, mother and daughter, witches, nature, food
Skills: Reading, speaking, pronunciation
🎯 Learning Aim
This story can help children:
Talk about magic and their feelings about it
Develop their imagination
💡 Ideas to Explore the Story
Talk about witches (especially with older children)
Discuss magic and magical creatures
Discover the joy of being outdoors
Reflect on the different things mothers can do
Talk about nature and what it offers us
Create recipes using natural elements, focusing on verbs and nouns
