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.
