Dr Xargle's Book of Earthlets

I used this book in KS2, to support work that the children were doing about spoof report writing. It's quite an entertaining read, and provided lots of talking points for the children. They were able to look at how the authour used language to humerous effect and provides a stimulus for children to write their own spoof reports.

ISBN-13: 978-1842700679

I Wonder Why Planes Have Wings?

This is a great series of books that provide answers to some of the questions that children might have about various topics. These were the most popular books with some of the boys in the Key Stage One class I was placed in.

978-1856971379

Horrible Histories

A staple collection for any school library, they cover all sorts of history topics. Children tend to love them, and so do teachers if I'm honest!

ISBN: Various

Science in Seconds

A handy book to provide inspiration for various quickfire science experiments.

978-0471044567

The Smartest Giant in Town

This is another book from the Donaldson/Scheffler stable. It tells the story of a giant who gets a brand new set of clothes, but his good nature sees him give his new found garments away during the course of his journey. Told with some great rhymes, in a similar way to the Gruffalo.

978-0333963968

The Emporer of Absurdia

A great book, full of top notch illustrations by Chris Riddell. It provides an excellent way to stimulate a talk about imagination or adding creativity to a story.

ISBN-13: 978-1405090285

Daft Bat

This is a useful book to use as part of a PSHE or SEAL session, which involves looking at things from other peoples' (or in this books case, other bats') point of view.

 ISBN-13: 978-1842706121

Goodnight Mr Tom

This is a classic book, set in World War Two, and is a useful as part of a topic about evacuees. It tells the story of a boy named William Beech, who gets evacuated to the country to live with Tom Oakley, a reluctant, reclusive guardian. Upper Key Stage 2 book.

ISBN-13: 978-0140315417

Redwall

I was hooked on this series of books when I was younger, of which this one was the first to be published. It tells the story of a group of woodland creatures that live in an abbey and have to defend it from a marauding band of rats, stoats and weasels. Brain Jacques has created a vivid, exciting world, which has been going for so long it has it's own lore for the readers to become immersed in. Well worth reading.

ISBN-13: 978-1862301382

Alex Rider graphic novel series

Just as the Artemis Fowl graphic novel did for that world, these books provide a slightly more accessible way into the Alex Rider world for the reluctant reader. Drawn in a modern japanese manga style, there is a whole series of books which might serve to kick start some readers onto the full length novels.

ISBN-13: 978-1406313482 (for above title, many others available)

Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel

Ideal for older KS2 children, this is a graphic novel story set in the Artemis Fowl world. The most useful element about this book is that it provides a way into the world of Artmeis Fowl and the books about his adventures, without the intimidating page count and large passages of text that might put some readers off.

ISBN-13: 978-0141322964

The Conquerors

Written and illustrated by David Mckee, this was another book introduced to me during a philosphy class for my teacher training course. It tells the story of a general and his army who try to make all the countries they invade to be just like them. However, they didn't count on meeting the people from the Little Country. Some great themes to discuss come out of reading this book.

ISBN-13: 978-1842704684

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This is a book that I remember reading as a child, but until recently I had forgotten about it. However, in a recent philosophy session this book was remembered to me and some of the potential themes for philosophical discussion that arise in the book were outlined to us, proving this book could be more useful in the classroom than I had first thought.

ISBN-13: 978-0241003008

The Gruffalo

One of those books that would probably appear on every ones list of great children's books, it's a title from effective pairing of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. This book features some great rhyming so it's a useful book to introduce children to rhyming patterns and rhythms.

ISBN-13: 978-0333710937

The Invention of Hugo Cabert

Sort of a Davinci Code for primary aged children, this is a great mystery story written by Brian Selznick. It also features some outstanding black and white illustrations which compliment the tone of the story really well.

ISBN-13: 978-1407103488

Scaredy Squirrel

A very funny book written by Melanie Watt and full of great comic moments. It's about a squirrell overcoming his fears of leaving his tree and venturing into the great unknown. Hilarious book and great illustrations.

ISBN-13: 978-1905117291

Traction Man meets Turbo Dog

A sequel to the aformentioned Traction Man, this follow up adventure involves Traction Man's beloved pet Scrubbing Brush going missing, and our hero's search to find him. Just as enjoyable as the first book!

ISBN-13: 978-0099484028

Traction Man

This is a book in the Disney Pixar mould - something that children will love but also that adults will be able to enjoy on another level. Written and illustrated by Mini Grey it follows the adventures of the titular Traction Man. There is also a sequel which is worth checking out.

ISBN-13: 978-0099451099

Farmer Duck

Written by Martin Waddell and illustrated beautifully by Helen Oxenbury, this is a wonderful book to use in KS1. I used this one during a sequence on recounts, which allowed us to talk about the feelings of Duck as he is put to work on the farm. Great to use with puppets too.

ISBN-13: 978-0744536607

Welcome to the Primary Library Book List.

I created this blog for a couple of reasons. Firstly, as part of my Primary SCITT training, I'm required to generate a list of children's books and explain how they could be used to support the curriculum. It occurred to me it might be easier to do this as a blog which I could add to as and when I found a book, or was linked to a book by a colleague. Which brings me onto the second reason for creating this blog; it's a place for others to use, a working directory of books that other teachers can add to and leave comments about the books that may benefit other teachers. Think of it as a melting pot of the best children's books available for teachers or anyone working with children to peruse for inspiration. A slightly idealistic prospect maybe and I'm half expecting to be the only one to access it but I'll carry on with this anyway :)