The Snowman

Michael Morpurgo
Puffin
160pp, £12.99
ISBN: 9780241352410

It’s Christmas day, you’re sat around in the living room with your family, feeling stuffed after a wonderful dinner. The Snowman is on TV. This has been a familiar scene with many families over the past 30 years.

That magical moment has been reimagined by Michael Morpurgo. James is a lonely young boy living on a farm, who believes his stammer has prevented him from making friends. After waking up to a blanket of snow, he heads out into the fields with his dog Bertie and spends Christmas Eve building a magnificent snowman. That night, James cannot sleep and, as he lies in his bed waiting for the morning to come, something magical happens outside...

As a huge fan of Michael Morpurgo and The Snowman picture book by Raymond Briggs, this story was everything I wanted a more.

Morpurgo has captured the spirit of Christmas and the breath-taking beauty of snow.

It would make an excellent Christmas Eve read for young and old. I have really enjoyed sharing this book with my class and discussing the themes and characters within the story. A story so familiar with so many children has now finally been told in words.

Nicole McCracken is a Year 5 teacher at Our Lady of Muswell Primary School, London

In the book there is a boy called James. He has a stutter and stammer, he has no friends because he doesn’t speak at school. But the Snowman becomes his friend, which is why he is our favourite character, because when he comes to life, he is kind to James.

Alex, Josh and Jayden, Year 5

Jingle Spells

James Brown
Simon & Schuster Children’s UK, £6.99
ISBN: 9781471170584

As an early years teacher, I often use books as a starting point for conversations and discussions. Jingle Spells proved to be a great book to use to think about empathy and not judging people, with a great Christmas theme.

Jingle Spells is so beautifully illustrated, and the story is so original, I knew the children in my Reception class were going to enjoy it. As soon as I showed them the book, the children got very excited about the Christmas tree on the front cover. They were captivated by the beautiful and clever illustrations and they loved being able to sing along. They also found the book very humorous and laughed a lot.

Throughout the story, the children listened intently and commented on how the main character, Trixie the Witch, must be feeling and how unfairly the elves were treating her.

Francesca Peckham, early years teacher at Netley Marsh CE Infant School, Hampshire

I loved it because of the witches and elves. The witch and the cat look very happy.

Albert, aged 4

Bah! Humbug!

Michael Rosen. Illustrated by Tony Ross
Scholastic
£8.99, 192pp
ISBN: 9781407178180

What a brilliant way to introduce A Christmas Carol to children! Michael Rosen’s inspired idea of interweaving the classic story (written as a play script) with his own original modern story works wonderfully.

I was able to share this text across KS2: although containing appropriately challenging vocabulary, it is not too dense, and therefore not off-putting for more reluctant readers. Tony Ross’s delightful illustrations (whose style is well-recognised by the children) are interspersed throughout. This was balanced with longer chapters (there are only five in the book), which encouraged the children’s reading stamina - especially as many did not want to put it down until they’d finished a chapter. 

It would be a great text to study in more detail with KS2, particularly looking at features of narrative versus play scripts, or evaluating why Rosen has chosen to place the parts of A Christmas Carol where he did amongst his story.

Overall, it’s a brilliant book for both avid and reluctant readers and has become a classroom favourite around this festive season.

Sophie Bartlett is a Year 5/6 teacher at Great Rollright C of E Primary School 

I really enjoyed it because I got to read two stories at once. My favourite bits were the end, which was really happy, and every time Scrooge gets annoyed at Bob because it is always very dramatic. I also loved the bit when the Spirits of Christmas visit Scrooge. I recommend this book to people who like the story of A Christmas Carol and like joining links between stories. The best age group for this book would be Year 5 and Year 6.

Matilda, Year 5

How Poems Work: Meanings, techniques and effects in 100 poems from Beowulf to the Iraq War

Robert Gullifer and Matthew Jenkinson
John Catt, £18.00
ISBN: 9781911382942

Not only does this book provide a collection that is arguably the “must know” of poetry, it draws nicely on key images, zooms
into devices (both literary and structural), and has an easy-to-read format with emboldened terminology.  

They have provided a definition for each key word and the authors remind us of the poems they appear in; a useful tool that could
spark endless discussion either in the classroom or among friends.  

However, the authors’ claim to challenge the “tweedy” image of literature is not entirely achieved.  If the aim of both authors is to challenge the canon, they haven’t quite accomplished it.  Nonetheless, the book does provide a classic compilation of poetry with an effective chronological arrangement. 

Sarah Donarski is an English teacher at Wellington College