The Light in the Night
Marie Voigt
Simon & Schuster, £6.99
ISBN: 978-1471173264

Usually, after reading a new story, I would ask the children to rate it out of 10, but, on this occasion, there was no need. Some stories just grab the children’s attention, and I knew straightaway that this one would be a new favourite. The proof was in the pudding when they asked for the same story the following day. This book is full of carefully detailed illustrations and has a fun, innovative and thoughtful storyline. It’s certainly a thought-provoking book that I would recommend for any home or primary school library. It gets a great big thumbs up from us. 

Kerry Swift is a early years teacher at Moorlands Schools Federation, Bath

Making Kids Cleverer: a manifesto for closing the advantage gap
David Didau
Crown House Publishing, £14.99
ISBN: 978-1785833663

For a book about education, Making Kids Cleverer is unusual, because it engages with a wide range of the actual research evidence - and, for this reason alone, it is worth taking seriously. Didau fully acknowledges the importance of intelligence and genetics, but also synthesises a wide range of solid research findings across numerous fields that pertain to education to conclude that improving intelligence is really about imparting knowledge to children. It’s the kind of book that could initiate a real conversation among educators, parents and policymakers about what research really shows and how we can use it to help children.

Jonathan Wai is assistant professor of education policy and psychology and the 21st-century endowed chair in education policy at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, US