The week in books: 7 December 2018

7th December 2018, 12:00am
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The week in books: 7 December 2018

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/week-books-7-december-2018

The Silent Guides: understanding and developing the mind throughout life
Professor Steve Peters
Lagom, £12.99
ISBN: 9781788700016

My Hidden Chimp
Professor Steve Peters
Studio Press, £12.99
ISBN: 9781787413719

Fear of failure, procrastination, being unkind to others: what if we could help children to train their brains to avoid these habits and embed more helpful ones instead? And if we could, how would we do it? These books aim to answer those questions.

There’s nothing evangelical or preachy about Peters’ advice. At regular intervals, he reminds us that this will not work for every child, and he winds up with a surprisingly humble conclusion.

Lucy Edkins is a teacher and freelance journalist

Winnie and Wilbur: the Santa surprise
Laura Owen and Korky Paul
Oxford University Press, £8.99
ISBN: 9780192767455

Who doesn’t love a Winnie and Wilbur story? And who doesn’t love Christmas?

We really enjoyed the new book and children asked to take it home to read again. It has given us not only a new adventure to enjoy but also another much-loved Christmas story.

Isobel Potter is a teacher at

Barnham Church of England VC Primary School in Norfolk

The author makes words really funny, like “please cheesy knees”.

Lucy, Year 1

I liked in the story when they wanted to give Father Christmas a present because no one gets him a present.

Joshua, Year 1

How to Ride a Polar Bear
Caryl Hart and Ed Eaves
Simon and Schuster Children’s UK, £6.99
ISBN: 9781471162916

Each page presents a new part of the adventure, keeping the children’s attention, with many guessing what they thought would happen next.

Josh was interested in the setting and explained to everyone what it looks like in the Arctic and how it would feel if you went there.

Edie liked the picture of the skeleton - she talked lots about the bones and what they could be from.

Oliver knew lots about the ice that would be there and could talk about an imaginary visit in the snow.

Matt Perrett is the early years foundation stage leader at Moorlands Schools Federation in Bath

Storm of Ice and Stars
Lisa Lueddecke
Scholastic, £7.99
ISBN: 9781407174044

This book is great if you want to talk to a class about empathy. Here we have a girl who doesn’t fit in and who becomes a hero. There is also a real feeling of grief and loss, dealt with sensitively.

Gill Ward is the senior librarian at Fortismere School in London

It shows us the kind of life our ancestors led and the superstition which was part of their lives. It is a bone-chilling page-turner.

Alice, aged 13

This is brilliant. It covers everything that makes a book good: characters, sorrow and passion.

Hector, aged 12

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