We live in a dangerous world, don’t we? In times of the Neanderthals, early man battled with the elements, lack of food and wild animals: all threats to life and limb. Since then, wonderful inventions, discoveries and changes to how…
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The terms ‘publishing’, ‘published writing’ or ‘published outcomes’ are often bandied about – we’ve definitely been mentioning them a lot during our recent moderation visits, but what do they mean in real terms; why should we dedicate time to publishing…
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Following this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, which ran from May 14th-18th, and rather ironically coincided with key stage 2 SATS week, this month’s literature review theme is one of health and well-being: both physical and mental. Its not ‘news’…
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‘Toxic masculinity’, misogyny and the empowerment of girls are oft-used themes of late – and, in many ways, rightly so. With the market flooded with children’s literature that champions women’s rights, we’ve seen brilliant titles in recent years such as Goodnight…
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Our moderation team put our heads together to create our wish-list for a smooth moderation, so we thought we'd share them with you in the form of our six top tips! Tell us about the child. We don't know them…
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With the vernal equinox in mind, this month’s selection of texts is full of life and colour: all three are beautifully illustrated and all convey a sense of vitality, newness and growth. But the growth element runs deeper too because…
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Last month, we reflected upon the power of literature that explores the darker side of life and how important this can be for children in supporting them to develop resilience to, and understanding of, their world. We shared Matt de…
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So half-term is over for us but picture this if you will. We're in a (very small) car and It's raining. We have five hours to go until our final destination, which is not the most cheering of thoughts, but…
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After a brief time of hibernation with the many amazing books we were gifted for Christmas, we are delighted to bring to you our first literature review of this shiny New Year and this particular one is something of a…
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Okay, forgive us the title - we find it hard to resist a good pun at The Literacy Tree, especially when it includes a homophone, but this last year we have done a lot of thinking and talking about spelling…
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We believe books can make for the best presents and as we are often asked what books we would buy for our own family or friends, and particularly in a year with such a huge range of excellent new releases…
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What if thoughts really do become things? What if the power of the human mind could be used to summon that which we needed? And what if our imagination could save us in the most unexpected of situations? It’s not…
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We had a wonderful opportunity last week to spend an evening with Lauren Child, UK Children's Laureate and Kate DiCamillo, the former U.S National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. This was hosted by another favourite author (and children's book blogger/radio…
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It is the human condition to have preferences, to enjoy predictability and routine but there is much to be said about leaving one’s comfort zone, trying new things and pushing boundaries. There have been numerous studies on ‘growth’ versus ‘fixed’…
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We have chosen some of our favourite books that have clear and distinct geographical links! There is a mixture of longer and shorter narratives with specific geographical settings, narrative non-fiction texts that give us information about geography or have strong…
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A few years ago, when the curriculum we've come to know, and (maybe love is too strong a word) make our own was merely in draft form, we were asked to prepare an example of planning for a group of…
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In times where things may appear rather bleak in our world, literature is always going to be the medium through which beauty, tales of resilience, exploration and discovery can be transferred to readers the world-over. And what better time than…
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One of our favourite things is when we are asked to visit a school to help shape their English curriculum. This is an enjoyable task for many reasons: it allows us to recommend texts that we believe will both engage…
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