Living Books for Kids

Russia Children’s Books

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“Folklore is important for understanding people’s cultural narratives – story lines that describe something unique to the culture’s history and its people. They help to define a cultural identity and, in subtle ways, shape future choices…In Russian fairy tales, the main character eventually prevails. He doesn’t win through his own virtues, though, but through the intervention of a magical being – a fish, a frog, a horse – that does all the hard work while the main character claims credit.”

− Mia M. Bloom & Sophia Moskalenko

Russian folklore is, indeed, entrenched in the Russian people, Continue reading →

Ukraine Children’s Books

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As we approach two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, escalating the Russo-Ukrainian war that began in 2014, I’m sharing some (mostly) fiction set in the Ukraine. Sadly, the backdrop is either the wars of the twentieth century or the current war.

If I were to pick one from my list below, I would start with the remarkable diary of 12-year-old Yeva Skalietska who fled Ukraine in 2022. My girls and I attended a remarkably composed presentation given by Yeva at the Oxford Literary Festival last spring and came home fighting over who was going to read the diary first.

Continue reading →

Books for Boys 12+

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“I can always tell when you’re reading somewhere in the house,” my mother used to say. “There’s a special silence, a reading silence.”
― The Child That Books Built: A Life in Reading, Francis Spufford

How wonderful, if in homes and libraries across the world, 2024 became the year of increased “reading silence”. As Spufford says, it is indeed “special” when we know those around us are lost in a faraway world or making new friends as they turn the pages of a book. This is a different silence from the endless tense scrolling of images and reels. The “reading silence” requires, not just the eyes and brain, but a conscious immersion of the whole body. Continue reading →

Visiting Madrid

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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

— Saint Augustine

With 2023 stretched out ahead, perhaps plan a city trip with the family and discover a few more pages of the world. Cities are great places to take children of all ages – museums, parks, food, buses to jump on and off, and new treasures around every corner. It may be a nearby city such as Exeter, Manchester or York, or somewhere further afield.

Last October half term took us on our first family foreign city trip since pre-Covid. And what an adventure! It was a 5-day trip including travel, so we had 3 full days to explore Spain’s capital city. Short but sweet. Any longer and the kids might not have been so willing to walk for miles. Continue reading →

Just Choose One

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Here in Oxford, carol services are in full flow. Nativity costumes are being aired, Christmas jumpers are enjoying their annual frolic, turkeys are ordered.

14 more sleeps (as I write).

Christmas is nearly here.

If your to-do list is as long as mine, can I suggest adding just one more? It won’t make much difference to the list but it will help keep the magic alive for the independent readers in your life.

Choose a book.

Just one.

Gift of knowledge concept with a pile of books and reading glasses with Christmas ornaments

As the children wait impatiently for Christmas, rather than you getting overwhelmed by the endless festive titles adorning the shopfronts, or feeling burdened by the long lists pouring into your inbox, just choose one.

Let’s keep life simple, and dare I say it, a little more enjoyable.

Take time to just choose one book your child might enjoy as they wait for Christmas – it could already be sitting at home on a bookshelf collecting dust, or be picked up on a quick trip to the library or local bookshop, or bought online.

So as you scroll the list below — Just Choose One.

CHRISTMAS CHAPTER BOOKS

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Continue reading →

Here in Oxford, carol services are in full flow. Nativity costumes are being aired, Christmas jumpers are enjoying their annual frolic, turkeys are ordered.

14 more sleeps (as I write).

Christmas is nearly here.

If your to-do list is as long as mine, can I suggest adding just one more? It won’t make much difference to the list but it will help keep the magic alive for the independent readers in your life.

Choose a book.

Just one.

Gift of knowledge concept with a pile of books and reading glasses with Christmas ornaments

As the children wait impatiently for Christmas, rather than you getting overwhelmed by the endless festive titles adorning the shopfronts, or feeling burdened by the long lists pouring into your inbox, just choose one.

Let’s keep life simple, and dare I say it, a little more enjoyable.

Take time to just choose one book your child might enjoy as they wait for Christmas – it could already be sitting at home on a bookshelf collecting dust, or be picked up on a quick trip to the library or local bookshop, or bought online.

So as you scroll the list below — Just Choose One.

CHRISTMAS CHAPTER BOOKS

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Continue reading →

Over 10 Books for Boys 11+

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“Books crowbar the world open for you.”

Rooftoppers, Katherine Rundell

As our children and teens grow up, their values and vision are forever being moulded. Reading, as we all know, plays such an integral part in their lives, “crowbarring the world open” to them. But with 1000s of books to choose from, and our busy lives pulling us in every direction, it’s more important than ever that we take some time to keep our youngsters reading. It might be a trip with them to a library or bookshop, browsing the bookshelves at home, encouraging them along to their school library, or buying them a book for Christmas. Continue reading →

Starting Out as an Independent Reader 6+

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Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, or a duty. It should be offered as a gift.

— Kate DiCamillo

I couldn’t agree more with Kate DiCamillo. So let’s get offering.

These early years of independent reading are laying down foundations for our children.  For a child to be immersed in a story and taken off to a faraway land will come naturally and be easy for some children, but many will need a helping hand or two. Continue reading →

Over 20 Books for 9-12yr olds

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“It is through the power and music and magic of stories and poems that children can expand their own intellectual curiosity, develop the empathy and awareness that they will need to tackle the complexities of their own emotions, of the human condition in which they find themselves.”

— Michael Morpurgo

Continue reading →