Page 72 - SEN116 January-February 2022

Book reviews
Book reviews
Reading Recharged:
Activities To Put Spark Into Guided and Whole-Class Reading A. Barton
Alex Barton is a primary teacher, literacy resource creator and reading coordinator, who is active on Twitter as @ MrB_3. This book brings together the best of his experience, providing tips and advice for delivering effective teaching of reading, accompanied with photocopiable resources that can be used with a wide range of abilities.
Barton stresses that
primary teachers have a responsibility to nurture a love of reading, reading for pleasure and supporting the reluctant reader so that they
can discover the magic of books.
The seven comprehension skills that reflect the National Curriculum requirements for children in a primary school setting are each explained in separate chapters that include activity guidelines and worksheets, including editable versions that are available on-line.
This book would be of value to the classroom teacher and the author also refers to the importance of story time, when texts can be more challenging as well as the role of picture books, even in upper KS2, that convey powerful messages. This is of particular relevance for those students whose vocabulary is underdeveloped.
Bloomsbury Education ISBN: 978-1-4729-8486-9 £24.99
Mud Boy
Author: S.Siggs (with notes by P. Knightsmith) Illustrator: A. Crosby
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Sarah Siggs has worked in a range of educational settings and as an SEND teacher and currently lives on a boat in West Sussex. In this book, beautifully illustrated by Amy Crosby, she has created a powerful story around the issue of bullying and feelings of helplessness and victimisation. Aimed at 5-11 year olds, it relates how a boy
called Sam comes to experience ‘mud words’ being thrown at him by other children and how this begins to affect him physically and emotionally.
As the story develops, Sam’s family find out what is happening and contact the school and Sam also learns to recognise when other children are also being bullied and how to deal with this.
The notes provided by Pooky Knightsmith provide a useful guide to using the book effectively, suggesting questions to prompt thinking and activities to explore parts of the book more deeply. Some issues raised include:
• Why do children in the book throw mud words? Is it Sam’s fault?
• How did the mud words make Sam feel? • Should Sam throw mud words back?
This is a lovely, gentle book that would be very useful in exploring sensitive issues around bullying, being bullied and feeling worried. It is a deceptively simple resource, in that it is clear that a great deal of thought has gone into weaving complex emotions into an accessible format.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN:978-1-78592-870-3 £10.99
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