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A story that explores diversity in the classroom through the eyes of a girl who looks different to others in her class.

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The Girl With A Brave Heart by Rita Jahanforuz and Vali Mintzi

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The Girl With A Brave Heart by Rita Jahanforuz and Vali Mintzi

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A deep, heart-warming book about a young girl in Tehran, called Shiraz who's ball of wool from her late mother falls into a neighbours garden. However, the neighbour is thought to be 'unusual'. This story follows Shiraz as she embarks on her journey of retrieving her wool.
The moral of the story is to recognise the feelings of others and how people who are deep in sadness may not know how to ask others for what they really need.

The story explores diversity in a sensitive and appropriate way, with images depicting other cultures and ways of life to enhance children's knowledge and understanding. This gives children the ability to view and study these images and make connections to other cultures, whether as an introduction or to deepen their understanding.
It also features sensitive topics such as death and grief in a subtle manner.

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A story of friendship, kindness and looking out for each other. Little Fox is very quiet whereas her friends are all very loud! She notices small things in the forest such as bugs under logs that her friends don't see. Little Fox writes stories about what she finds in the forest and likes to tell them to her friends, but they never listen to her stories. She notices that there may be a real bear in the woods, but her friends can't hear her as she tries to tell them about the danger! How will Little Fox find her big voice to alert her friends?
This book would be great to use if there is a focus on friendship and the importance of listening to each other.

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This gently introduces the food and lifestyles enjoyed by the Vikings. Each page is a full image containing cut outs and flaps to interact with. It explores farming, housing and the fear caused by Vikings in little villages.
This book would be useful in cross-curricular links with History and Geography, where children could research the countries where the Vikings settled and raided.

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This book states 100 facts about the rainforests. It starts with a description of what rainforests are and what plant life grows there. It contains a world map locating rainforests and also quizes throughout to test knowledge.

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This book introduces children to all aspects of the weather, explaining what the weather is and how it can differ depending on location and heat. It explores why certain weather conditions happen such as lightening and tornados, and also how animals have adapted to living in certain conditions and weathers.
This book could be used for science lessons as it features facts and images of the water cycle and other necessary information for children to learn.

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This poem was inspired by a bear that had been kept in captivity and was finally set free into the wild. It was designed to be read slowly with a deeper tone. This could open classroom discussions surrounding animal rights and animal cruelty.
Children could be asked to discuss the feelings and emotions they would feel if they were the bear throughout different parts of the poem.

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The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson

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The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson

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Plop is a baby barn owl who is scared of the dark and struggles to believe he is a night bird. After refusing to hunt with his parents, his mother encourages him to leave the nest and learn more about the dark. Plop makes new friends who show him how amazing the dark can be! His adventures allow him to experience more of the world where he discovers that the dark is not scary at all!

This book is aimed at KS1 children aged between 5 and 7 due to the simple sentence structures and vocabulary. Also, it teaches the element of perseverance, encouraging children to become resilient, and so is ideal for younger children.
It could be used as a whole class read with activities at the end of each chapter, some could be read as homework
Activities:
*  Children can write a list of negative and positive words to describe the dark. Are they scared of the dark too?
*The children could write their own story about an animal of their choice overcoming a fear.
*Question: Why do you think Plop is scared of the dark when he is a night bird?

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Lara lies awake with the memories of her Nana and is stricken with grief over her loss. Struggling to overcome her sadness, her tears wash her out to sea. The feelings almost completely overwhelm Lara until she sees a Pearl at the bottom of the Ocean. Grasping the Pearl closely, she soon remembers the happy memories of her Nana and her sadness begins to lift. Lara rows back home but understands there will be more times when she needs to visit the Ocean again but everything will be alright.

A beautiful picture book that sensitively expresses the feelings of anxiety and grief, and shows that feeling this way is ok, everything will get better.
It is a KS1 book with full picture pages and limited writing, but due to the nature of the subject, could also be used with older children to better understand grief.
I would read this book to the class as a short story during reading times which could then be used as inspiration for other pieces of work.
Activities:
* The class could draw their own sea picture with an item that they would find at the bottom that would make them feel better. Explain why?
*Write a list of words that show which emotions Lara may have before she finds the Pearl, and then a list for when she gets back home.
* Tableau and thought tracking what Lara may be thinking. Why would she be thinking this? Show the emotions in a freeze frame.

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Joseph, a young boy with a raging temper is sent to the city during the war, where he is staying with Mrs F, a stern woman who runs the local zoo. Joseph struggles to make friends with anyone at his new school, instead choosing to pick fights. Mrs F takes him to her zoo where he meets Adonis, a strong and dangerous Silverback Gorilla. Joseph is given the role of watching over Adonis's cage should the bombs come closer. One day an incident at the zoo forces authorities to remove Adonis to another zoo or be destroyed and Joseph realises he has a connection to the Gorilla. But when the bombs fall, is Joseph able to do what is expected of him after a friendship flourished with Adonis?
I would use this book with a KS2 audience and higher year groups. Extracts of the book can be used within cross-curricular lessons such as History in order to influence pieces of work. Language used is not suitable for younger audiences as there is a deeper level of understanding required.
Activities:
* Children could look at the front page and guess what the book may be about. Are there any clues in the pictures?
* The class can write a letter from Adonis's perspective. How do they feel about Mrs F and Joseph? How do they feel about being locked in a cage every day?
* How would you feel about being separated from your family and being sent somewhere unfamiliar? Do you think this is why Joseph is angry?

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The Rhythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-Smith

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The Rhythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-Smith

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This is a beautiful picture book that tells the story of a young boy named Issac, who becomes fascinated with the way in which water travels after he empties his jar of water into a stream and watches it flow. Isaac imagines the places the water will go, through towns, oceans and even the clouds! Cassi, on the other side of the world, welcomes the rain to her parched village, exploring the differences in climate and life experiences around the world.

This book provides a simplistic introduction to the water cycle, making it suitable for KS1 and KS2 alike. It is suitable for cross-curricular learning, such as studying other countries, and also Science, focusing on the use of water for plants and animals.
Activities:
* Children could draw labelled pictures of how they use water everyday, could they use less water?
* Looking at the book, where do you think Cassie lives and why? Do the pictures tell you anything?
* The class could write a journal/letter as if they were the water from Issac's jar. They can explain where they went and what they saw.

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An Elephant In The Garden by Michael Morpurgo

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An Elephant In The Garden by Michael Morpurgo

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Lizzie's father is fighting in World War II and her mother takes the responsibility of caring for all the animals at the local zoo. The bond between the family and an elephant named Marlene is unbreakable, and soon Marlene is living in the family garden when all animals at the zoo are to be destroyed due to the war. Eventually the war strikes their hometown and they must flee across Dresden through the snow, taking Marlene with them. One day, the family stumble upon a Canadian soldier, and despite their differences, welcome him into the group and begin their journey together. Lizzie's mother must keep her children and the elephant away from other refugees to keep them safe but when the tanks get closer Marlene is frightened and flees, only being re-united many years later at a circus.
A breath taking story of loyalty, love and resolve for children at KS2 aged 9-10. It provides children with an understanding of life during the war without including too many details that may be upsetting. This theme makes the book suitable for a KS2 audience, which perhaps could be a reference point for History lessons focused on the second World War. I would use this book as a class read where children can either work independently or in pairs to complete questions and work based on the book.
Activities:
* Children could create their own storyboard about an animal of their choice and how they would transport them across the country. How would they keep them safe and get food for it?
* Why did Mutti decide to tell the soldiers that Peter was her son? How did her attitude change towards Peter throughout the book and how do you know this?
* The children can imagine they are the policeman after seeing the elephant in the garden. They can write a journal entry about the experience, stating what happened and how they felt.

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April must travel with her father to Bear Island in the Arctic Circle for his work as a scientist. But despite it's name, her father tells her there are no bears living there.
One night, April realises they are not alone on the island as she sees something bear shaped in the distance. A starving, lonely polar bear who shouldn't be there.
Determined to save Bear, April embarks on a dangerous adventure in order to reconnect him with his own kind.
A heart warming book showing the unlikely bond between a girl and a Polar Bear. Exploring the effects of global warming whilst integrating a number of issues, including pollution, death, grief and endangered species, this book shows you are never too young to make a difference.

This book is aimed at KS2, around 8 years and above. There are limited but powerful illustrations and could be difficult for younger children to read and understand.
This could be used as a whole class read in order to produce work from. The book can be read over the course of a few weeks, bringing in the topics, such as pollution, so can be the focus of a unit of work.
Activities:
*Children could write a letter to Bear from April's perspective when she arrives back home. How does she feel?
*Children can pair up and create role play showing the emotions and feelings from different chapters in the book, how does April feel when she sees Bear for the first time?
*Children could re-write the story from Bear's point of view, starting before April arrived on the Island.