Tag Archive | Rachels Random Resources

Rodasauri The Dinosaur’s Trip To London by Lainey Dee

Oct31

Christmas Traditions

Rodasauri The Dinosaur’s Trip To London by Lainey Dee is a charming book for the under fives. It is perfect for any time of year but especially at Christmas as this is the setting for the book.

Young children can marvel as Rodasuri meets Father Christmas. We see that life is for giving, and that one good turn deserves another.

The lights of London shine brightly in houses, shops and on London landmarks. There is festive food too.

Each page is beautifully illustrated by Chrissie Yeomans and provides a starting point for discussions with our children. There are tiny details in each picture that you may miss if you do not study the pictures closely.

The book has a message of caring, sharing and kindness.

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Beyond The Smiles by Minnie Lewis

Oct7

Uniquely Constructed

Beyond The Smiles by Minnie Lewis is a compelling contemporary novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The novel is cleverly constructed. Much of the tale is seen through lead character Laura’s eyes but we also have the same action seen through the eyes of others. We see the various motivations as we realise that sometimes trust is misplaced.

Families are complex. We cannot choose them. Some members are kind and caring, others are manipulative and evil. They protect certain members whilst casting out others.

The love of money is a dreadful master. It ensures that people do unscrupulous deeds in the pursuit of it.

The past intrudes on the present as a character inherits from a father who was unknown. A whole can of worms opens up.

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Maggie’s Red Circus Bus by Sue Wickstead

Oct2

Working Together

Maggie’s Red Circus Bus by Sue Wickstead is a most delightful book and just perfect for the under fives. The story has its’ roots in fact, as we learn from the back of the book.

The whole book is very colourful and appealing. The illustrations are full of detail and make perfect starting points for discussions with our children.

We see that the bus is at the heart of the community. It stands out as a bus but needs to be identified as a play bus. The children work together to decorate it.

Over a summer the children learn different circus skills, working towards a performance at the end of the summer.

The book teaches the importance of working together, learning new skills and how we are all part of our communities.

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Sisters Of The Resistance by Jina Bacarr

Sep30

Daisy Chain

Sisters Of The Resistance by Jina Bacarr is a powerful and heartbreaking historical novel. It is the sequel to Sisters At War which I recommend reading first for maximum enjoyment.

The novel opens in 1942. The action is mainly set in Paris with alternating chapters between the two sisters, Eve and Justine. They both ‘fought’ very different wars. “Not everyone fights the Boches with guns and ammo.” Both were in opposition to the Nazis – one in the resistance, the other from within the Nazis as a spy but posing as a mistress, after events took a dreadful turn in the opening of book one. For safety’s sake, secrets and silences were kept, even when it meant others thought badly of them.

The battle for France was played out not just on the battlefields but in homes and streets, the people fought back however they could, holding on to the hope that one day France would be free again.

Family is important. Family ties and their safety saw one sister denying herself in order to preserve her family. “Winning the war is what counts, not me.”

There were some truly awful atrocities committed by the Nazis against women. Jina Bacar has realistically and sensitively portrayed some very hard to read scenes of the violence and attacks against the women of Paris.

Round-ups and the treatment of the Jewish people was horrific. A sister declared “I need to know. Then someday I can tell the world what I saw.” Survival was essential to tell the world what really happened.

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