Word games, word power play, word play
- A.R. Melrose, The Pooh Dictionary. (Methuen, 1995)
- Steve Palin, A Dissimulation of Birds’ – a wonderful, illustrated ‘collective nouns of birds’. (Minerva Press, 1998)
- Jeffrey Kacirk, Forgotten English – a rollicking guide to archaic words and their definitions (New York:William Morris and Company, 1997)
- The Oxford Dictionary of New Words – as a contrast to the previous reference! (Oxford University Press, 1997)
- Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, ‘Squids will be Squids’ – another brilliant book from these authors; this time ‘Fresh Morals: Beastly Fables’ (Viking 1998)
- Daniel Mermet and Henri Galeron; ‘Lulubird Euchres the Noodleheads’ – nonsense words that convey more meaning than normal words! (Harlin Quist, 1998)
- Richard Whiteley, Letters Play, - a treasure trove of word games and ideas. (Robson Books, 1995)
Literature – loosely speaking
- Adrian Mourby, Whatever Happened To…. – The Ultimate Sequels – from Radio 4 and Winner of the Sony Silver Award for Creative Writing; the humour will appeal to older children (Souvenir Press, 1997)
- Frank Barrett, Where was Wonderland? – a traveller’s guide to the settings of classic children’s books. (Hamlyn 1997)
Picture Books
- David Macauley, Rome Antics – a heady mix of architecture, storytelling, spatial awareness, imagination, mystery and word play (Dorling Kindersley, 1997)
- Colin Thompson, How to Live Forever. (Red Fox, 1998)
- Colin Thompson, The Tower to the Sun. (Random House, 1996)
- Colin Thompson, The Paradise Garden – these three books from Colin Thompson are visually stunning and intriguing, with layers of meaning. (Jonathan Cape, 1998)
- Quentin Blake, Clown – a challenge to write your own tect. (Red Fox, 1998)
- Michele Coxon, Who will play with me? – try writing a two-way story of your own. (Happy Cat Books, 1995)
- Quentin Blake, The Story of the Dancing Frog – another one for text interpretation; see what Pure Goodwin makes of it in – Great Books for the Literacy Hour and Beyond. (Red Fox, 1996)
Big Picture Books
- Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas, Winnie the Witch. (Oxford University Press, 1998)
- Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas, Winnie in the Winter. (oxford University Press, 1998)
- Ruth Brown, A Dark, Dark Tale – visually dramatic, especially at this size (as are the two references above) and full of opportunities for text exploration. (Anderson Press, 1998)
Children’s Reading Books
Children’s literature is alive and well, despite the gloomy comments about reading. As well as the classics and the modern classics, there are some wonderful titles. Try the following and many, many others.
- Philip Pulman, Northern Lights. (Scholastic, 1995)
- Philip Pulman, The Subtlle Knife. (Scholastic, 1997)
- Gillian Cross, Pictures in the Dark. (Oxford University Press, 1996)
- Anne Fine, The Tulip Touch, (Puffin, 1996)
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. (Bloomsbury, 1997)
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. (Bloomsbury, 1998)
- Theresa Tomlinson, Meet Me by the Steelmen. (Walker Books, 1997)
- Malorie Blackman, Lie Detectives. (Scholastic, 1998)
Reading Guides
- Michael Rosen and Jill Burridge, ‘Treasure Islands 2’ (BBC Books, 1995)
- Wendy Cooling, ‘The puffin Literacy Hour Booklist’ (Puffin/W.H. Smith)
- ‘Great Books for the Literacy Hour and Beyond’ (Random House Children’s Books)
- ‘The Children’s Book Handbook’ (Young Book Trust, 1998)
- ‘Off the Shelf’ (Book Trust Scotland)
- ‘100 Best Books, 1996’ (Young Book Trust, 1996)
- ‘100 Best Books, 1997’ (Young Book Trust, 1997)
- ‘100 Best Books, 1998’ (Young Book Trust, 1998)
Mathematics – or with that sort of angle
- Wilson Ransome, ‘Number-Cell Challenge’ – a collection of ingenious number puzzles (Tarquin, 1996)
- Magdalen Bear, ‘Days, Months and Years’ – a perpetual calendar for the past, present and future (Tarquin, 1996)
- Heather McLeavy, ‘The Knots Puzzle Book’ – looking at knots in a different way; a collection of interesting mathematical ideas (Tarquin, 1994)
- Gerald Jenkins and Magdalen Bear, ‘Sundials and Timedials’ (Tarquin, 1987)
- Reg Sheppard and John Wilkinson, ‘Strategy Games’ – a wealth of activities involving games (Tarquin, 1989)
- Ian Stewart, ‘The Magical Maze’ – two videos and a booklet covering the brilliant Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, 1997 (BBC Publications, 1997)
- Adam Case, ‘Who Tells the Truth?’ (Tarquin 1996)
- Davis Blather, ‘The Joy of – ’ certainly joy to those who love number but produces a shudder with others! (Penguin, 1997)
- Carol Foreman, ‘How Mathematics Works’ – a beautifully presented book containing a large number of practical experiments (Dorling Kindersley, 1996)
- Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, ‘Moths Curse’ – simple examples but a wonderful text to emulate (Puffin, 1998)
- Brian Bolt, ‘A Mathematical Pandora’s Box’ – another in the series; the title tells you all you need to know! (Cambridge University Press, 1993
- Christopher Clapham, ‘Oxford Concise Dictionary of Mathematics’ – excellent in stimulating greater use of mathematical language. (Oxford University Press, 1996)
- ‘The 24 Game’ – popular for stimulating mental mathematics at many levels of difficulty (Syntax International, 1993)
- Miscellaneous and unusual dice, educational suppliers, shows, exhibitions – who knows where they might lead?
Science – but certainly not pure
- Gerald Jenkins and Magdalen Bear, =The Sun, Moon and Tides’ – model-making book (Tarquin, 1995)
- Boring Van Loon ; DNA: The Marvelous Molecule; - another model-building book (Tarqiun, 1990)
- BNFL and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ‘Looking for Links’ – books and video.
Humanities – any time, any place
- Paul Warren, ‘Caleb Belmont’s Chronicle of the Three Counties’ – an imaginary land that should inspire children to create their own (Heinemann, 1995)
- Terry Deary, ‘Horrible Histories’ – very popular with many able pupils (Scholastic)
- ‘London on Playing Cards’ – a chance for creative map work (1989)
- Dyane Sheldon and Gary Blythe, ‘The Garden’ – a beautifully illustrated picture book, which could inspire local history projects (Red Fox, 1995)
Religion and Philosophy – something to think about
- Andrew Matthews and Allan Curless, ‘Cat Song’ – a picture book with ‘a truly original view of creation’ (Red Fox, 1996)
- Robert Martin Walker, ‘Politically Correct Parables’ – an unusual sense of humour from an ordained Methodist minister (Harper Collins, 1996)
- Richard Fox, ‘Thinking Matters’ – a collection of stories, based upon Matthew Lipman’s work, which are meant to encourage children to think for themselves (Southgate Publishers, 1996)
- Matthew Lipman, ‘Hany Stottlemeier’s Discovery’ – this, and many other texts, are used for the Philosophy for Children courses (Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, Montclair State College, 1982)
Imagination / Visual
- Chris McEwan, ‘Eye See, Do You See?’ – a fantastical other world, full of paradox and illusion (Orchard Books, 1995) – investigating the connections between the natural and made worlds (Resources for Learning Ltd., 1995)
- BNFL, ‘Energy-Picture Card Game’ – visual presentation for young children; what else could you do with them? (Resources for Learning Ltd., 1993)
- Melvyn Bragg, ‘On Giants’ Shoulders’ – the book of the BBC Radio 4 series on great scientists and their discoveries (Hodder & Stoughton, 1998)
- BNFL, ‘Energy Jingles’ – rhymes, limericks and verses; perhaps to suit a different preferred learning style (Resources for Learning Ltd.)
- Brenda Keogh and Stuart Naylor, ‘Starting Points for Science’ – the concept cartoons, as seen on the London Underground, especially for children who have a visual preference (Millgate House Publishers, 1997)
- Diva Sober, ‘Longitude’ – solving ‘the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day’ (Fourth Estate Ltd., 1995)
- Gary Larson, ‘There’s a Hair in my Dirt’ – an eccentric and brilliantly funny look at ecology (Little, Brown and Company, 1998)
- BNFL/Royal Microscopical Society, ‘The Young Detectives’ – video, incident wall map, photo cards, computer program and teacher’s book, which ‘not only helps teachers to understand the remit of Sc1 but, by offering a hypothetical who dunnit’, opens to pupils the excitement of carrying out investigations for themselves’ (Resources for Learning Ltd., 1997)
- Russell Standard, ‘The Time and Space of Uncle Albert’ – Faber, 1989)
- Russell Standard, ‘Black Holes and Uncle Albert’ – (Faber, 1991)
- Russell Standard, ‘Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest’ – these three fairy stories from Russell Standard help explain the principles of modern physics to children (Faber, 1994)
- Mike Wilks, ‘The Ultimate Spot-the Difference Book’ – a visual adventure to test the powers of observation to the very limit (Penguin Books, 1997)
- The Templar Company, ‘Mythical Mazes’ – a collection of beautifully illustrated labyrinths associated with legends (Templar Publishing, 1996)
- James Gurney, ‘Dinotopia: The World Beneath’ – ‘the balance of science and nature created by James Gurney’s imagination’ (Dorling Kindersley, 1995)
- Guy Billout, ‘A Question of Detail’ – brilliant visual images and concepts (Harlin Quist, 1998)
Codes
- Jeff Hawtin, ‘Secret Messages’ (Tarquin, 1990)
- Gerald Jenkins and Ann Wild, ‘Be a Code-breaker’ (Tarquin, 1997)
- John Foley, ‘The Guinness Encyclopedia of Signs and Symbols’ – a treasury of ideas to follow up (Guinness Publishing, 1993)
Detective Materials
- (See ‘The Young Detectives’ – under Science)
- David Parkinson and Guy Parker-Rees, ‘Pinkerton Inks – The Case of the Pigeon’s Pyjamas’ – a light-hearted picture book for younger children (Oxford University Press,1996)
- An attractive set of small books form Lagoon:
- Nick Hoare, ‘Murder on the Riviera Express’ – (Lagoon, 1996)
- Nick Hoare, ‘Murder in Manhattan’ – (Lagoon, 1996)
- Nick Hoare, ‘Death After Dinner’ – (Lagoon, 1996)
Commercially produced materials
- Even though there is a shortage of good enrichment materials on the market, there are some notable exceptions. They come from diverse quarters and they are not always to be found in conventional education catalogues.
- Section nine in ‘Effective Provision for Able and Talented Children’ has proved popular for its description of commercially produced materials, some of a rather unusual nature.
- In the same spirit, here is a new and additional ‘catalogue’ of materials.
Texts
- Alistair Smith, ‘Accelerated Learning in the Classroom’ – (Network Educational Press, 1996)
- Alistair Smith, ‘Accelerated Learning in Practice’ – (Network Educational Press, 1996)
- Chris Dickinson, ‘Effective Learning Activities’ (Network Educational Press, 1996)
- Stephen Bowkett, ‘Imagine That’ -( Network Educational Press, 1997)Pat O’Brien, ‘Teaaching Scientificcaly Able Pupils in the Secondary School’ – (National Association for Able Pupils in the Seconday School
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