Category: Curriculum Level

RED Book Award History

Previous winners and shortlists:

RED 19 (2024-2025): This Book Kills by Ravena Guron

Nominated:

  • This Tale is Forbidden, Polly Crosby
  • How Far We’ve Come, Joyce Efia Harmer
  • 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café, Julian Sedgwick and Chie Kutsuwada

RED 18 (2023-2024): War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson

Nominated:

  • Skin of the Sea, Natasha Bowen
  • Dogs of the Deadlands, Anthony McGowan
  • Stateless, Elizabeth Wein

RED 17 (2022-2023): Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy

Nominated:

  • Cardboard Cowboys, Brian Conaghan
  • The Younglings: Shadows and Magic, Helen Craggs
  • Needle, Patrice Lawrence

RED 16 (2021-2022): A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll 

Nominated:

  • Evernight, Ross MacKenzie
  • Run, Rebel, Manjeet Mann
  • Hold Back the Tide, Melinda Salisbury

RED 15 (2020-2021 award): Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin 

Nominated:

  • Summer Bird Blue, Akemi Dawn Bowman
  • A Pocketful of Stars, Aisha Bushby
  • My Name’s Not Friday, Jon Walter

RED 14 (2019-2020 award): The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James 

Nominated:

  • Orphan Monster Spy, Matt Killeen
  • The Closest Thing to Flying, Gill Lewis
  • Outwalkers, Fiona Shaw

RED 13 (2018-2019 award): Sunflowers in February by Phyllida Shrimpton

Nominated:

  • Kick, Mitch Johnson
  • I am Traitor, Sif Sigmarsdottir
  • Sky Thieves, Dan Walker

RED 12 (2017-2018 award): Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird       

Nominated:

  • Boy X, Dan Smith
  • Hell and High Water, Tanya Landman
  • Rebel of the Sands, Alwyn Hamilton

RED 11 (2016-2017 award): 13 Hours by Narinder Dhami

Nominated:

  • The Apple Tart of Hope, Sarah M Fitzgerald
  • The Year of the Rat, Clare Furniss
  • Devil You Know, Cathy MacPhail

RED 10 (2015-2016 award): Mind Blind by Lari Don

Nominated:

  • Beneath, Gill Arbuthnot
  • Salvage, Keren David
  • Inflicted, Ria Frances

RED 9 (2014-2015 award): Raining Fire by Alan Gibbons

Nominated:

  • Rat Runners, Oisin McGann
  • Mosi’s War, Cathy MacPhail
  • Soul Shadows, Alex Woolf

RED 8 (2013-2014 award): Slated by Teri Terry

Nominated:

  • Mortal Chaos, Matt Dickinson
  • Torn, David Massey
  • Mr Creecher, Chris Priestly

RED 7 (2012-2013 award): An Act of Love by Alan Gibbons

Nominated:

  • My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, Annabel Pitcher
  • Gladiator, Simon Scarrow
  • Blood Red Road, Moira Young

RED 6 (2011-12 award): Wasted by Nicola Morgan

Nominated:

  • Ausländer, Paul Dowswell
  • Koh Tabu, Ann Kelley
  • Black Out, Sam Mills
  • Timeriders, Alex Scarrow

RED 5 (2010-11 award): Grass by Cathy MacPhail

Nominated:

  • Wolfcry, Julia Golding
  • Colony, J A Henderson
  • Chalkline, Jane Mitchell
  • Deathwatch, Nicola Morgan

RED 4 (2009-10 award): Divided City by Theresa Breslin

Nominated:

  • Don’t Tell, Sandra Glover
  • Beast, Ally Kennan
  • Forged in the Fire, Ann Turnbull

RED 3 (2008-09 award): Worse Than Boys by Cathy MacPhail

Nominated:

  • Message from Mia, Sandra Glover
  • Bunker 10, J A Henderson
  • Fearless, Tim Lott
  • Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea, Michael Morpurgo

RED 2 (2007-08 award): Blood Ties by Sophie McKenzie

Nominated:

  • The Ice Cream Con, Jimmy Docherty
  • Ostrich Boys, Keith Gray
  • Strangled Silence, Oisin McGann
  • Spider, Linda Strachan

RED 1 (2006-07 award): Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

Nominated:

  • The Star of Kazan, Eva Ibbotson
  • Airborn, Kenneth Oppel
  • Tamar, Mal Peet
  • Montmorency, Eleanor Updale

Kapla – Available to Borrow

We have two amazing 1000 piece Kapla sets available to borrow. They come with four

idea books but are perfect for letting your pupils’ imagination and creativity shine.

 

The feedback received so far has been fantastic and some teachers are trying them out to see if they are worth buying as a school (they are!).

How big a tower can you build? Let’s measure it!

Remember we have loads of ‘hands-on’ STEM resources as well as books.

School Library Development: Sacred Heart Primary School Case Study

One of our main roles in supporting our primary schools is to help them develop and refurbish their school libraries. We tailor our support according to the needs of each school and the remit they provide. It can range from advice, purchasing new books, reorganisation, library cataloguing systems and full library refurbishments.

At the moment we are working with nine schools across the authority to improve their school library, all with different needs and budgets.

Sacred Heart Primary School are undertaking a complete refurbishment of their library. Pupil librarians have been heavily involved with the decision making and priority is given to pupil voice so that the pupils all have input into the new library. What they wanted is what most pupils want when they are asked about their school library – more and better books and somewhere comfortable to read them!

As you can see from the pictures we have a lot of work to do. As with all our library development work, we have a very close partnership with the SLT, staff, pupils and often parents, as it takes a community to build a library.

The room has been painted and given a new carpet, so we have a blank canvass to work with and imprint the school’s vision. Some of the old shelving is being reused, as it is still in good condition, which means we can focus on adding new areas: a digital area/makerspace, a comfy story corner with rug, browsing boxes for picture books and beanbags, a more grownup reading area for the older pupils with sofas and an ASC zone with a range of different non-book resources to support children with specific needs.

The old books have been ruthlessly weeded by the pupils and only the best quality retained for the new library. We have purchased a range of new, diverse and inclusive books in consultation with the pupils – popular authors like Jeff Kinney, Liz Pichon, Julia Donaldson, David Walliams etc., books in school community languages, comics and graphic novels, picture books for older pupils, wordless books, fact books, hobbies/interests and dyslexia friendly books. We also use our expertise to ensure there is a range of books to suit every level of reader, that the selection is diverse and inclusive and includes quality, modern books that the pupils have yet to discover.


We are currently waiting on delivery of the new furniture and more books, but we gave the pupils a sneak peak at the new books during Book Week Scotland and the excitement to get reading was palpable! The pupils were asked what reading means to them and the feedback will be used to create special artwork on the library walls.

A lot of work still to do but watch this space to see the finished library.

#Falkirk Reading Teachers’ Early Years Book Group: STEM Focus

Our Early Years Book Group has been looking at new picture books that can be used for STEM. Picture books are fantastic for stimulating learning and many are wonderful for a STEM Through Stories focus. The Falkirk STEM Officers support us by providing story planners for each book to give teachers and practitioners a starting point but our members always find creative ways to use the books and bring the learning to life.

King of the Swamp by Catherine Emmett and Ben Mantle

King of the Swamp Plan

McDarkly lives all on his own, growing orchids in his dank swamp, until one day his peace is disturbed by an arrogant king who wants to turn the swamp into a roller-skate park. This story is brilliant for looking at nature, minibeasts and environmental issues.

Practitioners took the book with them on a visit to the local woods and it stimulated lots of role-play and den building. One child commented that they didn’t want them to ‘take away our green stuff’ when they saw building work happening nearby.

 

Tad: a big story about a brave minibeast by Benji Davies

Tad Plan

Tad is the smallest tadpole in the pond and she is scared of ‘Big Blub’. When the other tadpoles start to disappear she worries ‘Big Blub’ has got them. This story is brilliant for looking at life cycles and feelings.

The children loved this story and found it very engaging. They walked to a local pond to see some real tadpoles and practitioners felt it would be best to use this at spring time.

 

Tiny Little Rocket by David Fickling and Richard Collingridge

Tiny Little Rocket Plan

A little rocket takes you on an adventure to space. This book is great for looking at space, rockets and technology.

This was a strong favourite of the children who loved to pour over the pages together with friends. The black background makes the pictures bold and attention-grabbing and encourages the children to learn about space. The children took their interest outside to see the moon and this lead to lots of discussion about what’s in the sky.

 

Izzy Gismo by Pip Jones and Sarah Ogilvie

Izzy loves to invent but her inventions don’t always go to plan. This story is good for looking at inventions, technology, block play and developing a growth mindset. Izzy is also a strong, diverse role-model for getting girls into STEM.

A planner wasn’t created for Izzy as the STEM Officers felt it was the perfect book to inspire free and creative play in children. Practitioners felt it is a good book to leave in the building area to inspire children. They loved the rhyming text and the pictures have a lot of detail for children to pour over.

 

Learning for Sustainability Resource Boxes

We have been working with the Falkirk STEM Officers, Laura McCafferty and Barbara Hanning, to extend our range of STEM resources and develop new resources to support STEM Through Stories. This year’s COP26 in Glasgow has meant many schools are covering Learning for Sustainability and we have produced new resource boxes to support this at early, 1st and 2nd levels.

Each box has a story book with a planner developed by the STEM Officers:

Early Level

Somebody Swallowed Stanley by Sarah Roberts

Somebody Swallowed Stanley Plan

 

 

 

 

1st Level

Eco-wolf and the three pigs by Laurence Anholt

Eco Wolf and the Three Pigs

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Level

Song of the dolphin boy by Elizabeth Laird

The Song of the Dolphin Boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class sets of the books and the resource boxes are available to borrow from us.

#Falkirk Reading Teachers’ Book Group

Our teacher book group is continuing to read, discuss and review a range of new books for children and we want to share this as widely as possible. Here we review ‘When the sky falls’ by Phil Earle and ‘The small things’ by Lisa Thompson

#FalkirkReadingTeachers′ Book Group

Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Picture Books

You Can Be Campaign – Book Audit | Zero Tolerance

The You Can Be Book Audit is a chance for ELCs and nurseries to win £100 worth of books by taking part in an audit of their book collections. The idea is to bring greater gender balance and challenge old-fashioned gender stereotypes that can be harmful to children and stop them achieving their full potential.

Check out the link above for more information and book ideas.

We have also put together book recommendations that challenge the gender stereotypes:

Go to this Sway

 

Early Years Picture Book Group

Inclusive Stories

Our last round of books focused on LGBT+ families and inclusive stories. All children deserve to see their own lives represented in the stories we share and books are a fantastic way to build empathy and understanding of others.

The discussion was very positive and one of the most interesting points raised  was that the LGBT+ family books were just accepted by the children as books about families in general and that we, as adults, can put our own preconceptions onto books. The children didn’t see a label, they just saw families and children like them.

My Friends and Me by Stephanie Stansbie is wonderful as it shows a whole range of different families: LGBT+, single parents, foster parents, step families and many more.

Ketchup on your Reindeer by Nick Sharratt

Another absolute winner from the brilliant Nick Sharratt. With split pages so the children can make up their own crazy story combinations. The children adored sharing this book with each other—a real Christmas cracker!

 

 

Too Much Stuff by Emily Gravett

Children loved this gentle story about consumerism, advertising and the desire we have to accumulate ‘stuff’.  When the magpies lay eggs they feel they need to get lots of things to make their family perfect when all they really need is each other. Heart-warming and sweet with beautiful illustrations.

Up Next

We are very excited as our next focus is STEM through stories and the group are working with RAISE Falkirk to develop resources around the books.

Maggie Burns, Librarian

Learning Resource Service

lrs@falkirk.gov.uk

#FalkirkReadingTeachers Book Group Reviews

https://sway.office.com/IRT1xngbeioesEsE?ref=Link

The Learning Resource Service runs two book groups for teachers and early years practitioners in the Falkirk council area. They aim to:

 

  • increase teacher knowledge of quality children’s books
  • support teachers in creating a reading culture in their classroom
  • provide opportunities to talk about children’s books
  • identify books that support different aspects of the curriculum
  • ensure that the books we promote to children are diverse and inclusive
  • have fun!

 

If you need some reading inspiration or want to find out about good reads for your pupils then click on the link above.