{"id":1555,"date":"2022-05-05T15:06:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/?p=1555"},"modified":"2022-05-05T15:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:37:22","slug":"reviews-of-the-exploding-life-of-scarlett-fife-by-maz-evans-from-falkirkreadingteachers-book-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/reviews-of-the-exploding-life-of-scarlett-fife-by-maz-evans-from-falkirkreadingteachers-book-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviews of The Exploding Life of Scarlett Fife by Maz Evans from #FalkirkReadingTeachers’ Book Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ex\"\"<\/a>ploding Life of Scarlett Fife by Maz Evans is a fabulously funny story about a girl who has BIG FEELINGS which get her into trouble.<\/p>\n

Find out what our #FalkirkReadingTeachers think – Warning! These reviews contain spoilers.<\/p>\n

Ages 7-9<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Review 1 – 4\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scarlett Fife has Big Feelings. And she\u2019s about to get into BIG TROUBLE.<\/p>\n

Scarlett is on her last warning from her mum about her temper. She tries very hard to squash down her temper but when she does things start exploding! Scarlett is worried that this will ruin her Aunt\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n

Spoiler Alert!<\/em><\/p>\n

Scarlett finds out that her gran had the same problem when she was younger. She learns to control her temper a bit better and understand others. She also realises that sometimes it is ok to be angry.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think lots of children would enjoy this book as it is easy to read with lots of funny parts. It is a good starting point for discussions on dealing with feelings such as anger and disappointment through events which will be relatable to most children e.g., friends making new friends, forgetting packed lunches etc. Reluctant readers may also enjoy this as the book includes lots of illustrations to support the text. The characters in the book also come from a range of backgrounds and family situations which could also open up discussions.<\/p>\n

Good for – empathy, inference, reluctant readers, reading for pleasure.<\/p>\n

Review 2 – 5\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every time Scarlett gets angry things around her explode. She is on her final warning from her mother. She must learn to control her temper for her Aunts wedding or she won\u2019t get to go to her favourite theme park.<\/p>\n

Spoiler Alert!<\/em><\/p>\n

Scarlett begins to learn lots of ways to control her breathing but there are accidents along the way. She learns that her Gran had the same problem as a child. She also learns that sometimes it\u2019s good to be angry.<\/em><\/p>\n

This book made me giggle from start to finish. I can imagine a lot of pupils will love it simply because of the trouble which Scarlett gets into. However, it also makes a good jumping off point for discussing anger, how we control it and the fact it is a healthy and natural emotion.<\/p>\n

Good for – empathy, reluctant readers, curriculum links, reading for pleasure<\/p>\n

Review 3 – 5\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scarlett is having trouble with her big feelings.\u00a0 Sometimes she gets so angry it feels like something will explode. She has a new teacher; a new girl has arrived and she\u2019s way too very popular; and mum always seems to be grumpy.\u00a0 Things just seem so unfair.<\/p>\n

Scarlett keeps getting into trouble for being angry and spoiling things.\u00a0 Maybe she can hold her feelings down and not let them out.\u00a0 Maybe she can shut her eyes and things will just stop.\u00a0 Maybe not.<\/p>\n

Spoiler Alert!<\/em><\/p>\n

Scarlett\u2019s best friend Maisie is the voice of reason throughout this book and she tries to help Scarlett to stop being so angry and volatile.\u00a0 There\u2019s only one problem.\u00a0 When Scarlett shuts her eyes and squeezes her big feelings down, she make things explode, literally.\u00a0 Her friend Maisie is the only one who knows (until near the end when Gran notices (and the confides in Scarlett that she\u2019s had the same experience).\u00a0 Scarlett\u2019s mum is the rock of the patchwork family.\u00a0 She has a new husband called Jakob and he\u2019s really nice.\u00a0 Scarlett\u2019s dad is lovely and still has a kind relationship with mum.\u00a0 Dad is looking for love and Jakob is looking for his job, which he seems to have lost (Xenophobic boss).\u00a0 Mum is stressed and Scarlett doesn\u2019t want to add to that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scarlett\u2019s favourite teacher goes off and she is worried about the new teacher (Miss Pitt-Bull). But, it turns out that she\u2019s actually very kind and insightful.\u00a0 All the teacher\u2019s names are puns.\u00a0 A great little device for reading this book to a young audience.\u00a0 It would be a great class novel for P4 or P5 but, a lovely story for P3 as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

The new girl, Polly is annoyingly nice, and she got the best part in the school play, and she\u2019s popular….\u00a0 However, it turns out that Polly\u2019s dad has died and that makes Scarlett change her mind about Polly.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Just wait until Polly\u2019s mum get\u2019s together with Scarlett\u2019s Dad!<\/em><\/p>\n

This book is an excellent vehicle for exploring relationships and pent-up feelings.\u00a0 Scarlett is dealing with divorced parents who have had a \u201ckind\u201d divorce (not like Kevin\u2019s parents).\u00a0 Mum\u2019s husband has lost his job and is going through a court case.\u00a0 Dad is lonely (he also has a disability).\u00a0 Aunty Rosa and Aunty Amara are getting married.\u00a0 Mum\u2019s working long hours and Scarlett feels neglected.<\/p>\n

Although there are many facets to this story, you could have lots of great class discussions.\u00a0 From a HWB perspective there is a lot to go through.\u00a0 Scarlett\u2019s feelings but, also all the things in her life that make it rich and varied and also a bit complicated.<\/p>\n

From a literacy perspective there are lots of neat little passages to explore the meaning of all those odd phrases that adults use (and don\u2019t really understand).<\/p>\n

The concept of making things explode with your feelings just makes for such a fun story.<\/p>\n

Good for – HWB, empathy, diversity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Exploding Life of Scarlett Fife by Maz Evans is a fabulously funny story about a girl who has BIG FEELINGS which get her into trouble. Find out what our #FalkirkReadingTeachers think – Warning! These reviews contain spoilers. Ages 7-9           Review 1 – 4\/5 stars Scarlett Fife has Big Feelings. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9303,"featured_media":1553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8541,8539,8552],"tags":[4200,8517,1890,8518,8478,4089,8475],"class_list":["post-1555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-creating-a-reading-culture","category-explore","tag-authors","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-create-a-reading-culture","tag-literacy","tag-reading-for-enjoyment","tag-reading-for-pleasure"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/LearningResourceService\/uploads\/sites\/2007\/2022\/05\/05140750\/Scarlett.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1556,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555\/revisions\/1556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/LearningResourceService\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}