Teach Primary Issue 18.4

Meet the author YUVAL NOAH HARARI, AUTHOR OF SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND , ON HIS LATEST BOOK FOR CHILDREN. What would you like children to take from reading the Unstoppable Us series? I’d like the books to help children understand their own lives and the world around them. History is often told as something separate from our lives, prompting the question of “What does this have to do with me?” The point of these books is to help children constantly connect historical events with their daily existence. Why do we like eating things that aren’t good for us, like sugary foods? Well, thousands of years ago, when humans lived on the savannah, if you found a source of sweet berries it would make sense to eat as many as possible there and then. If you waited until the next day, baboons might have stripped the berry bush bare! This goes all the way to the big questions like politics; if you don’t know your history, you can’t fully understand your present. What challenges did you face writing for children? It forced me to think even deeper and harder. When writing for adults you can hide behind complicated language, but for children you have to make everything very clear. Children’s books are full of descriptions of animals, but how many times a day will a child in the UK encounter a lion? The dangers they face come from corporations; how do you explain to an eight-year-old what a corporation is? What was primary school like for you? Looking back, many of my most important experiences took place during the breaks. And this ties in with how I believe formal learning should relate more to children’s everyday lives. From being an outsider who was bored by lessons in the lower grades, I moved to a programme for gifted children, where intellectual achievement became our entire identity and emotional development was neglected. Getting the balance right is so important. Unstoppable Us Volume 2: Why the World Isn’t Fair is out now. www.teachwire.net | 51 Unstoppable Us Volume 2: Why the World Isn’t Fair By Yuval NoahHarari, illus. Ricard Zaplana Ruiz (£25 HB, Puffin) This fascinating look at history from the author of Sapiens takes the human desire for control – over the natural world and each other – and asks when and why it arose. Readers will discover that everything stemmed from the agricultural revolution, which fundamentally changed the way our species interacted and lived together. The inclusion of imagined conversations and scenarios from the ancient world helps to make this fact-packed read more relatable to today’s children. A particularly useful feature is the way that key sentences are highlighted in bold colourful font which, as well as acting as a useful ‘rolling’ summary, encourages less enthusiastic readers to dip in and out of the text. Finding Hope: AWhistledown Farm Adventure byNicola Baker, illus. Rachael Dean (£12.99 HB, Simon & Schuster) City girl Ava doesn’t want to stay at Whistledown Farm while her parents are away, and her cousin doesn’t want her there either. When Ava rescues an abandoned lamb, though, things improve – until she forgets to lock Tom’s hens up for the night and there’s a fox attack. No wonder Tom won’t believe her about the strangers in the wood! Will Ava find the courage to speak up before the rustlers strike? Inspired by TV personality Nicola Baker’s childhood experiences, this gentle adventure is a realistic reflection of rural life, with a direct, empathetic viewpoint that will appeal to readers from Y3 up. Rachel Dean’s black-and-white artwork provides context for children unfamiliar with the settings. KS2 KS2 RESOURCES RECOMMENDED EXPLORE OLIVER TWIST IN UKS2 Part of Plazoom’s powerful Unlocking Inference collection, this resource pack includes a fully annotated extract, with close vocabulary work as well as questions designed to elicit sophisticated, evidenced inferences from all pupils. A complete course of video training explains the layered reading approach that will ensure deep understanding of the text for the whole class – try it today, at bit.ly/PlzOliver