Teach Primary Issue 18.7

www.teachwire.net | 63 magical plant bursting up from the seeds planted by Jerimiah and his brother. As it snakes up through the floors of their tower block home, the brothers run to apologise to all their neighbours and discover a varied array of people, all keen to join them on their adventures. But what will be waiting for them at the top of the beanstalk? And what will their grumpy neighbour, Old Man Crisp, have to say? It’s a great story for exploring ideas of home and community, and the power of nature to unite people. F lower Block is Lanisha Butterfield’s debut picture book, inspired by her own childhood. She wants to represent children like her – from tower blocks and council estates, from biracial or single-parent families – in a positive light as she aims to challenge misconceptions of council estate life. It is so important that children are exposed to books that reflect the realities they live in, and that provide windows into the lives of others. The book is a glorious fusion of the fairytale and the everyday, with a Cover reveal Really looking closely at the cover of a book is a good way to get children thinking about what they are about to read by inferring information, and making links to pre-existing knowledge and experiences. There are lots of details in this front cover for pupils to explore and ponder over. Here are some questions you could use to promote discussion: • What is the title? • What do you notice about the style of font used for each word in the title? Why has the illustrator done this? • How is the title a play on words? Scale a magical plant and unearth your colourful community with this fairytale exploration of home and nature BOOK TOP I C JO CUMMI NS Book topic KS1 Illustrations ©Hoang Giang Published by Puffin, 2024 T E ACH RE AD I NG & WR I T I NG Flower Block