Episode 27 - Why teaching discrete subjects encourages reading for pleasure

School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 27

For transcripts, resources, show notes and contact details, see https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-27/

Part 1
Book post

• Loverboy by Ben Tomlinson
• One Day: A True Story of Courage and Survival in the Holocaust by Michael Rosen and Benjamin Phillip
• The Really Beautiful Thing by Frances Tosdevin
• Guardians of the New Moon: The Year of the Rat by Eric Huang, illustrated by Phung Nguyen Quang
• Sammy and the Stolen Paintings by Charlie P. Brooks
• Mission: Manta Ray by Philip Kavvadis
• Alex Neptune, Dragon Champion by David Owen, illustrated by George Ermos
• People Like Stars by Patrice Lawrence
• Murder for Two (A Tariq Twins Mystery) by Niyla Farook
• The Zombie Project by Alice Nuttall
• After Life by Gayle Forman
• Bingsu For Two by Sujin Witherspoon
• The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books to buy in February 2025

• Paloma Flies Away by Maria J. Guarda
• All Better Now by Neal Shusterman
• Diary of a Future Billionaire by Pamela Butchart
• Let's Play Rugby! By Gordon D'Arcy and Paul Howard
• Red Flags by Sophie Jo
• I Really, Really Love My Noisy Bum by Karl Newson & Duncan Beedie
• Shiver Point: Beneath the Ghostly Graves by Gabriel Dylan
• Black Star by Kwame Alexander
• Mondays Are Murder by Ravena Guron
• Island of Influencers by Monique Turner
• Alan, King of the Universe by Tom McLaughlin
• Dragon Riders of Roar by Jenny McLachlan & Alla Khatkevich
• The Notwitches by Gary Panton & Dotty Sutton
• Speedwheels 3000: The Race Against Crime by Jenny Pearson & Katie Kear
• Boobies by Nancy Vo
• My Big Fat Smelly Poo Diary 2 by Jim Smith
• The Full Stop That Got Away by Laura Baker & Nathan Reed
• The Boy at the Window by Lucy Strange & Rohan Eason
• Wink, Murder: a Bletchley Park Mystery by Rhian Tracey
• Surviving Vesuvius by Christopher Harrisson & Beth Waters
• Destiny Ink: Birthday Secret by Adeola Sokunbi
• Cloud Nine by Sue H. Cunningham
• Wiggling Words by Kate Rolfe
• The Found Things by Petr Horacek
• Normal Women: Making History for 900 Years by Philippa Gregory
• Pieces of Us by Stewart Foster
• How To Roller-Skate with One Leg by Ella Dove
• My Mum and Other Poems by Laura Dockrill

February 2025 books of the month

• Fiction: Diary of a Future Billionaire by Pamela Butchart
• Nonfiction: Surviving Vesuvius by Christopher Harrisson & Beth Waters
• Picture book: Paloma Flies Away by Maria J. Guarda

Part 2
Our recommended books for year 2 classrooms

New book pitches:•Oakley the Superhero by Roxanne Constantine; Efua's Magic Stew by Angela Ackah-McIntyre; Danny the Ducky and Gilly the Goose by Dushka Petkovich

Part 3
Why teaching discrete subjects and avoiding topic teaching encourages reading for pleasure.

Credits and licensing
3rd party sounds are licensed. Audit: https://bit.ly/3TFkwsl