Reading and Guided Reading

2025-26

Author of the Term

Our 'Author for the term' aims to foster a love of reading for our children. We will choose a specific author for each half term to encourage the children to widen their reading and to experience different genres of books.

Autumn Term

Kes Gray - is the bestselling author of the OI FROG AND FRIENDS series of books that has sold over 1.5 million copies and has been adapted into a theatre show. He is a multi-award-winning author with over 70 books published. He eats Ideaflakes for breakfast, spreads silliness on his toast and loves to write books that will make children laugh out loud. He has won the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award and the Laugh Out Loud Book Award and has been shortlisted for the British Book Awards. Kes is based in Essex.

Guided Reading

We follow the Pathways to Read scheme which links very closely to our Pathways to Write. This has been designed to equip pupils with key skills to move them through the reading process towards becoming competent and fluent readers. There is a big focus on fluency, as well as making predictions, inferring, examining vocabulary and retrieval of information.

Each half term we follow a different genre:

Autumn 1 -The Windrush Story

Autum 2 - Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo

Spring 1 - Greek Myths

Spring 2 - Usborne Illustrated Atlas of Britain and Ireland by Struan Reid

Summer 1 - Fantastically Great Women

Summer 2 - Exploring Shakespears's London

2024-25

Summer Term

Nicola Davies - Zoologist and writer

Nicola Davies is a British author known for her children's books, particularly those focused on nature and the environment. She is also a zoologist, having studied whales and bats, and previously worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Her books often explore themes of nature, conservation, and social issues. 

Spring Term

Jeremy Strong        

Jeremy Strong (18 November 1949 – 4 August 2024) was an English writer known for his children's books. Strong wrote and published over 100 novels for children and young adults and is best-known for his children's series The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog.His work were known for humour, wordplay and has been described as encouraging "reading amongst ordinary children." Strong won the Children's Book award in 1997 and his books have been adapted for television including the BBC's There's a Viking in My Bed.

Autumn Term 

   Pamela Butchart 

Pamela Butchart is an author who writes children's books, including the Baby Aliens series. Her books are aimed at children of all abilities, lower KS2. Two of her books, Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon and There's a Werewolf in My Tent, were shortlisted for the Lollies - the Laugh Out Loud Awards. There's a Beast in the Basement! Monster Ate My Packed Lunch! There's A Yeti In The Playground!

If you have any of these books at home, please send them in to share with the class.