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Clara’s Corner October Edition! (Book of the Month)

Welcome to our October Edition of Clara’s Corner!

This month Clara will be reviewing three books, ‘Girl at the Front of the Class’,  ‘The Green-Fingered Witch’ and ‘ There was a Young Zombie who Swallowed A Worm’

Don’t forget to use the code ‘CLARA’ at checkout to get 10% off all books included in Clara’s Corner.

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The Girl at the Front of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf

I’ve been waiting hard for this book. The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjai Raúf is one of my favourite children’s novels of the past few years, so when there was a picturebook coming, I was intrigued. This book is beautiful. It’s powerful, it’s poignant, it’s impactful. It’s a text that deals with a child’s perspective of the trauma associated with being a refugee and being uprooted from your home, your family, your belongings. It tells the tale of an empathetic young child who is determined to make the new girl ‘at the front of the class’ feel welcome and befriended. It’s sensitive and sweet and tackles a timely and challenging topic , offering a chance to consider what it can mean to be a refugee as a child. The illustrations are exquisite. Take some time to study the endpapers – there’s a whole story in itself in those. This is a text that will find a welcome home in any classroom, for any age and stage and one you will return to again and again and again.

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Things to try at school:
● Explore the etymology of the word ‘refugee’.
● Explore the endpapers.
○ Invite the children to compose a narrative to accompany the detail of the illustrations on the end papers.
○ Invite the children to make inferences about the detail on the end papers.
○ Explore the differences between the opening and closing endpapers.
● Return to the text. Ignore the text and simply follow the illustrations concerning Layla. What details stand out to you?
● Explore the author: Learn about Onjali Q. Raúf, has she written any other books?
● Explore the illustrations on page 13 and 14 (Adam lying on his bed). What inferences can you make about Adam?
● Classroom discussion: How could we make a new student feel welcome in our classroom?
● Things that make me happy: Draw pictures of all the things that make you smile.
● Say hello: Explore the heritage languages in your classroom. Find out how to say hello in each language. Display and revisit regularly.

Things to try at home:
● Dinnertime discussion: How could we make refugees feel welcome in our locality?
● Dinnertime discussion: What things make you happy? Why?
● Dinnertime discussion: What makes a good friend?

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The Green-Fingered Witch by Helen Docherty & Steven Lenton

If you’re looking for a new one for the October / Halloween collection, well The Green- Fingered Witch will be a welcome addition. Cress is a witch, but she’s a little different to the others; in fact she doesn’t have much in common with the other witches at all. No green face, no cloak or cauldron, Cress holds her magic elsewhere – in her green fingers! It’s a playful spin on a seasonal theme; poor Cress is clumsy and chaotic – I couldn’t help but think of Mildred Hubble from the infamous ‘The Worst Witch’ series as I read it. A lively, rhyming text, with a cheerful plot – it’s a seasonal story for younger readers; ideal for October read-alouds’ or bedtime stories.

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Things to try at school:
● Discuss the term ‘green fingered’
● Rhyming: Discuss the rhyming words that appear across the story.
● Explore the illustrations: There are many animals to be discovered across the illustrations. Revisit the pages and explore the creatures. Can you name them? How many can you count?
● Making connections: Can you think of any other stories or movies that feature the young witches or magic?

Things to try at home:
● Dinnertime discussion: If you could grow one plant / flower / crop forever, what would it be?
● Make pumpkin soup together.
● Carve a pumpkin together and harvest the seeds. Plant a few to see if they grow.

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There was a Young Zombie who Swallowed a Worm by Kay Baillie and Diane Ewen

We all know the traditional song or story of ‘There was an old woman who swallowed a fly’ – well, let’s switch that up a bit and swap out the old woman for a young Zombie, who is more partial to worms. This is wonderfully playful and delightfully fast-paced. A lot of fun for younger readers and listeners to enjoy. The lively plot offers significant opportunity for developing recount, sequencing and summarizing skills. Packed to the brim with rhyming, it’s an ideal text to link in with developing Phonological Awareness skills in those early months of primary. A really lovely text for your October armoury that will guarantee giggles and guffaws galore!

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Things to try at school:
● Recount skills: Can you recount the order of all the things that the young Zombie swallowed?
● Learn and recite ‘There was an old woman who swallowed a fly’ – compare and contrast with the text.
● Use the playdough and loose parts to create a Zombie.
● Take some time to explore the illustrations in depth;
○ How many creatures / animals can you find?
○ How many different types of food can you find?
● Explore the illustrations on pages one and two. What inferences can we make about each of the characters?
● There are lots of rhyming words in the story; can you list the pairs of rhyming
words?

Things to try at home:
● Dinnertime discussion: What will everyone dress up as for Hallowe’en?
● Compare and contrast: Discuss how ‘There was a young Zombie who swallowed a
Worm’ is similar or different to ‘There was an old woman who swallowed a fly’.

About Clara:

Clara Fiorentini is a former primary school teacher, now lecturing in initial teacher education at Marino Institute of Education, Dublin where she specialises in literacy education and children’s literature. Clara provides CPD for teachers and early childhood educators in the areas of literacy, children’s literature, playful learning and school transitions. Clara is completing her PhD research on preschool literacy practices at Trinity College Dublin and is the current President of the Literacy Association of Ireland (2024). Clara is a huge advocate for children’s literature and the use of the read-aloud in school and the home.

You can connect with Clara via Instagram, X or via her website.
For contact and enquiries, please email: [email protected]