Varmints

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How does the use of colour change as the story progresses? Could you use this technique in a storyboard for your own story? Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award 2009. The most overlooked threat in the world today is the loss of peace and tranquility. Can someone find the time and space to stop, think and plant the seeds of change before it’s too late. Sparing, wistful words are brought to life by involving and epic images to make the imagination and the heart soar. The result is a sight to behold. Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > Varmints is a beautifully illustrated and thought-provoking picture book. The illustrations are dark and surreal, but they perfectly capture the sense of loneliness and isolation that the varmint feels. The story is simple but effective, and it teaches children important lessons about courage, friendship, and environmental protection.

In the story, ‘SOMEONE nurtured a little piece of wilderness’. Can you write some instructions to teach others how to look after a plant?

My notebooks and accompanying activities based on Helen Ward’s Varmints. The book heavily centres on environmental changes, with subtle hints of capitalism. Helen Ward trained as an illustrator at Brighton School of Art, under the direction of well-known children's illustrators such as Raymond Briggs, Justin Todd, Chris McEwan and John Vernon Lord. In 1985, her final year at Brighton, Helen was awarded the first Walker Prize for Children's Illustration. What are we to make of this book? Who does it suggest is to blame for despoiling of idyll there once was? While the text is self-consciously elliptical, one thing is clear: the blame lies with ‘Others’ who ‘came one day’ from outside, the ‘varmints’ (a variant, we are told, of the word vermin), with THEM. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing -

Striking, surreal illustrations and a haunting, evocative text tell a mysterious tale of a threatened natural world, and a hopeful new start.. There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root. Coverage: Word List Words The book has a cliff-hanger ending. Can you think of other stories that use this technique? Can you think of a cliff-hanger ending for a story of your own? Vermin, outsiders, them, the others... Problematic, highly charged language, considering the history of the demonisation of migrants and ‘foreigners’.This book is about a small creature who loves the trees and the flowers. My favourite part of the book was when the little creature is happy. I liked how the book is about wildlife and animals. What the author did well was showing people that you should care about animals and wildlife more. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. A breathtaking and magical piece of work, that is wholly original and allows your imagination space to work. Craste makes outstanding use of light to haunting and often poignant effect.'

This is a three-week Writing Root using the film (which can be found online) and text of Varmints by Helen Ward and Marc Craste. The sequence of learning starts with children entering the classroom to find seeds and flowers mysteriously left with an urgent letter of appeal from the main protagonist in the text, urging children to look after them and learn all they can about these gifts. Children will go on to plant the seeds and write instructions about the process, collecting subject-specific vocabulary as they go. Children will also dissect the flowers left behind, identifying and labelling the various parts and explaining their various roles in reproduction and pollination. Children will be given opportunities to describe flowers, write letters and make speeches to a secret society of gardeners who plan to change the world through the power of nature. This series of lessons culminates in children writing an explanation text about the life cycle of a plant with a clear structure. Synopsis of Text: Even those who cannot access the text can understand the story from the pictures. The use of colour telling the reader everything.Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)? This story has been turned into a short film. Watch it and compare it with the book. Which do you prefer? Why?