These are not minor finnicky points: books for children need to use better fonts to encourage the children to read, to be accessible to children and parents with eg dyslexia, and to be readable at bed-time when the lights are low. Grahame Baker-Smith is a self-taught award-winning illustrator from Oxford who completed his training at Berkshire School of Art.

This book is quite complicated for a picture book and so would be best for KS2 as it's quite difficult to follow and the story and meaning is open to interpretation. He has worked in illustration for twenty years and in 2011 won the Greenaway Medal for his inspiring tale of fatherhood, FARTHER . He has illustrated numerous other picture books for Templar, including The Rhythm of the Rain which won the English 4-11 Picture Book Awards and the Greenaway shortlisted Leon and the Place Between . Will try to read this to a child - my intuition is that you could start with a child that cannot read, because the themes are real and joyous. A young boy, bewitched by his fathers unrelenting passion to fly; a desperate craving that absorbs his every waking minute, finds himself entranced by the dream.

The story follows a father with a dream of flying, who is so absorbed in this dream that it becomes obsession. His first title for Templar Books, Leon and the Place Between, was short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal, and FArTHER went on to win in 2011. It could be used as a starting point for pieces of writing, either following on the story or by taking an image and creating a different story. Much later, the boy, now a young man finds himself drawn once more to his father’s drawings and failed experiments. It is beautifully designed with a wealth of detail, conveying dark emotions, storms of war and weather, and a powerful sense of loss and bereavement.

He has illustrated two other picture books for Templar: the Greenaway shortlisted Leon and the Place Between and The Winter's Child . A young boy watches his father get so involved with his work, trying to make an invention to fly, that time spent with him is limited. The worthy winner of the Kate Greenaway Award, announced yesterday, is this stunning and highly imaginative picture book . The story and illustrations work intricately together to produce an emotionally moving book which had me close to tears. I would recommend this book for year 4 literacy classes and I would say it would be an excellent text to use in a creative writing class.This illustration would be perfect for discussing with a class at the time of remembrance day and why it is we wear poppies in a very sensitive way. It warrants several readings and close observation as the imagery is layered and there is much to be gained from poring over its carefully built details. Much later, the boy, now a young man finds himself drawn once more to his fathers drawings and failed experiments. The story is rich with the concept of duty, with the literal sense of going to war, the need for the son to fulfill what his father had started, and the duty to further this dream during following generations.

This three-week Writing Root begins by introducing the concept of dreams and how important they are in our lives. Close inspection of the text and illustrations provides subtle links to World War One and ancient Greece, in particular the story of Icarus, as well as strong links to the DT curriculum. It's a story about family, loss and ambition with many opportunities for prediction, inference and discussion.I will always remember the day he left, the clothes they gave hm, khaki against the scarlet poppies' and there is a powerful illustration to accompany the powerful mental image. Much later, the boy, now a young man, finds himself drawn once more to his father's drawings and failed experiments.

A young boy, bewitched by his father's unrelenting passion to fly; a desperate craving that absorbs his every waking minute, finds himself entranced by the dream.Yet the moving relationship between father and son has a bitter sweet legacy and one that carries through to the next generation.