Gretel the Wonder Mammoth: A story about overcoming anxiety

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Reading comprehension dice (2 giant dice to roll to find a reading comprehension question to answer)

The Missing Piece by Jordan Stephens (author), Beth Suzanna (illustrator) (Bloomsbury Children's Books)David Almond introduces his new picture book, A Way to the Stars, a story about perseverance and finding a way to make dreams come true. The shortlists consist of 18 books across three categories. Six books will compete within each category to be crowned Category Winner, with the three category winners then vying for the overall title of Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Winner 2023. Gretel the Mammoth – who has been hibernating inside an iceberg for quite some time – is the last mammoth left on earth, and everyone who she meets loves her. She’s kind, understanding and strong and has plenty of new friends but the world that Gretel wakes up to is rather different to the one she remembers, and although she tries her hardest to fit in, Gretel starts to feel sad. Rather than telling her new friends in case it makes them sad too, she pretends that all is well. Eventually she takes the brave step of telling her friends how she really feels and they rally round to help her. Listening carefully to all she has to say, they find ways to help her so that soon she is beginning to ask questions about this place she finds herself in and discovers there are interesting things to do there. She reinvents her real self and is interested, enthusiastic, and cheerful ‘all at the same time’. Hillyard also adds a great deal of emotion to the scenes where Gretel is feeling increasingly isolated and alone and overwhelmed through her clever illustrative techniques- the use of snow is especially good.

The Nottinghill Carnival takes central stage in this story about families, memories and the power of dance and festivals. Author Yaba Badoe tells... Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Each story bag is linked to a particular topic or gallery, e.g. habitat loss, Ancient Egypt, plastic pollution or managing emotions. In this story of hope and endurance, we follow a scientist and her team during their search for the elusive 'Giant Arctic Jellyfish'. Waterstones has announced its 2023 Children’s Book Prize shortlists, including works by Angharad Walker and Lee Newbery.

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The Cats We Meet Along The Way, Nadia Mikail's debut novel, tells the story of Aisha and her quirky family who, with the world due to end imminently, embark on an eventful road trip across Malaysia to find her estranged sister June. Inspired by the author's experience of worrying about her family during the pandemic, Nadia Mikail tells a gentle, affecting, and hopeful debut about what is most important when time is running out. The Illustrated Books category went to Gretel the Wonder Mammoth by Kim Hillyard, a pitch-perfect story encouraging children to embrace their feelings as they follow the story of Gretel, the last woolly mammoth on earth, who gets a little overwhelmed and lonely after returning to the world from a very long sleep in the ice.

We recommend around 30 minutes for a story bag, but the exact length of time will vary across different groups. The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger by J.T. Williams (author), Simone Douglas (illustrator) (Farshore)How Many Legs-A story bag for numeracy and animals - use in the Natural Northumbria and Living Planet galleries.