Sonia Phillips
Private Tutor
I am taking a break from 22nd July 2016 to have a baby. Check back later for updates.
Children's Book Recommendations Archive
January 2016
The Hobbit (JRR Tolkein)
Another great book for the more confident reader. Tolkein's charming light-hearted tone gives The Hobbit an air of a grandfather telling stories to his grandchildren.
Packed full of thrilling adventures, the book follows Bilbo as he proves that you don't have to be big to do important things. He unwillingly teams up with a group of dwarves to travel Middle Earth in pursuit of dragons and treasure, meeting many strange creatures along the way.
Sometimes scary, always enchanting, The Hobbit is a classic that never gets boring (and it's much better than the films!).
Don't be put off by the size of this book. Selznick uses a mixture of beautiful sketches and truly poetic prose to tell the story of an orphan living in a Parisian train station in the 1930s and an old toy-maker who is much more magical than he seems.
Historical characters mingle with fictional ones in this multi-layered mystery. Children love interpreting the characters' emotions through both the text and the images and trying to work out the puzzles and clues. Highly recommended.
September 2015
The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brain Selznick)
August 2015
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom (Louis Sachar)
I've read this book to four different classes of nine and ten year old children and it never fails to make them laugh out loud, but it is also a powerful portrayal of the struggles children go through to fit in with others and accept themselves.
The story follows Jeff; a new-comer to the fifth grade, Bradley; the loner who cuts up his test papers and Carla; the new, quirky school counsellor.
Get ready for laughter and tears as you follow them through the course of the school year.
October 2015
Arthur, The Seeing Stone (Kevin Crossley-Holland)
The first book in Crossley-Holland's beautifully-written Arthur series, The Seeing Stone is a combination of historical fiction, coming of age drama and fantasy.
Arthur, a boy on the verge of growing up, exists on the border between medieval England and Wales. He wants more than anything to be a squire, but before he can dive into the future, he must discover the truth of his past.
Then Merlin gives Arthur a magical seeing stone through which he learns of another boy named Arthur who went on to become a king...
November 2015
Hello? Is Anybody Out There? (Jostein Gaarder)
This introduction to philosophy encourages children to think about some big important questions. While Joe waits for his new baby brother or sister to be born, Mika arrives from outer-space and invites Joe to share in his wonder at the strange world around him. Joe shares his knowledge of the origins of life on Earth and together they marvel at their experiences.
I like introducing children to good authors who they can come back to as teenagers and adults. In my opinion, Gaarder writes well for all ages. His The Christmas Mystery is another fantastic children's book.
December 2015
Journey to the River Sea (Eva Ibbotsen)
Journey to the River Sea is packed with adventure, historical detail, wonderful characters and even some romance! It follows Maia from an English boarding school where she learns of her parents' deaths to her only surviving family deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
Maia must learn to live with her spoilt cousins, uncaring aunt and uncle and a strict governess. In her adventures, she rescues a young actor and the wild son of an explorer.
This is a fantastic book for more confident readers, full of twists and turns and beautiful settings.
February 2016
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (JK Rowling)
I couldn't resist adding the first in this famous series for any longer! I still read the Harry Potter books for myself and in my experience they have never failed to enchant a class of children.
The first book is particularly good as it is shorter but still completely action-packed. The later books become darker and I would recommend them for more mature readers, however The Philosopher's Stone is a great read for younger children with it's fantastical settings and marvellous characters, and I've always loved the element of mystery which runs through all seven books.
March 2016
How to Train Your Dragon (Cressida Cowell)
This book is so much fun. The illustractions are fab and the story will have children giggling all the way through - mainly because of silly words like poo. Hiccup (the unlikely hero) is the typical outcast - he's just different to everyone else. But still he shines through and overcomes his obstacles with (some) help from his dragon.
Another first-in-a-series book that might just encourage reluctant readers to carry on with more from Cressida Cowell.
The story is quite different to the popular film, although I think the film is also fantastic and worth a watch.