Letters from the Lighthouse: ‘THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION’ Guardian: 1

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Emma Carroll is said to be the queen of middle grade historical fiction. One book down and a handful more to go, and I���m already agreeing with this statement! Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments What a great little book. Carroll captures the reader's interest right from the beginning and maintains it throughout the book. There are plenty of 'sub' storylines that run throughout the book, creating questions as you read. Why is Esther how she is? Who is Mrs Arby? Why is Queenie the way she is? Why are we not allowed to find out what is in Ephraim's cupboards or the top floor, and finally the big question- Where is Sukie and what does the note mean? Carroll takes the readers on an emotional 'treasure hunt', encouraging us to empathise with Olive as well as gaining an understanding of what it might have been like to live as an evacuee during the war. I couldn't put the book down, and I think it would be an excellent read for upper KS2 children. I adored how the chapter names had relevance to the war. Although it is fiction, the book contains a lot of historical contexts and this could be a powerful teaching tool to use across the curriculum. I found this book full of emotions. I laughed, cried and felt anxious much of the time. My favourite character is Olive because she is adventurous and good at breaking codes. I also found the book very realistic because it is set in World War II and this book has made me hungry for more information. Your KS2 children will have the opportunity to punctuate the text using colons and also identify when a colon has been used accurately.

I have read Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll which I have thoroughly enjoyed. The characters and the setting was descriptive with selective vocabulary suitable for the themes. The story was set in February 1941 at the beginning of the second World War in London and Devon, two very different cities. The characters include a mature girl named Olive, her older sister Sukie who has a strange pen pal, her younger brother Cliff and her widowed mother. There is a good variety of characters in the story as their culture, personality and behaviour. A very different book.It is wonderful how Emma Carrol makes her book about a girl and her brother who've been evacuated to the countryside to escape the Nazis. Wouldn't you love to sleep in the lighthouse! Court Lane Junior Academy is part of the University of Chichester (Multi) Academy Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company number 8595545. When they arrived, some stayed with foster families and some stayed in hostels. To get to the UK each child had to have a sponsor – to pay for everything they needed. I did enjoy this book because I like the characters in the story. I thought that the story was interesting and that the history in the book was believable. I found the history about World War II interesting and it encouraged me to try to find out more.This is modern classic which should be read and loved by generations to come. -- Alison Kerridge, Waterstones, Bury St Edmunds Your KS2 class will learn spellings of the national curriculum words and using words from chapter 20 and 21, they will complete the sentences and then look more closely at the sentences used in the text that highlight particular -ent / -ant words and write their own variation in the context of the story.

Letters from the Lighthouse is a book by Emma Carrol. The book is set in February 1941 in London and Devon during WW2. The main characters are: Olive, Sukie, Cliff and Ephriham. Your Ks2 class will then use this information to answer the comprehension questions based on: retrieval, inference and vocabulary. Emma Carroll is a natural storyteller and her sixth novel cements her place as the go-to writer for middle-grade historical fiction. Her writing is filled with well-researched detail that folds seamlessly into the story. This would make an excellent companion read to school lessons on war-time evacuees, although it is a definite read for pleasure. Letters from the Lighthouse book has been translated into multiple languages and editions. The book has been translated into Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Chinese. Book EditionsThe book had a happy ending, despite the difficult experiences the characters had endured and if I could, I would give this book a five star review. It is really well written. I loved how Emma Carroll told true events in history but made them fictional. In this book, there were not a lot of illustrations but the ones there were, were thorough and detailed to help visualise the story. Olive and her brother have been evacuated to Devon, but her older sister Sukie is still missing from the night of the bombs. A mysterious note found in the coat of her sister suggests that Sukie was involved in something dangerous, but Olive can't make the pieces fit together.

Carroll has written wonderful characters, a realistic plot where the kids can make significant contributions to the war effort without it being unrealistic, and added just enough of the hard stuff so as not to negate the horror of war or overburden kids with it either. A heart catching tale about the Second World War and what it would have been like for those poor poor evacuees The main protagonists are Olive and Cliff, a brother and sister evacuated from London to a small fishing village in Devon during WW II. Their father has been killed, their mother appears to be sinking under her grief and their older sister has gone missing after a bombing raid. The author conveys the relationship between these two younger siblings beautifully; Olive's love and care for her little brother is palpable. Pause the film after thelighthousekeeper slams the window shut - what does he think about the people outside the window having fun? Why does the author put this scene in? (to make you think the villagers are up to no good/untrustworthy) Carroll has always had a passion for writing and loves researching historical settings for her books. She is inspired by the beauty of nature and often writes stories with a strong environmental message. Her work also often features strong female characters who show resilience in tough situations.Well what can I say Emma Carroll has brought an enlightened and heart wrenching version of events during WW2 with the poignancy of Good Night Mr Tom and the sad reality of the plight of Jewish refugees trying to flee to the UK. The book begins with a young girl, Molly, and her family being evacuated from their London home during World War II. She moves to the isolated Cornish coast with her father, who is an air raid warden, where she finds solace in discovering the secrets of the mysterious old lighthouse at the nearby harbor. This guided reading activity aimed at Year 5 | Year 6 focuses on chapter 1 of the book Letters from the Lighthouse and is linked to using colons.

Discuss the feelings relived for the grandfather as he read the letters. The letters could be notes he kept for himself or letters from fallen allies.Breaking down your comprehensions into questions is a great strategy to use when pinpointing areas for development with the children in your Year 5 / Year 6 class. The main theme of Letters from the Lighthouse is the importance of family, friendship, and loyalty in the face of adversity.