Kitty: Perlis is crazy about chariot racing. And is being taught by Scorcher [the best charioteer in Rome.] Unfortunately, scorcher has been sent to jail … even worse on the BIG RACE! What’s perilous going to do? This book is based in the roman period .I would also recommend this for [9-11] years. As this will make u giggle and smile for the rest of the day. When he was about eighteen he started writing very serious stories for adults, but none of them were published. By the time he was twenty-one he was writing stories for children after realizing that he loved writing funny stories and making people laugh. My favourite character in his book is Croakbag because is always very funny, he loves saying he is the ‘cleverest raven in the world’, he really likes biscuits and he teaches you Latin every now and then through the book. You will love him! We don't look at every word. If you look at the plans, you'll see we started with 20+ words per chapter but this became around 10 as we started teaching with the new approach. We don't feel we've lost anything by reducing how many RICs we do. Children have been doing them for years and so now we only use them when there is meaty content to be discussed.

Our class adventure song this half term is - I'll make a man out of you! from the Disney film Mulan. The family live across the street from a house where lots of poor Romans live together, because they cannot afford their own houses. Including two ex-slaves: Maddusbananus, who wants to be a millionaire from selling his inventions and Scorcha who shares Perilus’ ambition to become a charioteer. Perilus often sneaks out to the house across the road to practice chariot racing with Scorcha and some borrowed goats. Many disasters happen to the friends until one day Perilus is called upon to save the day while Scorcha is in jail. Ella: I really enjoyed this book, because it was funny and it was told by a Raven who is best friends with perilus. My favourite character is perilus as he is kind but also does mad things and always gets himself into funny situations. Perilus was very kind because when Scorcha was sent to jail he couldn’t race for the green team.Perilus pretended to be Scorcha and raced his charriot, Perilous also got to race which is what always wanted to do. I think that the book is realistic because it was about the Romans and they liked to charriot race and also kept slaves to do things for them. I did enjoy the story but I found it hard to read some of the words and I would recommond this book for children over 10 year olds. Hi Jo, I really want to start this approach in my school (we have huge classes, so carousel is impossible!) - I don't suppose you have any Year 3 samples of planning and children's work to look at? Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

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There are two mysteries to solve in this book. Who stole the money from the Imperial Mint? Who had tried to kidnap a chariot racer so he couldn’t win? All will be revealed after you read the book… My favourite part was when they were racing in the chariots because one of the got kidnapped by two other people. The author uses various openers. We have taken some sentences from chapters 4-6 that use a range of different openers. Your class will have to identify the type of opener used in each sentence.

Could I ask if you start this in year 2 or eyes? Year 2 are struggling with whole class reading and I am trying to support the teacher as best I can. Can it be done well in year 1? What I liked about the story was that it was very funny and interesting because of Croakbag and Perilus who were really funny. To begin with I thought the book was excellent and I couldn’t wait to read more of Jeremy Strong’s books. I really like the fact there is a funny side to the telling of the story as it is told through the eyes of a raven called Croakbag. Daniel: This book is set in ancient Rome. It is narrated by a talking Raven called Corvus, who thinks he is very clever and funny. He is the pet of the main character Perilus, who is the son of the head of the Roman Imperial mint. Perilus’ family are very wealthy; he lives with his dad, mum and sister in a large villa and the family have two slaves. Perilus wants to be a charioteer, much to his father’s disgust because he wants him to head of the Imperial mint like him one day. Perilus is only 11 and likes to get up to mischief which is probably why he wants to be a charioteer, one of the most dangerous jobs in the Roman economy. The book is narrated by a very clever raven called Croakbag and is about a very good charioteer called Scorcha and his young friend Perilus. Croakbag is actually Perilus’s pet but behaves more like a family friend. Even though Scorcha is an excellent charioteer, he does not have his own chariot, and Croakbag tells us what happens on the day of his big race. To find out what happens you must read the book yourself.Jeremy Strong is a fantastic children's author. His books are side splittingly funny and once you have read one your children will be asking you to get more.

The book did make me feel like I was in the roman times. I think that the history in the book is realistic, because of the characters names, the activities that they did and the description of their clothes although the story was sometimes a little hard to follow, but I did really like all the different characters because they were all very funny. Firstly no one will own up to it and secondly, it would take donkey’s years! So he has to make a plan…

When I learned the name of the book I was instantly attracted to the book. I would recommend to ages 7 and up/ and for someone who likes adventures.

We then wanted to understand where the Romans came in the world’s history, so we made a human timeline outside to get our bearings of where the Romans were in history. I really enjoyed this book because it is really funny and adventurous it makes you want read more and more. I thought that Tiddles the elephant was really cool and was extremely funny. The main character was Croakbag who told the story but was also in it. Croakbag was very clever and also told us a few things to impress your parents. I don't think this book set out to be realistic but it did make me want to read more about the Romans. I wouldn’t have chosen Jeremy Strong but this book has definitely made me think different about this author. I think this book is a really good read aimed at 6 - 10 year olds. Jo and Arturo: This book was set in Roman times. It has loads of fantastic characters such as Perilus the owner of the raven, Krysis (Perilus’s dad), Flavia (Perilus’ mum) and Hysteria (Perilus’ sister). The key events in this book are about Scorcha the charioteer getting sent to prison on his big day of chariot racing. It’s also about a raven that beomlgs to a family that absolutely loves biscuits. I think you can guess what happens in the end. If not I’ll tell you only a tiny bit of it though so that I don’t ruin it for you. Croakbag the raven gets as much digestive biscuits as he could ever imagine. I would recommend this to everyone in the world literally. Scorcha didn’t know anything about it but Trandia (Maddasbannanus’s old girlfriend) loves him and kisses him. If you like Romans then take this book and read it but not too FAST …YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE THE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Chariot Champions is a quite short and funny book about a typical family in Ancient Rome. The story is narrated by a snarky and self-obsessed raven who describes the adventures of the family when the father is accused of fraud and arrested, as well as Hysteria and Scorcha (the ex-slave charioteer) and their love affair, as well as Perilus' dream to become a charioteer. Lots of the characters have amusing names - like Hysteria, who always cries, or Fibbus Biggus, the man who accuses the father of fraud. The anachronistic inventions of Maddusbananus the inventor are also funny. I love this book because it makes you laugh and at the same time makes you wonder what is going to happen next. My favourite bit is when Maddasbanaus uses his fire engine to save the house because now, we use them so often but he would have invented and used one first.