During the war he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and this, combined with his later work as a language teacher for the British Council, took him all over the world. It teaches the value of creative thought, imagination, generosity and sharing, of doing things out in the fresh air, together with friends. This is even more pertinent today than it was in 1963 when the book was published given the current emphasis on recycling. But Barney is a simply an incredibly believable child, clearly written by someone very familiar with children. How effortlessly he captures Barney's childlike disposition alongside the beauty and rare magic of the North Downs (how can you not but love the scene when Barney and Lou cross paths with the stag).

His grandparents don't believe Barney when he tells them about his new cave boy friend - but nevertheless, the two enjoy plenty of fun together.My travels have also given me an interest in the misunderstanding caused by different languages and backgrounds - though, yes, I do believe we can all get on with each other. Stories and Poems < Popular Stories and Authors Stig of the Dump - Clive King Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll Black Beauty - Anna Sewell Charlotte's Web - E. written descriptions of each part of the cave, including inventions such as Stig’s plumbing and the chimney. This book would be problematic in an Australian classroom setting where Indigenous students sit alongside Anglo peers.

Barney is fascinated at how old junk can be used in completely different ways from how it was intended. It's a wonderful if slightly more challenging young children's book that I would certainly make use of in my classroom. One day, he falls over the edge of an old chalk pit close to his grandparents' house, tumbling through the roof of a den. You could create a fantastic display on your classroom wall that keeps your class excited about literature and reading.Instead, I was wowed by the levels of humour and social commentary and astute observation and depth within this story.

Making inferences and predictions about characters is also an important part of the 2014 national curriculum for English. The other thing I’d forgotten (or, perhaps, it didn’t register at all when I was a kid) is how wealthy the protagonist’s family are. Between 1929 and his death in 1979 Ardizzone illustrated a large number of books, including Graham Greene’s The Little Train series, and wrote and illustrated many more including the well-loved Little Tim series, and with his cousin Christianna Brand, created Nurse Matilda, later familiar to many as Nanny McPhee.

Furthermore, this book could also be used with regards to raising ecological awareness, getting the students thinking about the things that are thrown away and hearing their views on waste. It has a fantastic magical element as Stig the caveman's appearance in the dump is never really explained and the wonderful scene at the end of the story, where you learn how men transported huge rocks across the country using only ropes and poles, is vivid and exciting. I like the resource - but keeping the story a 'surprise' from the children is tricky when the chapter 1 inference sheet has an example reference from later in the story!