What We'll Build: Plans for Our Together Future

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The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has produced a set of teaching notes to provide schools with sessions that focus on the importance of illustration in building a narrative and supporting children’s response. They build on their work supporting teachers to use picture books to enhance critical thinking and develop creative approaches in art and writing. The teaching notes show how picture books can be used in schools to enhance children’s reading comprehension and composition of their own creative writing. There are strong links with geography here ... and it hits Ofsted's 'reading across the curriculum' focus too (a key element of their Education Inspection Framework [EIF]). Nonetheless, even while despairing about the “tribal thinking” of the Brexit negotiations, Jeffers retains a bouncy hopefulness. “I have described myself in the past as a grim optimist,” he says. “And even when I’m pointing out dark things, I still think there’s a lightness of touch there because otherwise I’d just be a nihilist. And what’s the point in hopelessness?”

Just when you think Oliver Jeffers’ work can’t get any better, he releases yet another stunner. Every bit as wonderful as his other books ‘What We’ll Build’ is the story of parenthood; the hopes and dreams we have for our children’s futures, the protection we give them and the sharing of ever-lasting love.Oliver Jeffers does it again with another visually stunning and narratively endearing book, this time written for his young daughter. The text is sparse, reflecting how each word and phrase was carefully chosen to convey a tone of care, wonder, and determination. Accompanied by colorful, expressive, and detailed illustrations, this book highlights life’s endless opportunities and a parent’s enduring love. It’s the perfect read for any kind of new beginning~ beginning of the school year, beginning of the calendar year, beginning of a new birth year, or even the beginning of a new life (an excellent baby shower gift for parents to read to their littlest little)~the perfect book to inspire littles to plan and work together to build the future of their dreams, while reassuring and affirming them that you will be there to support them and build alongside them the entire way. In this beloved read, a father and daughter come together, gather their tools, and set off to build a foundation for their lives together. Hand in hand, they plan for the future, building the roads and tunnels they’ll need to take them where they need to go, a home to keep them safe, tables to welcome friends, ships to explore the world, and quiet spaces for them to return to for rest and comfort. Ultimately, this is a story about building love, and building a future intertwined with those you love most. In our singing sessions, we introduced the song ‘Five Currant Buns’ and the children have loved acting this out as bakers and customers! Talk about what is happening here. Who can you see? Whose hands do you think these are? What makes you think this? How can you describe the hands?

Next week we will continue our outdoor learning so please continue to ensure your child has waterproofs and wellies in school. Before I became a parent, I didn't - obviously? - traffic in any of the Parenting Industrial Complex and various parenting subcultures. I had zero knowledge of "attachment parenting", zero opinion on "parenting philosophies", and basically zero experience in any of this stuff. Family- and child-centric entertainment and culture had mostly eluded me for the ~20 years between me being a teenager (and rejecting "kid stuff") and me actually having a kid. In the classroom, 'What We'll Build' is a great starting point for Primary-age children to articulate their hopes and aspirations for the future and the 'tools' they might need to achieve them. This is the perfect accompaniment to 'Here We Are: plans for Our Together Future' that many schools, including my own are using as a whole school text this September. Once again, Oliver Jeffers has created a book that can be appreciated on many different levels, again making it versatile enough to be enjoyed across school.

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Problematic classics: All that mostly Medieval, pre-20th century stuff where children are eaten by witches or ogres if they disobey their parents, or otherwise mutilated (fingers cut off, turned into mince pies, etc), or terribly sexist stuff where women are almost always damsels in distress/princesses in towers waiting on some plastic Ken doll. Colorful, fun, something we choose to basically never expose to our kid except via movie time (i.e. old Disney). Task 1:Think again about what you think these two characters might build. See if you can imagine the things they are building and think about them building those things. Where are they? What do they look like? What are they building? What are they using to build?