Look at the use of light and darkness in the illustrations. Could you use a similar style in your own drawings? A breathtaking and magical piece of work, that is wholly original and allows your imagination space to work. Craste makes outstanding use of light to haunting and often poignant effect.' In the story, ‘SOMEONE nurtured a little piece of wilderness’. Can you write some instructions to teach others how to look after a plant?

Once, the only sounds to be heard were the buzzing of bees in the grass, the murmuring of moles in the earth, and the song of birds in the sky. These warmed the hearts of those who cared to listen - until the others came to fill the sky with a cacophony of noise. With dramatically lit artwork and a spare, intriguing text, Varmints tells of a pastoral world in need of protection and of the souls who love it enough to ensure its regeneration. Text Rationale:LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Once, the only sounds to be heard were the buzzing of bees in the grass, the murmuring of moles in the earth, and the song of birds in the sky. These warmed the hearts of those who cared to listen - until the others came to fill the sky with a cacophony of noise. With dramatically lit artwork and a spare, intriguing text, Varmints tells of a pastoral world in need of protection and of the souls who love it enough to ensure its regeneration. About This Edition ISBN: There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root. Coverage: Word List Words A varmint is an animal that is considered to be a pest. Can you think of animals that this definition might include? Could you write a report about them?

This book demands attention. From the curious creature staring out at the reader on the cover, to its large physical nature and wild typography and breath-taking art, Ward and Marc Craste's creation needs a patient orator and audience. A variety of themes could be interpreted - loss of natural habitat through urbanisation, loss of identity, societal collapse, Communism(?!), enduringly persistent hope and the joy of love - but therein lies the crux of reader response and exploratory talk. Varmints reminds me of Helen Ward's The Tin Forest also. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing -This story has been turned into a short film. Watch it and compare it with the book. Which do you prefer? Why? This is athree-session spelling seed for the book Varmints by Helen Ward. Below is the coverage from Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum 2014. This book is about a small creature who loves the trees and the flowers. My favourite part of the book was when the little creature is happy. I liked how the book is about wildlife and animals. What the author did well was showing people that you should care about animals and wildlife more. What are we to make of this book? Who does it suggest is to blame for despoiling of idyll there once was? While the text is self-consciously elliptical, one thing is clear: the blame lies with ‘Others’ who ‘came one day’ from outside, the ‘varmints’ (a variant, we are told, of the word vermin), with THEM. How does the use of colour change as the story progresses? Could you use this technique in a storyboard for your own story?

Varmints is a beautifully illustrated and thought-provoking picture book. The illustrations are dark and surreal, but they perfectly capture the sense of loneliness and isolation that the varmint feels. The story is simple but effective, and it teaches children important lessons about courage, friendship, and environmental protection.The book has a cliff-hanger ending. Can you think of other stories that use this technique? Can you think of a cliff-hanger ending for a story of your own? I haven't even had a chacne to read this yet but the art for this is so beguilingly gorgeous that i can't help but give it 5 stars already.

Varmints tells an analogy, or parable, that mirrors our history in a condensed form. There are those who love the hum of bees, the whisper of the wind, the wilderness - and then others arrive, with their tall buildings that "scratched the sky where birds once sang. Those gentle sounds faded and were gone." Every day, more newcomers arrived, the noise grew and grew until they couldn't think ... "So they stopped thinking."Helen Ward trained as an illustrator at Brighton School of Art, under the direction of well-known children's illustrators such as Raymond Briggs, Justin Todd, Chris McEwan and John Vernon Lord. In 1985, her final year at Brighton, Helen was awarded the first Walker Prize for Children's Illustration. But someone is nurturing a little piece of wilderness, and at the right time takes it to the right place... and that little bit of wilderness grows.