Butterfly Battle
Reviews from schools
Tina Adams, teacher at International School,
Hong Kong
"The children loved it and pleaded with me to continue with chapters.
I have followed on with a project on insects and they are most excited.
I reckon that the book is ideal for nine to twelve year olds."
Baden Powell School, Ferron Road, Hackney, London E5
28 June 1999
Dear Neil,
Just a note to thank you for your visit to school during our Book Week.
The children enjoyed the talk immensely and it complemented my previous readings of your book.
We at Baden Powell are doing our utmost to encourage our pupils to read more books, not only to improve literacy, but to fire their imaginations. It can be so difficult to capture their attention when they get to the latter stages of primary school, particularly the boys who read less fiction than the girls.
When I read Butterfly Battle, I found that the class was totally absorbed. The plot is exciting as each chapter ends with a cliff hanger. It helped me with history lessons because of parallels with the Second World War. The children were very pleased with themselves when they were able to identify characters that had been based on a person from history. It also described the creatures in such wonderful detail that the children were enthralled by the battle jobs that the insects carried out.
I am very glad that you enjoyed the visit and found the children’s questions, comments and ideas stimulating. It is important that they get the opportunity to see how the process of writing a book can begin with a few ideas and experiences.
The school has purchased copies of the book for group reading and you will be pleased to know that 25 children have bought their own copies.
I am recommending Butterfly Battle to Christine Clipson, Literacy consultant at Hackney Education Literacy Programme, as we have often discussed the need to find books that encourage reluctant readers, in particular boys.
Thank you once again for your time and the stimulating talk.
With kind regards
Collen Harris
