05 January 2017
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jack Arnopp - an extract
It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he’d already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed. Then there was that video: forty seconds...
05 January 2017
Tuco: The Parrot, the Others, and a Scattershot World by Brian Brett - an extract
For thirty years, Brian Brett shared his office and his life with Tuco, a remarkable parrot given to asking such questions as “Whaddya know?” and announcing “Party time!” when guests showed up at Brett’s farm. Although Brett bought Tuco on...
05 January 2017
Tuco: The Parrot, the Others, and a Scattershot World by Brian Brett - discussion questions
Brian Brett is the author of Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life, which won the Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, and Uproar’s Your Only Music, a Globe and Mail Book of the Year. He has also written numerous books...
04 January 2017
Dr James Barry: A Woman Ahead of Her Time by Michael du Preez and Jeremy Dronfield - an extract
“Thoroughly engaging.” Sunday Times, Books of the Year “Gripping, unusual, moving.” Times, Books of the Year “An irresistible little byway in 18th-century medical and social history.” Oldie “A scintillating portrait of Barry’s life…that feels almost Dickensian in style.” Guardian These are just some of the reviews about the...
04 January 2017
Dr James Barry: A Woman Ahead of Her Time by Michael du Preez and Jeremy Dronfield - discussion questions
Dr James Barry was many things in his life: Inspector General of Hospitals, army surgeon, duellist, reformer, lady killer, eccentric. He performed the first successful Caesarean in the British Empire, outraged the military establishment, and gave Florence Nightingale a dressing...
04 January 2017
The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler - discussion questions
We have attached some discussion questions for you to use with your reading group about The Tobacconist. From the bestselling author of A Whole Life, comes a moving account of an ordinary boy living through extraordinary times, and the lengths we...
04 January 2017
The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler - an extract
When seventeen-year-old Franz exchanges his home in the idyllic beauty of the Austrian lake district for the bustle of Vienna, his homesickness quickly dissolves amidst the thrum of the city. In his role as apprentice to the elderly tobacconist Otto Trsnyek,...
20 December 2016
LEGO® Winter Wonderland Activity Sheet
Download this free LEGO activity sheet and bring the snowy scene to life! Colour in the elf and his hungry reindeer, and search for some wintery words. Why not print them off for all the family to enjoy!
20 December 2016
A Monster Calls - discussion guide
Download these discussion questions for A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
20 December 2016
Tesco Bank Summer Reading Challenge Scotland 2016 - Participation Report
Here is the national participation report for the Big Friendly Read, Tesco Bank Summer Reading Challenge Scotland 2016.
19 December 2016
Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-extinction by Helen Pilcher - an extract
If you could bring back just one animal from the past, what would you choose? It can be anyone or anything from history, from the King of the Dinosaurs, T. rex, to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley,...
19 December 2016
Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-extinction by Helen Pilcher - discussion questions
De-extinction – the ability to bring extinct species back to life – is fast becoming reality. Around the globe, scientists are trying to de-extinct all manner of animals, including the woolly mammoth, the passenger pigeon and a bizarre species of...
19 December 2016
The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker - discussion questions
Edgar Hill is 35 and caught in his own headlock. Overweight slob, under-performing husband and reluctant father – for Ed, the world may as well have already ended. So when it does end in a catastrophic asteroid strike and Edgar...
19 December 2016
The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker - an extract
This is the ultimate race-against-time thriller. When the world ends and you find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the country, every second counts. No one knows this more than Edgar Hill. 550 miles away from his family, he must push...
16 December 2016
The New Odyssey: The Story of Europe's Refugee Crisis by Patrick Kingsley - discussion questions
We have some discussion questions for your reading group about The New Odyssey. Europe is facing a wave of migration unmatched since the end of World War II. The author, Guardian’s migration correspondent, has reported on this crisis in depth. Throughout...
16 December 2016
The New Odyssey: The Story of Europe's Refugee Crisis by Patrick Kingsley - an extract
This extremely topical, non-fiction book is a fascinating read. Europe is facing a wave of migration unmatched since the end of World War II – and no one has reported on this crisis in more depth or breadth than the...
16 December 2016
Himself by Jess Kidd - discussion questions
Himself is a genre-bending crime story set in County Mayo in the 1970s. Abandoned on the steps of an orphanage, Mahony, a lovable car thief and Dublin charmer, returns to the town of his birth after an anonymous message suggests that...
16 December 2016
Himself by Jess Kidd - read an extract
When Mahony returns to Mulderrig, a speck of a place on Ireland’s west coast, he brings only a photograph of his long-lost mother and a determination to do battle with the lies of his past. No one – living or dead...
16 December 2016
Call out for submissions - Reading Well for long term conditions
FOR PUBLISHERS the call out for submissions for the Reading Well for long term conditions list to be launched in July 2017.
16 December 2016
Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's Wildlife by Stephen Moss - discussion questions
We have some great discussion questions for your reading group about Wild Kingdom, the non-fiction book by Stephen Moss. Stephen Moss has travelled the length and breadth of the UK, from the remote archipelago of St Kilda to our inner cities,...
16 December 2016
Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's Wildlife by Stephen Moss - read an extract
The newspaper headlines tell us that Britain’s wildlife is in trouble. Wild creatures that have lived here for thousands of years are disappearing, because of pollution and persecution, competition with alien species, changing farming and forestry practices, and climate change....
16 December 2016
SHTUM by Jem Lester - discussion questions
We have some great discussion questions for your reading group about Shtum by Jem Lester. As you can see below, other groups have enjoyed reading and discussing this book: “I cannot stress highly enough how much I loved this book. Simply charming,...
16 December 2016
SHTUM by Jem Lester - read an extract
Ben Jewell has hit breaking point. His ten-year-old son, Jonah, has never spoken. So when Ben and Jonah are forced to move in with Ben’s elderly father, three generations of men – one who can’t talk; two who won’t –...
09 December 2016
False Hearts by Laura Lam - read an extract
One night Tila stumbles home, terrified and covered in blood. She’s then arrested for murder, the first by a civilian in decades. The San Francisco police suspect involvement with Verve, a powerful drug, and offer her twin sister Taema a...
09 December 2016
False Hearts by Laura Lam - discussion questions
We have some great discussion questions for your reading group about False Hearts by Laura Lam. As you can see below, other groups have enjoyed reading and discussing this book: “It was engaging right from the off, brought a wonderful vision of...
06 December 2016
DKfindout! Sharks poster
Enjoy this fact-filled poster all about sharks!
06 December 2016
DKfindout! Pirates poster
Download this fact-filled poster all about pirates!
02 December 2016
The Appointment by Graham Easton - discussion questions
We have some discussion questions for your reading group about The Appointment: What Your Doctor Really Thinks During Your Ten-Minute Consultation by Graham Easton. The Appointment is a book which explores the idea that despite the modern trend towards empowering patients...
02 December 2016
The Appointment by Graham Easton - read an extract
Despite the modern trend towards empowering patients and giving them more choice, the nuts and bolts of medical practice largely remain a mystery – a closed box. In fact, the more health information is available on the internet, the more...
28 November 2016
Cosy Winter Reads - Chatterbooks Booklist
Check out these winter reads from our children’s publisher partners. There are books for all ages, plus discussion and activity ideas for your Chatterbooks group.
