A Post-Covid Reading List
For Staff, Parents and Pupils at Knighton House
September 2020
The books on this list have been chosen to chime with our many experiences of the last 6 months and to encompass other significant events which were also taking place at that time, including the momentum for change created by the Black Lives Matter movement, the announcement of the inaugural Festival of Kindness in Leeds and the positive changes in world health as WHO declares Africa free of wild Polio. Both lists challenge assumptions and celebrate the good in all humans.
For further information about the importance of books in helping children embrace change, see Tiny Owl’s blog post at:
How books can help children come to terms with going back to school
Titles for Staff and Parents
- Natives – Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala (Longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2019)
- Superior – The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini
- The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday
- Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion by Paul Bloom
- The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci
Essays and More:
A TLS essay – opera singer Marian Anderson was denied the right to hold a concert at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC; a recently recovered archive of documents provides new insights into exclusionary practices, revealing exceptional detail about how segregation worked.
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/marian-anderson-and-the-daughters-of-the-american-revolution/
Articles, clips and more as suggested for the 2019 Orwell Youth Prize theme: A Fair Society? (scroll down to the section Read, Watch and Listen)
A ‘public health triumph’: Africa declared free of wild polio
Books for Pupils
- Moo by Sharon Creech
- Balaclava Boy by Jenny Robson
- Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman (Alpha)
- The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius (I absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK)
- Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly and Winifred Conkling
- Felix After the Rain by Dunja Jogan (Tiny Owl Publishing)
- When I Coloured in the World by Ahmadreza Amadi (Tiny Owl Publishing)
- Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee
- Jada Sly Artist and Spy by Sherri Winston
- Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
- SKIP by Molly Mendoza (graphic novel)
- When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
- Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
- Julie Black Belt: The Kung Fu Chronicles by Oliver Chin
- Funky Chickens (Puffin Poetry) by Benjamin Zephaniah
- Boys Don’t Cry by Malorie Blackman (Alpha)
- Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai (graphic novel)
- Ghost by Jason Reynolds (Alpha)
- I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
- Race to the Frozen North by Catherine Johnson (Alpha)
