Book Advent: Week 2!

A few weeks ago, two of our team attended Norfolk’s annual Math’s Conference; you can find our account of last year’s event here, but below you’ll find Zoë’s recap of this year’s conference- and after that, week two of our book advent! 

The theme to this year’s Maths Conference, organised by Educator Solutions, was variation and blended with the competition of spice to generate the title: Variety is the spice of life.

About 90 delegates from local primary schools attended, generating the ‘cognitive fizz’ that keynote speaker, Professor Anne Watson, was seeking. She began by stating that primary teachers are hugely influential on the next generation, commenting that very few are the traditional men in suits.

She also explained that variation is not a new buzz word; imported from Singapore or China, it’s an old thing you’re already doing. Consider what it is you are varying; what varies when the pupils do maths. It is an intrinsic aspect of maths.

Professor Watson then led some tasks modelling variation, using concrete materials, with people working in groups and sharing their findings (including issues that arose). She finished with by asking the question What has to be learnt in maths? Then gave three key points.

Delegates also attended two workshops, all eight being about variation within the different strands of maths.

The exhibition featured several companies as well as Norfolk Education Library Service. Both Harriet and I spoke to a number of teachers about a variety of things around books and maths. We also noted some of the names of the mathematicians in the spicy competition were unknown to us.

Our thanks to the Maths team for inviting us and putting on another enjoyable conference.

Week Two: Fantasy Books!

• Frogkisser! by Garth Nix

A wonderful fairy tale about a young princess who has to go on a vital Quest, very much against her inclination, not only to rescue a prince who has been turned into a frog, but to restore the happiness of the whole country as her stepstepfather is rapidly becoming a cruel and evil sorcerer. Anya comes over as a real child who has to be extremely resourceful and brave, through her natural good nature and sense of responsibility.

(Picadilly Press, £6.99 paperback, ISBN 9781848126374, find it at a Norfolk Library)

• Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig

Third in an excellent series of exciting stories about different characters in the Christmas family (as in the ‘Father Christmas’ family). Although the heroes get into many dangerous situations, the tone is fairly light and always entertaining.

(Canongate, £12.99 hardback, ISBN 9781786890689, find it at a Norfolk Library)

• The Nutcracker by Jessica Courtney-Tickle

An aural and visual feast of a book, with good quality excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s ballet accompanying the story. Look out also for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in this series of ‘The Story Orchestra’ sound books.

(Frances Lincoln, £14.99 hardback, ISBN 9781786030689)

• La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

First in a trilogy called The Book of Dust, this is for teens and above. Beautifully written as we would expect, we are immediately immersed in the world of His Dark Materials, but the trilogy will stand alone. This first part introduces us to dark mysteries, but has light moments too.

(David Fickling Books, £20 hardback, ISBN 9780385604413, find it at a Norfolk Library)

You can see the first week of our 2017 advent just here.