Travelling in Grandma's Day; School Life in Grandma's Day; Houses and Homes; School

These two series provide a useful and complementary set of resources for the teaching of History in the primary school. The publishers have made considerable efforts to make the materials relevant to both Key Stage One and Key Stage Two. Both series provide good support for children through indexes, glossaries and suggested further reading lists; the book information on the back cover is also accessible to children rather than directed solely at the adult. Wayland includes books from other publishers (a point applauded by our Year Two reviewers as 'generous'!) in their further reading list as well as ideas for places to visit and excellent teachers' notes.

Wayland's 'History from Photographs' series has well chosen 'then and now' photographs with captions at different reading levels to encourage group participation. The photographs are an excellent selection and provide a wealth of information allowing the books to be accessed at many different levels. Considerable care and attention to detail has been taken to ensure that stereotyping is minimised and that children are not misled; a good example of this is the strategic use of current black and white photographs so that children do not assume that they only existed in the past. The photographs allow us an intimate look at similarities and differences, some of which make a dramatic impact. The modern dwellings in Houses and Homes are rather sanitised but this is a quibble. This series in particular would lend itself well to the Literacy hour if turned into 'big books'; a larger format would allow valuable interaction with class or group, helping to put nonfiction firmly on the agenda.

Evans' 'In Grandma's Day' series gives us a more intimate look at history through the eyes of two (very young looking) grannies. Family photographs and delightful detail such as contemporary posters, tickets and badges give these titles a 'scrapbook' feel. The chatty style of the texts means that the independent access range narrows slightly but these books are still a superb resource for any child at the top end of Key Stage. One when shared with an interested adult and fascinating as well as supportively laid out for pupils gathering information for Key Stage Two project work.