The Barber's Clever Wife

Review also includes:

The Path of Finn McCool, retold by Sally Prue, ill. Dee Shulman, 978-0713668421

Taliesin: The Boy Wizard, retold by Maggie Pearson, ill. David Wyatt, 978-0713668438

Snow Horse and other stories, Joan Aiken, ill. Jim Eldridge, 978-0713670882

Shock Forest and other stories, Margaret Mahy, ill. Wendy Smith, 978-0713670271

Sky Ship and other stories, Geraldine McCaughrean, ill. Ian McCaughrean, 978-0713670288

‘White Wolves’ is a series of books for 7-12 year olds, primarily intended for use in guided reading sessions during the Literacy Hour. Recent additions are books that cover the range requirements of traditional tales for Year 5 (9-10 year olds), and stories by significant children’s authors for Y6. Happily, the books are so much more than educational tools, and are written by top authors with distinctive and established styles.

For Year 5, there’s a myth from Ireland, a folktale from India and a legend from Wales, and each story has the distinctive features of the genre – humour and stereotypical characters, magic, supernatural beings and faraway, timeless settings. Dhami’s The Barber’s Clever Wife is a witty reworking of a Punjabi tale, in which a cunning wife secures land for herself and her lazy husband and outwits a band of brigands; Prue’s The Path of Finn McCool explains how an underground causeway, linking Ireland and Scotland, and the Isle of Man came into existence through a battle between two giants; while Pearson dips into the Mabinogion to tell of the magician and poet, Taliesin.

For Year 6, there are three short-story collections, each containing stories, for the most part previously published, by Margaret Mahy, Geraldine McCaughrean and Joan Aiken. Though distinctive, the collections have something in common in that they are exemplary pieces of writing. The stories are beautifully crafted, peopled by distinctive characters and filled with imagery and the richness of language.

All the books are simply illustrated with black and white drawings that either serve as chapter headings or to punctuate the text. Some illustration styles fit more comfortably than others – the best being Wyatt’s atmospheric, crosshatched chapter openings for Taliesin and Bandlow’s stylized drawings in The Barber’s Wife.

For teachers wishing to use these books in class, there are, I understand, though I’ve not seen them, accompanying lesson plans and photocopiable activities. But the books stand on their own and offer hours of enjoyable reading.