Help your child enjoy books with the Reading Scheme at Wrexham libraries

A reading scheme is a series of books that have been carefully written to support the process of learning to read and to help children make progress as readers.

Educational publishers consider a number of factors when determining the 'level' of a book including phonic knowledge, vocabulary, sentence length, number of words on a page and use of illustrations.

The most commonly used structure is Book Bands because this is a system that has been applied to lots of different reading schemes and other books.

Brynteg Library have various reading scheme series of books such as Oxford Reading Tree; Maverick Early Readers; Reading Ladder; Reading Champion; Superphonics, and many more. This months featured series is the Oxford Raintree Series which is a colour banded series which features many characters and also books that are inclusive and celebrate diversity and difference. Titles include Max and Zoe at the Dentist; Yasmin the Explorer; Robot and Rico: Skate Trick; Katie Woo: Flying High, Katie; Pet Club: The Pet Wash, and Boo Books: The Haunted Backpack.

If you'd like to add any of these titles to your next order then phone Brynteg Library on 01978 759523, email Brynteg.Library@wrexham.gov.uk, or access the online catalogue via www.wrexham.gov.uk/libraries.

Author of the Month

Elen Caldecott is a children and young people's author who lives in Bristol with her husband.

Most days she sits at her kitchen table to write, but when she's not busy writing she likes to visit the cinema and she teaches writing for children at the local university.

Elen has always liked to read books and when she was a child she would very often write sequels to some of her favourite books because she couldn't bear to say goodbye to the characters. Eventually she started inventing her own characters.

Before becoming a writer Elen was an archaeologist, a nurse, a theatre usher and a museum guard. It was whilst working at the museum she realised that if she wanted to steal anything the best way to go about it was to create some characters to do it for her, this thought turned into her debut novel How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant. Elen has also co-written Evie's Magic Bracelet with Olympian Jessica Ennis- Hill, the first in a sensational seven books series. Her latest book is The Short Knife, a young adult novel set in the early Middle Ages has just won her the prestigious Tir na n-og Award 2021.

I've always meant to read that...

Is there a book you've been meaning to read and never got around to? Why not take one of these great books on holiday with you? Log on to our online e-books and e-audio with Borrowbox to choose from a selection of old and new classics. Catcher in the Rye, Gone with the Wind, Sense and Sensibility and The Life of Pi are just a few of the titles on offer, so why not make this the year you catch up with your reading promises? Go to www.wrexham.gov.uk/libraries and follow the Online Services link.

Ancestry.com for free

Have you ever wondered who your ancestors are and what they did for a living? To find the answers to these questions why not visit the library's website where you can have FREE full access to Ancestry.com until the end of June. Ancestry will give you access to UK and international records such as the census, births, marriages and deaths, parish records and much more. For more details visit our website www.wrexham.gov.uk/libraries and follow the online services link.

Looking for inspiration?

We all know how hard it is to choose a good book. However, if you have a social media account on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook we can help you choose your next book. We regularly post photos of themed book displays from all of our libraries, as well as book reviews, suggested reading and other related book topics. Follow us on: Facebook - Wrexham Libraries | Llyfrgelloedd Wrecsam; Twitter - @WxmLibraries | @LlyfrgellWcm; Instagram - wrexlib

Book Review

V2 by Robert Harris

V2 by Robert Harris.

V2 is Robert Harris's latest thriller which is set against a tense period during the Second World War, when the dreaded German rockets devastated large areas of London, killing hundreds.

At the centre of the story are two characters, Rudi Graf, a German scientist whose dream is to send a rocket into space. However his research has helped create a ballistic missile, capable of delivering a one-ton warhead at three times the speed of sound.

Kay Caton-Walsh is an officer in the Woman's Auxiliary Air Force. She has already survived a V2 strike. She joins a unit of WAAFs on a mission to Belgium in an attempt to locate and destroy the launch sites.

It's the winter of 1944 and Hitler is desperately trying to avoid defeat. Many are disillusioned with the way things are going and it's difficult to know who to trust. Graf and Kay are each fighting their own war until one final explosion of violence causes their destinies to collide.