FArTHER

Product Information

The winning book, Farther by Grahame Baker-Smith, tells the story of how a son takes up his father’s unfulfilled dreams of flying, and finally takes to the air. More recently he's worked on a monumental project for Walker Books about life on Earth called Life! The First Four Billion Years. Also a four-book series for Templar, the first of which is The Rhythm of the Rain, and the second is about the wind. This is a picture book for children of ages 8 and upwards. Although it doesn’t contain a lot of text, the words are beautifully woven into the pictures using different fonts and text sizes. The pictures themselves are intricate and detailed images put together in a unique way using photographs and illustration which in themselves tell a story. I found myself asking questions about the images and even making up a little more of the story in my head. The starting point for FArTHER was an image that came into my mind’s eye during the course of an ordinary day. I saw a figure, a man, sitting at a workbench making a pair of wings. At the time, as I went about the various tasks and demands of the day, I did not know who he was or what he was really trying to do. In the evening, the house grew quieter and the family retired to bed. I felt there was a story somewhere in this image and so sat downstairs (with a glass of dark English ale), took out a notebook and pen and the first line just appeared: ‘Poppies lined the path to my father’s house.’ From there on over a period of about an hour and a half I wrote the story line by line, as if it were being dictated. I didn’t really know exactly what was going to happen or where it was all leading to – the things that happened in the story were a surprise to me – but I had a feeling of something being ‘right’ and a sense of exploration and trust in the work, that all will be OK! Different types of wings hanging from the ceiling... alongside aspirations hanging from the ceiling as well

I didn’t know until I actually wrote the words that the Father would be called away to war. This was a part of the story I actually hesitated over as it seemed a bit extreme for a picture book, but then decided to go with the flow as it seemed an important and pivotal point in the story. Exciting book display- copies of book, audio recording of it being read, images of Ancient Greek myth This three-week Writing Root begins by introducing the concept of dreams and how important they are in our lives. It continues by exploring the text through a range of activities that include explicit grammar teaching, opportunities for shorter written outcomes and book talk. Children create a story-map of the key events from the book to write a sequel and create a set of instruction to describe how their own flying machine works. Children finish by writing a longer story about an adventure in a sequel to the text. Synopsis of Text: Ancient Greece The story of Daedalus and Icarus. Explore how this story runs in parallel with part of the story (where the Father builds wings etc.) Design and Technology Ancient Greece, Icarus, Greek myths, Da Vinci, flight, World War 1, World War One, The Great War, dreams, aspirations, invention, familyNotes: Based for a year 5 Linguistic features. Use the New National Curriculum to focus on: Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation / Grahame has also illustrated three picture books for Templar: the Greenaway short-listed Leon and the Place Between, written by Angela McAllister; the self-written FArTHER which won the Kate Greenaway medal in 2011 and was listed on the USBBY's 2014 Outstanding International Book List, and Winter's Child, another Angela McAllister story. The first thing I will comment on are the illustrations. They are incredible. Using photographic collage and illustration, this is the first book that Grahame has both written and illustrated and the results are amazing. The illustrations really do bring this picture book to life and the size of the book make it perfect for reading to groups of children. Receptive Context: Think about how you can use the room to excite and engage the children into wanting to explore the book and anything related to it more. How can you wow them when they first walk in? Before: Asking children prior to display who inspires them and why and then collate information and add to display/around the classroom

FArTHER is the story of a father who dreams of flying. However, when he goes to war and does not return, his son attempts to finish where he left off and makes his dream come true. Winner of the 2012 Greenaway award, this truly is an inspirational story showing how any dream can be fulfilled with love and motivation.

Curriculum

Use research and criteria to develop products which are fit for purpose and aimed at specific groups' He has also illustrated many books for the Folio Society including the V&A Award short-listed Pinocchio and Oscar Wilde's Selfish Giant and Other Stories. He's illustrated a set of ten stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and a book written by Zana Fraillon about a refugee camp called Wisp which is longlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2020. Then, for a complete change of mood, The Wind in the Willows, for Templar. Children's thoughts about the book- picture of front of book and children to add post-it thoughts as book is explored Alternatively, this unit could be taught in the Spring term when the shortlist for 2012 is announced. Other book awards could be substituted, for example the UKLA awards, or awards run by local libraries.