This great concept for a series allows children to explore events of the past through the eyes of four children who travel back in time - this time to 1947, to see and find out more about the experiences of Marcel, a Polish refugee for whom the end of the war does not necessarily mean all is well and happy.
Not afraid to address difficult concepts, the children see how Polish citizens who had taken refuge here during the war were badly treated even after the end of the conflict, and themes of bullying, worries about life in a country recovering after years of horror, and identity are all addressed or raised in the story. It will provide powerful opportunities for discussion and learning when used in class, especially given recent events such as the pandemic and the refugee crisis around the world. The author's introduction addresses these concepts and themes and is a thoughtful addition to the book, linking learning about the past to our future actions.
The story itself it exciting and adventurous, and the characters and dialogue throughout engage the reader - it would work well as a read-aloud class novel, or as an independent read for more confident readers (but with support and care needed as with all book choices regards the themes it raises).
This was my first experience of the Time School gang and series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, racing through the book in an afternoon! I look forward to reading more - I love books like this that can be read both as quality texts in themselves and also used in cross-curricular ways to link and bring History/PSHE/Literacy to life in classrooms.
Many thanks to Hashtag Press for the copy of this book to review.
Find out more about the series at Nikki Young's website, and her interview about the series, here: https://www.nikkiyoung.co.uk/2020/07/10/the-time-school-series-2/
Hashtag Press are online at: https://www.hashtagpress.co.uk/ or on Twitter as @hashtag_press