Short Book Reviews

Hanna Kryszewska, Poland

Hanna Kryszewska is a teacher, teacher trainer, trainer of trainers. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Gdańsk, and EU Teacher Training College where she trains pre-service teachers. She is co-author of resource books: Learner Based Teaching, OUP, Towards Teaching, Heinemann, The Standby Book, CUP, Language Activities for Teenagers, CUP, The Company Words Keep, DELTA Publishing, and a course book series for secondary schools: ForMat, Macmillan. She is also co-author of a video based teacher training course: Observing English Lessons. Hania is a Pilgrims trainer and editor of HLT Magazine.
E-mail: hania.kryszewska@pilgrims.co.uk

Learning Stars 1. Pupil’s Book. J. Perrett and J. Leighton. (2014) Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-45569-6, pp.64. Learning Stars is a three level English language course aimed at learners at pre-primary level aged 2-5. The course prepares children for school both in terms of knowledge as well as skills necessary for full-time schooling. The course introduces children to reading and writing using a phonics programme. Learning Stars 1 consists of 10 units devoted to such topics as: greetings, school, toys, the farm, the body, clothes, picnics, physical activity, the kitchen and a party. In each unit there are sections on phonics and writing, vocabulary and grammar/language structures, developing concepts (e.g. discrimination, awareness of left and right or making sensible choices), life skills (e.g. hospitality, playing nicely or helping at home), songs and chants, basic math skills, cross curricular themes including PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education), and elements of story telling and drama. Each unit also includes a review section. The stories are entertaining, the songs and chants are memorable and lively, the arts and crafts activities are fun and not too complex, and the games are fun. The artwork in the book is pleasant to the eye, and includes drawings combined with some real life photography. The course is suitable for schools or countries where a text free period is not imposed in pre-school education. The course is complete with a digibook of the pupil’s book, an activity book, a maths book, a teacher’s guide pack, and an animated handwriting tool to model correct letter and number formation. Hopefully, the latter are adjusted to the norms promoted by educational bodies in individual countries. Overall the course is innovative and inspiring.

New Yippee! Green Book. Teacher’s Book. H. Q. Mitchell. (2011) mm publications. ISBN 978-960-478-207-9, pp.127. New Yippee! is a three level English language course aimed at young learners of English. The course helps non-native children learn English in the same way native speakers of English learn their mother tongue. First comes listening and speaking and then reading and writing, i.e. the literacy skills. Apart from teaching the four language skills, language structures and vocabulary, the course introduces cross-curricular activities, and addresses the multiple intelligences. The course comes complete with a student’s book, fun book, teacher’s book with detailed lesson plans and extra photocopiable activities, flashcards, a puppet, interactive whiteboard material, interactive student’s CD/CD-ROM, and posters. New Yippee! Green Book consists of 8 units devoted to such topics as: toys, colours, numbers, action words, classroom objects, family, the body, numbers, adjectives, food, and animals. Unfortunately the artwork in the book is a bit old fashioned so may not appeal to all learners.

Seven Animal Stories. The Cat from MixMax. Dragana Grozdanić and Ivana Gulkasević. (2007) Školska knijga. ISBN 978-953-0-11880-5. The books in this series of graded reading materials for young learners of English are absolutely charming and stand out when compared with the readers other publishers bring out. They are also refreshing as they come from Croatian, where the ELT publishing market has always been very original and innovative. The Cat from MixMax tells a story of a visit from an outer space cat to our world cat in basic English using: present tenses and some modals. The cat from outer space makes friends with the cats on planet Earth. There is a nice message of friendship, tolerance and bridging cultural differences. The story is followed by post-reading activities which focus on ten different areas: vocabulary and comprehension, pronunciation, spelling, word order, grammar, conversation – mini dialogues and role plays, creative activities, asking questions, understanding the message of the story, sequencing events, and an answer key. These activities address both the language introduced in the story, as well as the issues raised in the story, and the messages to the readers it contains. Highly recommended.

Helbling Young Readers Fiction. Helbling Languages (2014). e.g. Moony Goes on Holiday. Dilys Ross ISBN-13: 978-3-85272-956-5, pp 32, Freddy the Frog Prince. Maria Cleary ISBN-978-3-85272-955-8, pp 32. Books in this new series of graded reading materials for young learners of English are at the Starters and Movers levels according to the YLE, or levels 1-3 according to the Trinity Exams scale. The stories are interesting and told in basic English using simple grammar: present tenses and modal verbs, and basic vocabulary. Apart from language input and practice, the stories have a message such as: the same place can be perceived differently by different people, or that you need to help especially if you are the only one who can help. Before the students either hear the story from the CD or read by the teacher following it in the book, they do some exercises in the Play station section which pre-teaches and activates the language the learners need to follow the story. The activities which are on the CD-ROM are interactive and fun. The stories themselves are very good and often charming, and on each two page spread there is a little icon, a bug, a duck or a crab which gives the readers an extra task such as answering a personal question, following a line or spotting something in the picture. At the end of each book there is Play Station 2 section which revises some of the language in the story, a Play Station Project like making a sand bottle, or making a board game. There is also a mini dictionary. The font is young reader friendly, and the books are beautifully illustrated. The CD-ROM contains an audio book and some activities, language games, karaoke, chants, story sequencing activities and an audiovisual dictionary. Highly recommended.

Helbling Readers Classics. Helbling Languages (2014). Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame ISBN – 978-3-85272-943-5, pp 76, Robin Hood. Howard Pyle. ISBN – 978-3-85272-945-9, pp 76, Gulliver’s Travels. Jonathan Swift ISBN- 978-3-85272-947-3, pp 72. Books in this new series of graded reading materials for teenagers come at five levels; the red series comes at three different KET levels, while the blue series at two PET levels. The books are adaptations of well loved classics so obviously the stories are interesting and a good read. The learners first become familiar with the author and the story behind the book, and then they do some vocabulary activities in the pre-reading tasks. Also as they read the story they can see new words marked with a dot (and explained at the back of the book in the glossary). Readers can also listen to the whole story and do some activities available on an accompanying audio CD, and they can do some while reading mini tasks. Finally there are some after reading activities. The readers are pleasant to the eye thanks to good illustrations with careful page design; each book is illustrated in its own individual style. I am sure the series will be popular among language learners as additional reading and CLIL material.

Helbling Readers Classics. Twelve Years a Slave. S. Northup. Helbling Languages (2014). ISBN-978-3-85272-951-0, pp 80. Emma. J. Austen. Helbling Languages (2014). ISBN-978-3-85272-949-7, pp 84. Books in this new series of graded reading materials for language learners come at five levels. Emma is pitched at level 4 (A2 Waystage/B1 Threshold/ PET level), while Twelve Years a Slave is pitched at level 5 (B1 Threshold/ PET level).The series presents in simplified form well-loved classics and high quality fiction. The learners first become familiar with the author and the book. Then they become familiar with some lexis in the pre-reading tasks. As they read the story they can see the new words marked with a dot (and explained at the bottom of the page); they can also listen to the whole story and do some activities available on an accompanying audio CD. Finally there are some after reading activities. The illustrations in Twelve Years a Slave are pleasant to the eye and reminiscent of the colonial style, however, illustrations in Emma are less fortunate and are reminiscent of cheap computer animation. On the whole I am sure that books in the Classics series will be popular among language learners as additional reading material.

Sure: Student’s Book and Workbook A Elementary. Martyn Hobbs and Julia Starr Keddie. Helbling Languages (2014) ISBN 978-3-855272-814-6.Student’s Book and Workbook A Pre-intermediate. Martyn Hobbs and Julia Starr Keddie. Helbling Languages (2014) ISBN 978-3-855272-816-2. Student’s Book and Workbook B pre-intermediate Martyn Hobbs and Julia Starr Keddie. Helbling Languages (2014) ISBN 978-3-855272-817-9. This is a brand new and truly innovative four level teenage course ranging from the beginner to intermediate levels. The course addresses contemporary themes and through these topics presents grammar structures and lexis, and teaches the four language skills. The book has a strong focus on accuracy, fluency, communication and natural language. The topics also address cultural issues and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). The learners develop their learning and study skills, and learner autonomy by using digital resources (each book comes with an access code for online resources – the so called e-zone). The online resources in the Sure Cloud contain an interactive version of the student’s book and workbook, with all the audio and video stories, and an option to take notes. When doing exercises, learners can check their success rate themselves. There are also resources and interactive activities for single student access in the Online Training. Cyber Homework consists of interactive activities assigned by the teacher within a virtual classroom. The Student’s Book and Workbook are one publication, and the course is complete with a teacher’s book, audio CD’s (in British or America English) DVD’s, a Testbuilder CD-ROM

Beyond: Student’s Book Pack A1+, Student’s Book Pack B1+, and Student’s Book Pack B2 R. Campbell, R. Metcalf and R. Robb Benne. Macmillan. (this edition 2014). ISBN 978-0-230-46103-1\, pp144, ISBN 978-0-230-46142-0, pp144, and ISBN 978-0-230-46153-6, pp144 (respectively). This is a new edition of the Beyond course, which is a six level course for teenagers from A1 to B2 levels according to CEFR. It offers a comprehensive syllabus including the four language skills as well as language learning strategies. The topics are meaningful and relevant to the learners, which motivates and ensures success. The course has a strong productive skills focus with emphasis on writing and speaking. The latter is supported by a specially produced video which assists the learning process and makes it more real as it is set in real-life contexts. The course offers regular recycling, revision and consolidation of input. The course is supported for the learners by an online workbook, a student’s book to accompany the audio and video materials, extra listening, and worksheets. For the teacher there is an online resource centre with a presentation kit, an online workbook, a course audio and video, CLIL materials including skills and culture worksheets, and access to resources available on www.onestopenglish.com The course is visually pleasing, although the colour scheme is relatively pale and some pages are devoid of any visual material.

Richmond Vocabulary Builder B2. Elisabeth Walter and Kate Woodford. (2013) Richmond. ISBN 978-84-668-1528-4 pp. 144. This resource book for classroom use or self study is aimed at traditional language classes or students who want to practise their vocabulary individually using the book and the Richmond Learning Platform. Mastering the vocabulary and lexis will help the learners to speak and write more fluently, and will improve their listening and reading comprehension skills. Working with the exercises will also help the learners to perform better at exams. The book practises over 1000 words or lexical items in natural contexts. It is divided into 50 units devoted to such topics as: people, free time, the world around us, everyday life, society and many others. Each section contains words or phrases related to the topic, various exercises and listening material. Each unit ends with a task in which the learners practise the newly learned words in speaking and writing activities. There are six review sections, and extra practice activities on the learning platform; each books comes with an access code and learners can choose between an edition with answers or without.

Heads Up 1. Spoken English for Business. Mark Tulip with Louise Green and Richard Nicholas. (2014). ISBN 978-1-905085-96-5, pp 104. The book is part one of a practical two-level course which is aimed at pre-intermediate learners who want to perfect their speaking skills in a professional context at work. It is highly practical, and targets the needs of learners who are under a lot of time pressure and want results fast. The book consists of 40 two page units devoted to topics such as: my contacts, my phone calls, my diary, soft skills, our competitors or our market. A typical unit starts with a listening which involves listening comprehension as well as observing language in context. Then comes the productive skills stage in the Get ready section: a writing or speaking task; the latter involving mainly pair work. The book is accompanied by two CD’s and can be used for self study as there is a key and transcripts at the end of the book, although in the case of self-study, pair-work would naturally be impossible.

Please check the CLIL for Secondary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Teaching Languages Using Technologies course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Using Interactive Whiteboards course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the British Life, Language and Culture course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Business English: A Hands on Approach at Pilgrims website.