I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly! Secret Sky Garden (Simon & Schuster), byLinda Sarah and Fiona Lumbers, is about a little girl called Funni, who creates a garden on a disused car park rooftop. Through our work, children and young people feel connected to those around them, develop a sense of belonging to their local, national and global communities and take action to create welcoming, kind and connected communities. Larra really enjoyed reading The Secret Sky Garden. Before we began to read she tried guessing what the book would be about; and suggested flowers being planted on clouds, a plane that was actually a garden and even a rooftop garden! She wasn’t wrong with her last guess which thrilled her more so.

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Focus on the two children in the book and discuss what they liked doing. Focus on their kites. Describe their kites. Spend some time out of doors or indoors and listen to the sounds around you. What did you hear? Can you find a way of making the sounds with instruments or household objects? You could try to create ‘a whole city of sounds’ and make a recording of them. Make a secret garden

It’s another Bookwagon day in our house. The kids were so excited to get their latest books in the post. From here you’ll be able to gaze out at The Shard, The Gherkin, St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge and, of course, the River Thames. In fact you can pretty much see everything, as these Sky Garden photos show. After weeks of careful nurture, the space goes from concrete to compost: she now has her garden in the sky! Enter the beautiful, inspiring world of Secret Sky Garden: where no one can stop one child turning an unloved bit of the city into a little piece of green paradise.Look at the front cover of the book. Ask your child what he/she can see on the front cover. What is the title of the story? Who are the authors/illustrators? What parts of the front cover are grey? What parts are in colour? Why do you think the author has chosen to have some parts grey and some parts in colour? There are parts of the story that could be fun for children to join in with eg the repeated ‘definitely’ or Zoo’s comments eg ‘I must be dreaming’. Reading through with sound effects would be fun, for the whine of the plane or the bells of city square. Talk about the story Read/watch the story again with your child. Ask literal, inference and deduction questions about the story. Use picture cues to deduce some answers. One of our very favourites, “The secret sky garden”, with text by Linda Sarah and wonderful illustrations by Fiona Lumbers, combines some of the things little gosling enjoys more: flowers, music, fairy lights, planes, water cans, kids playing… This is one of the books I tend to take with me for those moments when he suddenly stops, irrespective of where we are, sits down and asks mommy to read a book. We both can’t seem to get tired of it.