What our educators thought

“This is a wonderful step into chapter books for pupils, with manageable chapters and text that is well spaced and easy to access for all. The character of Sunil is great for the children to identify with as are the settings because of how familiar they are for the children. As Sunil has forgotten to revise for his Maths test, this too is something that may become familiar for children as they get older and need to ensure homework and revision is completed. The message of the story of how the past cannot be changed, entwined with events from History that we may not wish to have been changed, are cleverly intertwined. The children really liked the way unfamiliar words or those which needed further explanation were on the same page so they did not need to stray away from the book to look in a dictionary for example. We had lots of discussion about the characters Sunil met in the time machine as we had previously studied them in class or throughout our Collective Worship, so as they read they made connections. This was a clever way to mix facts with the fictional story. The idea of a time machine really captivated the children and led to lots of ‘I wonder’ moments when they suggested people they would wish to meet in the past and at what event or significant time. The children loved the character of Wiki as an unfamiliar pet, this too led to discussion about the kiwi bird and how they are real. As a year 3 teacher I would highly recommend this as a class read aloud to be shared and discussed together.”