Going Live

Going

Let the experts take over from the Home Schooling for a moment and schedule in some online live shows, classes and lessons. Our first of three is the The Restless Giants - Nature Live Online hosted by the Natural History Museum, London, showcasing violent volcanoe eruptions to breathtaking lava flows.Suitable for ages 6+ bit.ly/Nature-Live-OnlineFB

Next is a new, community driven initiative that supports and showcases minority voices and arts. Available through the Liberally platform watch Music Shed with Lucy Burtt. Classes for children aged 4 months - 3+ years. These are 12-week pre-recorded sessions and will be guaranteed to get all the family singing and dancing! artsliberally.com

Lastly you can enjoy some of the world’s best theatre productions, for free, without the worry of catching the last train home as the National Theatre offers streaming performances. So, you can enjoy Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle directing Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller in Frankenstein or Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo as Shakespeare's fated lovers in Antony & Cleopatra from your living room. nationaltheatre.org.uk/ntat-home Watch and Learn

Live

A guide to live online entertainment

The summer solstice at Stonehenge, Wiltshire is set to be have a livestream this year. This is the first time the pagan festival has ever delivered this type of offering and English Heritage are hoping this will discourage sun worshipers from visiting. Sit back, relax and enjoy!

Sunrise Streaming

Many festivals this year are on hold or cancelled but that shouldn't stop the Festival Fun from continuing. Join the BBC's 50th television broadcast on the 26th June and Glasthomebury 2020 as they merge forces to raise money and enjoy the festival action online. Visit: glas.to/ bbc2020 for all the events, times and festivities. Put up the fairy lights and get the music on for Big Little Tent Festival 2020. This initiative by the Caravan and Motorhome Club club is a community festival to bring smiles to faces and inspire the whole family to enjoy the great outdoors this summer. Whether you’re in your living room or garden, Big Little Tent Festival is the perfect opportunity to keep the little ones (and the big ones!) occupied and connected with family and friends. caravanclub. co.uk/whats-on/big-little-tent-festival Home Festivals

WEBCAM WONDERS

Our top three best wildlife webcams, check them out:

Panda, Penguin, Koala and Tiger watch cameras are set up here: edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams Wildlife in action across the British Isles. wildlifetrusts.org/webcams So many animal cameras for hours of nature watches. zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams

For Mum... (and any other female adults!)

Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens

"A painfully beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-ofage narrative and a celebration of nature . . . Owens here surveys the desolate marshlands of the North Carolina coast through the eyes of an abandoned child. And in her isolation that child makes us open our own eyes to the secret wonders-and dangers-of her private world." - New York Times Book Review

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Celeste Ng, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Letter. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Rachel Hore and Kathryn Hughes, this pageturning, moving novel of separation and long-buried secrets will stay with you for ever.

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah (Editor’s choice)

An unforgettable portrait of love and war. - People

Without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read. This book follows two sisters as they fathom their way through the atrocities of war. Brilliantly researched, hauntingly atmospheric and devastatingly sad…but excellent! Chalk it up!

The Seven Sisters, Lucinda Riley

"Riley is one of the strongest authors in this genre of historical fiction . . . excellent historical detail, heart-wrenching romance, and an engaging mystery" - Historical Novel Society

Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home - a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva - having been told that their beloved adoptive father, the elusive billionaire they call Pa Salt, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalising clue to their true heritage - a clue which takes Maia across the world to a mansion in Brazil . . .

Children 5 to 8...

Dog Man, Dav Pilker

Howl with laughter with the FIRST book in the hilarious full-colour illustrated series, Dog Man, from the creator of Captain Underpants! George and Harold (the co-stars of the enormously popular Captain Underpants series) are in big trouble again! George and Harold have created a new breed of justice -- one that is part dog, part man, and ALL HERO!

Slime, David Walliams

“I absolutely love David Walliams’s books. In a few more years they will become classics.” - Sue Townsend, author of Adrian Mole

The latest deliriously silly adventure for younger readers from the unstoppable duo of Walliams and Ross finds a young, wheelchair-bound boy taking a very slimy revenge on his adult tormentors.

The Twits, Roald Dahl

We couldn’t possibly compile a Summer Reads list and not include an offering by the word wizard himself, Roald Dahl. Take a dive into the world of The Twits; the most revolting and mean pair of humans you could ever meet. This is a book that the whole family will enjoy reading – and you’ll be onto your next Dahl masterpiece before you can say Snozcumber!

Children 9 and up...

Refugee Boy, Benjamin Zephaniah

The playful, obstinate and courageously humorous tone of Zephaniah’s writing shines through ... hilarious and later heart-breaking * Alfred Hickling, - Guardian on REFUGEE BOY"

Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place. So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father - until he wakes up to find him gone.

(And for those who love Refugee Boy..) We simply had to include this book… because it’s amazing…!

The Boy at the back of the Class, Onjali.Q Rauf

‘Rauf ’s book is at once tearjerking and chuckleinducing and will go a long way to restore faith in human nature.’ - The Sunday Post

When a new boy joins their class, a group of children try to befriend him. They soon learn that Ahmet is a refugee and has been separated from his family. None of the grown-ups seem to be able to help him, so the friends come up with a daring plan, embarking on an extraordinary adventure. Based in part on the stories she encountered when working in refugee camps, Onjali Q. Raúf ’s remarkable debut deserves to be ranked as a modern classic. Told with humour and tenderness, it is an unforgettable story of hope, curiosity and the importance of kindness.

Tom’s Midnight Garden, Philippa Pearce

A timeless favourite - Good Housekeeping

When Tom is sent to stay at his aunt and uncle’s house for the summer, he resigns himself to endless weeks of boredom. As he lies awake in his bed he hears the grandfather clock downstairs strike . . .eleven . . . twelve . . . thirteen . . . Thirteen! Tom races down the stairs and out the back door, into a garden everyone told him wasn’t there. In this enchanted thirteenth hour, the garden comes alive - but Tom is never sure whether the children he meets there are real or ghosts . . . This entrancing and magical story is one of the best-loved children’s books ever written.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy

‘Simply, the world needs Charlie’s work right now.’ - Miranda Hart

Voted Waterstones Book of the Year 2019, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is a book to bring people together, Charlie Mackesy’s wonderful paintings and beguiling text are a celebration of kindness, compassion and understanding, conveying an essential message during these testing times

For Dad...

(and any other adventure-loving junkie)

I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes

‘The best thriller I’ve read in ten years... An astonishing piece of work.’ - Linwood Barclay

Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Before he disappeared into anonymous retirement, he wrote the definitive book on forensic criminal investigation. But that book will come back to haunt him. It will help NYPD detective Ben Bradley track him down. And it will take him to a rundown New York hotel room where the body of a woman is found face down in a bath of acid.

The Salt Path, Raynor Winn

‘The Salt Path is a life-affirming tale of enduring love that smells of the sea and tastes of a rich life. With beautiful, immersive writing, it is a story heart-achingly and beautifully told.’ - Jackie Morris, illustrator of Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane

An inspirational memoir, ideal for fans of H is for Hawk, The Salt Path is an engrossing story about losing everything and finding yourself between the elements of sea and sky. For Raynor Winn and her husband Moth, the cruellest of diagnoses and the simultaneous collapse of their business opens an unexpected door to salvation through a journey which over its length transforms into a sweeping narrative of inner courage and nature’s ability to heal.

Shoe Dog, Phil Knight

‘You can’t help liking him enormously… fantastically wellwritten, a relentless page-turner and light-keeper-on-er.’ - Management Today

In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the boot of his Plymouth, Knight grossed $8000 in his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In an age of start-ups, Nike is the ne plus ultra of all start-ups, and the swoosh has become one of the most ubiquitous and recognisable symbols in the world today.