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Book Review: The Lights on Cotton Rock by David Litchfield
We were lucky enough to get hold of an advanced copy of the latest offering from David Litchfield. As big fans of his wonderful texts full of amazing images, we couldn’t wait to share this one with you.
This book tells the tale of Heather, a young girl who has an encounter with a visitor from out of space. Desperate to escape her life on Earth and to live amongst the stars, she finds herself at Cotton Rock. Here she uses a torch to communicate and waits until a colourful sight fills the sky in front of her.
What follows is a heart-warming exploration of friendship and communication between two different beings who share information about their lives. Despite having fun with her new friend though, Heather realises her parents are worried and looking for her. Sadly she finds she has to say goodbye and return to her home.
Heather’s life moves on and we witness the passing of time as she enters adulthood and motherhood. She doesn’t give up hope of seeing her friend again and desperately tries to make contact to no avail. All of this is beautifully illustrated and will strike a chord with everyone who still harbours a desire from their childhood.
As she becomes an old lady, Heather has almost given up all hope, but something makes her persevere and eventually she is rewarded with another visit. Her dreams of escape had finally come true but then she remembered what she was leaving behind. For all the wonders she witnessed in space she realised that the true magic she needed was on Earth all along. Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz she knew that sometimes there is no place like home.
We will be looking at this book in more detail on our Y2 Reading Revision Course and exploring how it can be used to ensure pupils are meeting the end of key stage expectations and developing their wider reading skills. There is so much potential for inference and we look forward to planning activities to support this. Comparisons with other texts by the same author will also be considered.
Lights on Cotton Rock by David Litchfield
Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 978-1-78603-338-3
RRP £12.99
