This 6 minute video shows the evidence for the fire starting at Pudding Lane in Thomas Farriner’s bakery. It shares Pepys diary entry, the Hearth Tax entry for 1666 and maps from 1593, 1667 and now. The film then moves to Pudding Lane to show what it looks like now, the memorials and the spot where it all began. It is suitable for sharing during the primary topic and is based on the research I used when writing my picture book, Vlad and the Great Fire of London. I have lots of other resources here and on the Reading Riddle website.

This is a word sheet which includes labelled illustrations from the book Vlad and the First World War. The book includes a fuller glossary, map, fact file and story told by Vlad flea and his companion Crisp VC, the carrier pigeon. For other resources, activities and information on visits go to the Reading Riddle website.

Vlad and Tutankhamun’s Tomb is a story about Kel the tomb artist and the rush to prepare Tutankhamun’s tomb after his sudden and unexpected death. The illustrations show the methods and materials the artists used and this plan explains this and helps children understand some of the logistic and artistic challenges to painting the tombs. There are activities including the resources to recreate an illustration from the book and produce a large scale mural for the classroom wall. Finally, there is information about copyright - what it means, how to check it in a book and crediting artists and understanding that this is their livelihood.

This Teacher’s Guide gives you the history, context and curriculum links you need for the topic of Romans. It is a companion book to the picture book Vlad and the Roman Triumph and is suitable for KS1 and KS2 (the picture book is available from all the usual book buying outlets). Vlad and the Roman Triumph encapsulates what it was like to be a Roman, from the ceremonial parade of the Emperor to the daily life of ordinary Romans, it shares it through story and detailed pictures. The information is historically accurate and researched. In turn this Guide takes you through the story, revealing the source of information and how it can be drawn out, what key vocabulary is on each page, and questions to check understanding, deduction and inference. The Guide has 32 pages and has the following content: history curriculum objectives timeline of events social structure of Roman society and daily life of a Roman Britain before the Romans Roman invasion and its impact on Britain Sources of further information Big questions: Ideas and discussion points to deepen understanding It aims to give a grounding in understanding the topic, to be able to teach it, and support using the picture book. There are further free resources including lesson plans for history and literacy available to download separately on TES or on the Reading Riddle website. This is part of the Vlad flea picture book series, which aims to bring history to life through stories, and support teachers by providing resources. To get the latest information about new resources, events and books you can sign up to our newsletter on the website.

This is a set of 6 lesson space plans with objectives and links. They are in a word document so fully editable so you can alter or reformat them. All supporting resources marked in the planning are available to download from the Reading Riddle website (including a space timeline activity, powerpoint about satellites and space wordmat). The lessons cover: What is space? A timeline of space achievement. What does it take to be an astronaut/cosmonaut? Designing a spacesuit and how design has changed over time. Our Solar System - what have we discovered and what will happen in the future? The lessons link to Vlad and the Space Race, which is part of the Vlad flea history picture books. You can use them without this book but the reason I wrote it was to bring history into the classroom through historically accurate stories as I believe that engages the children. For further information about the books, school visits and resources visit the website. Thank you , Kate Cunningham

Encourage children to become involved in their local library by setting a holiday homework which involves joining their library, borrowing a book, reviewing it and returning the book. Children colour the tree as they achieve each part of the task. This could also be used as part of a campaign of activities to support their local library and encourage broader reading habits. My blog about this and ideas for parents who lack confidence reading with their children can be found on the Reading Riddle website.

A differentiated lotto game matching pictures to phrases and introducing vocabulary around the Great Fire of London. Pictures are taken from my book Vlad and the Great Fire of London illustrated by my son. There are 6 target boards with varying levels of difficulty in the phrases so the game can be played by mixed ability groups. The game is in a word document so can be adapted according to your needs. I have added other free resources around this topic and although you don’t need the book for any of the materials, it is available from Amazon if you want to use it. Information about my storytelling events are on the Reading Riddle website.