In our series “Your Students Have Talent”, check out these amazing diary entries created as an intermediate task by pupils using our Reading Guide Gangsta Granny. The 4e students were studying David Walliams’ humorous novel. After reading the extracts of the first part, where they learned some details about the main protagonist Ben’s life, his … Continue reading “Your Students Have Talent! Dear Diary”
There aren’t many people who publish two memoirs by the time they are 28 years old. But then there aren’t many people who have lived as much as Malala Yousafzai. The youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala ran the risk of being a symbol rather than a fully-fledged person. Her second memoir, … Continue reading “Malala Looks Back… and Forward”
The 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth will be celebrated in December 2025. Start the celebrations with a mini-series about Miss Austen, about Jane’s story but focusing on a different Miss Austen. It is centred on Cassandra Austen, author Jane’s only sister and close confidant. And the series speculates on why Cassandra burned most of Jane’s … Continue reading “Meet Miss Austen”
Guillermo del Toro resurrects Mary Shelley’s myth in a gothic and deeply human vision. Premiered at the Venice Film Festival in late summer 2025, Frankenstein marks Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited return to the themes that define his work: monstrosity, compassion, and creation itself. A US–Mexican co-production, the film opened in select theaters on October 17, … Continue reading “Del Toro’s Frankenstein: A Gothic Vision for Netflix”
On 4 November, Zohran Mamdani won the election to be Mayor of New York City at the age of just 34. Although a Democrat following two Democrats may not seem revolutionary, Mamdani, who describes himself as a Socialist, is far from the current line of the party. His youth delighted the many grassroots supporters who … Continue reading “Zohran Mamdani, A New Political Era for NYC”
For International Women’s Day each year, British Embassies organise a competition in each country for a young woman aged 15-18 to come and discover what it’s like to be an ambassador for a day. In 2026 the opportunity will be extended to eight young women in France. Applications need to be in by 4 January … Continue reading “Eight French Young Women Could Be Ambassadors for a Day”
A man in Austin, Texas, has made it his personal mission that every child can have a Halloween costume. In 2016, Christopher Waggoner moved into a house rather than an apartment and so trick or treaters came to his door on Halloween. He saw some kids watching the elaborate costumes other kids had ruefully. Now … Continue reading “Halloween for All”
The New Age of Book Banning Over the past two years, North America has witnessed a resurgence of book censorship in public and school libraries. From Alberta in Canada to Florida and Utah in the United States, hundreds of books have been removed under the banner of “protecting minors” from content deemed “explicit” or “inappropriate.” … Continue reading “Margaret Atwood and Stephen King Defend the Freedom to Read”
Many of you asked if we would be producing a Reading Guide on Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which is now on the LLCER Terminale curriculum. We are happy to announce that it is now at the printers and will be available in the middle of November. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in 1977 and … Continue reading “New Reading Guide: Americanah”
Tradition says that ghosts have fun at Halloween. But in San Jose, California, they have fun all year in a 160-room eccentric house built for them. The house’s creator was Sarah Winchester, who inherited the vast fortune of the Winchester rifle company. The rifles were very popular in the Wild West. When Sarah’s baby and … Continue reading “Mystery House”
