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Rosie Watch - Editorial Expert

Rosie Watch has taken her childhood passion for literature from classrooms in Cusco to Chelsea. With over 30 years of teaching experience and hundreds of books later, Rosie is still as eager as ever to get her hands on her next tome. Alongside a career in education, Rosie has also raised three boys and is well accustomed to separating the literary wheat from the chaff.

While running various English departments in schools across the country, Rosie has also had the chance to meet and run workshops with many children’s authors and poets including Nigel Hinton, Roger McGough and Michael Morpurgo. A firm believer in the importance of a willingness to look beyond what we already know and embrace change, Rosie has, in her teaching, maintained that elusive balance between the sharing of best practice and having a few lesser known ‘secrets’ up her sleeve in order to keep both children and her fellow teachers engaged.

Latest Reviews By Rosie Watch

Phonic Books Get Out of the Game 12-Book Set

Get out of the Game is a set of phonic reading books, 12 in all that tell the story of Gus, who, for his birthday receives a new game called Room Trap. He soon finds himself lost in his own game. With the help of his two pals, Kip and Tess, he goes on a quest to find the way out. Each story tells another part of the adventure with a different challenge or puzzle to solve. There are adventures with bats, rats and dinosaurs, caves and cliffs. Gus realises by the end of the story, not just the ... View Full Review

This set of 12 phonetic books follows the story of Mel, a 13 year old who wants to be an astronaut like her brother Dom who is stationed at a base on Mars. Early in the story it transpires Dom has disappeared and Mel is left with the task of finding him. She sets off to the Red Planet with no idea of what she will find or who she will meet. Along the way she encounters a variety of characters both human and alien. The stories are action packed blasting from adventure to adventure ... View Full Review

This is a set of 12 decodable books for catch up readers. Each book focuses on a story featuring two or three characters left in charge of a pet. There are adventures with everything from snakes to hamsters, dogs, a pregnant cat and a rather interesting hive of bees. The adventures occur all over the world from house sitting in town, to a river boat, a desert and to an adventure in the Caribbean. They are all rather endearing stories with some charming illustrations and satisfying endings. The stories follow a common theme of pet sitting, but each can be read ... View Full Review

I always love receiving the Ninja books. I have reviewed many and they are put into use almost immediately. This book is a complete bible of how to improve a child’s understanding of constructing well structured sentences with confidence. It provides a clear guide throughout the KS2 years. The first half of the book focuses on a well laid out plan, term by term year by year, on how teachers can provide their classes with the fundamental understanding of sentence structure both grammatically and creatively. As Jenning observes, if we were teaching long division we would help the ... View Full Review

A new addition to the superb Ninja series, in Text Types and Modelled Writes the focus is to provide KS2 pupils with the ability to plan, scaffold and produce independent pieces of writing. The book contains easy to follow, well planned and scaffolded writing which Jennings sums up, ‘age related expectations can often move at a pace that doesn’t allow them to genuinely develop strong structural understanding of how to build a specific text type, plan it and ultimately write it’. All too often we provide children with wonderful stimuli, pictures, interesting vocabulary and interesting ... View Full Review

On starting this review, I must admit that I was ignorant of the life of Tim Brighouse, but on reading this book, I wish I had known of him, but more importantly, had the opportunity to hear him speak. The book is written as both a celebration and tribute to his life, but also as an opportunity to share his ideas, passions and commitment to his many causes of education. The book has been edited by David Cameron, Steve Munby and Mick Waters, who also paid tribute to him in the first half of the book. Each of the 64 chapters ... View Full Review

This book, written by an experienced secondary teacher, discusses the importance of a subject based curriculum, but also focuses on the approach and the delivery of individual subjects. Whilst there appears to be total agreement on the importance of subject based learning, as ever, there is the ongoing debate as to how. How much emphasis on each subject? How should the subject be delivered, and how does the delivery effect the overall outcome? How important is it to have subject specialists and how best to deliver the curriculum. Richard Bustin questions these statements in detail, bringing together his own personal ... View Full Review

Frankenstein: Accessible Symbolised Edition Every Cherry

Frankenstein is a tale of a monster and his creator. Victor Frankenstein plays God by creating a life. However, the monster is ugly and unacceptable to society, and is banished by Frankenstein. Due to this rejection, the monster stalks him and harms or kills everyone who is close to Victor, both his friends and his family, and Victor can never be free of his creation. If the monster cannot be happy, then no one else can either, a tale of revenge and regret. Again, a story with a strong message. Be careful what you wish for. Who is the monster ... View Full Review

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Accessible Easier Edition Every Cherry

The Wizard of Oz has been written many times and most of us have seen a film or a play of this timeless story. Dorothy and her dog Toto are carried away in a tornado to the magical land of Oz. Here they encounter witches and wizards and make three special friends, a scarecrow with no brain, a tin man with no heart and a cowardly lion. Throughout the adventure, there is a strong message that we can overcome our fears, that we all need friends and good conquers evil. This classic tale has been adapted for dyslexic readers, with ... View Full Review

Frankenstein: Accessible Easier Edition Every Cherry

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Accessible Symbolised Edition Every Cherry

This is the story of Luca, his family and his friends. Luca is 12, not the perfect pupil, but with ideas of how he would like to see his life pan out as an adult, a boy with many mature and loyal traits. He wants to take over his family’s ice cream café, which is not thriving, but he has ideas. There is a recipe from his grandparents, which claims to be the best vanilla ice cream in the world and Luca believes if he can recreate this, the café will prosper. He even wins a competition ... View Full Review