Research School Network: Climb by Hannah Peckham Book review by Allison Carvalho, specialist teacher and dyslexia assessor at Eko Trust, and Evidence Lead in Education

Hetty the elephant lives among lots of other friendly rainforest creatures who can do one thing that she finds impossible: climb.

Climb also happens to be Hetty’s story as told by Hannah Peckham in a delightful, sensitive book for children with learning differences.

Hetty may be unable to climb, but knows what she loves and is fully aware of what she is great at. Unfortunately, her worth is missed by others. One day, Hetty announces that she will win the annual climbing competition and, being a resilient sort, trains hard.

Yet she realises that, no matter how hard she tries, she will never be as agile as the other animals.

The morning of the contest arrives and – just as fire begins to blaze in the rainforest – Hetty has an epiphany: we all have different talents.

Her despondence lifts as she remembers her gifts with water and … well, you can guess the rest.

Better still, don’t guess. Buy the book and share it with all of your learners, but especially those with gifts they don’t always feel they can show in class.

Beautiful.

Why not use Climb to support discussions with children about differences? Helping all pupils to build positive relationships can help learners with special educational needs to feel valued and fully included in their school communities. 

The diagram below, from the EEF Guidance Report Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools, reminds us that everyday activities like building positive relationships are drivers for children’s development. 

Promoting those positive relationships is an essential first step to being an inclusive school. The EEF Guidance Report’s first recommendation prioritises this: