The Small Things

This book shows that if you want to make true friends you have to be yourself instead of pretending you are someone else.

This is a short, well-written, book with a good meaning.

I liked it when Ellie came back to school

I would recommend this book to my friend who like non fiction books

I like this book a lot. Easy reading for everybody.

It was very interesting, especially as it had the Ellie-bots in.

I helped me to learn that You shouldn't lie to your friends because it's hurt their feelings. Also, I learnt that you do not have to be shy rather you can make friends if you ask them.

I really liked it very interesting story.
This is probably one of my favourite books I have ever read

I liked this book because I couldn't stop reading each time I got to the end of a chapter. It was an exciting story and I really wanted to find out what was going to happen to Ellie next. My favourite character was Anna because she was kind to Ellie but started telling lies because her life was boring. Anna is also my name. I would read this again and recommend it to other people because I liked it so much I read it in one evening!

I thought it was a really nice book because of all the adventures it tells and my favourite character was Anna because she might have told lies to her best friend Elle but she was then honest and said the truth.

I absolutely love this book because it is just so intriguing my favourite characters are Ellie and Anna. I love Ellie because she is really kind and she got through her sickness really well. And at first she couldn't come to school in person so she did it through a robot. But then she got through her sickness and was then able to go to school in person. I highly recommend this book.

Anna is being picked at school she's a little anxious.A new girl is in the class she came as a robot

This book was okay. It was really short and quite fast paced which I liked but it was just not the best book I've read before. My fav character was Ellie as she had so much personality for someone who was sick. The best part was in the authors note when she announced that this is based of a true story. It was so kind and thoughtful to spread this awareness with other people through such a heart-warming story. xxx

This is based on a true story whereby a child could not go to school because she had a long term illness. A robot, that was connected to her computer, was given to her teacher so that she could take part in lessons and be part of the class. The class teacher asked Anna to look after the robot and make friends with Ellie, introducing her to the rest of the children and showing her round the school. However Anna is worried that she is not very popular does not do anything after school so Ellie will soon get bored with her. To make her life more exciting Anna tells a few small lies which quickly gets out of control.

Good

I wanted a quick read that I could potentially share with children I see as a reading helper. It’s a fascinating idea, the student learning at a distance through a robot device alongside a class in school, and based on reality. I wasn’t that keen on the moral overtone though, and was not entirely convinced by the characters. I liked the language which flowed well, and it’s always good to see those Barrington Stokes principles in action!

A must read for teachers and pupils of upper KS1 and KS2.
Child who cannot attend school, attends through a robot.
Great for discussion about differences. Also explores peer competition - the haves and have nots and what really matters in friendship.

It was amazing to learn how technology has developed. It is a fiction book but it teaches you to. I really like the story. I recommend it to you. I hope you read it!

Anna’s best friends at school are Nia, Shavina and Erin but she never really feels as if she belongs in the group because they’re all so busy doing interesting thigs after school whilst she does nothing as her family can’t afford it. One day, a new girl – Ellie - joins their class although she can't attend in person due to her compromised immune system so takes part via an AV1 robot that the class call Ellie-bot. Anna is given the responsibility of being Ellie's partner but finds it hard to chat to her, she is convinced Ellie will find her life boring. So she starts to lie about what she’s been doing. However, both her classmates and Ellie find out – what is Anna going to do and has she lost all her friends through her lies?

Lisa Thompson has written a story about friendship and the importance of being who you are, rather than who you think you should be. There's also a rather important message about valuing the small things in life like the smell of baking cakes and reading a book that makes you smile.

MG (8 - 12 years).

There are several themes in this book. You might think that the main theme would be about Ellie and her illness or the robot that allows her to access school. However the real deep message comes from Anna and the feelings of not being good enough which stem from her family not having as much money to spend on the luxuries that her friends do.
This is an eye opening story for children from all backgrounds about how appearances of happiness can be deceiving and the importance of being yourself. Money can’t buy happiness.
Anna learns some valuable lessons throughout the story and I feel this will be a great addition to a PSE curriculum.

Throughout the book you feel for Anna and Ellie- their emotions show through the text and you find yourself feeling their sadness and their joy.

I think we can all relate to Anna - who hasn’t told a little white lie to seem more interesting or wished that their lives were more like someone else’s. We all have a little bit of Anna in us.
It is Ellie who brings us back to the title although this seems a bit of a tenuous link it is an important message. It just seems a bit of an add on.

This book is a great independent or whole class read. Make sure you share the acknowledgments with children as it is interesting to know that this book is inspired by a real life situation and not just made up.

I like that this book is easy to read. The tinted paper large spacing and text mean that this book is accessible. There are occasional half page illustrations dotted through the books these are enough to break up the text for a reluctant or newly confident reader but are not over used to make the book seem babyish.
The cover illustrations are also simple. I would say the cover makes it look like it is aimed at a higher age group. I’m not sure it would jump of the shelf for children who tend to pick books by their covers so might need so recommendations.

I would recommend this book to year 4 and will be passing it on to our year 4 teachers.