Knowledgeable
Fiction to support the IB Learner Profile for the Middle Years Programme
The London Eye Mystery by Siobahn Dowd
Written in the first person by Ted who, as he says, has some sort of syndrome (perhaps Asperger’s) this is an absorbing book. Ted is very bright but is unable to understand why people behave in a particular way and is generally unable to read body language. He is a fascinating character and through his descriptions, we gain such an insight into his view of the world and also into his family and the way in which they behave. Moreover the plot involves a genuinely intriguing mystery about what happened to Ted’s cousin when he disappears while riding on the London Eye, the huge Ferris wheel in London. The mystery is doubly intriguing because of the way in which Ted puts his unique brain to work in trying to understand what could have happened. (11 years – 15 years)
inquirers, caring, knowledgeable, thinkers, reflective
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
This is the remarkable story of a mountaineer who in 1993 after a disastrous attempt to climb K2 wandered exhausted and dehydrated into an impoverished village in Pakistan. There the villagers nursed Greg back to health and he was so moved by their kindness that he vowed to return and build a school for their children. That happened in 1993 and since then he has set up a fund and built over 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (13 years up)
Three Cups of Tea (Young Reader’s Edition)
This Young Reader’s edition has many photographs of children from the villages and also of his own family who have also become very involved with this endeavour. There are also maps and a question and answer section with Greg’s daughter Amira and a Timeline and a Glossary. (9 – 14 years)
Stones into Schools follows chronologically from where the first book ended and so it goes from 2003 to the end of 2009. It is perhaps even more fascinating because of the descriptions of the group of Pakistani men and one Afghani man who work with Greg in Pakistan and Afghanistan and how by the end of 2009 they had managed to build 131 schools. The logistics of getting schools built and then staffed in remote areas of Pakistan is difficult enough but in remote areas of Afghanistan, the challenges are mind-boggling! (13 years up)
principled, open-minded, knowledgeable, communicators
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
This is a wonderfully entertaining and continually surprising story of Maurice, a streetwise tomcat who suddenly has acquired the gift of talking and thinking. He wants to put these skills to ever more inventive money-making scams with the assistance of his unlikely friends the educated rats who also acquired the skills of speaking and thinking at about the same time. However as a natural consequence of being able to think, some of the rats begin to struggle with the question of what is right and what is wrong (especially in relation to some of Maurice’s schemes) and also with the stirrings of a conscience. (10 – 16 years)
knowledgeable, thinkers, principled
The London Eye Mystery by Siobahn Dowd
Written in the first person by Ted who, as he says, has some sort of syndrome (perhaps Asperger’s) this is an absorbing book. Ted is very bright but is unable to understand why people behave in a particular way and is generally unable to read body language. He is a fascinating character and through his descriptions, we gain such an insight into his view of the world and also into his family and the way in which they behave. Moreover the plot involves a genuinely intriguing mystery about what happened to Ted’s cousin when he disappears while riding on the London Eye, the huge Ferris wheel in London. The mystery is doubly intriguing because of the way in which Ted puts his unique brain to work in trying to understand what could have happened. (11 years – 15 years)
inquirers, caring, knowledgeable, thinkers, reflective
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
This is the remarkable story of a mountaineer who in 1993 after a disastrous attempt to climb K2 wandered exhausted and dehydrated into an impoverished village in Pakistan. There the villagers nursed Greg back to health and he was so moved by their kindness that he vowed to return and build a school for their children. That happened in 1993 and since then he has set up a fund and built over 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (13 years up)
Three Cups of Tea (Young Reader’s Edition)
This Young Reader’s edition has many photographs of children from the villages and also of his own family who have also become very involved with this endeavour. There are also maps and a question and answer section with Greg’s daughter Amira and a Timeline and a Glossary. (9 – 14 years)
Stones into Schools follows chronologically from where the first book ended and so it goes from 2003 to the end of 2009. It is perhaps even more fascinating because of the descriptions of the group of Pakistani men and one Afghani man who work with Greg in Pakistan and Afghanistan and how by the end of 2009 they had managed to build 131 schools. The logistics of getting schools built and then staffed in remote areas of Pakistan is difficult enough but in remote areas of Afghanistan, the challenges are mind-boggling! (13 years up)
principled, open-minded, knowledgeable, communicators
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
This is a wonderfully entertaining and continually surprising story of Maurice, a streetwise tomcat who suddenly has acquired the gift of talking and thinking. He wants to put these skills to ever more inventive money-making scams with the assistance of his unlikely friends the educated rats who also acquired the skills of speaking and thinking at about the same time. However as a natural consequence of being able to think, some of the rats begin to struggle with the question of what is right and what is wrong (especially in relation to some of Maurice’s schemes) and also with the stirrings of a conscience. (10 – 16 years)
knowledgeable, thinkers, principled
