Reviews by Karen Hart
The Passionate Practitioners Handbook
Michele Doull and Avril Robertson
That Guys House
Paperback £17.48
This is a book where the author’s enthusiasm for their subject just bounces off the page. Written in a conversational style text, and accompanied by carefully selected images of children at play, this is a handbook to inspire both the new practitioner and the experienced professional alike. The over-arching theme here is finding the joy within the environment you provide for your children, challenging yourself to look out for what fascinates and inspires each individual child, then to join in their fascination with enthusiastic responses. 
The handbook has been compiled to support practitioners in a wide range of early years settings, including childminders, pre-schools and primary schools and to act as a useful resource for those studying for practitioner qualifications.
Each chapter includes ‘child’s voice’ quotations to align the focus with a child’s perspective, e.g., ‘I am so grateful that you take time to have fun with me and I know it must be hard when there are so many other children and so much to do’, going on to talk about the huge benefits of sharing quality time with children, not just for the child, but for the adults caring for them too. Chapters include, Enticing and enriching play spaces, The art of listening, The power of your sense of humour, and the magic of creativity and self-expression.
This is a book for any practitioner who delights in the joy of caring for young children, and who wants to make the experience the best possible fun for all involved.
Fast Feedback
Lesley Hill and Gemma Whitby
Bloomsbury Education
Paperback £16.99 eBook £15.29
Determined to make a change to their teacher’s workload, a North London primary school took on the challenge of abolishing written marking, switching instead to the revolutionary approach of providing immediate verbal feedback. The outcome? Reduced teacher workload, improved staff retention and more effective learning for children.
Fast Feedback, takes you through the journey experienced by Lavendar Primary School as they negotiate the highs and lows of their journey towards becoming marking free. Written in an easy-to-follow style, this is a perfect book for senior leaders interested in introducing innovative approaches towards the time-consuming paperwork-heavy side of teaching. With quick-tips, reflective questions, fact files and handy chapter summaries, this is a book that’s both easy to navigate and full of practical advice.Topics covered include success criteria, effective questioning, and creating an ethos for learning, and if you’re worried if all this is Ofsted complient – they have that covered too; basically, as long as marking and feedback are consistent with your school’s assessment policy, you’re good to go.
Authors, Lesley Hill and Gemma Whitby, both have classroom, training and leadership experience, with Matthew Kleiner-Mann who provides the foreword, being both CEO of Ivy Learning Trust, and for the past ten years a government-appointed National Leader of Education. 
A book that gives those searching for innovative classroom strategies a lot to think about, even if ultimately you decide not to take the fast feedback route.
The Muddy Puddle Teacher
Sarah Seaman
Bloomsbury Education
Paperback £14.99 eBook 13.49
It’s no secret that children thrive outdoors, but if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration for planned activities covering specific areas of learning, The Muddy Puddle Teacher, is well worth a look.
Packed with simple, inexpensive, easy to set up activities for every season and space, these sustainable ideas, using natural and upcycled materials span key EYFS topics as well as PSHE themes, such as wellbeing and building positive relationships. From muddy maths and yoga, to muddy wildlife areas and small-world eco-villages, there’s a very wide variety of activities to choose from here, with something to offer both those already fully committed to an outdoor curriculum and those who just want to bring something new to their children’s outdoor play.
Author and former teacher, Sarah Seaman, is a trained Forest School leader and creator of The Muddy Puddle Teacher approach, which is used in hundreds of schools both across the UK and internationally, and her enthusiasm for outdoor learning through play comes across here – I particularly loved the outdoor barber shop and Sarah’s alternatives to the standard mud kitchen, such as the muddy Chinese takeaway, and Witch’s cottage. 
Packed with photos of children participating in the activities covered, and arranged to their specific areas of learning, the book has been given an easy to dip in and out of, practitioner-friendly approach. With extra content covering themed days, holidays, festivals and celebrations, getting parents and carers on board, and SEN, this really is a content heavy, comprehensive guide that has much to offer anyone wanting to get their children a bit muddier.
A Guide to SEND in the Early Years
Kerry Murphy
Bloomsbury Education
Paperback £18.99 eBook 17.09
A lack of confidence around the correct terminology and language to use around a child’s family and other professionals, can prove a deterrent to those interested in working in the area of SEND. A Guide to SEND in the Early Years, goes a long way to put this right. Designed to give every early years practitioner the confidence to support children with additional needs, this book covers how to define SEND and use inclusive language, how to build and implement inclusion policies and communicate these to parents and carers, and much more.
Author, Kerry Murphy (who delivered a lively presentation at Nursery World Show in April) is an early years lecturer and consultant specialising in wellbeing, behaviour and special educational needs, who believes that with a whole-team approach and commitment from everyone involved in the care of SEND children, the potential is there to create truly inclusive early years settings. 
This is a book that is as practical as it is passionate, with for example, warnings not to rely on the use of stale systems for operational organisation, that give yourself (and Ofsted) the impression of being an efficient manager – when you really need to be making sure your policies and procedures are getting out there for all to see.
Also included are tried-and-tested tips, case studies, activities and lots of reflective questioning. A perfect book for those professionals looking to improve their understanding of SEND and develop their teaching for all children.
Turn Autism Around
Mary Lynch Barbera, Ph.D., RN, BCBA-D
Hay House
Paperback £12.99 eBook £10.99
Developmental delays and signs of autism usually show up before 18 months of age, yet many children are not diagnosed until they are four or five years old. In Turn Autism Around, Dr Mary Lynch Barbera explains that parents need to get proactive while waiting for evaluations and treatments, and aims to show parents, along with other caregivers and early intervention professionals, how through the use of some simple strategies you can dramatically improve outcomes for your child.
The focus of this book highlights the important fact that parents can make a tremendous impact on their child’s development through behavioural practices taught at home, in as little as 15 minutes a day, and that this programme shows developmental delays can be remediated, and in some cases, children can catch up altogether, if parents intervene while the child is young.
This is a book that anyone caring for children aged one to five years, either diagnosed with autism, or waiting on assessments, will find really useful, being full of practical advice and strategies for dealing with, for example – teaching your child to use utensils, teaching talking and following directions, potty training and teaching pretend play – these being considered as skills which can be taught, rather than milestones you hope will be naturally reached. 
A great book to recommend to parents of children showing signs of developmental delay that could be related to autism. There's a lot of ground covered here, from an author well-acquainted with the subject, as Mary Lynch Barbera’s first son, Lucas, has autism.