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A quick and easy guideabout class sets availablefrom Offaly Libraries Hi Teachers!ClassSets

Our class sets comprise 30 copies of the same book; wehave books suitable for 4+ through to 12+, including Irish andEnglish language books. Our reading ages are advisory only,and may be suitable for slightly older or younger children atthe teacher's discretion. Class sets may be borrowed for up to three months on ateacher's library card. Select a book and check with yourlocal library branch if it is available, and the set can becollected from the Offaly Libraries' branch of your choice. Ifyou need more than 30 books, let us know and we cansource extra copies.LiteracyOffaly Libraries wishes to support teachers in developingchildren's interest in and enjoyment of reading across arange of genres, and Class Sets are an excellent way to getyour class reading and discussing books together.Right to ReadOffaly Libraries participates in the national Right To Readinitiative, supporting reading and literacy development forpeople of all ages and from all backgrounds. Class Sets area valuable addition to our resources, and Offaly Libraries areeager to engage with teachers and schools to strengthenliteracy and encourage reading across the county.Use of Class Sets

How do you avail of our class sets? You need a Teacher's Library card! To sign up for this free library card, you need to bring photo ID to the library and submit your school email address and school detailsContact your local branch with the title youwould like to order for your classOnce you have the books, they are on loan toyou for 3 months. You must borrow all 30booksClass sets can be returned to any branch ofOffaly LibrariesWhat teachers need to know

Class Sets available from Offaly Libraries

Na Gabh ar Scoil! le Maire ZepfA funny story following a littlebear starting school and a Mamaíbear who struggles letting him goAge Suitability : 4+Published in 2016Key themes : school, newexperiences, Irish The Owl who wasAfraid of the Dark by Jill TomlinsonPlop, the Baby Barn Owl, is likeevery Barn Owl there ever was,except for one thing - he is afraidof the dark. Filled with gentlehumour and giving comfortingreassurance to nightime fearsand anxieties.Age Suitability : 5+Published in 1968Key themes : humour, anxiety,fears

Age Suitability : 7+Published in 2019Key themes : emotions, adventure,friendship Boot, a small robot, wakes up in ascrapyard separated from its owner andwith no idea how to get home. A quirkyand entertaining which also exploresemotions and feeling vulnerable.Boot: Small Robot, Big Adventure by Shane HegartyToto the Ninja Cat and theGreat Snake Escape by Dermot O'LearyToto is almost totally blind, and learned totrust her senses from a ninja cat-masterwho taught her back in Italy where theywere born. By day, Toto and Silver seem tobe ordinary cats, but by night, they love tohave adventures! Toto and Silver mustinvestigate a missing cobra from the zoo.Can they find the giant snake, before it'stoo late?Age Suitability : 7+Published in 2017Key themes : friendship, inclusivity,facing adversity

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald DahlCharlie Bucket wins a Golden Ticket tovisit Mr Wonka's Chocolate Factory withfour other children. What wonderfulthings will they see inside?Age Suitability : 7+Published in 1964Key themes : family, greed, poverty,amazement George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald DahlGeorge Kranky's Grandma is amiserable grouch. George reallyhates that horrid old witchy woman.One Saturday morning, George is incharge of giving Grandma hermedicine. George knows exactlywhat to do. 'A magic medicine' it willbe. One that will either cure hercompletely . . . or blow off the top ofher head.Age Suitability : 7+Published in 1981Key themes : humour, experiments

The GigglerTreatment by Roddy DoyleIf adults are mean to children, they getthe Giggler Treatment. It's smelly. It'ssquishy. And it sticks to your shoe. Butsometimes, just sometimes, theGigglers make a mistake... Can Robbie,Kayla, Jimmy and Rover the dog cometo Mr Mack's rescue before the poohits the shoe?Age Suitability : 8+Published in 2000Key themes : humour, pranks Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael MorpurgoThis book follows Michael as he strugglesto survive after washing up on a desertisland. He soon meets Kensuke, amysterious stranger who is also strandedthere. They learn from each other andbecome friends, and show us thecomplexities of trustAge Suitability : 8+Published in 1999Key themes : friendship, humanity, adventure

Mr Stink by David WalliamsChloe befriends Mr Stink, a localhomeless man who needssomewhere to stay. Chloe'sgarden shed seems like theperfect place, even if secrets don'talways end well.Age Suitability : 9+Published in 2009Key themes : friendship, secrets Mr Lofa by David WalliamsThe brilliant story of MrStink, translated into Irish byMaírín Ní MhártaAge Suitability : 9+Published in 2019Key themes : friendship,secrets

The Silver Sword by Ian SerraillierAlthough the silver sword was only apaper knife, it became the symbol ofhope and courage which kept the Balickichildren and their orphan friend Jan alivethrough the four years of occupationwhen they had to fend for themselves.And afterwards it inspired them to keepgoing on the exhausting and dangerousjourney from war-torn Poland toSwitzerland, where they hoped to findtheir parents.Age Suitability : 9+Published in 1956Key themes : survival,hope, war The Angel of Nitshill Road by Anne FineAn angel comes along andchanges the lives of threeunhappy children who are beinghorribly bullied at schoolAge Suitability : 9+Published in 1992Key themes: exclusion, bullying,friendship

The Boy at the Back of the Classby Onjali Q. RaufAhmet is a refugee from Syria, and thekids in his class begin to make friendswith him but not everyone is as friendly.Rauf offers a child's perspective on therefugee crisis and the importance ofkindnessAge Suitability : 9+Published in 2018Key themes : friendship, kindness,racismThe Explorer by Katherine RundellWhen four children survive aplane crash over the Rainforest,they find a map which leadsthem to a secret city ruin andmaybe something moreAge Suitability : 9+Published in 2017Key themes: adventure,survival, historical fiction

The Boy Who Grew Dragons by Andy ShepherdTomas discovers a tree at thebottom of his grandad's garden,that grows...dragons! Follow himdiscover all the disasters andadventures that come withgrowing dragons! Age Suitability : 9+Published in 2018Key themes : adventure, magic Birthday Boy by David BaddielSam Green loves birthdays. He lovesbirthdays so much he wishes forevery day to be his birthday...until itis and disasters just keep onhappening. You have to be carefulwhat you wish for...Age Suitability : 9+Published in 2018Key themes : humour, magic

Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKennaDuring the Great Famine in Irelandin the 1840s, three children are leftalone and in danger of being sentto the workhouse, so they set outto find the great-aunts theyremember from their mother'sstories.Age Suitability : 9+Published in 1990Key themes : family, history,famine Faoin Sceach Gheal le Marita Conlon-McKennaThe brilliant story of Under theHawthorn Tree, translated intoIrish by Donald TeskeyAge Suitability : 9+Published in 2000Key themes : family, history,famine, Irish language

Wildflower Girl by Marita Conlon-McKennaAt seven, Peggy made a terrifyingjourney through famine-strickenIreland. Now thirteen, anddetermined to make a new life forherself, she sets off alone across theAtlantic to America. Will she ever seeher family again? An extraordinarystory of courage, independence andadventure.Age Suitability : 9+Published in 1991Key themes : family, prejudice,adventure Fugitives! by Aubrey FleggCon, the son of a great Ulsterchieftain, disappears and his threefriends must try to find him. A tale ofadventure and friendship, set duringthe events of the Flight of the Earls inthe 1600sAge Suitability: 9+Published in 2010Key themes : history,adventure, friendship

Wonder by RJ PalacioAugust has been home schooled hiswhole life, but he's about to start normalschool. However, August was born withfacial abnormalities and he's worried thathis classmates won't accept him. Wonderis a view of the world from the eyes of achild and his family who is not seen asnormal by those around him.Age Suitability : 10+Published in 2012Key themes : bullying, friendship, familyThe Summer I Robbed a Bank by David O'DohertyRex's parents have split up and, to makematters worse, he has to spend hissummer holiday on a remote and rainyIrish island. The only upside: he'll bestaying with his strange and brilliant UncleDerm. Then Rex discovers Uncle Derm isabout to execute his most hair-brainedplan yet . . . To rob the island's travellingbank! Age Suitability : 9+Published in 2021Key themes : adventure, comedy,family

Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankFor two years, Anne documents herday to day life living in anattic whilsther and her family hid from the Nazis.Anne died in Bergen-Belsenconcentration camp in 1945 aged 15,but her diary shows the horror of warfrom a young girls point of viewAge Suitability : 10+Originally published in 1947Key themes : war, refugees, friendship,courage The Butterfly Lion by Michael MorpurgoBertie rescues a white lion, and theyare inseparable until he is sent awayto Boarding school and the lion issold to the circus. However, Bertievows to find his butterfly lion againAge Suitability : 11+Published in 2007Key themes : friendship, war

War Horse by Michael MorpurgoSet during the First World War, follow Joeythe horse as he sees battle from both sidesof the trenches and experiences the bestand worst humanity has to offer.Age Suitability : 12+Published in 1982Key themes : war, love, friendship, courage Once by Morris GelitzmanFelix is a young Jewish boy in 1940sPoland who is on a quest to find hisparents after witnessing books beingburned at the orphanage where he lives.He saves a girl called Zelda, who takeswith him and tells her stories.Age Suitability : 12+Published in 2005Key themes : friendship, storytelling, war

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne Age Suitability: 12+Published 2006Key themes : World War II, childhoodinnocenceA story of innocence existing within themost terrible evil, this is the fictional taleof two young boys caught up in eventsbeyond their control.If you do start to read this book, you willgo on a journey with a nine-year-oldboy called Bruno. And sooner or lateryou will arrive with Bruno at a fence.We hope you never have to cross sucha fence. Harry Potter agus an Orchloch by JK RowlingThe first installment of the brilliantHarry Potter series, but as Gaeilge.Translated by Máire Nic Mhaoláin,folllow Harry POtter as he navigateshis first year at Hogwarts and learnsall about being a wizard.Age Suitability : 12+Published in 1997Key themes : magic, friendship, adventure

Holes by Louis SacharStanley Yelnat's family has a history ofbad luck, so he is not too surprisedwhen a miscarriage of justice sends himto a detention centre. Nor is hesurprised when he is told that his dailylabour is to dig a hole and reportanything he finds in it.Age Suitability : 12+Published in 1998Key themes : friendship, adventure, fateRoll of Thunder, Hear my Cryby Mildred D. TaylorThe Mississippi of the 1930s was a hardplace for a black child to grow up in, butstill Cassie didn't understand whyfarming his own land meant so much toher father. During that year, she learnedabout the great differences that dividedpeople, and when it was worth fightingfor a principle even if it brought terriblehardships.Age Suitability : 12+Published in 1977Key themes : racism, family, inequality