SuitabookAnd Now We Run
Nicola Penfold
- Reading
- Read in manageable sittings if the peril feels intense: the short chapters and fast pace may encourage continuing. Pause after major shifts to discuss what each child knows, what remains uncertain and how their choices change.
- Themes
- Nature’s power and climate change: A burst dam, flooding and changing weather place the children and the landscape under pressure; the natural world is also observed with awe through the red kite’s viewpoint. The story appears to combine environmental warning with wonder and hope, presenting nature as both powerful and beautiful.
- Friendship under pressure: Jelly is dealing with humiliation and exclusion by Mikala, while she and Lincoln gradually connect during the residential and shared crisis. The book appears to treat social conflict critically while presenting mutual support and kindness as important during danger.
- Courage and survival: Separated from the evacuated group, Jelly and Lincoln face rising floodwaters and search for ways to keep themselves and possibly others safe. Courage, resilience and resourcefulness are presented positively through the children’s efforts to respond to danger.
- Worth knowing
- A useful conversation could ask how friendship, exclusion and kindness affect the children’s choices, and what the story suggests about responding to environmental danger without assuming that its message offers simple solutions.