This September we used the text, The King Who Banned the Dark , to welcome our pupils back to school after the summer break. The book was first shared with each class during their transition days before the summer holidays. The familiarity of a text gives the children the confidence to embrace their first English unit in their new class.
There was once a little boy who was afraid of the dark. There’s nothing unusual about that. Most children are afraid of the dark at one time of another. But this little boy was a Prince, and he decided that when he became King, he would do something about the dark. He would ban it. When a King bans the dark completely, installing an artificial sun, and enforcing “anti-dark” laws, it seems like a good idea. The citizens don’t need to worry about monsters, crime, or any of the other scary things that might live in the dark. But what happens when nobody can sleep, and the citizens revolt? Will the King face his fears and turn the lights off? The King Who Banned the Dark is a beautiful story about how we need the dark in order to enjoy the light.
The writing outcomes have varied from class to class; from simple sentence recounts in Year 1 to poetry in Year 3 and a formal letter in Year 6.
