You Wouldn't Want To... Series

You Wouldnt Want to Be a Worker on the Statue of Liberty!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a 19th-Century Coal Miner in England!

by John Malam

Published 1 September 2006

The reader is a coal miner in England and learns about the hardships and occupational hazards that come with the job.

A Roman Gladiator

by John Malam

Published 17 August 2000

Gory things you'd rather not know about being a Roman gladiator.

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pirate's Prisoner!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Secret Agent During World War II!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Mammoth Hunter!

Get ready... finding food and shelter in the ice age is not easy. You must be ready to trek for miles in search of prey, and that's the easy part: then you have to catch a mammoth! The humorous cartoon-style illustrations and the narrative approach encourage readers to get emotionally involved with the characters and to follow the story of the mammoth hunters living in the Ice Age. Informative captions, a comprehensive glossary and an index make this title an ideal and fun introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts. It is an ideal text for Key Stage 2 shared and guided reading and helps achieve the goals of the Scottish Standard Curriculum 5-14.

You Wouldn't Want To Sail in the Spanish Armada!

by John Malam

Published 1 September 2006

May, 1588. You are a sailor in the service of King Philip II of Spain, and your country is about to send `la felicissima armada' (Spanish for `the most fortunate fleet') to invade England, your enemy. The Spanish Armada is a fleet of ships and its mission is to land soldiers on English soil. The invasion will be difficult and as you plot your course, you will soon know if you would - or wouldn't - want to be in the Spanish Armada.

The humorous cartoon-style illustrations and the narrative approach placing readers at the centre of the narrative history encourage readers to get emotionally involved with the characters, aiding their understanding of what life would have been like in the Spanish Armada. Informative captions, a complete glossary and an index make this title an ideal introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts for young readers.

Sample fact: `Of the 130 ships that left Lisbon in May, only about 65 limp back to Corunna. About 1,000 Spanish sailors died in the ill-fated mission to conquer England.'