The Great Fire of London: Anniversary Edition of the Great Fire of 1666

By Author / Illustrator

Emma Adams, James Weston Lewis

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Hachette Children's Group

ISBN

9780750298209

Format

Hardback

Published

26-05-2016

Synopsis

In 1666, London's citizens woke to see the skyline above their city's cramped wooden houses ablaze. The Great Fire of London is a hauntingly beautiful visual re-telling of one of the most well-known disasters in the city's history. To commemorate the 350th anniversary of the fire, powerful and sumptuous drawings from the new east London illustrator, James Weston Lewis, bring the events of November 1666 to life in this stunning gift book.

Lewis's drawings take readers on a journey, from the single smouldering coal that falls out of the baker's oven to the swirling clouds of ash that engulf the city and then in to the very heart of the fire itself. As the pages turn, you can witness London burning to the ground and then rebuilding again.

Children will love examining the rich detail of each spread, from the detailed city map to the drawings of London before, during and after the fire took hold. This book takes the dramatic historical information surrounding the Great Fire of London and transforms it into a breathtaking story that will transfix readers of all ages.

Reviews

With the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London just around the corner (September), this is a timely and beautifully produced picture book that helps to explain to young children in KS1 what happened during those terrifying three days when so much of London was in flame. The text is kept simple and sparse and provide a really clear timeline of events, but it's the illustrations by James Weston Lewis that really catch your attention and which children will love to explore - the details show us what London, and Londoners, looked at that time but also what the houses and streets were like. Then the flames and smoke take over and their power, even on a page, looks tremendous and terrifying. This is a lovely book to use alongside topics teaching the Great Fire of London and it is such a clear but powerful account of what we understand happened during that period, explaining also how the fire was stopped and what happened afterwards. Highly recommended. 48 pages / Ages 6+ / Reviewed by Clare Childs.