The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas
David Almond
Stan Potts lives with his Uncle Ernie and Aunt Annie on Fish Quay Lane, where the fishing jobs have all gone. Now Ernie is obsessed with canning fish and has turned their house into a factory. When Stan brings home some goldfish from the fair, things start to go very wrong.
- Length
- About 30,000 words
- To read it
- About 20 days
- Stage
- Key Stage 2
Reading time at 1,500 words a day, the pace we start from until we know your child’s own.
Where it is taught
Why The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas is on the list
- Year 6, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader.
Reading it here
What your child does with it
- 1
Choose it and set a finish date
You get a suggested target from the length of the book and your child's reading pace.
- 2
Check in along the way
A longer book has short check-ins every week or two, so it keeps moving and nothing is forgotten.
- 3
Answer two questions
When they finish: a review of the book, and a deeper question about how it works.
- 4
Get it marked, and redraft
Every answer is marked against the rubric for their year, with a reason for every score.