Intelligence Chief Extraordinary: The Life of the Ninth Duke of Portland Book

Katie Morag gets the mail is the first in a series of classic childrens books by Mairi Hedderwick. All of the books are based on the fictional island of Struay, despite the topography and location matching the small island where the author lives. This particular story follows Katie Morag as she delivers the island post after it becomes muddled, with a little help from Grandma Island and her tractor.

As the story follows the characters delivering the post we are introduced to the key features of Struay through beautiful double-page and intricately detailed watercolour illustrations. These captivate, excite and inspire children who I've found become hungrier for as much information as possible about the island the further you progress through the story. I can see significant cross-curricular links to Geography, particularly related to transport and map reading that forms the later and early parts of Key Stage 1 and 2 respectively. Children can see how the landscape changes in different parts of the island, see how maps work from the island map included in the book (and even make their own!), think about all the different kinds of transport they can see in the book, and compare it to the kind of transport they come across in their own towns.