Books that are set in multiple countries give your pupils the opportunity to learn more about various places around the globe when you research the different locations.

This research can be done during your English lesson as a cross-curricular link or incorporated into your geography lessons.

I like to compare some or all of the following features of the locations with my class before reading a novel set in multiple countires:

• Maps showing where in the world the countries are located
• Maps showing neighbouring countries or cities
• Photographs of the locations, including landmarks, habitats or architecture
• Typical foods eaten
• Languages spoken

Below are three award-winning and honourable books for Key Stage 2 set in multiple locations.

The Butterfly Lion

Author: Michael Morpurgo

Genre: Historical fiction

Age group: Lower Key Stage 2, Years 3 and 4

Awards: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize

This award-winning novel by Michael Morpurgo is set in three countries and at various times: South Africa, England and France. The story begins with a young boy called Michael, in 1980s England, who meets an old lady called Millie. It then moves to the tale that Millie tells to Michael in a series of flashbacks of her childhood sweetheart Bertie, who grows up in South Africa in the early 1900s, then moves to England, and, during the First World War, travels to France as a soldier.

All three settings – England, South Africa and France – can be explored during the reading of this novel, as well as the different time periods.

Butterfly Lion teaching resources

The Nowhere Emporium

Author: Ross Mackenzie

Genre: Fantasy

Age group: Upper Key Stage 2, Years 5 and 6

Awards: Blue Peter Best Story Award, Scottish Children’s Book Award, and North East Book Award

This highly-acclaimed book by Ross Mackenzie tells the story of Daniel, a young orphan boy from Glasgow in the 2010s, who journeys in a time-travelling shop called the Nowhere Emporium to various times and locations, including Venice in 1854; New York in 1929; and 18th-century Paris amongst others. This story features alternating timelines, with half of the chapters taking place in Victorian London.

The Nowhere Emporium teaching resources

Christophe’s Story

Author: Nicki Cornwell

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age group: Lower Key Stage 2, Years 3 and 4

Awards: Portsmouth Book Awards (shortlisted)

This is the honourable story of a young boy who moves to England as a refugee from war-torn Rwanda in the 1990s. As well as the UK school setting, there are flashbacks as Christophe tells his story of when his family were forced to flee their home in east Africa.

Christophe’s Story teaching resources