Lob by Linda Newbery reminds us that life is full of joy, change and loss. It’s an absorbing book that rewards exploration in the classroom.

The depth and wisdom of its themes are belied by the author’s lightness of touch. She weaves a story that is poetic in its language, yet highly accessible to young readers. This is particularly the case when you share Lob by Linda Newbery aloud as part of a reading-for-pleasure experience.

What is Lob by Linda Newbery about?

The book is about the relationship between Lucy, her grandpa and Lob – a strange creature that inhabits Grandpa’s garden and helps his vegetables to grow.

Lob is made of ‘rain and wind and sun and hail’ and most people never see him, however hard they look.

Lucy’s mum and dad think Lob’s just a story, but Grandpa shows Lucy an old stone carving in the church of a face peering through leaves. People say it’s a Green Man, but Grandpa and Lucy know better.

When the worst thing happens and Grandpa dies, nobody except Lucy gives Lob another thought. She sends Lob a message, inviting him to come to London. But he is his own master and only cares about green places.

Will there be enough wildness in the city to draw him there, and how will he manage with all the cars and concrete?

Why use it in the classroom?

Lob is a timeless book that gives children an unusual and uplifting perspective on the world. However, it’s gentle wisdom is accompanied by something much tougher. Nature is wild, after all, and life is full of change and loss.

But with it comes growth, and the knowledge that the people we love give us something that stays with us forever.

As a stimulus for thinking and talking about some of life’s biggest ideas, it’s hard to beat.

Delicately illustrated by Pam Smy from close observation of the allotments and gardens recorded in her sketchbooks, Lob reminds us to make space to observe and protect the natural world that connects us all and give us life.

Carey Fluker Hunt is creative development manager at Seven Stories, the centre for children’s books in Newcastle.

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