During World Book Week we enjoyed sharing the beautiful story The Bluest of Blues by Fiona Robinson. This amazing text is a gorgeous picture book biography of botanist and photographer Anna Atkins - the first person to ever publish a book of photography.

After losing her mother very early in life, Anna Atkins (1799–1871) was raised by her loving father. He gave her a scientific education, which was highly unusual for women and girls in the early 19th century.

Fascinated with the plant life around her, Anna became a botanist. She recorded all her findings in detailed illustrations and engravings, until the invention of cyanotype photography in 1842. Anna used this new technology in order to catalogue plant specimens―a true marriage of science and art.

In 1843, Anna published the book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions with handwritten text and cyanotype photographs. Weaving together histories of women, science, and art, The Bluest of Blues inspired KS2 pupils to embark on their own journeys of discovery and creativity, during the week we created lots of different writing including: Biographies of famous female scientists, Haikus, Imaginative poetry, Newspaper articles and Non-chronological reports.

Each class took on a theme from the story and worked with Miss J to create and some amazing art work. We have pieced this together to create a collaborative display in the hall, for all to share. As you can see from the image, it looks absolutely stunning!