Children’s author Mary Hoffman was born in 1945 and began writing in 1970. Her first book, White Magic, was published in 1975 and since then she has written over 80 books including the series featuring the inspirational character of Grace: Amazing Grace, Grace and Family, Starring Grace, Encore, Grace! and Bravo Grace.

Amazing Grace was published in 1991 and has been a huge hit both sides of the Atlantic. Mary Hoffman had already published around 40 books before she wrote Amazing Grace, but, she says, ‘it is fair to say that it was Grace who changed my life’.

Grace is really me – a little girl who loved stories. When I was a little girl, acting out pantomimes with my sister, I played all the leading parts – it didn't matter to me if they were for boys or girls, though I noticed boys’ roles were often more fun. So when Grace wanted to be Peter Pan, I had another character tell her she couldn't because she was a girl. Because things have moved on a bit in equality between the sexes since I was Grace's age, I added another level of challenge by making her Black. So another character says, “You can’t be Peter Pan – he wasn’t Black”.

Visit the Mary Hoffman website for further information on Mary’s life and books, as well as tips on writing.

Among the many glowing reviews for Amazing Grace are:

The writing is beautifully paced, straightforward and sensitive without being sentimental. Books for Young children, 1991

Because it deals with sexism and racism with very young children, it offers a valuable starting point for classroom discussion of unacceptable behaviour. The Bookseller, 1993

A richly illustrated story that tackles stereotypes sensitively and intelligently. The Good Book Guide, 1997

It’s one of those simple, yet profoundly moving, stories that confronts sexism and racism, accepts they exist, and transcends them through a child’s honesty, humour, imagination and hope. The Times, 2003

Amazing Grace is most directly linked to Small Island Read 2007 by the fact that Grace’s grandmother was born in Trinidad. The sequel Grace and Family shows Grace visiting Gambia in West Africa, her father’s original home. The book can therefore be used to explore the theme of migration and how the British are made up of people from many different cultures and countries. There is background information on this theme in the Migration section of this website and in the readers’ guide for Small Island.

The book could also be linked to classroom work on slavery, showing how the forced migration of enslaved Africans to the Caribbean during the Transatlantic Slave Trade has led to voluntary migration to Britain by Caribbean people, such as Grace’s grandmother. Incidentally, the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ was written by John Newton, a former captain of a slave ship who died in 1807.

In addition, Amazing Grace can be used in the classroom as the starting point for discussion and activity on the themes of self-esteem, gender and race, treating others with respect, what makes us special, sharing stories across different generations, who we look to for support and encouragement, and the importance of having goals. This could be part of programmes of study linked to Citizenship. Although the book is classified as being suitable for KS1 reading levels, it would also be useful for KS2 pupils in providing a basis for small-group discussions and ‘hot-seating’ in which the pupils themselves take the lead in asking the questions prompted by what they have read.

As Grace loves dressing up and acting out stories, the book could be used to encourage children to use their imagination to act out and share their own favourite stories. They could also carry out research to find out more about the characters Grace likes to play, such as Joan of Arc, Hannibal or Mowgli, or about pirates or the siege of Troy.

On this website you can download the following Word format worksheets to use alongside Amazing Grace:

Colouring Sheets – suitable for nursery and reception pupils. Could also be linked to research assignments for older children in which they find out about the characters depicted.

Puzzle Sheets – suitable for KS1 pupils. Test knowledge of the book as well as basic writing skills and word recognition.

Migration Sheets – background information and activities suitable for KS1 and KS2.

Question Sheet – could either be used in teacher-led group discussions at KS1, testing knowledge of the book, or as a starting point for self-directed talking opportunities/ small discussions for Gifted and Talented and KS2 pupils.

Other activities relating to Amazing Grace can be found on the American website ReadWriteThink.

Amazing Grace is available in four dual-language editions (English and Urdu, English and Panjabi, English and Gujurati and English and Bengali) published by Frances Lincoln as well as a big-book format.

You can read more about the book and Mary Hoffman here (Word document).