The School of Gods by Thiago de Moraes – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: gods, trials, friendships, school, powers.
Children’s book title: The School of Gods.
Children’s authors: Thiago de Moraes.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: David Fickling Books.
ISBN: 9781788453639.
Recommended for children aged: 8-12.
First published: Paperback June 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: Reading aloud, or in small groups. To help understand how fiction can be funny but still have the ability to tell a good story with a serious message.
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Our review:
Olly Morris has always been home-schooled and he’s not very happy about it! So, when he gets an invitation to join the School of Gods, he’s absolutely going to accept. Unfortunately, his parents aren’t at home, so he leaves them a note and heads off for his first ever day at school. Going to a school for gods isn’t easy when you aren’t actually one yourself!
No humans have ever been to this school before, but now there are three of them! None of them have any idea why they are actually there, but they are determined to do well, or die trying, which, apparently, is quite possible!
With his parents off exploring the world, Olly knows he has to pass his TOOTs so he can stay at school but when you have no powers, no idea how to complete the tests without them, and no home to go back to, everything’s a bit of a worry! Olly and his friends aren’t going to give up, though; they are human, after all, and that must count for something?
Our verdict:
Olly Morris wants to go to school. How that actually happens is only the beginning of the story, and his adventures and the illustrations that accompany them show just how different his first year at the School of Gods is from any other Year 7 class anywhere! There are similarities that readers will recognise. The bully, the hard worker and the very strict teacher are all here, but in each case they are just a little, well, actually quite a lot different from their stereotypes!
When the trio do get the chance to receive some limited powers, it isn’t a simple process, but the confidence they get from being more accepted by most of their peers is shown well and means that, as they get nearer to the end-of-year tests, the storyline has more possibilities for success than it otherwise would! Eventually, the powers themselves aren’t as vital as the three friends thought they would be, and instead they realise there are other things to take into consideration, just as always!
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Olly Morris has only ever been home-schooled on a canal boat by his musician parents. If you had never experienced school, do you think you would really want to attend too?
- The illustrations in this book are used to explain what happens as much as the storyline. The drawings of the buildings especially are very detailed. Did you have a favourite?
- Starting a new school is hard; how much harder would it be for someone who had never been to school before?
- If you could choose a godly power for yourself, what would it be? Why did you choose it?
- This book is the first in a new series. Do you think Olly will be more confident when he starts Year 8?
- In a cross-curricular activity with art, design a poster in the same style as the illustrations in the book, reminding students to revise for end-of-year tests, either at your school or Olly’s.
Many thanks to David Fickling Books for the review copy.
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