{"product_id":"the-photo-that-never-happened-sotiris-spyrou-9798187412525","title":"The Photo That Never Happened: A Media Literacy Story for Children About Fake Photos and Checking Before Sharing (Ages 7 to 11)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA photograph of a shark fin, cutting through the canal like a knife through custard. Underneath it, in capitals: THIS IS REAL. TAKEN TODAY AT FOUNDRY LOCK!!!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is their canal. Their railings, their bins, their sign. Maya knows the spot. She has walked the dog along it about 4,000 times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are two weeks until the Grand Kettlebridge Duck Race. Two hundred rubber ducks are living in a crate in the Mistry kitchen, Dev has a clipboard and a spreadsheet and the happiest fortnight of his life ahead of him, and every 50p raised goes towards fixing the roundabout in the park.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen the photo lands in the Year 5 group chat, and it lands the way a dropped tray lands.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere is the part that makes the book work: Maya falls for it. She zooms in, and it still looks real, and she believes it, and she nearly shares it. The story is about what she does next.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe tell\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFakes are built to survive a glance, not a stare. So Maya stares. The writing on the sign is wrong. The shadows disagree with each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut the test that actually settles it is the one no software will ever fix. Nobody can say who took the photo. A real photograph has a person behind it: somebody who was there, with a name, who you could ask what happened next.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo they go and check it against the actual canal, which is the other test that does not expire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the canal they meet the genuine top of the food chain. He is called Gerald. He is a pike. He is frightened of the weed cutter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow it ends, which matters\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaya writes the correction herself and sends it everywhere the fin ever swam: the Year 5 group, the football chat, the cousins' chat. She signs it \"Maya M, who fell for it first.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFixing it out loud, in the same places you got it wrong, is what the best detectives do. That is a lesson most adults have not learned yet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat your child will be able to do\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExplain that images can be made by a computer, and apply simple \"is this real?\" checks before believing or sharing. Look hard at the picture, then ask the two questions that always work: who took this, and does it match the real place?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCurriculum\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAligned to the National Curriculum for England, Computing at Key Stage 2 (select, use and combine software including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information) and statutory Relationships Education, internet safety and harms. Maps equally to the Curriculum for Wales Digital Competence Framework (Citizenship, and Data and computational thinking), Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence (Technologies TCH 2-02a, being aware that not all information is credible), and the Northern Ireland Curriculum (Using ICT, the Evaluate strand). US grades 2 to 5, elementary, Australia and New Zealand Years 3 to 6. Not endorsed or accredited by any government body.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading it\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTen chapters, about 8,200 words, for readers aged 7 to 11, with Maya's Safety Spotter Tips at the back listing every tell. An adventure story with a real method inside it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGood for\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeepfake and AI image awareness at the age children start seeing them daily. Media literacy for kids, taught as a set of things to actually look at rather than a warning. Internet safety for kids, online safety for kids and cyber safety for kids, in a story where the clever one gets fooled first.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChildrens chapter books for ages 9 to 12 that reward a close reader. Critical thinking for kids, disguised as a duck race.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe series\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBook 2 of 6 in Safety Spotters, for ages 7 to 11. Younger readers start with Little Safety Spotters, ages 5 to 7. Older readers continue with Safety Spotters: Case Files, ages 11 to 14.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFree classroom resources and the tells checklist at safetyspotters.com\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eCheck it before you trust it.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sotiris Spyrou\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798187412525\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/16\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 56\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.17lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.13d","brand":"Sotiris Spyrou","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50666059104511,"sku":"9798187412525","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-photo-that-never-happened-sotiris-spyrou-9798187412525","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}