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Alfie Gets in First

alfieShirley Hughes
Red Fox
Age 3-5

This is first in a series about Alfie and his family. They are appealing stories to share and talk about. In this story Alfie gets locked inside his house on his own. Lots of people offer to help while Alfie and his sister get increasingly upset. The  illustrations show what is happening on both sides of the door. In the end Alfie opens the door himself – a story about the ups and downs of becoming more independent.

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Share the story

Read aloud
When you read the story aloud, pause at the question ‘But what do you think Alfie did then?’ and encourage your child to guess what might happen next. Then go on to see what happens next and read the rest of the story.

Join in
When you read the book again your child might like to join in, perhaps when Alfie calls out ‘I’ve won ’, the bang when he slammed the door or Mum telling Alfie to open the door.

Talk about the story
When you have read the story talk about what your child liked about it and share favourite parts. Other things you might talk about include:

What Alfie is doing inside the house while people gather to try and help him outside.

The last page and all the people who tried to help Alfie and his mum.

How Alfie feels at different points in the story. His expressions give lots of clues.

Watch the video

 From 2209aimee


Things to make and do

Make Alfie’s door
This can be done very simply with a piece of paper or thin card folded in half. Your child can draw and colour a door on the front and inside draw Alfie on his own or with his family.

Write instructions
Your child can pretend they are writing instructions for Alfie; what to do if he gets locked in again. Click here for a special sheet.

Draw a picture
Give your child a large piece of paper and some crayons so that they can draw some of the people we meet in this story. Children beginning to write for themselves can write labels for each character.

Find out more

See this video where the author Shirley Hughes talks about the Alfie books:

Read more books about Alfie by Shirley Hughes:

All about Alfie

Alfie Lends a Hand

An Evening at Alfie’s

Alfie’s Feet

Alfie’s Christmas

Annie Rose is my Little Sister

 

Read other books by Shirley Hughes, titles include:

* Dogger

Moving Molly

Lucy and Tom series

The Lion and the Unicorn

 * See more lovemybooks ideas