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I want to be in a scary story

 

Sean Taylor, illus. Jean Jullien
Walker Books
Age 3-7

Little monster wants to be in a story, a scary one. However, when he finds himself actually in a dark and scary forest, with a spooky house, a witch and a ghost it all proves just a bit TOO scary. Things take a turn for the better though when little monster takes charge and does the scaring himself.

Told as a conversation between an unseen narrator and a little monster this story is great fun to read aloud –and for children to join in with when they become familiar with the story. Bold illustrations add to the humour and the spookiness.

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Share the story

Read aloud

Read the book through yourself before reading to your child to get the feel of how the story works with two voices.

When you read the story aloud it might be fun to make little monster’s voice a bit different from the narrator’s voice. Pause as you read if your child wants to talk about what is happening in the story of the illustrations.

Join in

Once children are familiar with the story they might enjoy joining in, perhaps taking the part of little monster, or it might be even more fun if they become the grown-up voice of the narrator and you are the little monster. It is fine if your child uses different words – they are still getting familiar with the story and its meaning.  

Younger children can join in by copying little monster’s expressions when he is scared at the beginning of the story or being scary just like him at the end of the story.

They also might enjoy holding stick puppets for the characters while you read it. (See below)

Talk about the story

  • Share favourite pages in the story. You could start by saying which page you like most and why. This might be because it is funny or you like the illustration)

  • Talk about how little monster feels at different parts of the story – how his expression changes.

  • Would your child like to be in a scary story? What would they choose to be in the story? A person, a monster or another character? Would it be more fun to be the one doing the scaring or the one who is scared?

 

Things to make and do

Make a mask
Make a little monster mask.  A paper plate would be useful for this. Your child could draw circles for eyes directly on the plate (help them draw these in roughly the right place) and a mouth shape too. Cut out the shapes for them. Your child can paint or colour their mask purple and stick on white card horns and teeth.  Add thread to the sides so that the mask can be tied on then your child can have fun being scary.

Make stick puppets
Make stick puppets of the main characters in the story – children can hold them when you share the story or to help them make up their own scary story. They can draw their own witch, ghost and monster shapes on card. They can then colour them in and you can help cut them out and stick them onto a lolly stick. 

Make up a scary story
Make up a scary story together. If you not sure how to go about this you could start off with a phrase such as ‘Once upon a time there was a dark…. (pause so children could add their own place, eg castle/forest/house) in it there lived a… again pause so children can suggest something. I they are hesitant make suggestions eg ghost/witch/monster…. One day a little boy/girl/ monster etc …

Once you have made up a story together you could write it down for them and your child could illustrate it.

Alternatively, you could tell the story to other members of the family perhaps using stick puppets to bring it to life.  

Draw a picture
Your child could draw their own spooky house or dark and scary forest using a big piece of paper and crayons.

Find out more

Read more books by writer and storyteller Sean Taylor 

Titles include:

Hoot Owl also illustrated by Jean Jullien

A Brave Bear with Emily Hughes

I am Actually a Penguin with Katya Matyjaszek

The Snowbear with Claire Alexander

 

The Ghost Train

the ghost trainAllan Ahlberg, Andre Amstutz (illus)
Puffin Books 
Age 5-7

One night a big skeleton, a little skeleton and a dog skeleton go for a ride on a ghost train. They have a lovely time and are not scared by any of the monsters they meet until they encounter a very scary….BABY!

This quirky book in the Funnybones series is fun to share and return to. Its repetitive story language makes it a great book for children who are beginning to read for themselves.


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Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book aloud to your child perhaps whispering the opening ‘On a dark, dark hill..’ to make it seem quite spooky. You might like to sing the section beginning ‘The ghostly train goes into the night with a whoooo!’ These words can be sung to the rhythm of ‘The runaway train goes down the track’. Click here.

Join in

When you read the story again children will be keen to join in with parts such as the chorus at the beginning and end ‘In the dark, dark town’ etc, the song about the ghost train, and the conversation between the skeletons. Pointing to these repeated words as you re read the book will help children recognise them.

Talk about the story
As you share the book children will notice details in the pictures such as all the things the ghosts do at Ghost-Town-by-the-Sea. Allow time to talk about the things they spot. It might be interesting to talk about why the ghosts were scared of a baby crying but not of the monsters!

Tell the story
When children have heard the story a couple of times you can encourage them to tell the story in their own words using the pictures as prompts or with puppets see below. They are likely to include some of the phrases from the story as they do.

Watch the story 

From HunterCalito


Things to make and do

Draw on a chalkboard
If you have a chalkboard and white chalk children can draw skeletons and have a go at writing about their pictures. Black sugar paper would be good for this too.

Make a skeleton
Use the skeleton template provided and follow the instructions to create a skeleton – this could be a skeleton that dangles or is stuck on coloured paper.

Make a ghost puppet.
Make  ghost puppets together or several.

To make stick puppets draw a ghost shape on white card and stick it onto a lollystick. Click here for ghost templates.

To make fabric ghost puppets cut a circle of white fabric and fold into quarters. Use a couple of stitches through the layers at the sides to keep its shape. Children can draw a ghostly face with felt pens.

 ghost puppet

Write a postcard
The skeletons had a lovely time at the seaside. What would children enjoy doing if they went to Ghost-Town-by-the-Sea? They can write a postcard for a friend or member of the family about the things they did on their imaginary trip and illustrate it with a  picture. Click here for a postcard template.

Find out more

Read more books by Allan Ahlberg and Andre Amstutz. Titles include:

Funnybones

Skeleton Crew

Give the Dog a Bone

Mystery Tour

Other books by Allan Ahlberg include:

 Mr Tick the Teacher

The Jolly Postman

* The Jolly Christmas Postman

Burglar Bill and Cops and Robbers

*Each, Peach, Pear, Plum

Starting School

Peepo 
The Baby’s Catalogue

*See more lovemybooks activities

 

 

 

 

 

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

Michael Rosen, Arthur Robins (illus)
Walker Books
Age 0-5 years

Little Rabbit Foo Foo enjoys nothing more than speeding through the forest and bopping any poor hapless creatures he comes across on the head. However, he is being watched by the Good Fairy who warns him that he will have three chances to change and if he doesn’t change she will turn him into a Goonie!

This is a funny anarchic tale about a very naughty rabbit who meets his match. The illustrations add to the humour of the story. The rhythm and repetition of the chorus make this fun to join in with or even singalong to.

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Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud to your child. Children are likely to want you to read it more than once, lots of times in fact!

Join in
Encourage children to join in with the rhyme as you read it aloud – you might decide to sing the rhyme as in the versions above. Once children are really familiar with story you may find they naturally say words from the chorus at other times, or you could start this off at bath time or when going for a walk perhaps.

Talk about the story

  • Talk about Little Rabbit Foo Foo, what he does in the story and what the good fairy says to him.

  • What would your child say to him about how he treats the other animals?

  • Share favourite parts of the story. Your child might naturally want to look back at one particular page or you could say I like this page because…. which one do you like?

Look at the double page spread before the story starts and talk about all the creatures you can both see in the large picture and what is happening.

Watch Michael Rosen perform the story

Watch an animated version read aloud

 

Things to make and do

Make puppets

Make stick puppets of Little Rabbit Foo Foo and the Good fairy. Use the illustrations in the story to help you. See our information on making stick puppets. Children could help with colouring them in.

Draw a goonie
Give children paper and crayons to draw their own goonie. Talk about the drawing with them. What is it going to look like, what might it do?

Play the story

Children can act out the story as you read or recite it aloud – practice in pretending to bop animals on the head will be important first of all! 
Or you could use the stick puppets you made to have a conversation between Little Rabbit Foo Foo the Good Fairy – it might be fun for children if you take the part of the naughty rabbit and they play the fairy!

 

Find out more

Read more stories for young children by Michael Rosen

We’re Going on Bearhunt with Helen Oxenbury 

This is Our House with Bob Graham

A Great Big Cuddle with Chris Riddell 

 

Visit Michael Rosen’s YouTube channel for poetry performances and story telling 

 

Read more books illustrated by or written and illustrated by Arthur Robins

Max the Flying Sausage Dog

The Teeny Tiny Woman

Macavity the Mystery Cat 

 

 

Our top 10 first chapter books

Reading a chapter book for the first time is traditionally viewed as a badge of honour on the road to becoming a confident reader. We have included a selection of titles here which children developing experience and confidence as readers may enjoy. However many picture books have plenty to challenge young readers so should not be cast aside.

You might want to share the reading for the books with more text here such as The Owl who was afraid of the Dark and The Magic Finger. Although children need to be able to read most words so that they can understand and enjoy the stories don’t worry if they can’t read every single word accurately.  Some children may want to read the books aloud to you, others may prefer to read to themselves (even if they are actually reading out loud as they do!)

cudweed in space thumbCudweed in Outer Space Marcus Sedgwick, Pete Williamson (illus)
Orion Books

Cudweed builds a rocket with his pet monkey Fellah and has a very unusual adventure crash landing on planet Zoy amidst aliens called Thrillions.

frog and toad thumbFrog and Toad are Friends Arnold Lobel
Harper Collins

A book with five amusing short stories about two appealing characters and their unlikely friendship.

hodgeheg thumbThe Hodgeheg Dick King Smith
Puffin Books

Max the hedgehog’s attempts to cross the road to get to the park like humans lead to a bump on the head and jumbled speech (he becomes a hodgeheg instead of a hedgehog). An appealing story from a prolific storyteller.

horrid henryHorrid Henry Francesca Simon, Tony Ross (illus)
Orion Children’s Books

Is Horrid Henry the world’s naughtiest boy? He is certainly very popular amongst young readers and is celebrating a 20th birthday in 2015.

magic finger thumbThe Magic Finger Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (illus)
Puffin

Find out what happens when one little girl with a magic finger and a strong aversion to killing animals realises her neighbours are hunters. For children developing reading fluency.

monsterblue planet thuumbThe Monster from the Blue Planet Cornelia Funke, Elys Dolan (illus)
Barrington Stoke

Zaleb the alien visits Earth and wants to find out about earthlings. One of a series of stories from Barrington Stoke with an attractive format and layout for young readers.

dinosaurs lunch thumbThe Dinosaur’s Packed Lunch Jacqueline Wilson, Nick Sharratt (illus)
Corgi Pups

Dinah is fed up, everything is boring including her class trip to the museum. That is until a dinosaur makes her a packed lunch and Dinah finds herself becoming… a dinosaur!

owl who afraid thumbThe Owl who was Afraid of the Dark Jill Tomlinson, Paul Howard (illus)
Egmont

An appealing story about a baby owl who takes some time to become convinced night time is for him

snow dog thumbSnow Dog Malorie Blackman
Corgi Pups

Nicky is upset that her parents won’t let her have a dog. Her grandfather helps her make one out of clay, a dog which proves to be extra special and rather magical as well.

whats my name thumbWhat’s My Name? (The Not so Little Princess) Tony Ross (illus) Wendy Finney
Andersen Press

A book which continues the story of Tony Ross’ little princess a few years on. Very accessible for newly independent readers with a good balance of text and humorous illustrations and lots of links to the original stories.

 

SUPERBAT

 

Matt Carr
Scholastic
Age 5-7

Pat dreamt of being a bat with amazing powers, just like the superheroes in his favourite comics. He made himself a special outfit, now all he needed to do was convince everyone he was.. SUPERBAT! The trouble was the superpowers he claimed to have (super hearing, flying, finding his way in the dark) all the other bats had too. His eyes didn’t shoot laser beams and he wasn’t extra strong like the superheroes in his favourite comics. Maybe he wasn’t destined to be a ‘superbat’, maybe he just looked… silly. Then one day something happened, help was needed and Pat didn’t hesitate, he was a true SUPERBAT and bravery was his superpower.

An appealing, attractively illustrated story with interesting facts about bats to discover along the way.

[efaccordion id=”04″] [efitems title=”Parents’ comments” text=”Luke and Jake both really enjoyed Superbat. Luke thought the words in bold were good and enjoyed trying to read them. He loved learning about bats and enjoyed designing his own superbat costume. Luke decided to be a superhero for the day.'”] [/efaccordion]

 

Share the story

Watch a trailer

 

Read aloud
This story is fun to read aloud, you can emphasise the bits in bold capitals just like super hero comics. Children will enjoy looking at the pictures and may want to pause to talk about them with you.

Join in
When you return to the book children may like to join in with some of the words such as ‘POW’, ‘WHAM’ and ‘SUPERBAT’ and perhaps with Superbat’s conversations with his friends eg ‘I have super hearing,’ boasted Pat… ‘SO DO WE!’ his friends screeched.

Talk about the story
How does Pat the bat feel at different parts of the story? Look back at illustrations and words for clues. Can children look crestfallen like Pat or brave and proud as he does at different points in the story?

What did children find out about bats that was new or surprising?

Does the story remind children of any other books, comics or cartoon films they know?

Tell the story
Children could tell you the story perhaps using a finger puppet bat to help( see below). Maybe they could pretend to be Pat telling his version. 

Things to make and do

 

What is it like to look at the world upside down?
Try look underneath your legs and see what the world looks like. If you join in too this will be even more fun.

Have fun with rhyme
Pat is a good name for a bat as it rhymes. How many other words can you find together which rhyme with bat? You could make a list.

Design an outfit
Children could design another outfit for SUPERBAT.

Make a bat finger puppet
See here for a template:

Children could decorate their finger puppet and use it to retell the story.

Write a comic strip adventure story
What other adventure might SUPERBAT have? Talk about this, maybe you could make up a story together. Children could create a comic strip of their story.

Make an information book
Make a ‘did you know?’ mini book about bats with a different fact on every page. Children can use the information in the book and you could look together at the links below for new information.

Find out more

Find out more about bats. Talk to your child about what they know already and what they might like to find out. See if you can answer their questions by looking together at these websites:

http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/facts.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FVoTMOorXA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mii45v85YY

Buy SUPERBAT here

 

Maybe…

Chris Haughton
Walker books
Age 0-5

Mummy monkey leaves her three baby monkeys in their tree with strict instructions not to go down to the mango tree as there are tigers there. Predictably, the temptation is just too much for her inquisitive youngsters and in no time at all they find themselves narrowly escaping danger.

In a perfect combination of words and pictures Maybe brilliantly captures the feelings of the very young when warned not to do something tempting. This is a lovely story about learning from experience! The illustrations are stunning, and the monkeys are very appealing and so expressive with huge eyes conveying their thoughts and feelings powerfully. A picturebook that is sure to become a firm family favourite.

Watch a trailer

https://youtu.be/Gwc6N5AfyGY

A special reading of Maybe…

https://youtu.be/ds9ZBnuib00
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Share the story

Read Aloud
Before reading the book to your child look through it yourself and think about how you will read it – the more dramatic the better to show the

This is a story you and your child will enjoy sharing again and again. When you read it aloud take your time looking at the illustrations. Your child is likely to spot the tigers lurking in some of the pages, pause to talk about how the monkeys are feeling

Join in
When your child is more familiar with the story encourage them to join in with some of the text eg the ‘Maybes’ ‘No tigers here, no tigers there….’ and ‘down, down, down.’

Talk about the book
◼︎Talk about what the monkeys are thinking when their mother tells them not to go down to the mango tree.
◼︎ Find the tigers hiding on each page
◼︎ Share your favourite pages.
◼︎Talk about what might happen when the story ends!

My two and a half year old granddaughter Nancy and I looked at the book cover of Maybe together and talked about what the book might be about. Nancy said they are baby monkeys, ‘That one’s Amy, that one’s Etta and that’s me.’ We decided the big monkey was the mummy. I read the story and we talked about the pictures as I read it. I asked her what were the baby monkeys doing and Nancy said they were hanging from the trees going ‘Ooh ahh, ooh ahh’. I asked her ‘Do you think there are tigers there?’ and she said ‘No”. As we turned the pages Nancy spotted the tigers hiding. When the tigers chased the monkeys she asked ‘Do tigers eat monkeys?’ and ‘Look he’s got his foot!’ After we finished the book she asked if I’d read it again. When we finished she immediately wanted to play being a monkey being chased by the tigers. Grandad had to join in too. We had to run around the room and behind the sofa, getting faster and faster. We climbed up the stairs with Nancy saying ‘Hurry hurry!’ When we got to the top Nancy was looking around saying ‘No tigers there’ and ‘No tigers there’ After running around upstairs and going into each bedroom Nancy sat down and looked at the book again. We then went back down stairs and ate some dried mango, which she loves. ‘This is delicious’ she said.

The next day I took a toy tiger with me and found two that Nancy had. We ‘hid’ them around the room. Nancy called “Quick quick run there’s tigers.” Nancy, Grandad and I all ran around the room and every so often Nancy said,”Stop. Listen. No tigers here” Nancy asked to read the book again and looked at it on her own. She pointed out all the hidden tigers saying ‘Yes there are tigers hiding” I didn’t want to frighten Nancy as she sometimes has nightmares, so I collected the tigers together and said that they were friendly tigers. Nancy said “They are not friendly tigers, they are quiet tigers.” We set up a tea party for the tigers, with toy teacups and a teapot and dried mango for the tigers. Nancy wanted her favourite soft toy seal to join us.

The sun had come out so we took the tigers into the garden. Grandad had the biggest tiger in his backpack and pretended not to know it was there. Nancy put the two smaller ones into her backpack. Nancy ‘hid’ the tigers in the garden, and got us all to run as if being chased and then she said “Stop. Listen. Shh!” We all listened and Nancy said “I can hear birds. I can’t hear tigers.” We continued with this game for a while, stopping to see if we could hear the tigers. Grandad made some growling sounds and Nancy said ‘That’s not tigers, that’s grandad.’

We talked about the monkeys liking mango and bananas. When we went in doors we chopped up and ate some banana and then made banana bread.
In the afternoon Nancy asked if we could read the monkey book again. This time she really engaged in turning the pages in the correct order and not missing a page. She joined in with some of the repetitive language such as ‘No tigers here’ ‘Maybe’ and ‘Down, down, down’ There was lots of talking and discussion about the pictures...’That monkey is at the top, that one is at the bottom. That one is at the top too’ I was able to develop her positional language and say ‘That one is in the middle’, ‘That one is underneath that one.’ ‘That monkey is the highest.’ When we were eating the mango and bananas we were describing them, Nancy said ‘They are delicious.’ ‘It’s so juicy.’ ‘They are very chewy.’ ‘It’s so sweet.’ ‘Mmm yummy.’

I used paper plates to cut out monkey and tiger puppets. Nancy helped me paint them and stick on googly eyes. We hung the monkeys around the house and talked about the positions they were in. We bought a fresh mango at the greengrocers. Nancy helped me cut it open and take out the fleshy fruit. She said she didn’t want to try it as it was too squashy. We decided to make it into a smoothy, but she didn't want to taste that either. Grandad and I enjoyed it though! There was a lot of discussion and language development as we handled and prepared the mango. We talked about the monkeys loving the mango and Nancy asked if tigers liked mango too.

Nancy wanted to read Maybe again the next time we visited. She looked very carefully at the pictures, turning each page over. I brought the paper plate puppets/masks that we had made and used them as we retold the story. I asked Nancy if the monkeys should go and look for the mango even though mummy monkey told them not to, and she answered ‘Maybe’. We hung the monkeys around the room putting them high and low and we hid the tigers so they were peeping out. Nancy enjoyed being a tiger this time and found it very funny when I was a monkey saying ‘No tigers here,’ ‘No tigers there,’ ‘No tigers anywhere.’ Nancy thoroughly enjoyed this book and it has become one of those we will return to again and again. Her focus and attention improved over several readings. She increased her language and also enjoyed a lot of imaginative play.

Things to make and do

Play the story
Act out the story with your child one of you being mummy and a tiger and the other one of the baby monkeys or alternatively you could act it out with toys as the monkeys and tigers.

Be a monkey
Find places for your child to (safely) climb or hang upside down like a monkey – for example a playground in a park.

Taste a mango
When you go shopping choose a mango to buy. At home cut it up and eat some together, talking about the taste as you do.

Do some counting
Count how many baby monkeys there are. For children getting more confident with counting you could also count how many legs, tails or eyes they have altogether.

Make a hand or footprint monkey.
Mix paint (finger paint is ideal) and paint your child’s hand or foot. Help them print this onto paper. The print can be the monkey’s body and legs. When dry help your child add a long curly tail and a face – these could be drawn or stuck. For the extra stary eyes – you could use googly eyes if you can get hold of them or stick white paper circles with black circles drawn inside. If you make several you could find a thin branch to stick them on.

Sing a song
Sing a song about monkeys in danger

Find out More

Read more books by Chris Haughton

Titles

A Bit Lost

Oh No George!

Shh! We have a Plan!

Don’t Worry Little Crab

Goodnight Everyone

Hat Monkey – a very entertaining App created by Chris Haughton.

OBP 2022: what made our winner? – YouTube

Find out more about real monkeys

If you get the chance to visit a zoo or wild life park children would enjoy seeing monkeys.

Here is a video about real young monkeys. It is quite long- to see them playing in a tree scroll to 6.50.
One Two Three! Jump, Babies monkeys playing on the tree, Monkey Camp part 1618 – YouTube

Grumpy frog

Ed Vere     
Puffin
Age 3-5+ years

In this striking picturebook we meet a very grumpy frog with so many issues – he only likes green things, absolutely hates pink, won’t go swimming because the water is blue or bouncing because the trampoline is yellow. He does enjoy hopping and racing, just as long as he wins of course. However when he unsurprisingly ends up with no friends, grumpy frog feels pretty sorry for himself. How will he react when a (pink!) rabbit offers to play with him?

 

A funny story about feeling grumpy, compromising, saying sorry and making friends. A book with lots of appeal and resonance for adults as well as children.

 

Its creator, Ed Vere speaks about the story and reads aloud from it here

 

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Share the story

Before reading the story
look at the cover and title page. Talk about being grumpy, make grumpy faces together and imagine what might be making this frog feel so grumpy.

Read the story aloud
pausing to talk about the story or the illustrations when your child wants to.

Join in
As children become familiar with the story encourage them to join in, for example with the ‘I’m not grumpy’ parts or with the narrator commentary – eg say hello to grumpy frog.

Talk about the story

  • Share favourite pages

  • Look again together at the picture of grumpy frog sitting on the log. Talk about grumpy frog, his feelings and how they change,

  • What would you like to say to grumpy frog?

  • What would you tell someone else about grumpy frog?

We have shared some of Ed Vere’s books before and we were looking forward to this one. We read it a few times before talking about the story. The story involves a grumpy frog ‘having one of those days’ and there is an awful lot in the book to relate to your own experiences.

Lizzie picked up on the colour aspect strongly, particularly as she has a contrasting view about the colour pink. We had various discussions over the course of many days relating to the colour green - green fruit, green objects, green clothes, green animals and any green we could see when we were out and about. We also had a great green scavenger hunt, with extra points for green things with faces.
 
When Lizzie came home from school with green hands after some particularly effective play dough with food colouring, I borrowed the play dough for my two to have a really good go. I intended to ask Lizzie to make different faces – happy, sad etc as we had been pulling a lot of grumpy and happy faces together when reading it, but she wanted to make a whole grumpy frog. As we worked together (now all with green hands) we had some good discussions about the last time she was grumpy, what she did to cheer up and what she would do to cheer up the grumpy frog (cuddles and kisses apparently).
 
This story would definitely be a good way in to discuss moods, and to get children to have a think if they have ever been grumpy ‘just because’…. This is a story we will keep coming back to and use judiciously if grumpiness appears in the future.

Things to make and do

Make puppets
Make stick puppets of grumpy frog, pink rabbit and perhaps some of the other frogs. Use the drawings in the book as a guide.

Act the story
Use the stick puppets you have made or children’s toys and act out the story together.

Make a collection of green things
How many things can you find?

Write a message to Grumpy frog
Talk together about what your child would like to tell Grumpy Frog and write him a message together, children beginning to write could have a go or you could write your child’s ideas for them

Make origami jumping frogs
With older children or to amuse younger children you might like to make origami jumping frogs. If you make several you could have a race – see here

Find out more

More books by Ed Vere 

Read more stories by Ed Vere titles include:

Max the Brave – see our activity page

Max at Night

Max and Bird

Mr Big

Banana

Cinderella of the Nile

 

Beverley Naidoo. Illus. Marjan Vafaeian
Tiny Owl
Age 7- 10

In this beautifully illustrated retelling of one of the earliest versions of Cinderella a young girl from Ancient Greece, Rhodopis, is kidnapped and taken as a slave to the island of Samos. Here she makes friends with the famous storyteller Aesop and his stories help her remain strong and resilient when she is sold on to another owner in Egypt. She is treated kindly by her Egyptian master who favours her, even giving her a pair of red slippers. However three sisters, servants in the household are jealous and mean to her. Echoes of the European version of Cinderella continue with invitations to a feast from the Pharaoh, a missing slipper, a search for its owner and a poor girl becoming Queen.

This story gives lots to talk about in the story and wonderful illustrations. Children will be able to make comparisons with the European version of the story and explore the references to Aesop and aspects of the Ancient Greece and Egypt world including slavery and Gods and Goddesses.

 

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Share the story

Watch the trailer

Before you start reading the story talk about the cover and title – what does your child think is happening in the illustration? Think about what they know already about the story of Cinderella and what the title might mean – explaining the Nile is a river in Egypt if children are unsure.

Read aloud
Read the story aloud to your child pausing after the first double page to see if children want to talk about what they have found out so far of if anything puzzles them, for example the idea of people being bought and sold into slavery. Continue to read the story aloud allowing time to pause to talk about what is happening in the story or pictures when your child wants to.

Join in or read together
Your child may be confident to read the story independently however it is fun to share the reading – parts could be ‘performed’ or read together for example Rhodopis’ song ‘Blow wind blow…’, Aesop’s story and conversations between the characters. This is not only good fun but can also help children gain a fuller understanding of the story and the language.

Talk about the story

  • Talk about Aesop’s story of the tree and the reeds and how it helped Rhodopis survive.

  • Talk about parts of the story which are like other versions of Cinderella your child knows and parts which are different.

  • The story is beautifully written and illustrated – share favourite lines and favourite illustrations and talk about them.

Watch the story read aloud

From Tiny Owl

Things to make and do

Plot the journey
On a map or globe, retrace Rhodopis’ journey from Greece to Egypt.

Make stick puppets
Using the illustrations as a guide make stick puppets for Rhodopis and a few of the characters in one scene or part of the story.

Be a storyteller
Pretend to be storyteller like Aesop and take turns to tell the story of Rhodopis – look back at the pictures in the book to remember the sequence of events. Use your stick puppets when telling the story.

Write a letter
Write a letter from Rhodipus to her parents telling them all that has happened to her including marrying the Pharaoh.

Make a scroll
Make an extra scene for the story perhaps with Rhodopis’ parents reunited with her. Children could paint or draw this on a ‘scroll’ – a roll of paper (wallpaper lining paper would be ideal or two or three pieces of A4 stuck together) with a plant stick stuck on each side as if an Ancient Egypt papyrus scroll. Children could use the style of pictures in the book as inspiration. When they unroll the scroll you can talk about the scene they have drawn together.

See our print-off activity book with some of these ideas and other activities

Find out more

More versions of Cinderella
Find out about more about versions throughout the world here 

Usborne has a beautiful pop up version of Cinderella. See here for a peek inside 

Find out more about Horus the Falcon God – scroll through this webpage to find information on Horus

Read more of Aesop’s Fables here

Also see The Orchard Book of Aesop’s Fables by Michael Morpurgo illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark

Find out more about the author Beverley Naidoo and her other books here

For an introduction to illustrator Marjan Vafaeian see here

 

 

The Animal Boogie

Debbie Harter
Barefoot Books          
Age 0-3 years

Set in an Indian rainforest, Animal Boogie is a colourful picturebook with a tuneful rhyme which you can read aloud to your child, sing together and even dance! There is lots to talk about in the colourful illustrations, including playing spot the animals hiding in the jungle.

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Share the story

Read aloud, read again and join in
Read or sing the rhyme to your child. Children will enjoy hearing it more than once, lots of times in fact! The more often you share the book, the more familiar children will become with the words in the rhyme; you can encourage them to join in as you read or sing. As they become familiar with the book children will notice more in the illustrations too. Once you both know the rhyme well you can have fun saying it together even at times when you don’t have the book, for example at bathtime or during a car journey.

Watch and sing along

 

Barefoot Books Barefoot Books

Talk about the book

  • Talk about the pictures, what can children see? Can they spot the bear, monkey, elephant and other creatures hiding in the jungle?

  • Talk about the names for all the different animals

  • What sounds would you hear in the jungle? For example the ‘tap, tap’ of the woodpecker, ‘buzz, buzz’ of the bees. You could make these sounds together.

Emma tells us about sharing The Animal Boogie with her one year old son.
‘Noah (age 1) loves The Animal Boogie. It’s great for this age group with lots of rhyme and repetition. Of course the attention span of one year olds is pretty short so he’ll listen for a bit, crawl off and then come back and join in again. He particularly enjoyed jumping up and down and listening to the story read with puppets. We have sung the words too while playing with animal figures. It is a great book for beginning to learn the names of different animals. He also likes joining in by playing with toy instruments to have his own ‘Animal Boogie’.’ 

Things to make and do

Sing and dance the animal boogie
Look at the double page spread at the back of the book together and then have a go at dancing an animal boogie, you can copy the actions in the book or make up your own: shaking like a bear, stomping like an elephant, swaying like a parrot. This is more fun if you do it together!

Tell the story with masks or puppets
You could use animal puppets or soft toys to sing and dance the animal boogie too.

Find out more

Read another book by Debbie Harter titles include: Walking through the Jungle

Buy The Animal Boogie here

Make a shadow puppet theatre

How to make
Find a large cardboard box. Cut a rectangle out of one side. Stick a sheet of baking parchment or strong tracing paper behind the hole. Place the box on its side with the ‘screen’ facing out. Cut off any extra flaps and enough of the top so that children can position puppets.

Make silhouette puppets from black or dark paper or card if possible, or if using white paper you can colour your silhouettes black. These could be based on a favourite story or be a completely new creation. Tape each puppet onto a lolly stick.

Use a torch or angle poise lamp and direct the light behind the screen. Experiment with your puppets to see how close or far away they need to be so that they are in focus. Top right photo is from Indonesian shadow puppet tradition. 

Your show

Rehearse your puppet show. What is going to happen in your play? What will your characters say, what will they do?

This works best of all if you take part if you have one child involved or help children if you have more than one.

Now you need an audience for your puppet show – or if not set up a camera to record the show and send to friends or relations.

See this cbeebies clip for more information on making a shadow puppet theatre.