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TITCH

titchPat Hutchins
Red Fox (Random House)    
Age 3-5

Titch is the youngest in his family; his brother and sister are bigger and have bigger and better toys. It is easy to see from Pat Hutchins’ illustrations how Titch feels about this. However one day Titch finds that something that starts off as tiny as a seed can grow and grow and GROW! Maybe Titch will grow as big as his brother and sister one day! This is a story about the frustrations of being little which many children will relate to. The predictable story pattern makes it easy for children to join in with the reading.

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Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book aloud and allow time to talk about the story and the illustrations.

Join in
When you re read it encourage children to join in with the parts they remember, perhaps finishing some of the lines eg Pete had… Mary had… If your child is beginning to read for themselves you could point to the words when you re read the story.

Tell the story
Using the illustrations children can tell the story in their own words.

Talk about the story
Talk about Titch and how he feels you could start with a question, for example:

Why does Titch ride a little tricycle while his brother and sister have big bikes?

How does he feel about this?

Is it fair that Titch only has a pin wheel while they have big kites?


Things to make and do

Draw  pictures
Your child could draw a picture of Titch and his family and then a picture of your family – perhaps drawing people in order of size. Who is the biggest, who is the smallest? If your family is very small grandparents,  cousins and pets could be included.

Make a  family album
Select photos with your child of themselves and other members of the family.  Print or copy them and stick them into a scrapbook to make your child their own family album. Talk about the pictures and write captions together.

Grow a beanstalk
Plant a bean in a flower pot, water it and watch it grow. Talk about what seeds need to grow – as it does you could start measuring it. Will it grow bigger than anyone in the family? For a growing experiment see below.

Make a pin wheel
Follow the instructions here and download and print the template here to make a pinwheel:

 
Find out more

Find more stories about growing, for example:

Jasper’s beanstalk by Mick Inkpen

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Read more books by Pat Hutchins, titles include:

You’ll soon grow into them Titch

Tidy Titch

Don’t Forget the Bacon

* Rosie’s Walk

The Doorbell Rang

Find out more about seeds and growing

Visit a garden centre together and look at the different plants and seed packets. Talk about what plants need to grow well and buy some bean seeds and experiment at home. Plant one seed in a flower pot and water it regularly so that it is damp but not wet. Plant another in a flower pot but do not water it at all and plant a third in a flower pot and water it but keep it in the dark. Check the pots every couple of days and talk about what happens.