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Dinosaur ROAR!

dinosaur roarPaul and Henrietta Stickland
Ragged Bears
A
ge 3-5

Dinosaur Roar has become very popular with young dinosaur enthusiasts. The bold and beautiful illustrations based on real (and not so real!) dinosaurs give lots to talk about and enjoy. The text is simple but memorable with a strong rhyme and rhythm. It reads like a poem and children will enjoy joining in.

 

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Share the story

green dinosaur pair flipRead aloud
Read the story aloud, allowing children to talk about the illustrations when they want to.

Join in
When children have heard the story more than once they will be confident to join in as you read. They might read the book at the same time as you or you could take turns like a call and response; for example one of you reading ‘dinosaur roar’ while the other reads ‘dinosaur squeak’.

Read the story together and clap the rhythm of the words at the same time (eg three claps for din-o-saur). Children might like to beat the rhythm using a wooden spoon on a saucepan or on a drum or other toy musical instrument if you have one.

Talk about the book
Talk about the different dinosaurs; which dinosaur do children like best? Which dinosaur do children think is the biggest,the smallest, the fastest or the scariest?

Watch the story read aloud

Things to make and do


Practise counting
Count the dinosaurs on the end papers; how many green dinosaurs are there?

Play a guessing game
Play I’m thinking of a dinosaur. Take turns describing a dinosaur,  eg ‘I’m thinking of a dinosaur that has three horns on its head. Can you find it?’

Make a book
Make a mini zig-zag book for your child to draw a different dinosaur on each page. Your child can have a go at writing a caption for each picture or tell you what to write.
completed book

Make a playdough dinosaur
Make up some coloured playdough so that children can create their own model dinosaur.


Find out more

Read more dinosaur books by Paul Stickland:

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs

Dinosaur Store

Dinosaurs Galore

Visit Paul Stickland’s website to download free dinosaur templates here.

Find out about real dinosaurs and about visiting the Natural History Museum here

 

 

 

 

If I had a dinosaur

Gabby Dawnay, Alex Barrow (illus)
Thames and Hudson
Age 0-5

This is a story about a little girl who wants a pet, and not content with the typical range, she wants one that is as big as a house! Clearly a dinosaur would be perfect. The story explores what she would do if she had a pet dinosaur, where she would take it and how her friends would react when they see it.  She considers the amount of food it would eat and the inevitable big problem its bodily functions would create!

This is a story that invites participation, with a rhyming text, pictures used sometimes to complete phrases instead of words and the concept of having a pet dinosaur to discuss. The illustrations are excellent with extra detail which adds to the story telling. The book design is absolutely brilliant, from the covers inside and out to the delight of turning a page to enable a dinosaur to walk from one spread to the next or be seen from both inside and outside the house. This is a book which children will want to revisit again and again noticing more each time and will fulfil the author and illustrator’s aim to create ‘stories and pictures[which] will ignite children’s imagination and take on a life outside the pages of the books.’

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Share the story

Read aloud
Before reading the story look at the cover together, open it up to show children the big dinosaur and feel the texture of its surface.

Read the story aloud, pausing so that children can say the names of some of the different pets the little girl considers helping with less familiar eg hamster perhaps. Pause also after the first double page spread to see if your child want to suggest which pet the little girl will choose which is as big as a house. Continue reading, pausing again if your child wants to talk about what is happening in the story or pictures.

Join in
As you read it again children pause so that children can complete the rhyming pair, say the name of the animal and follow the words as they go round the dinosaur’s tail with a finger.

Talk about the story

  • Share thoughts on having a dinosaur as a pet

  • If your child did want one, which dinosaur would you choose – look at the illustrations on the final double page for suggestions.

  • What noise might the dinosaur make? Can you make it?

  • What would you feed it? How much food would it need?!

Watch the story

Watch the story read aloud

Noah is very interested in dinosaurs and stories about dinosaurs, and he was eager to hear this one. He listened attentively on first reading and was keen to go back & look again, particularly at the dinosaur poo illustration!

We  returned to the story lots of times and Noah quickly began joining in, inserting words for picture clues early in the book and playing ‘if I had a dinosaur I would…’ Noah said ‘If I had a dinosaur I’d slide down his back.’ He was keen to act this idea out with toy dinosaurs and lego figures.

This book and other dinosaur stories stimulated lots of play. He enjoyed hiding dinosaurs in the garden, making a mini dinosaur world in a plastic tray and making a paper plate dinosaur. He began making connections to other stories too, in particular, We’re Going on a Bearhunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury and How to be a Lion by Ed Vere, a story about a gentle lion. Noah said: ‘We’re going on a dinosaur hunt, the dinosaur might roar, the lion will teach it to be gentle.’

Things to make and do

Play the story
Take turns with ‘If I had a dinosaur I would….’ It is a good idea to make a suggestion first eg ‘If I had a dinosaur I would take it to the park and slide down its long neck’. Your child may choose to copy you or say something from the story which is fine.

Draw a picture
Using a big piece of paper and crayons, encourage children to draw a dinosaur perhaps filling up the paper with a ‘big’, ‘giant’, enormous dinosaur with a ‘super long’ tail.

Sing a song
Sing a song about having a dinosaur 


Find out more

Find out about the background to the story
The story was inspired by the discovery of Titanosaur bones in Argentina. Titanosaurs were the largest animals to have ever walked the earth. Read more about the discovery

Author Gabby Dawnay writes about the background to the story here:

Read more books by this author and illustrator team:

London Calls

A Possum’s Tail

A Roller Coaster Ride Around the Body

 

 

Freddie’s story

Sarah Baker, a parent,  tells  the story of her son Freddie as he develops as a reader.

 

October 2015

Sarah writes:
We started reading to our baby when I was about 7 months pregnant. Partly as a bonding exercise (I’d read a piece on how babies can recognise their mum and dad’s voices) and partly because we’d already been given some lovely books and I wanted to revisit some of my childhood favourites.

Now he’s five months and we’ve been reading to Freddie ever since. It’s his dad’s turn at night for the last story of the day, usually a quiet one as part of his bedtime routine, but once morning comes around, it’s my turn and that’s when the activities start.

One of our favourites is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s bright, the pictures are wonderful and the little holes are brilliant for tiny fingers to poke through and help turn the pages or pretend to be a caterpillar. At five months, Freddie is more of a listener than a reader, but in time we’ll get a little more interactive and try some of the brilliant suggestions on the Love My Books website.

As a writer for children and a voracious reader, I’m keen to encourage Freddie’s early love of books (whether listening to them or biting them) and the Love My Books website is a brilliant resource of both fun and educational activities to support that. They also have lots of book suggestions, some of which we didn’t know, so we’ve already ordered more. I foresee very happy times ahead (and not just for me!)

I look forward to working through the age group books and activities with Love My Books and our very own hungry caterpillar.


December 2015

Sarah writes:
Freddie’s already developing a real love for his favourites.

A few weeks ago, Freddie began crawling. He went from one side of the living room to the other, and right up to the bookshelves. There he began to pull out a few books before turning to me with a smile. I could not have been more proud. Now this has become part of our daily routine, and storytime by the bookshelves is as much fun for him as it is for his mum and dad.

Now he’s a little older, we’ve started including some of the activities Love My Books suggest on their website. We’ll often read one book a second time or point out little picture details as we go. We talk about the book and, when it comes to one of his new favourites, Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear by Emily Gravett, we’ve used real pieces of fruit to tell the story (which he found delicious).

We continue to find that the Love My Books website is a brilliant resource of both fun and educational activities. They also have lots of book suggestions, which would make brilliant Christmas presents!


March 2016
Freddie age 1 Year

Sarah writes:
Freddie turned one this month and his love of books is still going strong. He got quite a lot of book presents (the best kind of presents) and we read one or two, sometimes more each day. He’s now learned to turn the pages, though not necessarily at the right time, which often makes for interesting storytelling.

Freddie definitely has his favourites. These are the rhyming stories, the ones we can do actions to, the ones where I voice the characters, the ones where he can really join in. Reading books has become an interactive activity for us and it’s a source of endless giggles when I do the singing bits or we fly around the house, making room on our very own broom. (Room on the Broom LINK)

Two books we’ve really enjoyed lately are:

 Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs!  by Kaye Umansky and Nick Sharratt

We’re big dinosaur fans in this house and the stomping and chomping is always fun. Freddie’s also recently learned to roar so I’m encouraging that at every opportunity.

Train! By Judi Abbott

This is a very funny book, which makes Freddie (and me) laugh every time we shout ‘Train!’ whether we’re reading or playing with our own little train set (carriages currently filled with toy animals, a car and what looks like a very hipster farmer). We’re planning a train trip of our own soon to see a friend in Edinburgh and I’m expecting a few shouts of ‘Train!’ as we travel. Sorry about that everyone…


March 2017
Freddie age 2 years

Sarah writes:
Freddie is 2 years old and his love of books grows with him. We have story time every day, usually after breakfast, and always before bed. Reading is something we do together. Freddie’s clear about which stories he likes and now refers to them by their title. He’s also started reciting bits of his favourites back to me during the day, so we both seem to be learning them off by heart.

Two of his current favourites are Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Freddie turns the pages so he’s in charge of how fast or slow we read. We’ve begun to pause a little, taking time to talk about ‘what’s going to happen next,’ using the space to discuss the fox following Rosie. We count the items The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats and Freddie names them. As these are favourite books, we read them over and over, and I often suggest to Freddie that he read them to me and he really enjoys telling me his version of what’s going on. He’s also become very interested in the words themselves, asking me what a particular word ‘says’ and then repeating it. It’s astonishing and magical to watch.


September 2018
Freddie’s dinosaur adventures

Author and parent Sarah Baker continues her son Freddie’s reading journey. Freddie is now 3 and Dinosaur stories are a big hit. This is what Sarah has to say:

‘We love dinosaurs and we love dinosaur books. We currently have four favourites, which we read again and again, and they inspire a lot of play too.’

Dinosaur Roar! by Paul Stickland & Henrietta Stickland

Published in association with the Natural History Museum (one of our favourite places to hang out), dinosaurs of every shape, size and colour feature in this fantastic picture book. We take it in turns to do our very own dinosaur squeak or roar and usually end up with a good stomp around the house…

See our activity page here 

…which leads me to Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs! By Kaye Umanksy & Nick Sharratt. With its bright illustrations and fantastic rhyming story, it’s perfect for stomping, chomping toddlers. We name the dinosaurs, talk about their different shapes, sizes and colours, and make our very own T-Rex stomp and roar about (when he’s not busy reading).

See our activity page here 

Dinosaurs and all that rubbish by Michael Foreman is a classic tale that introduces the concept of the environment, what we do with our rubbish and saving the planet. We talk a lot about where water comes from, where rubbish goes, for example. Freddie enjoys sorting the recycling (along with T-Rex), switches off lights whenever they’re on “to save energy, Mummy,” and loves helping to plant seeds in the garden and water the plants we’re growing.

See our activity page here 

If I Had a Dinosaur by Alex Barrow & Gabby Dawnay is a recent addition to our collection and we love it. Imagine having a dinosaur?! It’s such a fun story that inspires us to talk about what we’d do with a dinosaur in our house. Would he fit into the kitchen? Where would he sleep? What would he eat? The dinosaur poo page always gets a big laugh and imagining what our dinosaur would look like has inspired Freddie to draw her (it’s a her, she’s called ‘Marie’)

Here are some other Dinosaur books we love:

T-Veg (the story of a carrot crunching dinosaur) by Smriti Prasadam-Halls & Katherina Manolessou, Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland, Dinosaur Beach by Frann Preston-Gannon, Dino Diggers Digger Disaster by Rose Impey & Chris Chatterton and Toot Goes to Dinosaurland by Catherine and Laurence Anholt. Happy Reading!



 

Sarah Baker is a children’s author. Her novel for 8-12 year olds, Through the Mirror Door, is available now.

Website:         bysarahbaker.com

Twitter:           @bysarahbaker

Instagram:      @bysarahbaker

Pinterest:        pinterest.com/bysarahbaker

 

Dear Dinosaur

 

Chae Strathie, Nicola O’Byrne (illus)
Scholastic
Age 3-7

Max loves dinosaurs and is delighted to visit the dinosaur museum. One of the staff, Dinosaur Dora tells him that he can send questions to Tyrannosaurus Rex who might even answer them. Amazingly, this is what happens and in no time a correspondence develops, with letters, postcards, a birthday card and even an email. Max and the T-Rex become ‘dinopals’.

Dear Dinosaur is great fun and very interactive with lots of letters and cards to open. Real dinosaur facts are cleverly incorporated in this highly imaginative and amusing story.

 

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Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud to your child, reading the words in bold louder and pointing one or two of these out as you do. Children can help by opening the letters and cards. Pause to talk about the story or illustrations if your child wants to.

Join in
As children become more familiar with the book, encourage children to join in with the words in bold and also what the characters say to each other.

Talk about the story

Max’s favourite dinosaur is a T-Rex. Which is your child’s favourite, and why?

Find the dinosaur facts in the story eg the size of a T-Rex or its teeth. What else do you both know? What would your child like ask a dinosaur?

See links below to help find answers to children’s questions.

If you have been to a dinosaur museum or display talk about what your child remembers about the visit.

If Max is a ‘Maxosaurus’ what would your child or other members of your family be called if they were dinosaurs? Have fun talking about this.

Does your child think Dinosaur Dora is writing the letters or is it really the T-Rex?


Things to make and do

Did you Know?
Children could make a set of dinosaur ‘did you know?’ cards. Using facts from the story and from more things you find out about, T-Rex, Compsognathus or any other dinosaur (see links below). They could try out their cards on members of the family or friends.

Make a dinosaur museum
Arrange toy dinosaurs if you have them as if they are on show in a museum. Alternatively children could make some from modelling material.  Add labels for each ‘exhibit’.

See Natural History Museum Dinosaur section and the New York Natural History Museum Dinotour

Design a funny dinosaur
Max drew a picture of a sausageosaurus. Children could draw their own funny dinosaur, and think up a name for it.

 

Find out more

Find out more about the Compsognathus

Find out more about the Tyrranosaurus Rex

For more information on dinosaurs see here

Read Gorilla Loves Vanilla, another story by this picturebook duo

Find out more about author Chae Strathie here 

Find out more about illustrator Nicola O’Byrne

Titles include Open Very Carefully, a book with bite

 

Buy here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs!

stomp stomp big roarsKaye Umansky, Nick Sharratt (illus)
Puffin
Age 0-5

This boldly illustrated picture book has a different dinosaur poem on each page. Some of the poems are loud and noisy with lots of stomping and roaring and some are quiet and peaceful. Your child will love joining in with the strong rhymes and making up actions, the striking pictures give lots to talk about as well.

 

 

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Share the book

green dinosaur pair

Read aloud As you read the book aloud roar noisily with the dinosaurs and whisper for the mouse. Allow time to talk about some of the pages, for example you could look for the dinosaur that is hiding together.

Join in As you re read the book encourage your child to join in with actions, stamping their feet, chomping, and pretending to swish a tail or dive into a swamp.

If you leave gaps when you are re reading the book children can complete the rhymes eg:

Roar, roar, roar, roar! I’m a roaring …………..!

Talk about the book The pictures are so striking it is worth spending time talking about some of them. For example, you could ask your child which page is their favourite, what is happening in the picture and why they chose it.

The picture of the two dinosaurs who are ‘just sitting’ is an interesting one to discuss, look at this together and talk about what you see and think.

Do Some Counting
Count the baby dinosaurs and the eggs and the dinosaurs diving into the swamp

 

Things to make and do

Play the story

Stomp like a dinosaur – as you walk around the house or garden stomp like dinosaurs saying the rhymes as you go. Wearing big boots for this would be fun!

Sand play – if you have access to a sand pit at home or at the local park your child could re create pages from the book with their toy dinosaurs (or other small toys pretending to be dinosaurs).

Water playthe toy dinosaurs can join your child in the bath and dive in as if diving into a swamp while you repeat some of the rhymes again.

More outdoor play ideasfind a space, or even better somewhere with a gentle slope, so that your child can roll like a dinosaur. Play dinosaur hide and seek.

Make a dinosaur puppet
You can make a simple dinosaur puppet with your child from a fairly long sock. Felt would be ideal for eyes, teeth and spines but you could use other materials such as buttons for eyes and coloured cellophane for spines. Watch the video for more ideas.
If you make a pair of dinosaur sock puppets they could be the ‘best of friends!’


Find out more

Read more books by Kaye Umansky here

This is Jane, Jim

Yo,Ho, Ho A- Pirating We’ll Go!

Read more books by Nick Sharratt here

Titles include:

Red Rockets and Rainbow Jelly

Ketchup on your Cornflakes

See more about dinosaur themed activities here.

 

 

Dylan’s Amazing Dinosaurs

dylan's amazing dinosaursE.J Harper, Dan Taylor (illus)
Simon & Schuster
Age 3-7

This is the first in a new series of stories about a little boy and his toy pterodactyl that comes to life when Grandpa’s magical dinosaur journal is opened. Dylan’s Amazing Dinosaurs: The Tyrannosaurus Rex is an exciting story written by a real palaeontologist with some genuine dinosaur facts. An added bonus is the pop out dinosaur which comes with the book; great fun for story play

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Share the story
dinosaur4

Read aloud
As you read the story aloud pause to talk together about the illustrations and what is happening. Pause again when Dylan meets the dinosaur; what can he do? Ask your child what they would like to happen next. Read the rest of the story to see what happens.

Join in
When you read the story again children will enjoy joining in with parts of it, for example:
Let’s go,
Let’s soar,
Off to the land where the dinosaurs roar!’
They can also join in with the sound effects (‘Roooaaaarrrrgghhhhh!’ and ‘Whooooshhhh!’)

Talk about the story

Talk about all the things you can see in  Dylan’s tree house.
Find dinosaur facts in the story and talk about any unfamiliar words, for example ‘habitat’.
Talk about how many teeth your child has and if this is more or less than a Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Tell the story
Using the pop out Tyrannosaurus and perhaps a puppet or prop for Wings the pterodactyl, (see below) children will enjoy retelling the story in their own words.

 Things to make and do

Make a dinosaur journal
Give children a small notebook to be their  dinosaur journal or make one for them. Click here to find out how.  Younger children could draw dinosaurs they ‘spot’ and have a go at writing about them. Older children could create fact file pages.

Make a pterodactyl puppet like ‘Wings’
Use the template and instructions to make a pterodactyl puppet with your child. Tell the story together with the puppet and the pop out Tyrannosaurus.

Make a hide or tree house
Create a tree house/hide using blankets over a table or a play house. Make sure there is a ‘window’ for dinosaur spotting!

Your child could keep their dinosaur journal there, binoculars (made from cardboard tubes taped together), dinosaur books and pictures could be taped on display.

Create Roar Island
A small area of garden, sandpit or large container with sand or earth could become Roar Island. Collect twigs, grasses, real or plastic plants and shiny foil or blue fabric for the river. Your child can help create the setting and arrange their pop out Tyrannosaurus and any other toy dinosaurs they have and play with them there.


Find out more

Find out more about dinosaurs here and here

See lots of dinosaur activities here

Find out about palaeontologists and fossils
See a video clip for budding experts here

For more fun with the idea of being a palaeontologist here is a video clip of a Sesame Street song:

 

 

The Girl and the Dinosaur

 

Hollie Hughes, Sarah Massini (illus)
Bloomsbury
Age 5-7 years

Local folk are worried about Marianne because she spends so much time alone. But she is happy, especially when she discovers ancient bones on the beach and puts them together to make a dinosaur. Marianne wishes and wishes for the dinosaur to come to life and in her dreams, it does, taking her to a magical island. Marianne is no longer alone when other children start coming to her beach to dig for dinosaur bones and seek magical adventures of their own.

A story to inspire the imagination. The beautiful illustrations make this a great book to pore over and return to again and again and the rhyming text will encourage children to join in as they get to know the story.

 

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Share the story

Read aloud
Before you begin reading this story to your child look at the cover illustration together. Talk about what you both see, and what the story might be about.

Read the story aloud, taking time to look at the illustrations as you do.

Join in
When your child becomes familiar with the story they can join in with the reading, perhaps completing some of the rhymes if you leave gaps as you read aloud. They might like to join in with Marianne’s wish, the words in bold describing movement such as ‘swooping, gliding and flying’. You could have fun making sound effects, eg for the ‘tap, tap’ on the window and you could make up some magical music on a glockenspiel or jingle bells for the page where the dinosaur comes to life.

 

Talk about the story

  • Each of you could choose a favourite illustration to look at again and talk about together.

  • Talk about unfamiliar words and phrases eg slumber, summit and ‘leap of faith.’

  • Look at the illustration of the dinosaur skeleton together and talk about the bones eg spine, skull. Bend your own fingers to think about the number of bones in your fingers, then think about the number in legs and arms too.

  • Would your child like to go to a magical moonlit island like Marianne? How would they like to get there? What sort of creatures would there be and what could they do there?

Watch the story

From Daddy Mojo

Things to make and do

Draw a picture
Your child could draw a picture of their own imaginary magical moonlit island. What creatures would be there, what would you do?

Make a dinosaur skeleton
Collect together lots of sticks and pebbles and arrange them as a skeleton in a sand pit, or a tray of soil. You could use the illustration of the dinosaur in the book as a guide.

Make a wish
Help your child to make up their own wish beginning ‘With all my heart I make a wish and dream it will come true….’

Make up a story
Make up a story together about another night with the dinosaur and Marianne – or an adventure your child would like to have with a dinosaur they find who comes to life. You could record the story you create to listen to it again or write it down. You could do this for your child and they could illustrate it or they might like to write it themselves. 

Find out more

Read more books by author Hollie Hughes  

Titles include Princess Swashbuckle and Ninja Nan

 
Find more books illustrated by Sarah Massini

Titles include:

The Boy and the Bear by Tracey Corderoy and The Velveteen Rabbit with Marjery Williams

 

Find out about the girl who really discovered dinosaur bones, Mary Anning. 

Read Stone Girl Bone Girl by Laurence Anholt and Sheila Moxley

 

Go on a virtual tour of the Natural History Museum to look at the dinosaur bones

Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp!

stomp dinosaur stompMargaret Mayo, Alex Ayliffe (illus)
Orchard  Books
Age 3-5

‘STOMP, DINOSAUR STOMP!’ introduces a different dinosaur on every page. This is a striking picture book with big, bold, colourful illustrations. The book has a strong rhythm making it a great book for joining in – NOISILY!

 

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Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book aloud emphasising the words in bold. Allow time to look closely at the pictures, trace the shape of the diplodocus from its head to the tip of its tail.

Join in
When you re read the book point to the words as they curve or slant across the page and get bigger and bolder.

As children become familiar with the book they can join in with the refrain on each page eg ‘So stomp Tyrannosaurus, stomp!’ They can make up actions for chomping, stomping, gliding and swishing would be fun too.

Talk about the book
Talk about the different dinosaurs in the book, say their names following the guide in the end papers. Count the velociraptors and the oviraptor eggs.

Watch the story read aloud

From Give us a Story

Things to make and do

Play the story
Arrange toy dinosaurs or other toys in a row as if they are dinosaurs in a parade.

Make dinosaur puppets
Cut dinosaur shapes out from card and stick them onto handles made from lolly sticks, gardening sticks or plastic straws Click here for some templates
Once your child has a few puppets they can use them to tell the story.

Play a game
Print off and play the dinosaur card game, you could play as snap, finding pairs or matching names to the dinosaurs.

Find out more

Read more books by Margaret Mayo, titles include:

Dig Dig Digging (see the ‘Going Places section’ for ideas on sharing this book)

Zoom, Rocket, Zoom!

Roar!

Snap!

Find out more about dinosaurs…
What would your child like to find out about dinosaurs? Look at information books in the library together or visit dinosaur websites to find out something new.

Find useful information about dinosaur here and here.

 

 

 

Dinosaur Chase!

 

dinosaur chase lgeBenedict Blathwayt
Red Fox
Age 5-7


When Fin the dinosaur is playing with friends a group of bigger dinosaurs come along, spoil his game and chase him. However Fin eventually gets the better of his tormentors and discovers he can fly. There is plenty to talk about in this enjoyable story which introduces the idea that we all good at different things.

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green diinosaur flipShare the story

Read aloud
When you are reading the book pause to talk about the detailed pictures if your child wants to.

Join in
On re reading the story children will enjoy joining in with the repeated phrases – ‘We can do that! We can …too!’

Talk about the book
Talk about the creatures you spot in the illustrations. What does your child like about the story? Do they like the way the story ends?

Things to make and do

Play a word game

Play ‘Guess the dinosaur’ – using the dinosaurs illustrated in the book take turns in describing them to each other eg ‘I’m thinking of a dinosaur that has three horns on its head and is very bumpy. Can you find it?’

Play a board game

Print off the track board (cut out, colour in) chance cards and instructions and play a Dinosaur Chase board game.

Play the story

Using toy dinosaurs  or other small toys you can re-enact the story together. If you have a big space you might be able to create the different terrain in the story, with  green material perhaps for the forest, yellow for the sand, blue for  water and  a box for the mountain.

Make a dinosaur collage using small bits of paper torn from colour magazines and glue your child can create a dinosaur picture on a large sheet of paper.

Make a book   Find out more about dinosaurs together and make a dinosaur information book.  Click here to find out how to make a simple zig-zag book.

completed book

Find out more

Read More books by Benedict Blathwayt, titles include:

Dinosaur Disaster

Well Done Dougal!

Minnow and the Bear

Find out more about dinosaurs here, here and here

:

Dinosaur Farm

 

 

 Frann Preston Gannon
 Pavilion
Age 3-5

The alarm clock rings and a farmer gets up and has a hearty breakfast before leaving for a day’s work in his tractor. But this is no ordinary farm; the livestock are not cows and sheep but dinosaurs! This means lots of hard work and more than a little danger. The farmer is kept very busy all day feeding the hungry dinosaurs, cleaning and clearing up after them and looking after their newly hatched babies. He is exhausted by the end of the day and keen to get home, but did he lock the gate…..?!!

A day in the life story with a difference Dinosaur Farm is an interesting and amusing story and the humorous illustrations offer lots to discuss.

 

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Share the story

Read aloud

Before looking at the cover or title, it might be fun to look together at the first few double page spreads of the farmer waking up and getting ready for work together and think about why its hard work being a farmer, what he has to do or what might happen in the story.

Then read the story aloud to your child pausing to talk about what’s happening when your child wants to.

After reading the story look back together for all the dino clues in the first few pages ( eg the famer’s bed cover) and the end papers, with dinosaur footprints.

Hear a father share the story

Listen here. Talk about the ending and how the dinosaurs got into the farmer’s house.

Join in

Show your child how to follow the writing with a finger as it curves round the images.

Children could join in with the alarm ringing or add extra sound effects as you read the story, eg for dinosaurs running or snoring at the end of the story.

Talk about the story

  • What has happened at the end of the story? Talk about what you can tell from the words and pictures and what you guess.

  • What might it be like being a farmer on a dinosaur farm? Look at the farmer’s expression for clues about what he is feeling when feeding the animals, clearing up the mess or going home after a long day.

  • Look for the dino details in the illustrations – including the end papers, and the farmer’s bedroom.

  • Was anything in the story puzzling? Eg why did the farmer have such a big egg for breakfast?! Anything unusual about the farmer’s dog

 

Things to make and do

Create a dinosaur farm

With dinosaur figures if you have them and construction material you could help your child set up their own dinosaur farm. Add a figure with a vehicle to be a tractor and a toy dog and children can act out the story or make their up their own story about a dinosaur farm.

Make a day in the life chart

Take a large piece of paper and fold it into 6 or more squares so that your child can draw different things that happen during the farmer’s day. Talk to your child about what they have drawn.

 

 

Find out more

Read another story by author illustrator Frann Preston Gannon.

Titles include The Journey Home 

Dinosaur Beach

Dave’s Cave

Sloth Sleeps On

Deep Deep Sea