Author: Meg Rosoff
Pretty, romantic and escapist. Evoking a great deal of empathy with Pell and the struggles she faces.
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Little Rabbit Foo Foo
Author: Michael Rosen
Illustrator: Arthur Robins
Story sack ideas: DVD version, rabbit puppet, thought bubbles for the rabbit, activity based on what they would get a good fairy to change, a mallet!
Oscar Got The Blame
Author: Tony RossIllustrator: Tony Ross
Life is so unfair for Oscar!
Book-based word game idea - dice game "...and this is Oscar's friend, Billy"children could draw what they think.
Tuesday 25 October 2011
The Wolves in the Walls
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Dave McKean
Interesting for PSHCE. How do the wolves feel? Also would be great for persuasive writing - write a note persuading the family that there are wolves in the walls.
Friday 30 September 2011
Beware of the Storybook Wolves
Author: Lauren Child
Illustrator: Lauren Child
Herb's fears break into this book despite his mother knowing that storybook wolves are not dangerous. Explores the power of books. Interesting typography.
Intertextual references to Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs.
Story sack ideas: Wolf toy, Little Red Riding Hood book, typography exercise/game, design a better outfit for Little Wolf, pattern making exercise, cards of other things that could escape from books.
Book based game: reveal game or word bingo based on the little wolf standing in a ballgown, character building game or a track game to Herb's bed.
Little Mouse's Big Book Of Fears
Author: Emily Gravett
Illustrator: Emily Gravett
Humorous and interesting for looking at altered books, journals/scrapbooks and personal books.
The Iron Man
Author: Ted Hughes
The Iron Man sees the world very differently; tractors are food not tools for farming. Poetic language and great suspense.
FArTHER
Author: Grahame Baker-Smith
Illustrator: Grahame Baker-Smith
Breathtaking; a mixture of sadness and hope. The different ways the father and son choose to work are conspicuous.
The Paper Bag Princess
Author: Robert Munsch
Illustrator: Michael Martchenko
Would be marvelous for drama activities - conscience alley and discussing feelings. Suited to looking at comic story conventions.
The Tunnel
Author: Anthony Browne
Illustrator: Anthony Browne
Complex and question provoking. A brother and sister find they really do care for each other.
Your a Bad Man Mr Gum!
Author: Andy Stanton
Illustrator: David Tazzyman
Funny and disgusting.
Interesting to look at the character Mrs Lovely, especially her optimism and descriptions of her.
Friday 23 September 2011
I'd Like To Be A Teabag
Poet: Peter Dixon
"I'd like to be a teabag,
And stay at home all day..." p. 94
Makes me smile. Link to a tea topic.
Attack of the Mutant Mangos: A Fruit Salad Ballad of Baddies
Poet: Andrew Fusek Peters
"They are totally bananas
They hang out in a bunch..." p. 77
A glorious poem with word play and fantastic descriptions of characteristics. Good link to a maths project on fruit salads.
The Sandwich
Poet: Tony Mitton
"I think I'll make a sandwich
I'd better start with bread..." p. 46
Funny and satisfying. The result of the long list is a revolting concoction.
Useful for looking at healthy eating, games which involve remembering, personal preferences and differences.
Saturday 20 August 2011
Varmints
Author: Helen Ward
Illustrator: Marc Craste
Deep and dark.
Potential link into bees - maybe a trip to Buzzworks.
Story sack ideas: a non fiction book about the environment or bees, a birdsong CD, an activity based around things we would miss
The Sad Story of Veronica Who Played the Violin
Author: David McKee
Illustrator: David McKee
Quirky and tragic.
Story sack ideas: a picture of a lion, a violin, a CD of sad and happy classical music, a non-fiction book about the jungle, sound cancelling ear phones, resources from the RNID
The Gruffalo
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
A rather surprising ending for a children's book - lying works out well for the little mouse.
Story sack ideas: a Gruffalo toy, a mouse toy, a picture of a Gruffalo, a non-fiction book about food, a story map of the forest, a matching grid game with words, a story CD or video.
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Great for looking at conventions of stories and books. Fantastic typography.
Friday 19 August 2011
Susan Laughs
Author: Jeanne Willis
Illustrator: Tony Ross
Looking at how we are all similar and have similar experiences despite obvious differences. Encouraging empathy.
Story sack ideas: a puppet, a video from a disability website.
The Good Mood Hunt
Author: Hiawyn Oram
Illustrator: Joanne Partis
Exploring what we can do to cheer ourselves up, being proactive and the counter intuitiveness of our moods. Useful to look at verbalising and acknowledging how we feel.
Story sack ideas: a box of stuff, pictures of people in different moods, a girl puppet.
Potential for a 'Big Game' book based game. Possible words for the dice - lost gloves, lost toffees, lost money, old bones, old hairbrush, missing dinosaurs, sleeping centipedes. Requires a box and toys to match the dice.
Something Else
Author: Kathryn Cave
Illustrator: Chris Riddell
Exploring and helping dispel the myth that there is a large group of normal people and a few outlying people who are different from everyone, including each other.
Story sack ideas: a mirror, a game based on finding similarities
Mister Magnolia
Author: Quentin Blake
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Story sack ideas: one boot, two odd boots, a trumpet, a non-fiction music book, a rhyme matching game.
Thursday 18 August 2011
The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Witty and menacing yet disconcertingly plausible. Brings into question the motivation of the press.
Story sack ideas: toys of pictures for the wolf and the pigs, a non-fiction book about pigs or wolves, a newspaper.
Mr Gumpy's Outing
Author: John Burningham
Illustrator: John Burningham
The most beautiful pictures in any book. The story follows the inevitable conclusions of many animals in a river boat.
Story sack ideas: A figure of Mr Gumpy, toys or pictures for the various animals, a non fiction book on rivers, a tea set.
The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Dave McKean
Complex and glorious.
Story sack ideas: a swapping game, Would you rather...? questions, a map.
Gullstruck Island
Author: Frances Hardinge
Fantastic and thought provoking ideas on the supposed differences between religion, rituals and superstitions.
Northern Lights
Author: Philip Pullman
Interesting comments on the Church and religion. The opportunity to discuss and consider souls through the daemons and Iorek's armour.
The Wee Free Men
Author: Terry Pratchett
Subverting the features of fairy tales and the accepted notions of childhood in a humorous and typically brilliant Pratchett style.
Grandfather's Pencil and the Room of Stories
Author: Michael Foreman
Illustrator: Michael Foreman
The narrative is taken over by the pencil, the paper and wooden objects. Exploring changes through life and to places.
Story sack ideas: a yellow pencil, writing paper, wooden artifacts, a war photo, spot the difference game - old and new photos of London, London non-fiction book, a non-fiction book about the war or sailing.
All Join In
Poet: Quentin Blake
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
A lively, fun book for whole class noise making.
The Rabbit Problem
Author: Emily Gravett
Illustrator: Emily Gravett
Follows the format of a calendar and a family of rabbits. Their field quickly becomes overcrowded and signs in the book follow the Fibonacci sequence of the breeding rabbits.
Thursday 28 July 2011
Rainbow Bird
Author: Eric Maddern
Illustrator: Adrienne Kennaway
Useful for looking at truth in fiction books.
The Lost Happy Endings
Author: Carol Ann Duffy
Illustrator: Jane Ray
Useful for asking the class to predict what Jub wrote. Could provide them with gold pens.
One Is a Snail Ten Is a crab
Authors: April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre
Illustrator: Randy Cecil
Useful for display ideas and mixing numeracy and literacy.
Would be useful to get snail, dog, insect, spider, and crab toys so children can count the legs.
Look What I've Got!
Author: Anthony Browne
Illustrator: Anthony Browne
Why does Jeremy keep boasting? Why does Sam still help him?
Tuesday 26 July 2011
The Jolly Postman
Authors: Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Illustrators: Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Used by Rowcroft, Pearson and Robinson in Writing with Reason.
Monday 18 July 2011
The Real Princess A Mathemagical Tale
Author: Brenda Williams
Illustrator: Sophie Fatus
Good for putting numbers in context. Requires subtraction and remembering numbers. Playing with the fairy tale.
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Not Now, Bernard
Author: David Mckee
Illustrator: David Mckee
Great to think about why Bernard's parents are ignoring him and how he usually behaves.
One for P4C.
Monday 20 June 2011
Off the Road
Author: Nina Bawden
A real gem of a book with echoes of A Brave New World. Explores family, growing old and who can be trusted.
Thursday 16 June 2011
Winnie the Witch
Winnie the Witch, Winnie Flies Again and Winnie in Winter
Author: Valerie Thomas
Illustrator: Korky Paul
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Slow Loris
Author: Alexis Deacon
Illustrator: Alexis Deacon
A glorious book depicting the danger of making assumptions. Moody illustrations match Slow Loris perfectly.
Tuesday 14 June 2011
A Silly Thing To Do
Poet: Peter Dixon
A Silly Thing to Do, p. 56, is a great poem for looking at gravity. Dinosaurs, p. 38 is also great for looking at myths. A Walk with Daniel, p. 22, looks at shadows.
Monday 13 June 2011
How To Live Forever
Author: Colin Thompson
Illustrator: Colin Thompson
A detailed picturebook with word play and loads of intertextual references.
Sunday 12 June 2011
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