Pat Hutchins
Red Fox
Age 0-5

Rosie the hen sets off for a walk around the farmyard, closely followed by an accident-prone fox. Rosie seems  unconcerned and we are left to wonder if she knows the danger she’s in or is cleverly leading the fox into trouble. Rosie’s Walk is a perfect book to help young readers learn to read. The distinctive illustrations help children to predict what happens next in the story. 

Share the story

Picture talk
Spend time looking and talking about the cover and the illustration on the title page, asking “What do you think the fox is thinking?” or saying, “I wonder where the hen is going”. This double page is a picturemap of the farmyard, showing all the places Rosie walks to in the story. You can talk together about the farm, naming the different landmarks.

Read aloud
Read the story aloud, talking together about the pictures as you do. Encourage children to guess what’s going to happen next. Turn the page to see if their predictions were right. Talking about the book deepens children’s enjoyment and understanding of the story.

Join in
Read the story again and leave spaces for children to join in with the story. They can add their own responses to the dramatic events.

Tell the story
After hearing the story a few times, children will get to know it well. Encourage them tell it to you in their own words, with some words or phrases from the story, using the pictures to help them.

Things to make and do

Storyplay
Children can use animal toys for the fox and hen to act out the story. It’s a really good way for them to get to know the story well and helps to build their confidence with books.

Make a map
On a large sheet of paper, using pencils or pens in similar colours to the book, children can draw the farmyard as a storymap. They can look at the pictures in the book to help them but not copy them. Using small toys as Rosie and the fox, children can tell the story in their own words. To begin, you could start moving the hen around the farmyard and telling Rosie’s story, with children moving the fox toy to tell the fox’s story.

Act it out
Use boxes, cushions and blankets and any other suitable props to create the world of the farmyard to go on a walk, going across, around, over, past, through, and under. Children can tell the story as they go on their journey. They might like to make up their own story about going for a walk in a different place, such as a forest or a house.

Make a flap book
Using paper or card, make a flap-book to show favourite parts of the story and the unwelcome surprises for the fox.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAdviuJ4H20

Find out More

Read more books  by author/illustrator Pat Hutchins

Where is Rosie’s Chick

Titch* 

You’ll Soon Grow into Them, Titch

Good Night, Owl

The Wind Blew 

Don’t Forget the Bacon!

One-Eyed Jake

The Very Worst Monster

The Doorbell Rang

* See lovemybooks ideas for this book

Children who become familiar with particular books can begin to take on the tunes, patterns and meanings of the book – even as they are learning to talk…

Three year old Cassie reads Little Rabbit Foo – singing the chorus and engaging delightfully with the book.

Dianne Hofmeyr, illus. Jesse Hodgson
Otter-Barry Books
Age 5-7

During a visit to an art gallery Tom is fascinated by a painting of a tiger which seems to be watching him. When he gets home, he draws his own tiger picture. That night he dreams the tiger steps out of the picture and takes him on a night-time adventure. Together they travel through jungles, underwater and to icy caves meeting all sorts of animals on the way. Tom is a bit hesitant about these unfamiliar situations but with the tiger’s encouragement confronts his fears and enjoys the experience. So much so that by the end of the book he feels as brave as – a tiger! Perhaps he actually IS a tiger!

Inspired by the famous tiger painting by Henri Rousseau this is an appealing story about overcoming fears. The story is very well written with lovely description and a pleasing pattern and the illustrations are beautiful, making it a great picture book to share.

Share the story

Read aloud

Before you start reading the story aloud talk about the cover and end papers together and what might happen in the story. When you read this aloud to your child it might be fun to whisper the night-time scenes. Spot the animals mentioned together in the illustrations as they appear.

Join in

Children can join in with the repeated ‘I’m a little bit scared of….’  Or alternatively they could be the tiger saying: ‘Tigers aren’t scared of….’ 

They could purr or yawn with the tiger.

Talk about the story

• Which adventure would your child most like to join in with? Which sounds the most scary?

• Which illustration do you both like best?

• Talk about how the little boy changes during the story.

• Share what you are both a little bit scared of. This is a good opportunity to dispel unnecessary fears and also show everyone feels a bit scared sometimes.

Things to make and do

Draw a tiger
Give your child a large piece of paper and crayons or paints to draw or paint a big tiger. They could look back at the illustrations in the book and re read the description – big pointy teeth, a swishy tail and green jewel eyes.

Move like a tiger
Clear a space on the floor and you could both pretend to be tigers, prowling and stretching, yawning and roaring. Maybe even playing tiger hide and seek!

Make a story setting
Create a small world play environment representing the jungle scene or another scene from the story in a large tray. You could use real or plastic plants, soil, rocks and small stones. Add model tigers and other animals found in the story plus a small human figure to represent the child. Your child can then play with the figures and tell their own version of part of the story.

Write another scene for the story
Where else might the tiger take the little boy on another night-time adventure? Talk together about possibilities eg to a desert, up a mountain or to the seaside. Give your child a piece of A4 paper or card folded in half they could open it out, draw their imaginary scene and write about what happens.

Find out more

Find out more about the painting which inspired the story
Read the information at the back of the book. Find out more here.
If near London you might be able to visit the National Gallery where this painting can be found.

Read more books by Dianne Hofmeyr
See here  titles include:

The Glassmaker’s Daughter with Jane Ray 

Zeraffa Giraffa illustrated by Jane Ray

My Daddy is a Silly Monkey illustrated by Carol Thompson.

Find out about Tigers (including snow tigers) 

• Use the internet or information books. 

• This video is a useful introduction

• Talk about what your child already knows and what they would like to find out. This might be about where tigers live, how big they are, what they eat or how many young cubs they have. If you can, visit a zoo or wildlife park that keeps tigers.

Endangered tigers
Tigers are endangered animals, find out here and here about tiger conservation, and ways your child can help protect them, such as adopting a tiger.

Nadia Shireen
Jonathan Cape
Age 3-5

Billy and Fatcat are walking through the forest greeting the animals they pass. On their way back however, they find the forest animals have disappeared and then suddenly Billy and Fatcat are captured. Billy is completely unphased by this however; when confronted by a very scary terrible beast planning to make the forest animals into his supper, she works hard to outwit him. Luckily, she has lots of useful supplies which she surprisingly stores in her plentiful curly hair!

This story is great fun with a quirky and resourceful heroine who thwarts a scary monster. Her side kick Fatcat is very appealing too. The illustrations are bold,  bright and appealing.

See the author introduce the book

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud to your child pausing to talk about what is happening in the story and pictures when your child wants to.

Talk about the story

• Share favourite pages and talk about them. You can start this off by saying … ‘I like this page because….’

• Look to see if you can spot the terrible beast lurking ready to pounce in the first double page spread.

• Talk about the ways Billy tricked the beast.

• What sort of things would you store in your hair if you were Billy?

• What would your child like to say to the beast or to Billy if they met them?

Join in
As they become familiar with the story children will enjoy joining in with the parts, perhaps the sound effects eg the ‘terrible rumbles, and the ‘stomp crunch and splash,’ and greetings to the animals in the forest.

Things to make and do

Play the story- go for a walk like Billy
Go for a walk in the woods or a park, making some of the sounds and movements from the story as you go – stomping on hard ground, crunching through leaves, splashing in puddles and jumping over logs. Watch out for the terrible beast!

Play the story – make a mini forest setting
When you visit a park or woodland collect bark, fir cones, acorns, fallen leaves and twigs etc. At home set up a small world forest in a large tray or box. Add soil, pebbles and rocks, plants and the things you collected in the woods. Put in toy woodland animals, as in the story, a figure to be Billy and perhaps a larger toy for the beast.  (or if you are feeling creative you could make your own terrible beast together from junk and fabric!) Act out the story together, children might like to make up their versions and create different stories too.

Make terrible soup
Make a ‘terrible soup’ for the beast with your child. Have edible ingredients available. Your child can help you choose what to include and you can have fun together imagining the ingredients are something stranger eg perhaps sliced mushrooms might be mouse ears, chopped turnip – sharks teeth, green lentils – snake scales and so on . Mix all the ingredients together with a vegetable stock and cook slowly until the vegetables are soft. Enjoy eating you’re your terrible soup!

Write a recipe
Together you could write your recipe for terrible soup for the beast.  Some children may be able to have a go at writing for themselves or drawing the ingredients, or you could scribe their ideas for them.

Make a terrifying mask
Children could have fun making scary masks for themselves or their soft toys – just like Billy does for the rabbits in the story. You could use small paper plates; your child could help design the features and you could cut out the eyes for them. Tie the mask onto toys with wool or thread or attach to a lolly stick handle for your child to hold.

Find out more

Find out more about author/illustrator Nadia Shireen

Read more books by Nadia Shireen
Titles include The Bumblebear, Good Little Wolf and Hey Presto

Be a wild life spotter
When you go for a walk through a wood or to a park look for small animals and creatures. Although it may be unlikely to see small mammals, you might see evidence of them, for example rabbit or foxes’ holes, rabbit droppings, acorns or fir cones with gnaw marks on them. You may be lucky to see a squirrel, birds, snails and other mini beasts.  Talk about what you spot together.

Find out more about woodland animals, their habitats and what they eat
Using weblinks or information books find out more about animals living in our woodlands, their habitats and what they eat. Find out more

Talk about the importance of taking care of animals’ habitats. children might be interested to learn that hedgehogs are declining in numbers.

Find out more here and here

Lynley Dodd
Puffin Books
Age 0-5

First published in 1983, this is a well-loved picturebook now being shared with a second generation of children.

Hairy Maclary goes for a walk and in no time at all lots of other dogs join in until a very scary cat makes them turn tail and run home.

The infectious rhyme, rhythm and cumulative text make this story great to read aloud to even the youngest of children.

Watch an animation

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud to your child emphasising the rhythm, perhaps bouncing very young children on your knee a little as you read. You could read the second half of the book at a faster pace as the dogs hurry home.

Join in
Once your child becomes familiar with the story you could encourage them to join in with the list of dogs, and have fun saying their names together.

Talk about the book
Speculate about where all the dogs might be going
Talk about Scarface Claw and how the dogs react to him
Talk about your favourite dogs in the story
Talk about which one is the hairiest, biggest, smallest or spottiest

Things to make and do

Be a dog spotter
Talk about different dogs when you go for a walk and whether any remind you of Hairy Maclary and his friends.

Make a book
Make a zig zag book for your child and encourage them to draw one of the dogs from the story on each page. You could help with scribing the names.  

Play a describing game
Take turns playing ‘I’m thinking of a dog that is…..’ then describe the dog so your partner can guess which of the dogs in the story you are thinking about eg I’m thinking of a dog that is not very hairy, mainly white and very spotty? Which dog is it?’ Yes it’s Bottomley Potts, covered in spots!

Find out More

Read more books about Hairy Maclary and his friends and meet new characters such as Slinki Malinki. Here is the full set Hairy Maclary and Friends (penguin.co.uk). Many will be at your local library waiting to be discovered.

Find out about different breeds of dog Pocket Eyewitness Dogs | DK UK

Find out how to draw a sausage dog Rob Biddulph draws a sausage dog – CBBC – BBC

Read another book about dogs
100 Dogs by Michael Waite
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
Oh No George! by Chris Haughton

Here’s a complete list of all our book activity pages – click on the link and it will take you to the activity page

Aaaarrgghh Spider Lydia Monks  V

The Acorn Edward Gibbs                                                                                                                                  

Alfie Gets in first Shirley Hughes  V      

Almost Anything  Sophy Henn                

The Animal Boogie Debbie Harter  V        

The Astounding Broccoli Boy Frank Cottrell Boyce, illus. Steve Lenton  AB 

Avocado Baby John Burningham       

The Bad Bunnies Magic Show Mini Grey

Bear Shaped Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden   V

Beatle Boy  MG Leonard  V  AB             

Beegu  Alexis Deacon             

Betty goes Bananas  Steve Antony  V          

The BFG Roald Dahl                 

Billy and the Beast Nadia Shireen  V           

Billy’s Bucket  Kes Gray, llus Garry Parsons  V

Biscuit Bear Mini Grey  V                 

A Bit Lost Chris Haughton   V        

Black Cat White Cat Silvia Borando            

Blue Chameleon Emily Gravett             

Boot: Small Robot Big Adventure Shane Hegarty   AB         

The Boy who Climbed into the Moon David Almond             

Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?   Bill Martin Jnr, illus Eric Carle

Buckle and Squash and the Monstrous Moat Dragon Sarah Courtauld

Burglar Bill  Allan Ahlberg, illus  Janet Ahlberg  V

Charlotte’s Web EB White  AB                

The Chinese Emperor New Clothes  Ying Yang Competine, illus David Roberts  V

Chocolate cake Michael Rosen, illus Kevin Waldron  V

The Christmas Eve Tree Delia Huddy,  illus Emily Sutton  

Cinderella of the Nile Beverley Naidoo  V

Clean up!  Nathan Bryon, illus. Dapo Adeola

Clever Polly & the Stupid Wolf  Catherine Storr            

The Crocodile who didn’t like water Gemma Merino   V     

The Darkest Dark Chris Hadfield, illus The Fan Brothers  V

The Dawn Chorus Suzanne Barton

Dear Dinosaur Chae Strathie, Nicola O’Byrne

Dear Zoo Rod Campbell             

Dig dig digging Margaret Mayo, illus Alex Ayliffe  V

Diggersaurs Michael Whaite  V         

Dinosaur chase Benedict Blathwayt    

Dinosaur roar Paul Strickland, illus Henrietta Strickland

Dinosaurs and all that rubbish  Michael Foreman  V     

Do not enter the monster zoo Amy Sparkes, illus Sara Ogilvie

A Dog So Small Philippa Pearce   V        

Dogger Shirley Hughes           

Down by the station Jess Stockham

The Drum  Ken Wilson Max, illus Catell Ronca

Dylan’s amazing dinosaurs EJ Harper, illus Dan Taylor

Each Peach Pear Plum  Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg

The Elephants umbrella Laleh Jaffari,  illus Ali Khodai

Eliot Midnight Superhero Anne Cottringer, illus Alex T Smith

Elmer David McKee

Eloise Undercover Sarah Baker             

The Everywhere Bear Julia Donaldson, illus Rebecca Cobb

The Explorer  Katherine Rundell       

Everybody’s Welcome Patricia Hegarty, illus Greg Abbott

Farmer Duck Martin Waddell, illus Helen Oxenbury

Five little men in a flying saucer Dan Crisp                   

Five Minutes Peace Jill Murphy                 

Flora and Ulysses, the illuminated adventures Kate Camillo               

Fortunately the Milk Neil Gaiman, illus Chris Riddell

Gerald the lion Jessica Souhami          

The Ghost train Allan Ahlberg, illus Andre Amstutz

The Gigantic Turnip Alexsei Tolstoy, illus Naimh Sharkey

The Girl and the dinosaur Hollie Hughes, illus Sarah Massini

Goodbye Grandma Melanie Walsh           

Goodnight Spaceman Michelle Robinson, illus Nick East

Grace and Family  Mary Hoffman, illus Caroline Binch

Granpa John Burningham       

A Great Big Cuddle Michael Rosen, illus Chris Riddell

Grobblechops Elizabeth Laird, illlus Jenny Lucander

The Gruffalo  Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler

Grumpy Frog  Ed Vere                      

The Hairy toe Daniel Postgate

Handas surprise Eileen Browne            

Harry and the bucket of dinosaurs Ian WhyBrow, illus Adrian Reynolds

Here come the aliens Colin McNaughton   

The Highwayman Alfred Noyes   

The Highway Rat  Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler

Honey biscuits  Meredith Hooper, illus Alison Bartlett

Hooray for Fish Lucy Cousins

Hooray for Bread  Allan Ahlberg, illus  Brice Ingman

Hortense and the Shadows O’Hara Sisters             

How to hide a lion Helen Stephens          

I am Absolutely TOO Small for school Lauren Child               

I am Henry Finch Alexis Deacon             

I Love you Blue Kangaroo Emily Gravett             

I want to be in a scary story Sean Taylor                

I was made for you David Lucas                

If I had a dinosaur Gabby Dawnay, illus Alex Barrow

If you meet a dinosaur Paul Bright, illus Hannah George

In the dark dark wood Jessica Souhami          

The Iron Man Ted Hughes                

Jolly Christmas Postman Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg

The Journey Home Frann Preston Gannon

Julian is a mermaid Jessica Lowe

The Jumblies Edward Lear              

Katie & the dinosaurs James Mayhew           

The King who Banned the Dark Emily Haworth Booth

Kipper’s Birthday Mick Inkpen               

Knuffle Bunny Mo Willem                 

The Last Wolf Mini Grey  

The Lion Inside Rachel Bright   

Little Bad Man and the Killer Aunties Humza Arshad and Henry White,  Illus Aleksei Bitskoff

Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears Emily Gravett  

Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion Alex T Smith   

LIttle Rabbit Foo Foo Michael Rosen, Arthur Robins (illus)               

Look Up! Nathan Bryon, illus Dapo Adeola

Lost and Found Oliver Jeffers              

Lullabyhullababboo Mick Inkpen               

Lulu gets a cat Anna McQuinn, illus Rosalind Beardshaw

The Lumberjack’s beard  Duncan Beedie           

Luna Loves library day Joseph Coelho, illus Fiona Lumbers

Lunchtime Rebecca Cobb  

Macavity T S Eliot           

Man on the Moon, a Day in the life of Bob  Simon Bartram           

Mango and Bambang, The Not-a-Pig  Polly Faber, illlus Clara Vulliamy

The Marvellous Moon Map Teresa Heapy, illus David Litchfield

Matisse’s Magical Trail Tim Hopgood, illus Sam Boughton

Max the Brave Ed Vere                      

Meet the Parents Peter Bently, illus Sara Ogilvie

Meg and Mog Helen Nicholl ,illus Jan Pienkwski

Mister Magnolia Quentin Blake            

Mog the Forgetful Cat Judith Kerr                 

Monkey and Me Emily Gravett             

Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory Elys Dolan                  

Mr Gumpy’s Outing John Burningham       

Mrs Noah’s pockets Jackie Morris, illus James Mayhew

My Brother is a Superhero David Solomons

My Dad Anthony Browne        

My Green Day Melanie Walsh           

My Sister is an alien Rachel Bright              

Naughty Bus Jan and Jerry Oke       

A New House for Mouse Petr Horacek              

The New Neighbours Sarah McIntyre           

The New Small Person Lauren Child               

The Night Pirates Peter Harris, illus Deborah Allwright

Nimesh the Adventurer Ranjit Singh, illus Mehrdokht Amini

No Dinner Jessica Souhami          

Not Now Bernard David McKee              

The Odd Egg Emily Gravett             

Oh No George! Chris Haughton           

Oi! Get off our train John Burningham       

Oliver’s Vegetables Vivian French, illus  Alison Bartlett

On Sudden Hill Linda Sarah, illus Benji Davies

On the Moon Anna Milbourne, illus Benji Davies

Once upon a star  James Carter, illus Mar Hernandez

One dog and his boy Eva Ibbotson              

Orange Pear Apple Bear  Emily Gravett             

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat Chris Riddell               

The Outlaw Varjak Paw SF Said                       

The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear               

Pandora  Victoria Turnbull         

The Paper Dolls  Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler

Pattan’s pumpkin  Chitra Soundar, illus Frane Lessac

Peace at Last  Jill Murphy                 

Peck Peck Peck Lucy Cousins 

Phoenix S F Said              

Please Mr Magic Fish Jessica Souhami          

Please Mr Panda Steve Antony              

Pom Pom is Super Sophy Henn                

Pugs of the Frozen North  Philip Reeve, illus Sarah McIntyre

Pumpkin Soup Helen Cooper             

Q Pootle 5 Nick Butterworth        

Quill Soup Alan Durant                

Rama & the Demon King Jessica Souhami          

Red Car Red Bus  Susan Stegall              

Robin’s Winter Song  Suzanne Barton          

Rocketmole  Matt Carr                   

Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson, Illus Axel Scheffler

Rosie’s Walk Pat Hutchins               

The Secret Sky Garden Linda Sarah  

Secret of the Tattered Shoes, Jackie Morris, illus. Ehsan Abdollahi

Shark in the park Nick Sharrat               

Shh we have a plan Chris Haughton           

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam Tracey Corderoy, illus Steven Lenton

Silly Suzy Goose Petr Horacek              

The Snail and the Whale  Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler

Snow  Sam Usher                 

The Snowbear Sean Taylor                

So Much Trisha Cooke, illus Helen Oxenbury

The Something Rebecca Cobb             

Sophie and the new Baby Catherine & Laurence Anholt

Space Dog Mini Grey                   

Space Tortoise  Ross Montgomery, illlus David Litchfield

Stanley’s Stick  John Hegley, illus Neal Layton

Steven Seagull Action Hero Elys Dolan                  

Stomp Chomp Big Roars! Here come the Dinosaurs Margaret Mayo, illus Alex Ayliffe

Stomp Dinosaur Stomp Kate Umansky, illus Nick Sharratt

The Storm Whale Benji Davies               

A Story about Afiya James Berry, illus Anna Cunha                                                                                                                                                               

Sunk! Rob Biddulph             

Superbat Matt Carr                   

Tad Benji Davies               

The Tale of Angelino Brown David Almond             

10 things I can do to help my world Melanie Walsh 

Tilly and the Time Machine Ade Edmondson, illustrated by Danny Noble    

That rabbit belongs to Emily Brown Cressida Cowell          

There’s a rang tan in my bedroom  James Sellick, illus Frann Preston-Gannon

This is Our House Michael Rosen, illus Bob Graham

Tidy Emily Gravett             

Tiger Walk Dianne Hofmeyr, illus Jesse Hodgson

The Tiger who came to Tea Judith Kerr                 

The Tin Forest  Helen Ward, illus Wayne Anderson

Titch  Pat Hutchins     

Tomorrow Nadine Kaadan          

Tom’s Sausage Lion Michael Morpurgo      

Toys in space  Mini Grey                   

Traction man  is here!  Mini Grey                   

Train  Judi Abott                  

The Train Ride June Crebbin, illus Stephen Lambert

Tyrranosaurus Drip Julia Donaldson          

Uncle Gobb and the Dread shed Michael Rosen, illus Neal Layton

Varjak Paw  SF Said                       

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle                    

The Way Back Home Oliver Jeffers   

The Weed Quentin Blake           

We’re going on a Bearhunt Michael Rosen, illus Helen Oxenbury

What the Ladybird Heard Julia Donaldson, illus Lydia Monks

Whatever Next Jill Murphy                 

The Wheels on the Bus Annie Kubler

Where my feet go Birgitta Sif                  

Where the Wild Things Are  Maurice Sendak          

Where’s my Teddy? Jez Alborough             

Where’s Spot? Eric Hill                      

Window Jeannie Baker             

The Wooden camel Wanuri Kahiu, illus Manuela Adreani

You’re safe with me Chitra Soundar           

John Hegley, Neal Layton (illus)
Hodder Children’s Books  
Age 3-7

This enjoyable picture book has a simple message: ‘fantastick’ fun can be had with a  stick found in the woods or on the beach. With a little imagination a stick can become a dinosaur, trumpet, fishing rod or rocket. This is an idea which will inspire children’s own imaginative play. Exploring this book is also an opportunity for children to find out more about the natural environment and trees in particular. 

Share the story

Read aloud
As you read the story aloud pause to talk about the illustrations and what’s happening; for example think together about where Stanley and his family might be going in the first double page picture or how he feels when he is ‘stickless’. Children will notice other things they want to discuss as well.

Talk more about the story
See if you can remember all the ways Stanley plays with his stick, talk about this together and look through the book to see if you have remembered them all. Which of Stanley’s ideas does your child like best?

Tell the story
After hearing the story a few times, children will get to know it well, especially with the repetition. Encourage them tell it to you in their own words, perhaps using some words or phrases from the story, turning the pages, lifting the flaps and using the pictures to help them.

Lauren writes about fun with Stanley's Stick...

Fun with Stanley’s Stick! Lauren, a parent writes for us

We had a lot of fun sharing Stanley's Stick. Dylan took on the role of Stanley very quickly, first when we were reading the story and then in his play.  On finishing the book he immediately wanted to make a fishing rod and began 'fishing' off the bench in the garden. He is very imaginative. The following weekend we re-read the book and went for a walk in some local woods. He enjoyed looking for and choosing sticks and turned them into swords, light sabres and strong magnets that could 'pull people up the hills in the woods'. We also spent some time looking for fairy houses, balancing on logs and throwing sticks into the 'sea' of bluebells. We inevitably had to bring home a 'small' collection for the garden and no doubt they will take on other lives.

I asked Dylan why he likes the book and he said "because the stick can be anything you want it to be like Stanley did". I love the fact that it captures what children do so naturally when they have a chance to just play with simple things and gave us a good reason to get out in the woods -free fun!

Things to make and do

Draw a picture
Give your child a large piece of paper to draw pictures of Stanley playing with his stick in different ways.

Play the story
See if you can find a stick or sticks like Stanley’s in the park or woods so your child can experiment with some of the ideas in the book or invent some more ways to play with sticks themselves.

Make a photo album
Take photos of your child playing with their stick. You could print the pictures and stick them into a small note book or fold and staple some sheets of paper together – or even sew them down the centre. Your child could tell you about the pictures and you could use what they say to make captions like a photo album. Children will enjoy looking at it and reading it themselves.

Sing a song

Sing songs or rhymes about sticks. You will need two rhythm sticks or two wooden spoons.

Click here for a rhythm stick song you can watch or join in with.

Click here for the words of ‘Tap your Sticks’ sung to the tune of Frere Jacques

Click here for more stick songs

Find out more

Go on a nature walk

Go on a trip together to a wood or park and look at the trees.

Talk about them together; what do children notice?
Draw trees, you could sketch together in the park or woods or at home with crayons or charcoal
Make rubbings of bark using thin paper and thick crayons.

You could press the leaves by placing in tissue in a heavy book
Collect leaves or seeds and make a display – can you find out which tree they come from? Click here for help identifying trees from their leaves.

Find out how to plant a tree here

Click here for more ideas for play with natural objects:

Buy here

Mini Grey
Jonathan Cape
Age 5-7

In a clever twist on the well-known fairy story Little Red sets off to catch a wolf. Her mum isn’t too worried about this plan as wolves disappeared long ago. Hunting for wolves isn’t so easy though and as Little Red goes deeper into the wood it becomes shadowy and quite scary.  Finding a welcoming door she is surprised to actually meet a wolf and also a bear and a lynx. They are friendly but rather hungry with only acorns to eat. They tell her about the good old days when the forest was much bigger and food was plentiful. Little Red shares her packed lunch with them and they help her get home safely. But Little Red is determined to help them and decides more trees are what they need. Mum helps her to plant some, but sadly they will take a very long time to grow.

There is lots to talk about in this ecological story, both about the impact of the loss of woodland habitats on wildlife and in the detailed, often amusing and sometimes quite moving illustrations.

Mini Grey speaks about The Last Wolf

Mini Grey talks about raising awareness and making things happen with picturebooks:

'When I began The Last Wolf, I was vaguely thinking about Red Riding Hood and wondered: what if, instead of taking that basket of goodies to Granny, Red is in the woods because she wants to catch a wolf? But could she actually find one? In England, wolves were probably extinct by 1600, and in Scotland by 1680. But the great thing about making picture books is that you can make anything you want happen…so I thought – What if there was ONE wolf left, the Last Wolf? And what if he was living quietly in a tree? And what if he wasn’t alone? What if in the tree were the Last Lynx and the Last Bear too? They’re all animals we USED to have in Britain but are long extinct now. In the UK we have lost just about all of our larger wild animals. Beavers, otters, pine martins, lynxes, wolves, bears – all driven to extinction or near extinction. I wanted the Last Wolf to have a feeling of what’s been lost, but also that it can come back if we make more habitat, and if we are more wildlife-tolerant; otters and beavers are now returning.

 

Trees are fantastic habitats because they are so multi-layered, and we can have them in our gardens, towns and cities. More trees please! Also, Fairy Tales really owe wolves a favour – Fairy Tales I think are extremely responsible for making the wolf into a monster! Loss of woodland and impact on native species A few years ago an announcement came out in the news. According to the WWF Living Planet report, since the 1970s more than half of the wild vertebrate animals on Earth had quietly disappeared. Half of our animals are missing! – how could we have been so careless? And those were the big, visible animals. In a more recent study from Germany, 75% of flying insects - the insects on which everything else depends - were found to have vanished in 25 years. Things are quietly disappearing – why are they disappearing? Underneath the major driving factor is habitat loss. If we protect habitats and make more, we can make it easier for all our wildlife. 

 

But the utterly brilliant thing is that increasing our nature by reforesting and rewilding is one of the most effective ways of reducing atmospheric CO2 – and helping us win the battle of climate change. Nature can be our climate-change crash mat if we defend, restore and re-establish forests, peat lands, mangroves, salt marshes, natural seabeds and other crucial ecosystems. The great thing about picture books is they often involve an adult and a child reading together – so the picture book message can be for everyone of all ages. A picture book might not change the world, but it can change your mind. Books are a fantastic delivery system for ideas, and every book you read will change your mind a bit.

 by Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane – has had an incredible impact. There is a feeling of enormous urgency developing about protecting our world, and with Greta Thunberg and the Kids Strike for Climate we can see that it doesn’t matter how young you are – you have a voice and you can call politicians and leaders to account and ask them hard questions about the Emperor’s New Climate. There are so many brilliant environmental picture books I think children and parents know nature is precious and needs protecting. So, it could be time to make a list of picture books every policy-maker should read….'

 

We’re delighted to have been sent these sketches and illustrations by Mini Grey, click on each to enlarge.

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book aloud pausing to talk about what is happening in the story or illustrations when your child wants to.

Join in
When you re read the story children can join in with parts eg Little Red saying ‘I’m off to catch a wolf’ and the punch lines in bold eg ‘bin bag’ ‘tree stump’ ‘last wolf in the land’

Talk about the story

• Other stories like this – children might mention Little Red Riding Hood or other stories with wolves in.

• Share favourite pages in the story

• Talk about the illustration of the endless miles of forest. What animals can you see? Your child can look for the wolf, lynx and bear and also a badger and woodpecker amongst others.

• Look through the illustration of the last woods. Talk together about what is different and what might have happened to the woods.

Things to make and do

Play the story
What would you need to go hunting to catch a wolf? Dress up as a hunter and try lurking, stalking and slithering through an imaginary forest. To be a hunter you have to be very quiet, creeping without being heard. You could make this into a game like ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’ with one of you as the last wolf.

Go for a woodland walk
Go for a walk in the woods or park if no woods are nearby. Look out for different trees, which are the oldest, youngest. Can you identify any from their leaves? See here

If it is Autumn you could look out for acorns or other seeds such as conkers. Stand very still, can you hear any birds?

Grow a tree

See here. If you look after it carefully and it starts to grow into a sapling you could think about where to plant it together.

Make a poster
Look at the wanted posters in the book at the beginning and end. Make your own wanted poster for more wolves, other animals or more trees. Children could cut out letters from a newspaper or magazine to make the words, arrange and stick them on a piece of paper and then draw their illustration.

Make a tree house for the Last Wolf

Mini Grey creator of The Last Wolf and Lovemybooks patron has created a lovely resource on her website with templates and instructions to make your own tree house for the LastWolf.

Find out more

Mini Grey writes about the background to this story here 

Read more stories by Mini Grey

See our activity pages for these titles:

Biscuit Bear

Traction Man is Here!

Space Dog

Toys in Space

The Bad Bunnies’ Magic Show

Find out about woodland animals here and here

Find out about disappearing woodland here.

Buy the book

Jessica Souhami
Otter-Barry Books
Age 3-5

Is Gerald a big, bold lion or a small, grey cat with a big imagination, or both?

Using bold, vibrant illustrations and large print, we follow Gerald on his search for adventure through the sometimes scary and noisy urban jungle beyond his front door. He encounters fierce animals and alien creatures, giants and dragons. But are they quite what they seem?

This story will ring true for young children who immerse themselves in different, more powerful, characters in their play. The extended joke will generate smiles of recognition and prompt children to share their experiences of the world outside their home.

Share the story

Read aloud

Read the story aloud, taking time to talk together about the pictures as you do. Encourage children to imagine what might happen next and turn the page to see if their predictions were right. Talking about the book deepens children’s enjoyment and understanding of the story.

Things to talk about

• Take time to look and talk about the cover together. What do children notice? What kind of story might it be?

• As you share the book together, allow time for children to respond to the differences between what the text and pictures say.

• Talk together about anything they notice or wonder about the story, characters, illustrations or layout.

• After finishing the book, share favourite parts of the story, including favourite illustrations, and talk about why they like them.

• Talk about any connections with their own experience for example, characters they like to play, being scared or lost, what they see when going for a walk.

• What would they tell someone else about this book?

Things to make and do

Make a zig-zag book about a walk to the park, shops or school.

• Talk about the animals/people/vehicles they might see on the way.

• Children can draw each one on a new page and write a caption underneath. Together, write the sounds of each in bold lettering- in crayon if available.

• Read it through together as you go, and when it’s complete.

 Make a collage picture
Make a picture of a cat or a lion using different scrap materials such as paper, fabric, card. Look at the illustrations in the book and find more pictures/videos to help .

Act out the story
Using face-paint for whiskers children can act out the story as a bold lion and a little lost cat.

Find out more

Read about the author/illustrator Jessica Souhami

Read other books by the author/illustrator:

Please, Mr Magic Fish!

Rama and the Demon King

In the Dark, Dark Wood

Leopard’s Drum

King Pom

Foxy!

Sausages

Mother Caught a Fl

One Potato, Two Potato

The Sticky doll trap

The Little, Little House

Mrs McCool and the GIANT Cuchulainn

The Strongest Boy in the World