The book introduces young children to ideas about valuing our world and sharing it with all living things. The main character, anxious to reach the stars, seems to represent mankind as a whole and what we are doing to the world in our ceaseless quest for power and technology. What would happen if all living things are destroyed in the process? Maybe, just maybe, below the Earth’s surface dinosaurs are waiting to reclaim the Earth! This is a story which will lead to lots of thinking and discussion.
Share the story
Read aloud Before starting to read the story aloud, look at the cover together, what do you see? What might happen in this story?
Read the first page and talk about the man and what he might be dreaming. Read the story aloud to your child pausing to talk about what is happening when they want to.
Your child will enjoy hearing the story read again, they will notice different things and want to talk about them
Talk about the book Talk about the book together and share what your child likes or doesn’t like and anything that puzzles them. Think together about the world belonging to everyone, to be enjoyed and cared for. What can we do to help look after it?
Things to make and do
Play the story
Using a sand pit or earth your child could bury toy dinosaurs (or card shapes of dinosaurs) so they are just peeking out and re enact the part of the story when the dinosaurs emerge from under the earth.
Another way to play the story
You will need a large tray, eg builders’ tray or sand or water tray, fill it with a layer of damp soil and some stones or rocks. Arrange a few items of clean recycling, eg small plastic bottles or cartons and lids then sprinkle fast growing seeds over the tray eg cress, grass, forget me nots or sweet peas. You could talk about what seeds need to grow and that some of the rubbish will decompose and some won’t. Children could retell parts of the story in the tray with toy dinosaurs if you have them or make up a new story.
Paint a picture
Give children a piece of paper and paints to make a colourful picture of the beautiful world at the end of the story with flowers, trees and lots of wonderful animals and birds.
Make a poster Using the poster template provided your child can make a poster about looking after our world.
Find out more
Read more books written and illustrated by Michael Foreman
The Littlest Dinosaur
Why the Animals Came to Town
Fortunately, Unfortunately
War and Peas
Seal Surfer
Mia’s Story
If you are able to get to a natural history museum with dinosaur exhibits look at the dinosaur bones and skeletons, talk about how big they were.
Find out some theories why dinosaurs became extinct here.
Sort out your household waste for recycling with your child – what materials are they made from? Talk about the importance of recycling.
Meet our wonderful lovemybooks patrons Michael Rosen, SF Said, David Almond, Mini Grey, Julian Grenier, Myra Barrs, Jessica Souhami, Marilyn Brocklehurst, Chris Riddell, Chitra Soundar, Joseph Coelho, Imogen Russell Williams, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Sonia Thompson
With lovemybooks you will find out about wonderful books to read with your child. You will find many creative activities based on each book to make reading even more enjoyable and interactive.
Michael Foreman
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