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Katie and the Dinosaurs

katie and the dinosaurs new coverJames Mayhew
Orchard Books
Age 5-7

Katie goes to visit the Natural History Museum with Grandma. Leaving Grandma and exploring on her own she finds a door which takes her to the land of the dinosaurs. There Katie befriends a Hadrosuarus and escapes attack from a scary Tyrannosuarus. This is an imaginative story with plenty to talk about in the story itself and in the detailed illustrations.


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Share the storygreen diinosaur flip

Read aloud
Read the first three pages and stop when Katie is imagining the dinosaurs alive. Suggest your child closes their eyes and imagines the dinosaurs are alive like Katie. What can they see?

Read on, pausing to talk about the story and pictures when your child wants to.

Join in
When you read the story again encourage your child to join in with parts of it, for example Katie’s conversations with Grandma and the Hadrosaurus and by ‘grunting’, ‘growling’ and ‘stamping’ like the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Talk about the story
You could talk about what Katie could see in the land of the dinosaurs.

Should Katie have opened a door marked ABSOLUTELY NO ADMITTANCE?

Katie saw dinosaurs that were ‘spiky, fishy, flying, horned,’ You could look together for examples of each of these in the book.

Tell the story 
Using the illustrations as a guide your child could tell you the story of Katie and the dinosaurs.

Watch the story read aloud


Things to make and do

Play the story
When they are on the slide at the park or a water chute at the swimming pool children could imagine they are sliding down a brontosaurus’ tail.

Children could have a picnic with their toy dinosaurs like Katie did, with sandwiches, biscuits and fruit.

Draw a picture – give your child a large piece of paper to draw a big crayon picture of the land of the dinosaurs. Encourage them to tell you about their picture.

Write your own story
What happened when Katie took her Grandma through the magic door?
Write your own Katie and the dinosaurs story about what happens next.
Click here for a special story sheet.

How much do you know?
Try the quiz at the back of the book. Your child could have a go at making up their own dinosaur questions.

 

Find out more

Read more Katie stories by James Mayhew here

Titles include:

Katie’s Picture Show

Katie meets the Impressionists

Katie and the Sunflowers

Katie in London

Katie in Scotland

Visit a dinosaur museum

If you live near London you might be able to visit the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaur collection.

If you can’t get to a dinosaur museum then have a look at the Natural History Museum website; there’s lots to do and discover.

Find out here about the top ten places to see dinosaurs in the UK.