Sharing books with babies and toddlers by Mary Roche

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Reading aloud to babies and young children is amazingly beneficial, and if you have access to a library, it will cost nothing. Imagine you were told that you could improve your child’s thinking ability, vocabulary, oral language, literacy, interpersonal relationships, empathy, attachment, and have great fun at the same time, what would you do? I bet you would rush to sign up for such an amazing programme. Now imagine you were told that you can do it yourself and it’s free?

Listening to stories

As babies listen to a story, look at pictures and interact with the person reading, their deep brain networks are stimulated, and their cognitive development is optimised, according to Meghan Cox Gurdon (The Enchanted Hour, 2019). Because being read to is a warm and nurturing experience, empathy can be developed, and this, according to research, dramatically accelerates young children’s language acquisition and sets them on track to be ahead of their peers in school. As a former infant teacher, I can attest to this – the children who were read and spoken to, had language abilities that helped them in all kinds of developmental ways.

Being read aloud to and given the opportunity to chat about the book immerses us in words, visual images and in rhythms and cadences of speech that might not be available elsewhere. We hear new words – like enchanted and charming; ogre and dungeon; woodcutter and Gruffalo; spell and dragon.

Books
Lift the flap books provide endless fun. Little ones love looking for Spot. Over and over again – and then some more. Rhyming books are universally appealing. They introduce babies to a shared culture, and they are a wonderful form of shared connection. Picturebooks like ‘Peck Peck Peck’, ‘Hooray for Fish’ and ‘A Busy Day for Birds’, by Lucy Cousins, provide endless, interactive fun. Traditional stories can scare, reassure and provide endless sources of discussion. Is Jack a hero? Should Goldilocks be punished?  Why didn’t The Little Red Hen’s friends help her?

Your library
Your local library will be invaluable. Put out the word to godparents, aunties, uncles, and grandparents that book tokens make great presents. Then take the time to read – just ten minutes a day could change your child’s life.

Dr Mary Roche is an education consultant. Passionate about the importance of dialogical pedagogy, literacy and children’s books in education, she is frequently invited to be a keynote speaker in Ireland and the UK. A former education lecturer and classroom teacher, Mary is the author of ‘Developing Children’s Critical Thinking through Picturebooks’ (Routledge 2015). A bookworm, she is at her happiest when immersed in good children’s literature.

See our top ten books for babies first bookshelf

Julia Donaldson,  Alex Scheffler (illus)
Macmillan
Age 3-7

A very tiny snail seeking adventure sails around the world balanced on the tail of a huge, humpback whale. The story and pictures describe their travels past icebergs, volcanoes, islands and coral caves, until the whale loses its way and becomes beached on land. The tiny snail decides she needs to help. This is a story which suggests however small you are and however big the world is you can make a difference. There is lots to look at in the varied landscapes and the humour and rhyme make this a great book for reading aloud and re reading.

Share the story

Read aloud Before reading the story, encourage children to look at the cover, the back and front, and to talk about what they see. What do they think the story will be about? If the characters/animals were speaking, what might they be saying?

Join in As you read and reread the book, encourage children to join in with the reading, especially with the repeated patterns. If you pause before the rhyming word, children can guess the rhyme.

Talk  about the story Which pages did children like? Discuss and share favourites together. Where would children like to go if they were the snail?

How did the whale and the snail feel at different points in the story? Children might talk about being big, doing ‘big’ things or being and feeling small.

What do children know about snails and whales? See the links below in our ‘Find out More’ section.

Tell the story Using the pictures in the book to help them, children can turn the pages and tell the story in their own words.

Watch the Story

From Storyvision Studios UK 

Things to make and do

Make a model snail
Using the pictures in the book or  websites or by looking at real shells make a snail from modelling material. You could do this together and talk about the spiral shape.

Make a scene from the story

Use a large tray (a builder’s tray is ideal for this) or a sand and water tray to create a seascape for the snail’s adventures. You can add sand, gravel, twigs and rocks.Children can help you add water and arrange the scene.  Add a toy whale and your model snail. You can use your scene to retell all or part of the story together.

You could make icebergs with your child by putting water in different shaped containers in a freezer to add to the scene and talk about what happens when the ice melts. To make a homemade volcano see here. 

Write a speech bubble
What do snail and whale say to each other when they first meet? Have an imaginary conversation then children can write their own speech bubbles for snail and the whale.

Persuade the snail
Help snail to decide what to do. Should she go sailing with whale or stay with her friends? Look at the beginning section of the story where whale says, ”Come sail with me”.

Think together about 2 or 3 reasons why snail should go with whale, for example: Go because you’ll see the world and have adventures!

Then think of 2 or 3 reasons why her friends want snail to stay on the rock, for example: Don’t go we’ll miss you so!

What would children decide if they were snail?

Send a postcard
Snail wants to send a postcard to her friends to tell them about the places she’s visited.

Using the postcard template, children can draw a picture of their favourite place snail visits and write a message.

 

Find out more

Read more about books by Julia Donaldson here

Titles include:

* The Gruffalo

A Squash and a Squeeze

* Room on the Broom

The Stick Man
*Tyrannosaurus Drip

* See more lovemybooks ideas

Find out about whales and snails
Use websites and books to find out more about humpback whales and snails. Just how big is a humpback whale compared with a bus? To find out more about humpback whales look here.

To find out about sea snails look here.

 

Buy here

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           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team at Lovemybooks has put together a list of weblinks that may be helpful to you during the time parents and children are spending at home together  during the current crisis. 

Our main focus is authors, books and literacy but we’ve also included museums and art galleries and other creative learning opportunities to explore. 

 

 

 

General links related to books and authors:

British Library  Explore the British Library’s Discovering Children’s Books resources. Learn to draw a Gruffalo with Axel Scheffler and see their creative activity ideas 

Authorfy free registration to access videos of authors talking about their work

Audible free  access to audio books, including classics such as Winnie the Pooh and a number of traditional stories

National Shelf Service  The National Shelf Service is a new daily YouTube broadcast featuring book recommendations from professional librarians. Daily videos will focus on helping children and families discover new, diverse reading experiences. The broadcast will run here Monday to Friday at 11.00am each day. The selected titles will be available to borrow as e-books from most local libraries via their websites.

 

Comics newspapers

First News Newspaper for children and other resources including guidance for parents on explaining racism or scary news stories.

Phoenix Q club Phoenix comic offering a free club on Twitter and Facebook

       Alya the Pacemaker free magazine for children with information and activities about Science, Maths, Technology and History. 

Poets

Michael Rosen’s YouTube channel  

Joseph Coelho

 

These author illustrators live drawing workshops on a weekly or daily basis

Rob Biddulph daily ‘Draw along with Rob’ on Twitter @RobBiddulph then posted on his website

Steve Lenton regular draw along sessions

Ed Vere twice weekly videos showing how to draw some of Ed’s favourite characters

Steve Antony storytime and draw a story masterclass 

Lydia Monks learn to draw characters from her stories from ladybirds to unicorns

Sarah McIntyre #DrawingwithSarah shows how to draw characters from her books

Clara Vulliamy video on drawing characters including Dot the Detective.

Nick Sharratt – videos about drawing some of his favourite characters

 

Authors offering creative writing ideas

Alex T Smith daily story starters 

Robin Stevens weekly writing prompts on her website

Creative writing with Zanib Mian

Storytelling

Benji Davies reading his stories on YouTube, see #BenjiDavies Reads

Oliver Jeffers is providing a stay at home storytime

Frank Cottrell Boyce has read instalments of his stories on Instagram and is now running a children’s bookclub with readings and author interviews on Instagram.

Piers Torday is reading  his stories  on Instagram

Cressida Cowell UK Children’s Laureate Readings of How to Train your Dragon

Little Angel Theatre a wealth of storytelling/ performances  to explore with children

Fly with Tiny Owl a series of stories read aloud and ‘how to’ art and craft videos from Tiny Owl Publisher 

Ask the author

Author SF said is answering questions from young readers about his books or books and reading more generally every Tuesday from 1-2pm on Twitter. His address is @whatSFSaid use the hashtag #WhatSFSaid

For more author and illustrator related suggestions see Booktrust 

National Literacy Trust is developing a hub of resources to support home literacy learning 

 

Other stuff

New bitesize resources from the BBC – daily programme schedule for KS1-4

Scouts Great indoors Lots of fun sciencey activities

Konnie Huq magazine style programmes, science experiments, craft, stories and information on her YouTube channel

Nasa – Space/Kids indoor activity ideas and information about life in space including living in a confined space

National Geographic  Lots of fun facts for children

Chester Zoo is offering virtual days at the Zoo on their FaceBook page

Eclectic collection of free British Film Institute films for 3-7 years

Museums and galleries: lots to see and talk about!

Science Museum Free activities resources and games 

Natural History Museum Be a naturenaut, an immersive experience exploring the natural world 

British Museum, London includes an Interactive guide, scroll down the homepage to explore the collection 

Horniman’s Museum – lots of ideas for home learning based on the museum’s collection 

Look at art from around the world:

National Gallery, London choose one of their 30 must see paintings to look at and discuss together

MASP, São Paulo, Brazil

J Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles 

 

Books

Good Ideas – How to be your own and your child’s Best Teacher by Michael Rosen published by John Murray 

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth Laird, Jenny Lucander (illus)
Tiny Owl Publishing
Age 3-5

It’s bedtime and Amir is afraid of the dark and doesn’t want to go to sleep.  He thinks there’s something hiding under his bed: a big scary monster that growls like a lion and might eat him up. He even thinks the monster’s mum 1 deposit casino uk.com and dad might be hiding too. This version of the classic monster-under-the-bed story features a little boy whose father reassuringly and inventively counters Amir’s fears, helping to transform an imaginary ogre into an imaginary friend,

Share the story

Watch the trailer

 

Read aloud
Read the story aloud, making sure you are cuddled up close!  Pause to talk about the pictures and what is happening. 

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?

• Talk together about any comments, questions or feelings they have about the story.

• After finishing the book make links with their own experience for example, the best things about bedtime or anything that scares them.

• What would they tell someone else about this book?

 

Things to make and do

Make a collage picture of an imaginary monster using different scrap materials such as paper, fabric, card or magazine pictures. What would be a good name for their monster? They can write it by their picture.

Where does their monster live? What does it do at night or during the day? What does it eat and what does it play with?

Make a simple book using 2 sheets of paper folded in half. Decorate the cover and then draw and write a monster story. Children can add big speech bubbles for ROARS and other scary sounds.

Make a collection of monster names from stories you know. See how many you can collect or invent!
Children could create their own monster alphabet.

 

Find out more

Read other books about monsters on the Lovemybooks Scary! page

Billy and the Beast

Do Not Enter the Monster Zoo

The Ghost Train

The Grotlyn

The Gruffalo

Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears

Watch an interview about Grobblechops with author Elizabeth Laird

 

 

 

 

View Page

 

Sharing poems, rhymes and songs

Ideas for sharing

• Act out the rhymes as you read, share, sing them together

• Leave spaces for children to guess or say the rhyming word.

• Make a collection of favourite poems, rhymes and songs in a home-made book, with children’s own illustrations.

• Read favourites together again and again so that children can memorise and say/sing them aloud.

• Take it in turns to read/sing a line and both join in with the chorus (if there is one).

• Use percussion (rattles, wooden spoon, clapping) to beat the rhythm of a poem or rhyme.

• Play rhyming ping-pong. One person says a word, the other says a word that rhymes and you take it in turns until one person runs out of rhymes. Then start with another word. Keep the words short and simple to begin with.

Why sharing poems, rhymes and songs is important

Sharing poems hymes and songs with children is great fun and an important way for them to learn about language and reading. Children naturally tune in to rhythm and rhyme. It’s memorable and pleasurable and helps them to enjoy the patterns and sounds of language. Recognising the sounds of words, and the sounds in words, is helpful to children when they lean to read. Many picturebooks for young children are in rhyme because it’s so supportive for learning to read.

Singing songs and rhymes together, children learn to join in with the rhymes and choruses and to remember them. They also learn to play with language, experimenting by making up their own rhymes or changing rhymes they know well, such as: ‘Happy Birthday to you/ Squashed tomatoes and stew..’.

Songs and rhymes are universal

Songs and rhymes are present in every culture and are an important way for children to learn about themselves, their world and their language. Rhymes teach children routines, rituals and information through action rhymes, alphabet and counting rhymes. They soothe and entertain through nursery rhymes, lullabies, jokes, story poems. They encourage sharing and joining in, creating a social experience.

Reading aloud and re reading a wide variety of poems is a wonderful way to build children’s confidence and enjoyment in books and reading.

See our Top 10 list of rhyming books
Read Michael Rosen on the importance of rhyme

Poetry books to try

Collections:

A Great Big Cuddle – see our activity page

Dear Mother Goose by Michael Rosen (Walker)

Here’s a little Poem by Polly Dunbar (Walker)

Little Miss Muffet and Other Rhymes by Patrick George (Patrick George)

My Very First Mother Goose by Rosemary Wells (Walker)

Here Comes Mother Goose by Rosemary Wells (Walker)

Mother Goose by Michael Foreman (Walker)

My Hat and All That by Tony Mitton (Corgi)

The Puffin Book of Fantastic First Poems by June Crebbin (Puffin)

Tasty Poems by Jill Bennett and Nick Sharratt (OUP)

Rhyming picture books: – see our activity pages

The Animal Boogie

Wheels on the Bus

The Owl and the Pussycat

Stomp Dinosaur Stomp

Orange Pear Apple Bear

Here Come the Aliens

Shark in the Park

Where’s my Teddy?

The Gruffalo

We’re Going on a Bearhunt

Each Peach Pear Plum

 

 

Jennie, a mother,  tells  the story of her daughter Lizzie and her development as a reader.

April 2018

Lizzie is two and a half and enjoys books but often finds listening to a whole story difficult unless it’s bed time and her focus is helped by cuddles and milk. She loves bedtime stories but often requests the same book night after night (her current record is the same book for three weeks and counting). We have tried reading more than one book at bed time; my choice and her choice, going to the library to choose books together and buying books in areas of her interest but she seems to like the predictability of a known story or information book.

We encourage her to choose books when we play and she has books in her room, the living room and our room so we can always access them easily and always try and have books and cuddles in the morning before we get up properly. She often asks for books during the day as she knows this is quality focus me and her time, unlike playing time where suddenly I may get up and go and empty the dishwasher!  She is also enjoying rediscovering some of her favourite early baby books with her nine month old brother and often shows him the feely parts or how to use the flaps.

When we read during the day she often gets distracted, turns the pages too quickly or goes off and does something else. When she was younger we often just looked at the books together as she couldn’t sit still long enough to focus on the actual story, she also preferred non fiction for a very long time although this has evened out now.

I knew Max the Brave would initially appeal as the illustrations and pages are eye catching and bright and the main character is a cat, which is a good start. The story also has similarities to The Gruffalo in the flow of the story, the range of animal characters and a good amount of sneakiness.

I began by reading Max the Brave to her a couple of times and she listened to the first half only. I then decided to do the puppet making activity with her and see if her engagement increased. She loved putting the eyes and nose on the sock and played with the puppet and the other toy animals.

We then watched the video from the Lovemybooks site and she played with the animal toys and the puppet as she watched. We then acted out the story and she demonstrated good knowledge of the story, finding the pages to match the animals and vice versa.

She is really enjoying the book and I am enjoying doing more than just reading, questioning and discussing the book but actually interacting with it through play.

Lizzie’s speech has developed more slowly than her peers. Since we started to focus on Max and look at it in a different way she has started to demand more stories. As an English literature and teaching graduate, the semi shouted ‘book, read’ command is almost as sweet as ‘Mummy’

 

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

V = Video
AB = Activity Book

A

Aaaarrgghh Spider Lydia Monks  V

The Acorn Edward Gibbs       

Albert Talbot Master of Disguise Ben Manley, illus. Aurélie Guillerey   V

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  

B

The Bad Bunnies Magic Show Mini Grey

Banana! Ed Vere  V 

Bear and Bird Jarvis V

The Bear and the Piano David Litchfield  V

Bear Shaped Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden   V

Beetle Boy  MG Leonard  V  AB             

Be Brave Little Penguin Giles Andrae, illus. Guy Parker Rees

Beegu  Alexis Deacon             

Betty goes Bananas  Steve Antony  V   

Big Green Crocodile  Jane Newberry, illus. Carolina Rabei  V

A Big Mooncake for Little Star Grace Lin V

The BFG Roald Dahl    AB               

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    

Blue Monster Peter Horacek V

Bog Baby   Jeanne Willis, ill. Gwen Millward

Boot: Small Robot Big Adventure Shane Hegarty   AB       

Boundless Sky Amanda Addison, illus. Manuela Adreani

The Boy at the Back of the Class Onjali Rauf, illus. Pippa Curnick   AB

The Boy who Climbed into the Moon David Almond    AB

The Boy who Sailed the World Julia Green, illus. Alex Latimer

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

C

Car, Car, Truck, Jeep  Katrina Charman, illus. Nick Sharratt  V

Can I Sit in the Middle Susanne Strasser V

Charlotte’s Web EB White  V    AB                

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

Chocolate cake Michael Rosen, illus Kevin Waldron  V

The Christmas Eve Tree Delia Huddy,  illus Emily Sutton  

Cinderella of the Nile Beverley Naidoo  V   AB

Clean up!  Nathan Bryon, illus. Dapo Adeola

Clever Polly & the Stupid Wolf  Catherine Storr   

The Comet Joe Todd Stanton

The Cooking Club Detectives  Ewa Jozefkowicz

Coyote’s Soundbite – a poem for our planet  John Agard, illus. Piet Grobler    AB

The Crocodile who didn’t like water Gemma Merino   V     

D

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

Don’t worry little crab  Chris Haughton

A Dog So Small Philippa Pearce   V        

Dogger Shirley Hughes  V   

A Dollop of Ghee and a Drop of Wisdom   Chitra Soundar, illus. Uma Krishnaswamy V

Down by the station Jess Stockham

The Dragon in the Library, Louie Stowell

Dragon Mountain  Katie and Kevin Tsang  V   AB

The Drum  Ken Wilson Max, illus Catell Ronca   V

Dylan’s amazing dinosaurs EJ Harper, illus Dan Taylor

E

Each Peach Pear Plum  Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg   V

The Elephants umbrella Laleh Jaffari,  illus Ali Khodai    V

The Emerald Forest Catherine Ward, illus Karen Littlewood V

Eliot Midnight Superhero Anne Cottringer, illus Alex T Smith

Elmer David McKee  V

Eloise Undercover Sarah Baker    AB        

The Everywhere Bear Julia Donaldson, illus Rebecca Cobb

The Explorer  Katherine Rundell   AB   

The Extraordinary Gardener Sam Boughton   V  

Everybody’s Welcome Patricia Hegarty, illus Greg Abbott

F

Fair Shares Pippa Goodhart, illus Anna Doherty

Farmer Duck Martin Waddell, illus Helen Oxenbury

The Fastest Tortoise in Town Howard Calvert, ill. Karen Obuhanych

Fire Fox  Alexandra Page, illus. Stef Murphy   V

The Firework Maker’s Daughter  Philip Pullman   AB

Five little men in a flying saucer Dan Crisp    V               

Five Minutes Peace Jill Murphy                 

Flora and Ulysses, the illuminated adventures Kate Camillo     V   AB

Flooded Mariajo Ilustrajo V

The Forgettery Rachel Ip, ill. Laura Hughes   

Fortunately the Milk Neil Gaiman, illus Chris Riddell

Frindleswylde, Natalia and Lauren O’Hara

Gaspard the Fox  Zeb Soanes, illus. James Mayhew

G

Gerald the lion Jessica Souhami          

The Ghost train Allan Ahlberg, illus Andre Amstutz   V

Gigantic Rob Biddulph V

The Gigantic Turnip Alexsei Tolstoy, illus Naimh Sharkey  V

Giraffes Can’t Dance  Giles Andreae, Guy Parker Rees    V 

The Girl and the dinosaur Hollie Hughes, illus Sarah Massini  

Gloria’s Porridge  Elizabeth Laird, illus. Toby Newsome

The Glassmaker’s Daughter Diane Hofmeyr, Illus Jane Reay  V

Goodbye Grandma Melanie Walsh           

Goodnight Spaceman Michelle Robinson, illus Nick East   V

Grace and Family  Mary Hoffman, illus Caroline Binch   V

Granpa John Burningham   V    

A Great Big Cuddle Michael Rosen, illus Chris Riddell   V

Grobblechops Elizabeth Laird, illlus Jenny Lucander   V

The Gruffalo  Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler

Grumpy Frog  Ed Vere    V       

H

   

The Hairy toe Daniel Postgate   V

Halima Superhero Princess Emily Joof, illus. Asa Gilland V

Handas surprise Eileen Browne  V         

Hairy MacLary from Donaldson’s Dairy, Lynley Dodd  V

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

Have you seen Elephant David Barrow V

Here come the aliens Colin McNaughton   

The Highwayman Alfred Noyes   V   AB

The Highway Rat  Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler   V

Honey biscuits  Meredith Hooper, illus Alison Bartlett

Hooray for Fish Lucy Cousins   V

Hooray for Bread  Allan Ahlberg, illus  Brice Ingman

Hortense and the Shadows O’Hara Sisters             

How to hide a lion Helen Stephens   V      

I

I am Absolutely TOO Small for school Lauren Child    V           

I am Henry Finch Alexis Deacon             

I Love you Blue Kangaroo Emily Gravett    V         

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 I Had a Sleepy Sloth Gabby Dawnay, illus Alex Barrow

If you meet a dinosaur Paul Bright, illus Hannah George

In the dark dark wood Jessica Souhami   

Iris and Isaac Catherine Rayner V

The Iron Man Ted Hughes    AB   

J

 The Jasmine Sneeze  Nadine Kaadan

Jolly Christmas Postman Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg   V

The Journey Home Frann Preston Gannon

Julian is a mermaid Jessica Lowe

The Jumblies Edward Lear  V    AB 

Just like Grandpa Jazz Tarah.L.Gear, illus. Mirna Imamovic

          

K

Katie & the dinosaurs James Mayhew           

The King who Banned the Dark Emily Haworth Booth

The King With Dirty Feet  Sally Pomme Clayton, illus. Rhiannon Sanderson

Kipper’s Birthday Mick Inkpen    V             

Knuffle Bunny Mo Willem    V     

L

The Last Wolf Mini Grey  

Last: The Story of the White Rhino Nicola Davies   V

Leon the Extraordinary Jamar Nicholas V

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch Ronda and David Armitage V

Lima’s Red Hot Chilli David Mills, ill. Derek Brazell V

The Lion Inside Rachel Bright   

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

Little Monkey  Marta Altés  V 

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) 

The Littlest Yak Lu Fraser, ill. Kate Hindley     V

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  

M

Macavity T S Eliot    V   AB       

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

Maybe… Chris Haughton V

Meg and Mog Helen Nicholl ,illus Jan Pienkwski

Miró’s Magic Animals Antony Penrose V

Mister Magnolia Quentin Blake            

Meet the Parents Peter Bently, illus Sara Ogilvie

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   AB

My Dad Anthony Browne        

My Green Day Melanie Walsh   

My Must-Have Mum   Maudie Smith, illus. Jen Khatun

My Sister is an alien Rachel Bright    

          

N

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

Noah’s Gold Frank Cottrell Boyce, illus Steven Lenton AB V

No Dinner Jessica Souhami          

Not Now Bernard David McKee     

         

O

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      AB        

Orange Pear Apple Bear  Emily Gravett             

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat Chris Riddell               

The Outlaw Varjak Paw SF Said      V    AB               

The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear  

P

             

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 

Penguin Huddle Ross Montgomery and Sarah Warburton (illus) V

Phoenix S F Said    V     AB

Pirate Stew   Neil Gaiman, illus. Chris Riddell   V

Please Mr Magic Fish Jessica Souhami          

Please Mr Panda Steve Antony              

Pom Pom is Super Sophy Henn   
  
The Princess and the Greedy Pea , Leigh Hodgkinson 

Pugs of the Frozen North  Philip Reeve, illus Sarah McIntyre

Puppet David Almond, illus Lizzie Stewart AB

Pumpkin Soup Helen Cooper             

Q

Quiet Tom Percival, ill. Richard Jones V

Quill Soup Alan Durant   

Q Pootle 5 Nick Butterworth       

             

R

Rama & the Demon King Jessica Souhami          

Red Car Red Bus  Susan Stegall 

Rigatoni the Pasta Cat  Michael Rosen, Illus. Tony Ross

Robin’s Winter Song  Suzanne Barton          

Rocketmole  Matt Carr                   

Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson, Illus Axel Scheffler

Rosie’s Walk Pat Hutchins  

S

   

The Secret Sky Garden Linda Sarah  

Saving Winslow Sharon Creech  AB

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

Shark in the park Nick Sharrat  

Shhh!   Sally Grindley, illus. Peter Upton

Shh we have a plan Chris Haughton           

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam Tracey Corderoy, illus Steven Lenton

The Skull Jon Klassen V

Silly Suzy Goose Petr Horacek              

The Snail and the Whale  Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler

Snow  Sam Usher                 

The Snowbear Sean Taylor 

The Snowflake Benji Davies     

So Much Trisha Cooke, illus Helen Oxenbury

The Something Rebecca Cobb

Sona Sharma, Looking After Planet Earth  Chitra Soundar, illus Jen Khatun    AB      

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

Stop the Clock  Pippa Goodhart, illus. Maria Christiana V

The Storm Whale Benji Davies               

A Story about Afiya James Berry, illus Anna Cunha                                                                                                               

Sunk! Rob Biddulph             

Superbat Matt Carr    

SuperJoe does not do cuddles Michael Catchpool, illus. Emma Proctor

Super Milly and the Super School Day  Stephanie Clarkson, illus. Gwen Millward    V 

T

Tad Benji Davies               

The Tale of Angelino Brown David Almond       AB     

10 things I can do to help my world Melanie Walsh 

Ten Delicious Teachers   Ross Montgomery, illus. Sarah Warburton V

The Three Happy Lions  Louise Fatio, illus. Roger Duvoisin

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

There’s a tiger in the garden Lizzy Stewart V

This is Our House Michael Rosen, illus Bob Graham

The Thunk Michelle Robinson, illus. Deborah Allwright

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      AB

Toys in space  Mini Grey                   

Traction man  is here!  Mini Grey                   

Train  Judi Abott                  

The Train Ride June Crebbin, illus Stephen Lambert

Tyger SF Said, iIllus Dave McKean V AB

Tyrranosaurus Drip Julia Donaldson   

 

U

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

V

Valentine’s Guest House Sam Sharland V

Varjak Paw  SF Said      AB               

The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams, illus William Nicholson V

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle   

           

W

The Way Back Home Oliver Jeffers   

The Weed Quentin Blake           

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

We’re Going to Find the Monster Malorie Blackman, illus. Dapo Adeola   V

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    

When the Sky Falls Phil Earle V AB

The Wolf Wilder  Katherine Rundell     V    AB

The Wooden camel Wanuri Kahiu, illus Manuela Adreani

Y

You’re snug with  me Chitra Soundar

Z

The Zebra’s Great Escape Katherine Rundell, ill. Sara Ogilvie V AB

Zombierella Fairy Tales Gone Bad Joseph Coelho, illus. Freya Hartas  V   AB                                                     

Julia Donaldson, Rebecca Cobb (illus)
Macmillan
Age 3-5

The Everywhere Bear lives on a shelf in class one. Every weekend he goes home with one of the children and has different adventures, going on bus rides, making dens, even going to the moon! One day he has a much bigger adventure when he is dropped in a puddle on a rainy day. He is washed down a drain, in the sea, a fisherman’s catch, a skip at the dump, a seagull’s mouth before being picked up by a friendly librarian. When Class One visit the library they are finally reunited with their Everywhere Bear!

 

Share the story

Read aloud
Before you start reading look at the cover and imagine together why the story might be called the ‘Everywhere Bear’. Read the story aloud, pausing to think about what might happen next when the bear is washed down the drain and what the children’s favourite place might be.

Join in
When you read the book again children might like to join in with parts of the story, for example some of the things you children do with the bear at the weekends or by completing some of the rhymes eg give it a cuddle, tumbled into a puddle. They might like to spot the names on the children’s trays in the classroom illustrations.

Talk about the story

Which illustration or part of the story do children like best? What do they like about it?

Would your child have liked anything different to have happened in the story?

What would your child like to do with the Everywhere Bear if they brought it home from school or nursery?

Listen to a song of the story 

Things to make and do

Play the story
Children can play with a toy of their own like the children in class one do, you could look back at the story together for ideas.

Make a photo album
Help children take photos of themselves with a chosen toy doing different things. Stick them in a small notebook to make a photo album. Talk about the photos together. You could add captions too.

Imagine the bear could talk
Have an imaginary conversation with the bear – children could choose to be the bear or the questioner and you could take the other role. Ask him questions about where he has been and what it was like.

Play a track game
Print off the base board and chance cards and play a board game about the story together.

Find out more

Visit your local library
If not already a member you could find your local library and subscribe or you could just spend some time browsing and finding interesting books and sharing a story there.

Read more books by author Julia Donaldson

 

We have activity pages for several of her books on Lovemybooks

The Snail and the Whale

The Gruffalo

Room on the Broom

What the Ladybird heard

The Paper Dolls with illustrator Rebecca Cobb who also wrote and illustrated Lunchtime and The Something

Julia Donaldson, Rebecca Cobb (illustrator)
Macmillan
Age 5-7

A little girl makes some paper dolls with her mother’s help. She names and plays with them constantly, having all sorts of adventures including escaping danger from a dinosaur, tiger and crocodile. Holding hands, the paper dolls escape all of these dangers until they meet the ultimate threat – a pair of scissors! Cut to pieces, the only place the dolls can fly is into the little girl’s memory along with many other very special things. And then, years later, she is able to teach her own daughter to make paper dolls too.

A lovely story with beautiful illustrations about imagination, memory, and links between generations which will give you lots to talk about and do.

Watch a trailer which animates the beginning of the story

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book aloud pausing when your child would like to talk about what is happening in the story or pictures. Pause when the boy cuts up the dolls. What would children like to happen next?

Join in
When children become familiar with the story they could join in as you re read it with the paper dolls’ song and the words of the dinosaur, tiger and crocodile eg ‘I’m coming to crunch you!’

Talk about the story
Talk about the different dolls and the names for them, what might each of them be like?

Can you spot the butterfly slide on every page?

Talk about the boy cutting the dolls up. Why might another child (boy or girl) do something like that?

Talk about how the little girl might have felt at different points in the story

Share memories; what special things (toys, places, or people) do children remember or which nice things would they like to remember when they grow up? Talk about your own childhood memories. Did an adult teach you to make something special?

Watch the story
The author, Julia Donaldson reads the story and talks about it here.

 

Things to make and do

A parent writes...

Samantha tells us about sharing the book and our activity ideas with her daughters.

‘Both my girls (aged 6 and 8) really enjoyed The Paper Dolls. It is a tender, partly rhyming and comfortingly repetitive tale that is easy for children to remember and recite back - it was a real winner with my two.

My eldest daughter enjoyed reading it out to us herself and using the repeat of the dolls’ names in a rhythmic way which sounded nice. The book is not without its emotional challenges, and my youngest in particular was a bit upset when the paper dolls were destroyed. Although the dolls’ destruction was a shock, it does teach young children about loss, how ultimately nothing lasts forever and how all things change which is a valuable life lesson to take away. Her favourite part was the scene in the girl’s imagination where the dolls live again and as she rather poignantly said; “the granny is keeping them safe.” 

In response to the demise of the dolls, both my girls made their own paper dolls, the eldest from a book where they could be cut out and designed, and my 6-year-old made her own jellyfish versions! (She has a particular interest in jellyfish, the reasons for this are known only to herself!)’

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Make paper dolls
Help your child make a chain of paper dolls. You could follow the instructions on the video link or webpage or use the pictures in the book to guide you so that some dolls are wearing trousers and some dresses. Your child could then decorate and name them, making sure each one is special and different.

Make your own story
Children could make up a story with their own paper dolls – perhaps their dolls will be in danger from a scary animal attack. You could play the story together using a toy or improvised glove puppet (oven glove perhaps?!) for the imminent danger to the dolls.

Make a story book
You could help your child write their paper doll adventure story in a zig zag book and then they can illustrate it.

Make a memory box
Using a shoe box children can put in a few special things, objects, photographs and drawings. They could decorate the box to make it look special with wrapping paper and label it ‘my memory box’. Encourage your child to tell another member of the family about their memory box and what is inside. This would be an opportunity for older family members to share memories with your child too.

Find out more

Find out about the record breaking longest chain of paper dolls made in 2013 here

Maybe you could make a really long chain of paper dolls too! Maybe some friends could help.

Read more books by author Julia Donaldson here

Titles with activities on LoveMyBooks are:

The Gruffalo

Room on the Broom

The Snail and the Whale

Tyrannosaurus Drip

What the Ladybird Heard

 

Read more books by Rebecca Cobb here 

Lunchtime

The Something

Missing Mummy

Aunt Amelia