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

A brave mouse risks his life in the deep dark wood and gets the better of  creatures who  want to eat him for their tea by telling them he is off to visit his friend, the very scary Gruffalo. When this invented creature actually appears our hero has to find a way to avoid becoming a tasty mouse snack.The Gruffalo is an award winning picture book by former children’s laureate Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler. The story reads like a song making it a delight to read and re read. The bold and beautiful illustrations provide lots to talk about.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before reading the story talk about the cover illustration and then look closely at the first double page with the illustration of the wood. What can children see? Have they been anywhere like this? Read the book aloud, continuing to pause to talk about the illustrations as you do and encourage children to predict what might happen next.

Join in
As you re read the story children will become familiar with the words and enjoy joining in with the repeated phrases such as ‘A Gruffalo? What’s a Gruffalo?’ ‘Why didn’t you know?’ etc. They will enjoy pretending to be a Gruffalo showing their ‘terrible teeth’ and ‘terrible claws’ as you read.

Talk about the story
After children have heard the whole story share the bits you both liked, children’s favourite picture and how they think the mouse tricked so many animals and even the Gruffalo.

Tell the story
Using the pictures in the book or puppets encourage children to tell the story of the Gruffalo.  You may find they start to use phrases from the story as they tell it.

Watch the story
Watch a reading of the Gruffalo story here from Daniel Bekele.

Things to make and do

Make finger puppets
Make finger puppets for the animal characters in the story, either using the templates on the Gruffalo website or by making simpler puppets out of felt or paper stuck or sewn together and decorated with felt pens, wool. Use the puppets to tell the story together.

Make a mask
Make a gruffalo mask. There is a template on the Gruffalo website here.
Or you could make a simpler mask using a paper plate and a stick, using crayons and coloured paper to add detail. Children can wear the mask to be scary with their terrible teeth, tusks and claws.

Make a story world

Use construction materials, small toys and found objects like this created by @Mat_at Brookes* to make a Gruffalo themed storyworld. Children can help create the storyworld and can enjoy replaying part of the story using small figures to represent the characters.

* Matt was inspired by ideas he found on Pinterest. 

Draw a story map
Print the template sheet with the path through the forest; children can draw trees, the mouse and all the animals the mouse meets on his way.

Make a picture
Give children paints, felt pens or crayons and a large sheet of paper to make their own picture of a Gruffalo. Look back at the description in the story together to help children remember some of the details.

Go for a walk in the woods
If you live near a wood, forest or park with wooded areas go for a tramp through it like the mouse and the Gruffalo. Talk about what you hear and see. Take some photos and print and stick them into a scrap book when you are back home. Talk about your photos together.

Find out more

Visit the Gruffalo website here
This website includes an interactive exploration of the deep dark wood, things to make and do (including templates for masks and puppets), songs and recipes.

Find and enjoy other picture books by Julia Donaldson working with illustrator Alex Scheffler

Titles include:

Titles include:

The Gruffalo’s Child

A Squash and a Squeeze

* Room on the Broo

* Tyrannosaurus Drip

* The Snail and the Whale

Monkey Puzzle

Tiddler

The Stickman

Zog

*  See more lovemybooks ideas

Rhyming picture books are an important way to help young children acquire a natural feeling for rhyme and pattern in language. Here are a selection of some of our favourites:

Julia Donaldson Axel Scheffler
Scholastic
Age 5-7

Robbing everyone on the highway of any food they carry, the Highway Rat continues terrorises animal travellers until a very clever duck gets the better of him and eventually he sees the error of his ways. You may recognise the style of this poem which echoes the pattern and rhythm of the famous classic poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes exactly. The rhyming and repeated text makes it great fun for children to join in with the words and there is plenty to talk about in the story. Another brilliant collaboration between Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before you start reading the book look at the cover illustration and title together. What does your child think will happen in this story? They maybe unsure what a highway is and this may be a good point to talk about highwaymen – or you could do so later after enjoying the story together.

Read the story as far as the lines about the animals growing thinner and thinner. How does your child think the animals feel? Is there anything the animals can do?

Continue reading to the end of the story.

Join in
When you read aloud again encourage your child to join in with the repeated choruses.

Talk about the book

• What does your child think about the way the duck tricked the rat?

• Are children puzzled by anything? For example the meaning of words or phrases such as ‘stand and deliver’ or ‘halt’.

• What does your child know about highwaymen?

• Do children know any more stories like this?

Watch the story read aloud

Things to make and do

Dress up
Help your child to dress up as a highway rat use a piece of cloth as a cloak. You could make a mask for your child out of card. For instructions follow link here and scroll to ‘Method 2’

Play the story
Choose a scene from the story and act it out together, you can improvise an imaginary conversation or use some of the words from the story.

Make a poster
Make a wanted poster for the Highway Rat. Talk about what to include such as a description and picture of the highway rat, reward and who to contact.

Find out more

Read more stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

The Gruffalo
The Snail and the Whale
Room on the Broom

Find out about echoes
The clever duck tricks the highway rat using echoes. Find out about more about echoes. See here and here

Find out more about highwaymen here

The Highwayman poem
The story of the Highway Rat is based on The Highwayman, a classic poem by Alfred Noyes see here.

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

Julia Donaldson, Alex Scheffler (illus)
Macmillan Children’s Books  
Age 5-7

A witch is flying on her broomstick when a strong wind blows off her hat, then her bow and wand. Luckily three helpful animals find them, wanting only a ride on the broom in return. Will they all fit on the broom? And will the animal friends come to the witch’s rescue when she encounters a fire breathing dragon who fancies eating witch and chips?

Share the Story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud, stopping every now and then to talk about the pictures and to see if children can predict what might happen next.
Join in
When you read the story again pause so that children can join in with some of the repeated phrases such as ‘Is there room on the broom?…’
Tell the story
As children become familiar with the story they will be able to tell it using the pictures to help them. You will find they begin to use phrases from the story as they do so. It would be fun to retell the story using puppets as well, see below.

Watch the story here

Things to make and do

Make stick puppets
Make stick puppets for the different characters in the story.  Tell the story using puppets; this is more fun for children if you join in too. See here for how to make stick puppets.

Draw a picture
Draw a picture of the witch and her animal friends on a ‘truly magnificent broom’ or choose another favourite part of the story to draw. Children will enjoy talking about their pictures.

Have fun with rhyme
Spot rhyming pairs in the story, eg room and broom, flew and blew, ground and found. You could carry on finding rhyming pairs with other words as well. Having fun with rhyme will help children become more aware of words and their patterns as they develop as readers.

Make up a spell
Give children a big cooking pot to use as a cauldron. They can collect some ingredients for their own magic spell. Just like the witch in the story they can throw them in, stir them well and mutter a special, magic spell.

Read a poem here.

Find out more

Read about more books by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler here.

* The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo’s Child

* The Snail and the Whale

A Squash and a Squeeze

Stick Man

* See more lovemybooks ideas

Julia Green, illus. Alex Latimer
David Fickling Books
Age 5-7 years

A young boy, who loved the sea and stories about the sea, decides to build a boat and sail the world to have adventures of his own.

He negotiates busy shipping lanes and stormy seas. He sees magical sunsets and star filled skies, discovering wonderful creatures, and making new friends.

Beautifully written and illustrated, this is a joyous picturebook about the excitement of adventure, the wonders of the ocean and making dreams come true.

Share the story
Read aloud
This is a story to share again and again. After your first reading talk about the author’s question at the back of the book – sharing your own dreams of adventure. On a second reading take time to look more closely at the illustrations together and talk about what you can both see.

Tell the story
Encourage your child to tell you the storyfrom the illustrations.

Join in
Once they are familiar with the story, encourage your child to join in with some of the reading.

Talk about the book
Talk about any puzzling words and ideas eg ‘shipping lanes’ and ‘buffeting’

Talk about what a compass is for if you can get hold of one you could look at it together and try using it.  

Share the parts of the boy’s journey you and your child found most exciting/beautiful/scary

Talk about the writer’s question – what is your child’s dream? And what is your dream? Where would you both like to go?

Things to make and do

Make a paper boat
Make a paper boat and see how well it floats in a bowl of water, bath or paddling pool.
Make a paper boat (nationalgeographic.com) How to Make a Paper Boat (Origami Instructions) – Bing video

Make a junk model boat.
Collect together some junk eg a plastic tub shaped containers, some small cardboard boxes and sticks and fabric and glue. Create a junk model boat together.

Paint a picture
Give your child some paints and large sheets of paper so that they can paint a picture of a wonderful sunset, starry night or a stormy sea. If you are able to get hold of wallpaper lining paper, they could create a long picture with a changing sea scene – daytime and nightime, calm and stormy. Don’t forget to include the boat.

Be a percussionist
Create the sounds of a storm using your voice or kitchen utensils as simple percussion instruments (eg a saucepan and a wooden spoon).

Write a postcard
Imagine you are the boy in the story – write a postcard home describing what you can see and what it is like.

Find out more

Read more sea adventures

The Snail and the Whale
The Jumblies
The Owl and the Pussycat

Find out more about ships and boats
Visit the local library and try to find out about some of the different kinds of ships on our oceans, eg cargo boats, cruise ships and ferries. If you live near the sea or a river you could visit to see what kinds of craft you can spot, perhaps taking binoculars with you if you have any.

Find out more about the author

Julia Green Julia Green – Children’s Author (julia-green.co.uk)

The Boy Who Sailed the World is Julia’s first picturebook. She has written 20 novels for older children and young adults. Titles include:
The Children of Swallow Fell
The House of Light
The Edge of the World

Find out more about the illustrator, Alex Latimer is a writer and illustrator

Books include:

Am I yours?
The Boy who Cried Ninja!
Also Pip and Egg with David Litchfield
And Woolf with Patrick Latimer

What the Ladybird Heard
Macmillan
Age 3-7

Two robbers have a cunning plan; to steal the fine prize cow from the farm. Luckily a little ladybird hears them and works out a clever way for the farm animals to trick them.

Rhythm, rhyme and repetition make this story fun to read aloud and encourage children to join in. The illustrations are lovely, detailed and colourful with a glittery ladybird which is fun to spot too.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before you begin reading the book talk about the cover. Which animals will be in this story? Then look at the double page spread at the beginning. What is happening on the farm? Have you been to a farm?

As you read the story to your child pause when your child wants to talk about the illustrations and what is happening. Can they spot the glittery ladybird on every page?

It would be fun to vary your voice as you read, with animal noises and whispering for the ladybird and the robbers.

Join in
When you read the book again your child can join in with parts of it, for example the animal noises and the loud ‘Splosh!’ when the robbers fall in the pond. They might like to whisper a message to you, just like the ladybird does.

Talk about the story

Talk about how the ladybird and the animals tricked the robbers. What is happening in the illustration on the final end paper? Which page do children like best? Share your favourite parts of the story.

Things to make and do

Draw a map of the farm and the robber’s plan

Story play
Act out part of the story pretending to be the robbers with a map, and a torch (real or improvised with a cardboard tube) tiptoeing quietly and turning left and right.

Have fun whispering different messages and secret plans to each other.

Play a game
Use the farm picture at the beginning of the story to play a game together.

First time – take turns pointing to an animal and your partner has to make the animal’s sound.

Second round – when you point to an animal your partner has to make the wrong sound!

Write a letter
Write a letter from the robbers to the farmer to say sorry for trying to steal the cow. 

Find out more

Watch Julia Donaldson and her husband Malcom sing a song about the story here

Look out for ‘What the ladybird heard next’ by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks

Read more books by Julia Donaldson here

Titles include:

Room on the Broom

Snail and the Whale

The Gruffalo

Read more books by Lydia Monks here

Titles include

Aaaarrgh Spider

Go Go Gorilla

Mungo Monkey Goes to School

Buy online

Julia Donaldson, David Roberts (illus)
Macmillan Books   
Age 5-7

This is the story of a duckbilled dinosaur egg that lands in a Tyrannosaurus’ nest. Problems begin when the egg hatches and Drip, a vegetarian dinosaur  finds himself surrounded by a family of fierce carnivores. A story about not fitting in, Julia Donaldson’s use of rhyme and rhythm make it great for reading aloud and joining in.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before beginning the story look at the cover together, opening it out to see the whole dinosaur on the front and back cover. Talk about what might happen in the story.

Join in
As you re read the book encourage children to join in with the refrains such as ‘Up with rivers! Down with water!’ And ‘SPLASH!’

Talk about the story
Which pages did children like best? Choose your favourites and discuss them.

Talk about why Drip didn’t fit in and wanted to run away.

Tell the story
Using the pictures in the book or model dinosaurs children could tell the story in their own words.

Watch a video

Watch Julia Donaldson and her husband Malcolm singing a song about Tyrannosaurus Drip here 

Things to make and do

Play the story
Using green and red plasticine or playdough make some duckbilled and tyrannosaurus dinosaurs.

Place a blue cloth on the floor or a table to represent the river and arrange the model dinosaurs on each side. Children can act out parts of the story.

Make a nest of dinosaur eggs
Make a nest out of materials such as twigs, dried grass or screwed up newspaper.

Finely crack some hard boiled eggs, dip in food colouring and peel after a few hours to make mysteriously patterned eggs to put in your nest. See here for more detail: 

Write a menu for Drip
What kind of food would Drip like? Talk about what Drip wanted to eat in the story and other foods he might like. Children could make a menu especially for him.

Find out more

Read more books by Julia Donaldson, titles include:

* The Gruffalo

A Squash and a Squeeze

* Room on the Broom

* The Snail and the Whale

The Stick Man

* See more lovemybooks ideas

Find out more about dinosaurs here, here and here.

See here for more dinosaur themed activities.

Benji Davies
Harper Collins

Age 3-5

This is a beautifully told and illustrated story about a snowflake searching for somewhere to land and a little girl called Noelle who dreams of decorating her own Christmas tree, complete with a star on top, just like the ones she has seen in shop windows. Eventually their stories combine, their wishes come true and Noelle’s makeshift Christmas tree becomes very special indeed. The words and images really evoke the magic of snowflakes dancing as they fall, the excitement of Christmas (particularly a snowy one!) and the pleasure of making your own decorations.

Watch the story read aloud

Share the story

Read Aloud
Before beginning the story look at the cover illustration together talk about what you can see and your child’s experiences of snow. As you read the story, take time to look at the beautiful illustrations.

Join In
When familiar with the story younger children may like to hold a snowflake on a stick to wave for the snowflake dancing. Older children may enjoy joining in with the reading perhaps taking the part of the snowflake or Noelle.

Talk about the Story
Share your favourite illustrations and talk about why you chose them and what you see

Some of the vocabulary may be unfamiliar to your child, for example the snowflake feeling ‘proud’ or the different words to describe its movements – such as ‘swirling’ and ‘drifting.’

Talk about what they mean.Has your child seen snow? Share memories if so and look at photos together.

If you are sharing this book on a snowy day, then wrap up warm and go out to experience it first-hand!

Things to make and do

Make paper snowflakes
Make some paper snowflakes to decorate a room, trying to make each one different.  How to Make a Paper Snowflake! | Project for Kids – YouTube  and here How To Make Frost Paper Snowflakes | Winter Crafts For Kids (penguin.co.uk)

Dance like a snowflake
Dance like a snowflake together – twirling, swirling, drifting, twisting and tumbling talking about the different movements as you do so/.

Decorate a tree
Go for a walk in a wood or a park and look for a twig or small branch which your child could bring home and decorate like Noelle does in the story.

Find out More

Read more books by Benji Davies, we have activity pages for several of these on Lovemybooks:
The Storm Whale
The Storm Whale in Winter
The Grotlyn
Grandad’s Island
Tad
Grandma Bird

Find out more about snowflakes Where Do Snowflakes Come From? – YouTube

The Grotlyn
Benji Davies
Age 5-7

Since hearing an organ tune Rubi has a strange rhyme in her head about a Grotlyn visiting houses at night. Soon she and others in the town report hearing strange noises, sightings, objects disappearing. Rumours about a Grotlyn are spreading. But in the words of the story ‘..don’t be afraid to sleep – to dream! For things are not quite what they seem.’ A mysterious rhyming picture book to cuddle up and share, with just the right amount of spookiness, wonderfully rich illustrations and a surprise ending.

Share the story

Before starting to read the story:

Spend time talking together about the double page spread at the beginning of the book. What can you see in the picture?

Think together about the title and the possible meaning of introductory line ‘I know when the Grotlyn’s been slipping through your house unseen’

Read aloud
Read the story aloud, making sure you are cuddled up close!  Pause to talk about the pictures and what is happening. When you finish reading, look back at the illustrations for clues about what the Grotlyn really is.  It might be fun to read the story in a whisper or read it in the dark using a torch to shine on the pages.

Talk about the story

Talk about the line ‘But what at first we think to be the eye does blindly make us see’

Look at the page of things the Grotlyn stole, were these random or stolen for a reason?

Talk about the final pictures – how are the organ grinder and the monkey feeling?

Watch a trailer

Harper Collins Children’s Book

Things to make and do

Play the story
Together you could pretend to be some of the people who saw the Grotlyn talking about what they saw or heard using words from the story or making up some of your own.

Children could pretend to be a Grotlyn ( or monkey!) creeping through a house and stealing things for their escape plan.

Create a dark den, for example with a blanket covering a table children can create a camp inside and play with a torch.

Draw an escape plan
Children could imagine they are the monkey and plot their escape, what will they need? What will they build? Draw a diagram like the monkey’s picture and add notes to it.

Be a news reporter
Take turns role playing interviews between a reporter and people in the town about what they saw or heard.

Write a news report
Write a news report about the mysterious Grotlyn.

Write a postcard
Write a postcard from the monkey to the organ grinder explaining why he wanted to escape.

Find out more

Read more books by Benji Davies

Titles include

The Storm Whale

The Storm Whale in Winter

Grandad’s Island

On Sudden Hill with Linda Sarah

Goodnight Already with Jory John

Find out about organ grinders and their monkeys, watch a video:

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