The Littlest Yak                                                          
Lu Fraser, ill. Kate Hindley
Simon and Schuster
Age 3-5

Gertie lives on top of a mountain with her herd of yaks, where she is very good at gripping onto the steep mountain sides. However, Gertie isn’t happy, she is the littlest yak in her herd and just can’t wait to be big.

One day Gertie finds her ‘smallness’ comes in useful when she is asked to rescue an even teenier yak stuck on a narrow ledge. Gertie bravely saves the day and finds out that you can have ‘bigness’ inside even if you are small on the outside.

An appealing, rhyming story with delightful illustrations about not being in too much of a hurry to grow up that shows that sometimes being small can have its advantages.   

Click here to watch the story read aloud

Share the story

Read Aloud
Read the story aloud to your child.

Join in
When your child is familiar with the story encourage them to join in – perhaps with the rhyming words or the dialogue..’

Talk about the book
▪︎Talk about Gertie and how she feels at the beginning and end of the story.
▪︎ Share your favourite illustrations
▪︎ See if anything puzzles your child, for example the idea that you can have ‘bigness’ inside if you are small on the outside.

Things to make and do

There are lots of size words in the story – big, bigger, biggest, huge, humungous, tall, small, little, littlest, teeniest. Use these words when you are chatting with your child indoors or out and about.

▪︎ You could collect together some soft toys or figurines and organise them in size order. Which is the teeniest/tiniest? Which is the biggest? Can you find something huge?

▪︎ Collect together photos of your child as a baby, toddler and at different ages. Talk about what they could do when they were little and what they can do now. Talk about what they will be able to do, or would like to do, when they are older and bigger. You could also have pictures of yourself when you were a baby and child and do the same thing.

▪︎ Make a model yak – use a cardboard tube perhaps stuffed with paper. Glue thick light coloured wool or curls of paper on its back. Cut a head from a piece of card or felt and stick it on….

▪︎ Make a mountainous home for the Littlest yak in an old tray or, if you have it, a builders tray. Use pebbles or small rocks for the mountains. You could make ice together in different shaped containers such as small bowls or cups and fake snow. And twigs and plastic animals to represent the yaks.

Find out More

Read another book by author Lu Fraser:

The Littlest Yak – The New Arrival also illustrated by Kate Hindley

One Camel Called Doug illustrated by Sarah Warburton

Find out about yaks – watch the video

Talk about other animals that are similar to yaks such as different cattle or sheep. Using photos or videos of yaks, talk about how they are adapted to their tough environment – thick woollen coat, gripping hooves, strong limbs, hard horns etc. If you can, visit a zoo or children’s farm that have yaks or similar related animals.

Find out more about wool and how it keeps you warm.
Collect together clothes that are made of wool. See how warm they keep you and make you feel. If you can collect some raw wool from a children’s farm or from a country walk, perhaps stuck to a fence by a field (nb wash hands thoroughly after handling the raw wool). Explain to your child how the wool is collected from the yak and sheep, cleaned, dyed and made into woollen strands

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NEW BOOKS AND ACTIVITY PAGES

OUR TOP 10 BOOKS FOR BABY’S BOOKSHELF

OUR NEW FOCUS BOOK

Our new book in focus is A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
Little Star makes a great big moon cake with Mama. Mama places it in the night sky and tells Little Star she mustn’t touch it. But the delicious moon cake is just too tempting….
A delectable picture book full of warmth and love with lots of opportunities for talk about the moon.

Cassie shared the book with her family and enjoyed making playdough mooncakes and even baking some edible ones. She loves the page with the big moon and the one where Little Star is eating the delicious moon. She said it reminds her of making yummy things with her mummy.

Visit our activity page
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OUR NEW POSTCARD AND POSTER

Download postcard front and back, download poster

Puppet: new book by David Almond

When Silvester the puppet maker stops performing and donates his puppets and materials to a museum he cannot resist making one last puppet; it is a labour of love. Amazingly the puppet shows signs of life – he learns to walk and even utters a word or two. He is just like the son Silvester never had. When Silvester meets Fleur, a little girl as passionate about puppet making as he is, he realises he has found someone to continue his legacy. Together they create one last magical puppet show.

This is a story brimming with warmth and wonder, celebrating the power of imagination, the magic of storytelling and the cycle of life. 
See our activity page
Buy the book

Watch David Almond talking about Puppet

MESSAGE TO PARENTS FROM SONIA THOMPSON, BIRMINGHAM HEADTEACHER

Sue McGonigle from Lovemybooks recently interviewed Sonia Thompson, Head Teacher of St Matthews C of E Primary School, Birmingham. See whole video
See Sonia’s message to parents below.

TYGER by SF SAID WINS CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR

Congratulations to TYGER by SF Said, illustrated by DaveMcKean, which is winner of Book of the Year: Children’s Fiction at the British Book Awards. All the judges agreed that the book already “felt like a classic”.

SF Said says ‘I put 9 long, hard years of my life into writing TYGER because I believe children’s books are the most important books of all. So it was beyond incredible to see it win Children’s Book Of The Year at the #BritishBookAwards. Thank you @thebookseller @theweekjunior & the judges!!!’
See our Tyger activity page

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR PATRONS 🧡 🧡 🧡

Award for Michael Rosen
Congratulations to Lovemybooks’ patron Michael Rosen on winning the prestigious Pen Pinter prize for his fearless body of work including his writing for children. Ruth Borthwick one of the judges said Rosen has “championed a way of writing for children which reflects their everyday worlds, using humour and wordplay to validate their imaginative ways of thinking and being”, said judge and chair of English PEN, Ruth Borthwick. Read more here: Author Michael Rosen wins 2023 PEN Pinter prize for ‘fearless’ body of work | Books | The Guardian

The Island of Brilliant
Interested in children’s books? Another of our wonderful patrons Frank Cottrell Boyce has launched a great podcast with author illustrator Nadia Shireen entitled The Island of Brilliant The Island of Brilliant! | a podcast by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Nadia Shireen (podbean.com)

SF SAID
SF was appointed writer in residence at Booktrust in March.
See Writer in Residence at BookTrust: SF Said | BookTrust

DAVID ALMOND
David received an OBE for services to Literature in April. He has also received two international prizes this year, the Nonino International prize one of Italy’s most prestigious literary prizes and the James Kruss prize awarded to a living author of children’s and YA books distinguished by linguistic brilliance originality imaginative storytelling and cosmopolitanism.

Visit our activity page for David Almond’s Tale of Angelino Brown and The Boy who Climbed into the Moon

JOSEPH COELHO
We are utterly delighted to announce that award-winning poet, playwright and author Joseph Coelho is the brand new Waterstones Children’s Laureate!

JULIAN GRENIER
Julian receives a CBE in the Jubilee Honours list. He is a Headteacher and National Leader of Education and one of our first patrons. Julian is a dedicated pioneer in early years education and has a particular focus on young children’s communication and early literacy. He has a doctorate in education (EdD).
Julian now works as part of Ofsted.

Julian blogs at www.juliangrenier.blogspot.co.uk You can follow him @juliangrenieR

WELCOME TO LOVE MY BOOKS

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* Topics and themes…
Our specially chosen books are arranged in topics and themes that young children love, with ideas for ways to share the books and lots of exciting things to do Read more…

* Books for different age groups
Find books for children aged 0-3, 3- 5, 5-7, 7-11 Read more

* Our Top 10 book lists
Whether you want to find out about exciting new picture books, alphabet books, folk and fairy tales or story apps you’ll find them here in our Top 10 books sections Read more…

Lizzy Stewart
Frances Lincoln
Age 5-7

Nora is bored. Grandma suggests she should go into the garden, she might see dragonflies, a grumpy polar bear or even a tiger there! Nora is very sceptical about this idea but goes into the garden anyway. In no time at all she finds Grandma is right, even about the tiger! But is it real?

This is an enjoyable story which shows the fun you can have if you use your imagination. It may lead to speculation about the tiger and polar bear and where they came from, or perhaps imagining what other amazing creatures might be in your own garden or nearby park.

Watch the story on CBeebies read by Tom Hardy

Share the story

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

Join in
There are lots of conversations in the story and these would be great to read together when your child is familiar with the story.  You could talk about reading the words in bold print in a louder voice.

Talk about the story
◼︎Choose a favourite page/scene and talk about them together
◼︎Talk about Nora’s feelings at different points in the story
◼︎Talk about whether Nora really saw the animals in the garden or imagined them.
◼︎Nora poses an interesting question – how can she tell she is real? Have a discussion about this.

Things to make and do

Play the story
If you have a garden hide some toy animals to be discovered by your child. If you don’t have a garden you could use a space at home, imagine it’s a garden and hide toys there. Explore together finding the toy animals and have imaginary conversations with them. You could choose the same creatures as the story or different ones.

Tell a story
Make up a story together about the polar bear or tiger. You could get this going by pretending you are either the tiger or polar bear and encourage your child to ask you questions eg where do you come from, How did you get here? Then take it in turns to tell the story of your chosen animal. If your child would like to they could write and illustrate the story in a mini book.

Paint or draw a picture
Paint or draw a colourful picture of Nora’s garden, with some of the creatures she discovers there.

Make collage dragonflies
Look back at the page with the colourful dragonflies. Count how many you can see and look at their different patterns.

Collect a few glossy magazines together tear out a few colourful pages and encourage your child to cut out wing shapes to stick on card adding bodies heads and antennae to create dragonflies. If you make several together you could cut out the insects and hang them on a coat hanger.  

Find out more

See our ideas for two other stories about tigers:

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

Tiger Walk by Dianne Hofmeyr and Jesse Hodgson

Read another picture book by Lizzy Stewart:

The Way to Treasure Island

Juniper Jupiter

Eileen Browne 
Walker Books                             
Age 3-7

This clever, simple story, set in Kenya, tells of Handa’s journey from her home to her friend’s village with a present of fruit that she has picked specially. On her way, and without her knowing, different animals each take a fruit until there is nothing left in her basket and no surprise for her friend. All is solved when a goat charges at a nearby tree, and provides a big surprise for Handa!

Share the story

Read aloud Before reading the book, encourage children to look at the cover and to talk about the characters and what they think is happening. Have they seen food being carried like this? Then read through the story, pausing to talk about the pictures and what will happen next. What would they like to happen in the end?

Join in As you read and reread the book, encourage children to join in where they can. Their confidence and enjoyment will build as you revisit the book together and children become more familiar with the story and story language.

Talk about the story Talk together about which part of the story children like best and why. What do they know that Handa doesn’t? How would they feel if they discovered all their fruit had gone? Why do they think the book is called ‘Handa’s Surprise’? Is there more than one reason?

Tell the story Using the pictures, children can turn the pages and retell the story in their own words.

Watch the story

From Ceip La Maquina 

Things to make and do

Act it out Children can use animal toys and real or pretend fruit to act out the story. They can also make up their own using different fruits and animals.

Make a zigzag book Using card or paper, children can make a zigzag book and draw the story with each scene of the story on a different page. Then they can add their own writing to tell the story, using the repeated phrases, or in their own words.

Draw a fruit Children can choose one of the fruits Handa carries to her friend and draw it in as much detail as possible, choosing colours carefully and noticing  patterns and textures. Children can peel or cut into the fruit to see the shapes and seeds. Afterwards they can eat it!

Balance a basket How easy is it to walk carrying something on your head? Using a small basket with a few soft items, or a cushion, children can practice walking without holding their load on their heads. This can become a game, with someone trying to take an item without being noticed.

Find out more

Read more books by Eileen Browne, titles include:

Handa’s Hen

Wait and See

No Problem

Tick Tock

Handa’s Surprising Day

Wait for Me!

Up the Tree

Other related books you and your child might enjoy:

We’re Going on a Lion Hunt by David Axtell

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema

For an A-Z of Fruit see Eating the Alphabet By Lois Ehlert (see Our Top Ten Alphabet Books)

Find out more about Kenyan animals here.

Edward Gibbs
Brubaker, Ford & Friends
Age 3-5

A valuable lesson in patience! Little acorn has to fend off all the woodland animals who want to eat it. Acorn promises them that, by leaving it to grow into a mighty oak tree, they will have plenty of acorns to eat year after year. Time passes and, true to his word, the final flap delivers the welcome surprise. A simple, beautifully illustrated, picturebook with an important message and a memorable ending.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before reading the book, encourage children to look at the cover and to talk about what they think is happening. Have they seen an acorn? Do they know what it is? Then read through the story, pausing to talk about the pictures. What would children like to happen in the end?

Join in
As you read reread the book, encourage children to join in where they can. Their confidence and enjoyment will build as you revisit the book together.

Talk about the story
Talk together about which part of the story children like best and why. Why do they think the animals agreed to leave the acorn alone? Have they ever had to wait for something they really want? How does it feel? Was it good to wait

Tell the story
Using the pictures, children can turn the pages and retell the story in their own words.

Things to make and do

Act it out
Children can use animal toys and real or pretend acorns to act out the story and make up their own.

Make an animal colour chart
Using coloured or painted card or paper squares, children can draw and cut out animal shapes from the story and  glue them to a sheet of paper. Then they can label them eg white mouse. Are there any other woodland animals they can add, using more colours?

Plant a seed
Plant an acorn or other seeds in a flowerpot and place on the windowsill to watch it grow.
Keep a diary or calendar of the plant’s growth. Children can draw, describe and measure the height of the plant. When grown, it will be interesting for them to see the plant seed and roots.

Make leaf prints
Collect fallen leaves when out for a walk. Can you find any oak leaves? Using water-based paint and a brush, children can paint  oak leaves, then print them onto a piece of paper. They can use a paper towel to press the leaf onto the paper. Children could try to make a pattern by making several prints.

Find out more

Read more books by  author/illustrator Edward Gibbs here

Titles include:

I Spy on the farm

I Spy under the sea

I Spy with my little eye

I Spy in the Sky

Big

Little Bee

Read other related books:

Hello, Goodbye! by David Lloyd, Louise Voce (illustrator) about life in a tree.

Find out more about Acorns

The life of an acorn filmed by Neil Brumhall

We’ve listed more than 10 information books – there are so many wonderful books for children aged 0-7. Young children enjoy information books as well as listening to stories – and these books and well written with wonderful illustrations

Sarah Baker, a parent,  tells  the story of her son Freddie as he develops as a reader.

October 2015

Sarah writes:
We started reading to our baby when I was about 7 months pregnant. Partly as a bonding exercise (I’d read a piece on how babies can recognise their mum and dad’s voices) and partly because we’d already been given some lovely books and I wanted to revisit some of my childhood favourites.

Now he’s five months and we’ve been reading to Freddie ever since. It’s his dad’s turn at night for the last story of the day, usually a quiet one as part of his bedtime routine, but once morning comes around, it’s my turn and that’s when the activities start.

One of our favourites is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s bright, the pictures are wonderful and the little holes are brilliant for tiny fingers to poke through and help turn the pages or pretend to be a caterpillar. At five months, Freddie is more of a listener than a reader, but in time we’ll get a little more interactive and try some of the brilliant suggestions on the Love My Books website.

As a writer for children and a voracious reader, I’m keen to encourage Freddie’s early love of books (whether listening to them or biting them) and the Love My Books website is a brilliant resource of both fun and educational activities to support that. They also have lots of book suggestions, some of which we didn’t know, so we’ve already ordered more. I foresee very happy times ahead (and not just for me!)

I look forward to working through the age group books and activities with Love My Books and our very own hungry caterpillar.

December 2015

Sarah writes:
Freddie’s already developing a real love for his favourites.

A few weeks ago, Freddie began crawling. He went from one side of the living room to the other, and right up to the bookshelves. There he began to pull out a few books before turning to me with a smile. I could not have been more proud. Now this has become part of our daily routine, and storytime by the bookshelves is as much fun for him as it is for his mum and dad.

Now he’s a little older, we’ve started including some of the activities Love My Books suggest on their website. We’ll often read one book a second time or point out little picture details as we go. We talk about the book and, when it comes to one of his new favourites, Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear by Emily Gravett, we’ve used real pieces of fruit to tell the story (which he found delicious).

We continue to find that the Love My Books website is a brilliant resource of both fun and educational activities. They also have lots of book suggestions, which would make brilliant Christmas presents!

March 2016
Freddie age 1 Year

Sarah writes:
Freddie turned one this month and his love of books is still going strong. He got quite a lot of book presents (the best kind of presents) and we read one or two, sometimes more each day. He’s now learned to turn the pages, though not necessarily at the right time, which often makes for interesting storytelling.

Freddie definitely has his favourites. These are the rhyming stories, the ones we can do actions to, the ones where I voice the characters, the ones where he can really join in. Reading books has become an interactive activity for us and it’s a source of endless giggles when I do the singing bits or we fly around the house, making room on our very own broom. (Room on the Broom LINK)

Two books we’ve really enjoyed lately are:

 Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs!  by Kaye Umansky and Nick Sharratt

We’re big dinosaur fans in this house and the stomping and chomping is always fun. Freddie’s also recently learned to roar so I’m encouraging that at every opportunity.

Train! By Judi Abbott

This is a very funny book, which makes Freddie (and me) laugh every time we shout ‘Train!’ whether we’re reading or playing with our own little train set (carriages currently filled with toy animals, a car and what looks like a very hipster farmer). We’re planning a train trip of our own soon to see a friend in Edinburgh and I’m expecting a few shouts of ‘Train!’ as we travel. Sorry about that everyone…

March 2017
Freddie age 2 years

Sarah writes:
Freddie is 2 years old and his love of books grows with him. We have story time every day, usually after breakfast, and always before bed. Reading is something we do together. Freddie’s clear about which stories he likes and now refers to them by their title. He’s also started reciting bits of his favourites back to me during the day, so we both seem to be learning them off by heart.

Two of his current favourites are Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Freddie turns the pages so he’s in charge of how fast or slow we read. We’ve begun to pause a little, taking time to talk about ‘what’s going to happen next,’ using the space to discuss the fox following Rosie. We count the items The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats and Freddie names them. As these are favourite books, we read them over and over, and I often suggest to Freddie that he read them to me and he really enjoys telling me his version of what’s going on. He’s also become very interested in the words themselves, asking me what a particular word ‘says’ and then repeating it. It’s astonishing and magical to watch.

September 2018
Freddie’s dinosaur adventures

Author and parent Sarah Baker continues her son Freddie’s reading journey. Freddie is now 3 and Dinosaur stories are a big hit. This is what Sarah has to say:

‘We love dinosaurs and we love dinosaur books. We currently have four favourites, which we read again and again, and they inspire a lot of play too.’

Dinosaur Roar! by Paul Stickland & Henrietta Stickland

Published in association with the Natural History Museum (one of our favourite places to hang out), dinosaurs of every shape, size and colour feature in this fantastic picture book. We take it in turns to do our very own dinosaur squeak or roar and usually end up with a good stomp around the house…

See our activity page here 

…which leads me to Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs! By Kaye Umanksy & Nick Sharratt. With its bright illustrations and fantastic rhyming story, it’s perfect for stomping, chomping toddlers. We name the dinosaurs, talk about their different shapes, sizes and colours, and make our very own T-Rex stomp and roar about (when he’s not busy reading).

See our activity page here 

Dinosaurs and all that rubbish by Michael Foreman is a classic tale that introduces the concept of the environment, what we do with our rubbish and saving the planet. We talk a lot about where water comes from, where rubbish goes, for example. Freddie enjoys sorting the recycling (along with T-Rex), switches off lights whenever they’re on “to save energy, Mummy,” and loves helping to plant seeds in the garden and water the plants we’re growing.

See our activity page here 

If I Had a Dinosaur by Alex Barrow & Gabby Dawnay is a recent addition to our collection and we love it. Imagine having a dinosaur?! It’s such a fun story that inspires us to talk about what we’d do with a dinosaur in our house. Would he fit into the kitchen? Where would he sleep? What would he eat? The dinosaur poo page always gets a big laugh and imagining what our dinosaur would look like has inspired Freddie to draw her (it’s a her, she’s called ‘Marie’)

Here are some other Dinosaur books we love:

T-Veg (the story of a carrot crunching dinosaur) by Smriti Prasadam-Halls & Katherina Manolessou, Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland, Dinosaur Beach by Frann Preston-Gannon, Dino Diggers Digger Disaster by Rose Impey & Chris Chatterton and Toot Goes to Dinosaurland by Catherine and Laurence Anholt. Happy Reading!

Sarah Baker is a children’s author. Her novel for 8-12 year olds, Through the Mirror Door, is available now.

Website:         bysarahbaker.com

Twitter:           @bysarahbaker

Instagram:      @bysarahbaker

Pinterest:        pinterest.com/bysarahbaker

Anthony Browne
Corgi
Age 3-7

In this picture book a young boy describes his dad and all the amazing things he can do, from walking a tightrope to fighting giants. Dad is funny and wise and most important of all, loving.

This is a book which celebrates the love between a father and son. All the highly imaginative boasting show just how much this young child admires his father. The pictures are colourful and full of detail and humour giving lots to talk about together.

Share the story

Read aloud

Before you start reading the book aloud look at the cover, what might this dad be doing? Can you make that face too?

Read the story aloud to your child, taking time to talk about the pictures as you do when your child would like to.

Talk about the book

Talk about anything your child is puzzled by, this may be phrases such as ‘daft as a brush’ or the very strange things happening in the pictures, eg tartan toast, dad always in his dressing gown, dad with the head of an owl or turned into a fish.

Children might notice the fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters in two of the illustrations: Hey Diddle Diddle (see link to a video version of this below) and Red Riding Hood

Watch the story

From:Book Worm Squirm

Things to make and do

Make faces
Can you make funny faces together like the one dad is making on the cover or other funny faces? Children could look in a mirror to see what they look like.

Act the story
Take turns choosing a page to mime some of the things we find out about dad eg that he can walk a tightrope. See if you can guess what dad is doing each time.

Play a word game
Play a word game together taking turns to boast about (an imaginary) dad. My dad is as fast as a ….. My dad is as big as a….. My dad is so clever he can….etc.

Play a card game
Print off the game sheet onto paper or card. Cut into individual cards. Read the word cards to your child and match with the pictures together. Then muddle them up  and see if your child can read the word cards themselves, helping them if they need you to (by for example matching with the words in the book) and then pairing with the pictures.

Make a book
Talk about all the things your child’s dad, grandad or uncle can do, this could be true (eg my dad is a wonderful cook or great at reading stories) or very imaginative! Children could make a zigzag book about their dad with a picture and sentence on each page.

Find out more

Picture book maker Anthony Browne has written a huge number of wonderful picturebooks with a highly distinctive style. Titles include:

My Mum

My Brother

Voices in the Park

I like Books

Willy’s Stories

One Gorilla (see our top ten counting books)

Watch an animation of the rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle see here

Delia Huddy, Emily Sutton (illus)
Walker
Age 5-7+

A little fir tree is planted in a forest but, cramped for space, grows lopsided, unlike the other trees which grow tall and strong. One December the little fir tree is cut down along with many of the other trees and taken to the city to be sold. Although the other trees quickly find homes, no one seems to want the little fir tree, until, just as the shops are closing on Christmas Eve, a small boy asks the shop keeper if he can have the little tree no one else wants.

 The little fir tree has an unexpectedly joyful Christmas with an unlikely group of people and afterwards finds a permanent home in a park where he grows strong and sturdy, enjoyed by everyone.

 This is a delightfully illustrated Christmas story, reminiscent of Hans Anderson’s classic tale, The Little Fir Tree in which we meet some unexpected characters living on the city streets. A story which explores the idea of the spirit of Christmas; that goodwill, caring and fun is more important than expensive presents.  The importance of looking after living things is included too; even weak looking plants can thrive if cared for.

Share the story

Before you start reading the story talk together about the cover illustration and what might happen in the story.

Read aloud
Read the beginning of the story aloud, pausing to talk about the illustrations. Can you spot the little fir tree in the forest? Talk about what you can see in the shop window.  Pause again after the boy is given the fir tree, and has planted it in a box. What would children like to happen next?

Talk some more about the story
After you finish the story, ask children if anything surprise them. They may wonder about people living on the streets for example. If they are anxious about the homeless boy you could talk about what they would like to happen to him after the story ends.

Share your favourite parts of the story/or favourite illustration.

Join in
When you read the book again children could join in with parts, for example the page which shows what happens to all the trees and the conversation between the shop keeper and the boy.

 
Things to make and do

Paint a picture
Paint a picture of the Christmas tree. When it is dry decorate with small shapes cut from colourful or shiny paper.

Decorate a tree
Find a small branch from a fir tree or twig from another kind of tree. ‘Plant’ it in a flower pot with earth or sand and make decorations to hang on it, perhaps from scraps of shiny paper.

Make a map
Draw a big map of the places in the story showing the little fir tree’s journey from the forest to the city and the park.

Go for a walk in the park
Go to the local park together and talk about the trees you can see. What kinds of trees are there? (*See the forestry commission guide link below) Are there any like the little fir tree? Perhaps you could make up a story together about one of the trees together.

Find out more

The illustrator, Emily Sutton demonstrates how to draw the Christmas Eve Tree.

Find out more about trees:

Here is a tree chart

Find out more about the history of Christmas trees

You could read parts of this webpage with your child and talk about some of the facts:

Buy here

Chris Hadfield, The Fan Brothers (illus)
Macmillan
Age 5-7

This book is about a young boy called Chris with a vivid imagination. He dreams of flying to the moon in his own spaceship. However Chris often doesn’t sleep, he is afraid of the dark and imagines his bedroom is full of scary aliens.

One exciting night he goes to a neighbour’s house to watch the first moon landings live on TV. Chris is amazed at how dark space is, the darkest dark ever, much darker than his bedroom and very, very beautiful. Chris is no longer afraid of the dark and he dreams of really becoming an astronaut.

Set in 1969, this story about the wonders of Space, fears of the dark and dreams for the future is co-authored by the first Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and based on his childhood experiences. It includes information pages about Chris and photographs and is stunningly illustrated by the Fan Brothers. Guaranteed to inspire young astronauts of the future and all space enthusiasts.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before beginning to read the story to your child look at the cover and then the initial double page scene. Talk together about what might happen in the story. Read the story aloud allowing time to look closely at the detailed illustrations.

There is lots to talk about and discuss in this story and it is worth sharing more than once.

Share the information about Chris at the back of the book together and look at the photographs.

Talk about the story
When you read the story again see what you can spot in the illustrations, for example all the things in Chris’s bedroom including the number of aliens.

Look closely at the picture of the first men on the moon and talk together about what children can see. What would they like to find out more about?

Share your favourite illustrations.

Talk about Chris’s fear of the dark, have children ever felt like that? What helps to reassure them?

Talk about the fact this book is based on a real person.

Watch a trailer

 Things to make and do

Make a rocket from large boxes
Collect some large boxes and make a rocket together.  Your child could play in the rocket imagining they are taking off for space.

Walk on the moon
In a large space inside or outside do some moon walking with light bouncy steps. This is more fun if you do it together!

Look at the night sky
If possible, look at the night sky together, how dark is it? Can you see anything in the night sky eg the moon, stars or any planets?

Paint a picture of the darkest dark
Use black paints or crayons and paint a picture of the ‘darkest dark.’ Draw coloured pictures of the planets, stars or constellations like those illustrated in the book on separate paper. When the black night sky is dry cut out the moon, stars and planets and stick them on the background to make a darkest dark space picture.

Make a zig zag information book
Make your own mini zig zag book about a real astronaut, Chris Hadfield, Tim Peake, Neil Armstrong or perhaps another. The links below may help you to find information.

Find out more

Find out about author and astronaut Chris Hadfield here

Find out about British astronaut Tim Peake here 

To find out more about the first moon landings see our slide show of images

Look at our activity page for On the Moon

Or this website about the Apollo 11 mission 

Buy here