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Q Pootle 5

q pootle 5
Nick Butterworth
Harper Collins 
Age 3-5

Q Pootle 5 has crash-landed on earth on his way to the moon. Can any earthlings help to mend his spaceship so he can get to the moon in time for his friend’s party? The inventive drawings show that tin cans can make very effective rocket boosters and the odd hairdryer can have its uses too. This is a book to inspire children’s imaginative play. The book, which touches on the theme of helping others has been animated for Cbeebies.

 

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Share the storyalien5

Read it aloud
Before reading the book look at the cover together, encouraging your child to share their thoughts and ideas about the character and what the story might be about.

Join in
Children will enjoy joining in with the sound effects at the beginning of the book and some of the things the characters say.

Tell the story
After your child has heard the story a few times they could use the pictures to help them tell it themselves, in their own words.

Talk about the book
Talk about the space moon party picture and what you can both see.

Count the aliens at the moon party.


Things to make and do

Make a junk model spaceship for Q Pootle or one of his friends
Collect together some empty cartons and tubs to make an imaginary alien space ship. Bottle caps and lids might make good additional features and yogurt pots or spreadable cheese tubs might be useful as well. You will also need PVA glue and tape.

Have a space tea party
Have fun making ‘space’ food together, this could include star biscuits, and rocket or UFO jelly or cake. Children could invite their toys; perhaps you could go too and enjoy a picnic on the moon! See here for more ideas.

Write an invitation
Print the template and fold it in half so that your child can imagine they are Q Pootle inviting his friends to a party. They can draw a space picture on the outside and complete the information inside.

Find out more

Read more books by Nick Butterworth, titles include:

Q Pootle 5 in Space

Jasper’s beanstalk

Just like Jasper

One Snowy Night

The Nativity Play

The Whisperer

 

Play a game from Q Pootle 5 series on Cbeebies here.

Parents might be interested to read here how the Q Pootle story became a TV animation: