The Wheels on the Bus

We have had lots of fun this week sharing our next book from the author Jan Ormerod . . . 

The bus drives into a wildlife park, and then the fun begins!

When talking about her favourite part afterwards, Kaidence told us that she liked "The bus - cause it looks like a zebra, it's got stripes!"

Zac said "I liked the hippos because they go in mud, and water to get them clean if they go in mud. I've got a hippo at my house!"

Ava told us "I liked the llamas" She thought they looked like "Special sheep".

Beau said "I liked the lemurs, they were funny!"

We would love to hear about your favourite animal if you have visited a wildlife park - post us a comment and let us know!

Over in the Clover

We have been sharing another Jan Ormerod 

book this week . . . 

There were lots of animals to count as we visited different environments including a forest, jungle and desert to 

name but a few!

Sammy O - "I liked the tigers cause they had stripes on them"

Toby - "I liked the puppy dogs because they were cute"

Amelia - "I liked the tadpoles cause they changed into frogs and I liked something else, I liked the kangaroos 

cause they hopped!"

Colby - "I liked the frogs, they went swimming"

Which animals would have been your favourite?

Post us a comment and let us know.

If You're Happy and You Know It!

We have had lots to be happy about this week, and thought that this would be a good choice for our next 

Jan Ormerod book . . . 

It is based on the popular children's rhyme, but has lots of different animals that find an alternative for clapping their hands when they are happy!

Here is a small selection of the animals 

enjoyed by the children:

Jessica - "I liked the dog cause he wagged his tail."

Lucas - "I liked the elephant, he flapped his ears like this." (Lucas showed us!)

Iwa - "I liked the crocodile, he snapped his teeth!"

Alfie D - "I liked the hyena, he was laughing!"

What makes you happy - post us a comment and let us know!

Whoosh around the Mulberry Bush

This week our Jan Ormerod book has taken us to lots of different habitats around the world as well as continuing our focus on different animals!

Zac particularly liked the sandy shore - "Crabs go under water!". He also spotted a fish that he liked in the deep blue sea - "He's like Nemo! He's orange and white"

Further along in the book, Annie told us "We're not in the desert any more, we're in the jungle! I really like the monkey swinging on the vines"

Samuel W enjoyed the next habitat - "I like the crocodile because he's in the waterhole. He's got big sharp teeth!"

Georgia also found a favourite animal at the waterhole - "I liked the zebra because it's got stripes on it"

We would love to hear about your favourite habitat - post us a comment and let us know!

The Animal Bop Won't Stop!

Everyone enjoyed reading 'Doing the Animal Bop' last week, and our second book has been no different, there were lots of smiles and laughter . . . 

We met some more animals and enjoyed finding how they move and joined in with the actions and sound effects!

The giraffe was very popular . . . 

Seth B - "I liked giraffe, it's long"

Hattie - "I liked the giraffe cause it sticked it's tongue out"

But Iwa preferred the lion . . .

"Me liked the lion cause it went 'Raaaaa'!"

Now we're all looking forward to meeting the characters in our next Jan Ormerod book!

Doing the Animal Bop!

As you know, last term we enjoyed sharing a range of traditional tales with the children rather than focusing on one specific author  . . .

This term however, we are going to have a focus on books from Jan Ormerod and Lindsey Gardiner. Our first one features lots of great animals, some of which we have been talking about during our jungle related activities!

Here's what some of the children thought about this lovely rhyming book . . . 

Austeyn - "That's so fun - it's good, it's beautiful!"

Noah - "I liked the monkeys, I love them jumping"

Evie chose the same animal as her favourite - "The monkey - because they were swinging in the trees!"

Christopher had a different favourite, and he shared his knowledge about them with us - "The penguins - because they eat fish, they can go into their snowy home"

Which would you have chosen as your favourite animal?

Post us a comment and let us know! 

There Once Was An Ugly Duckling . . .

As we have been thinking about spring time and new life, we thought that this would be an ideal book to choose for our next traditional tale . . . 

We all felt sorry for the ugly duckling when he ran away and searched for somewhere safe to stay, some of the children thought he would be lonely and sad.

After reading about his adventures through the long and cold winter, we noticed that the ugly duckling was changing and getting bigger . . . 

"He's trying to fly!" (Theo A R)

There was a lovely surprise when we turned the page . . .

"He's grown - he's white!" (Amelia)

It was lovely to see that he had become a beautiful swan and was happy at last.

"I liked the ugly duckling when he was white because he had wings. I liked the little ones too, the yellow ones. And I liked the mum because she had wings too." (Samuel W)

We enjoyed sharing the story together - and Pip told us that she has the song at home!

Do you have a favourite part of the story?

Post us a comment and let us know.

The Three Little Pigs!

We have been sharing different versions of 'The Three Little Pigs' as the focus for our next traditional tale!

This is what some of the children said as we shared 
the story together . . . 

"The three little pigs - they build a house" (Rose)

We all enjoyed joining in with the repetitive text . . . 

"Little pig, little pig let me come in"
"No, no, not by the hair of my chiny chin chin, I will not 
let you in!" (Zara)

"I'll puff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" (Sammy O)

Each pig had used a different material to build 
their house with . . . 

"He's going to blow the bricks but it won't break 
because it's heavy!" (Seth L)

We thought about what the wolf might do . . .

"He's gonna climb down the chimney, see a fire and fly 
into the sky!" (Amelia)

We hope you enjoy this traditional tale as much as we did - we would love to hear about your favourite part.

Post us a comment and let us know!

Puss in Boots!

We all had fun wearing our boots in the snow recently!

The main character in our next traditional tale also 

wore a pair of boots . . . 

The boots belonged to a cat, but he was no ordinary cat!

This is what some of the children said about the story . . .

Oliver - "I liked the king, cause he see the man in the water"

Olivia - "I liked the woodcutter, I liked him cutting the trees"

Zac - "I liked the cat, he be big, he turned the Ogre 

in a mouse!" 

Kaidence - "I liked the mouse part"

Have a read of the story and let us know which your 

favourite part was!

The Giant Pancake!

We have been sharing a traditional tale all about a runaway pancake!

This is what some of the children said when we were talking about the story . . . 

Alana - "When the boys were hungry their mum said 'I'll make you a pancake if you do the washing up'. I think the pancake will fly away!"

Toby - "I liked the pancake - because he rolled off."

Lucas - "He will roll faster, faster!"

Beau - "I liked the cat bit cause he said 'I want to eat you'!"

Zara - "I know what will happen, the pig will eat the pancake. I think that's actually the end isn't it?"

There are many different versions of this story - do you have a favourite one?
Post us a comment and let us know.

Sleeping Beauty!

We have been talking about Goldilocks falling asleep in Baby Bears bed, so this week we thought we would share another traditional story where somebody fell asleep - only this time, it was for 100 years!

Do you know the story of Sleeping Beauty?

Georgia told us . . . 

"The King and Queen had a baby and there 

was a wicked fairy"

Seth L added . . .

"She pricked her finger on a spinning 

wheel" (Sleeping Beauty)

Then Alfie D reminded us what happened at the end. . . 

"The Prince came and kissed her and she waked up and had a party, and got married!"

We all like a happy ending!

Do you have a favourite version of this story? We would love to hear from you - let us know!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

This week we have been sharing different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears!

After Goldilocks had eaten the porridge and broken the chair, Annie predicted that she would . . . 

"Go to the bedroom - cause she's tired" 

She told us that Goldilocks would . . . 

"Sleep - in Baby Bear's bed!"

Georgia said . . . 

"Goldilocks eat all of the porridge, she sleeped in their beds"

We talked about what might happen next . . . 

"The bears might eat her! Because Goldi broke Baby Bear's chair and eat all the porridge!" (Alfie T)

"Goldilocks will run away because the bears will try and get her!" (Samuel W)

Theo M R told us the bears . . . 

"Shout! They try to wake her up"

Jessica said . . .

"Goldilocks runned away because she feels sad"

Have you read lots of different versions of the story?

Which one was your favourite?

Post us a comment and let us know!

Little Red Riding Hood!

This term we are going to be sharing a range of traditional tales rather than focusing on one specific author.
We have started with the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

We have read two different versions this week. 

The children loved spotting the wolf in the wood - 
"He's sneaking up on her!" (Pip)

In the first version we read, Grandma hid in the cupboard -  "Because she's scared, because the wolf knocked" (Sophie)

We talked about which part of the story the children 
enjoyed most of all - 
"The bit when he was trying to put the glasses on cause he looked like Grandma" (Jackson)

"He's pretending to be her grandma!" (Beau)

"I loved Little Red Riding Hood - cause Little Red Riding Hood made her grandma better" (Amelia)

Now we are looking forward to reading some alternative versions next week!
What happens in your favourite version of the story?
Post us a comment and let us know.

Stick Man

Our final Julia Donaldson book for the term has 

been Stick Man . . . 

Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three . . . 

Ava - "I liked the Stick Man's house"

One day he wakes early and goes for a jog . . . 

Sophie - "I liked the Stick Man running"

Poor Stick Man kept being mistaken for a stick and was picked up and used for many different things - including a mast for the flag on a castle at the beach!

Noah - "I liked Stick Man when he was in the sandcastle."

After many adventures, Stick Man was picked up and placed in the grate of a fireplace - when he was suddenly woken by Santa getting stuck in the chimney!

Amelia - "I loved Santa, he came out of the fireplace and took Stick Man to his bed."

They set off together to make some special deliveries. 

Oliver - "I liked the bit when Santa brings presents." 

Then Santa took Stick Man home so that he could be safe once again with his family.

Christopher - "I liked the Stick Man children - it makes me quite happy!"

We hope you enjoyed the story as much as we did - and now the children are all eagerly awaiting to see if Santa 

visits them too!

The Gruffalo's Child

The Gruffalo was a firm favourite with the children so we have been sharing the lovely  story of 'The Gruffalo's Child'.

We enjoyed the story book so much that this week we are going to share the 'sound book' version!

Christopher - "I like the big, big Gruffalo because it's really scary!"

Zara remembered lots of detail from the story . . . 

"The orange mouse had a nut and the big, big Gruffalo had orange eyes and the Big Bad Mouse had a nut over his shoulder and there's footprints in the snow and the owl had orange eyes as well and the snake was in his logpile house. There was slithers in the snow. The Big Bad Mouse was down by the lake eating gruffalo cake!"

Zac - "I like the Big Bad Mouse - he had a shadow"

We would love to hear which was your favourite part of the story - post us a comment and let us know.

Night Monkey, Day Monkey

We have been talking about the night sky recently and thought that this would be a great book to share next from 

Julia Donaldson . . . 

Night Monkey and Day Monkey's worlds are as different as . . . night and day! What one fears, the other loves.

Zara - "The moon was shining bright and the orange one and the brown one, they were looking at the moon."

Georgia - "I liked the girl monkey cause she had a 

star in her hair."

Toby - "I liked it when they rubbed their eyes cause 

they were sleepy."

Kaidence - "The monkeys get bananas."

The children loved joining in with the repetitive text 'Don't be daft' - but we would love to hear what your favourite part 

of the story was.

Post us a comment and let us know!

Room on the Broom

Some of the children have been telling us about their costumes for Halloween - so we thought this would be a good choice for our next Julia Donaldson book!

'The witch had a cat
and a very tall hat,
And long ginger hair
which she wore in a plait.'

We loved sharing this rhyming story, and afterwards the children shared their thoughts.

Here are just a few of them . . . 

Serenna - "The bow came off. She had it in her hair. The wind blowed it off."

Noah - "The witch flied and then her broom broke and she fell in the water."

Sammy O - "There was a dragon."

Annie - "The dragon carried the witch. He smoked fire. He's got smoke from his nose."

As well as reading the book, we watched and listened to the song - we thought you might like to see and hear it too!

       

Which was your favourite part of the story?

Post us a comment and let us know!

The Gruffalo

We have been sharing another Julia Donaldson story - and as anticipated, this one was very popular!

'A mouse took a stroll 

through the deep dark wood.

The fox saw the mouse

and the mouse looked good.'

When Fox invited Mouse to come and have lunch with him in his underground house, the quick-thinking mouse told him he was going to have lunch with a gruffalo - and his favourite food was roasted fox!

"The fox is scared!" - Amelia

After the fox had sped away, Mouse met an owl and a snake - and he continued to develop his description of the gruffalo . . . 

"His eyes are orange" - Georgia

"He's big - purple prickles on his back" - Kaidence

And then Mouse came face to face with the Gruffalo!

"The Gruffalo said the mouse looked good to eat on some toast!" - Zara

We won't tell you what happened next as we don't want to spoil the story - but have a read of the book yourself and let us know what you think! 

Monkey Puzzle

This is our second Julia Donaldson book - we have loved sharing the story together . . . 

"There's a monkey in the story. He lost his mum. There's a snake in the story" (Annie)

"There's lots of animals - a frog and a snake and a bat. The monkey can't find his mum" (Lucas)

"The butterfly finds the elephant and finds the snake, and finds the bat" (Toby)

"I liked the butterfly because she talked" (Jessica)

Zac became very involved in the story - he asked questions and made lots of comments as we progressed through the book!

"Is it going to be another elephant?"

"That's a big parrot, he's got wings!"

"That's his whole family - I want to draw the monkey's family" (Zac)

"I liked the daddy monkey because he was bringing the baby monkey home!" (Alfie D)

We thought you would enjoy the story too:

Post us a comment and tell us about your favourite part!

Tyrannosaurus Drip!

This term we are going to have Julia Donaldson as our focus author. She has written lots of wonderful stories and the first one that we decided to share was a dinosaur one! 

'In a swamp beside a river, where the land was thick with veg,

Lived a herd of duckbill dinosaurs who roamed the 

water's edge.'

'Now across the rushy river, on a hill the other side,

Lived a mean Tyrannosaurus with his grim and grisly bride.'

A duckbill egg ended up in the Tyrannosaurus nest!

"I like the egg one, it hatched!" (Sophie)

"There were little dinosaurs from the nest" (Seth L)

The baby duckbill dinosaur was very different to the others in the nest - his sisters found a name for him - 

'Tyrannosaurus Drip'!

Feeling sad and lonely, he decided to run away and saw a lovely sight, a herd of duckbill dinosaurs all 

hooting with delight.

That night a storm blew down a tree, and acted as a bridge.

The four Tyrannosauruses tried to cross it but were frightened by their reflections in the water - dad jumped into the air and landed with a crash - the tree bridge broke and they all went 'SPLASH!'

The children thought this was a very funny part of the story: 

"When the tree broke" (Sammy O)

"When they were flushed away in the water" (Olivia)

'And the duckbills hooted happily, they hooted 'Hip hip hip . . .  

Hooray for the heroic, one-and-only Duckbill Drip!'

"I liked the hooting bit at the end" (Samuel W)

Did you have a favourite part of the story?

Post us a comment and let us know!