The Gruffalo

Having enjoyed our Autumnal experience beneath the trees, we thought this next Julia Donaldson book would be a great one to share!

Lots of children were already familiar with the story and enjoyed joining in with the parts they could remember!

We talked about what the Gruffalo was like . . . 

Wanda liked his orange eyes!

"I like his big teeth" (Mia)

Grace told us "The Gruffalo's going to put the mouse inside a sandwich!"

When we had finished reading the story, Finley said "I liked the owl - Gruffalo scared him off!"

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

The Scarecrows' Wedding

As part of our Harvest celebrations, we have been thinking about the scarecrows that help to keep the produce safe from the birds - and this story from Julia Donaldson seemed to be an ideal choice for our next focus author book!

Betty O'Barley and Harry O'Hay were scarecrows - they planned to have a wedding, the best wedding yet, a wedding that no one will ever forget!

They made a list of the things they would need on the day and went on a hunt round the farm - lots of the animals helped them along the way. 

Cherry said she liked it "When the cows shaked their bells for the scarecrow"

Isabel told us "The snail followed the old man"

But the snail was so slow . . . it took more than a day. The farmer came by with a frown on his face, and he made a new scarecrow to take Harry's place.

Georgia - "I liked it when the scarecrow found another scarecrow"

But Reginald Rake accidently started a fire - Betty was in danger as the flames flickered higher.

Then Harry arrived just in time - Jaydn told us "He put the water on the fire"

Having saved Betty's life, now they could at last become husband and wife!

We hope you enjoy reading the complete story - and finding out who helped them with all the items on their list.

Have you been to a wedding? We would love to hear all about it. Post us a comment and let us know! 

What the Ladybird Heard

The Gingerbread Man met some different animals during his adventure - which ended with the sly old fox!

We thought the children would enjoy meeting some more animals - in fact a whole farmyard of them - in this great story from Julia Donaldson . .  .

Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len have a cunning plan to steal the farmer's fine prize cow. But they reckon without the tiniest, quietest creature of all: she has a plan of her own.

Some of the children recognised the book as they have it at home:

"I got that book. My favourite part is the pig cause I love pigs" (Georgia)

"The bad guys are going to get the cow and the farmer called the Policeman and they drived a police car!" (Ewan)

"And the men fell into the duck pond and the Policemen got them" (Harley)

"I love the sheep bit cause it's my favourite animal on the farm" (Aisha)

Have a read of the book and post us a comment to let us know which was your favourite animal and why!

Monkey Puzzle

As the children have been getting to know each other, we have been finding out about some of the similarities and differences between them.

Monkey Puzzle is a lovely story all about Butterfly helping Monkey to find his mum . . .

Leyla - "The monkey lost his mum"

"Hush, little monkey, don't you cry, I'll help you find her" said Butterfly.

"She's big!" said the monkey. "Bigger than me."

Lexie - "I liked the monkeys mum cause she's bigger than him"

"Bigger than you? Then I've seen your mum.

Come, little monkey, come, come, come."

But somehow Butterfly keeps getting it wrong!

"No, no, no! That's an elephant. 

My mum isn't a great grey hunk. 

She hasn't got tusks or a curly trunk.

She doesn't have great thick baggy knees.

And anyway, her tail coils round trees."

Iris - "I like the elephant cause he's got a trunk"

Butterfly takes monkey to several other animals as the story continues, but none of them are the right one. Eventually they think they have found her hiding place, could they have found mum? 

"No, no, no! That's my dad!"

But dad comes to the rescue and takes him home to . . . MUM!

Isabelle - "I liked the end cause the little monkey found his mummy"

Which part of the story did you enjoy? Did you have a favourite animal? Post us a comment and let us know!

Superworm!

Meet the wriggliest, squiggliest superhero in the world!

This term our focus Author is going to be Julia Donaldson, and when we read in the Induction notes from parents that this was Ella's favourite book, we thought it would be a great one to start with!

As anticipated, Ella was very excited when she saw the book and told us - "Superworm is super-long. He's wide and kind. Superworm is super-strong!"

Some of the other children also recognised the book and several tried hard to join in with the chant:

'Superworm is super-long.

Superworm is super-strong.

Watch him wiggle! See him squirm!

Hip, hip, hooray for SUPERWORM!'

There was lots of discussion as we started to read and meet the different characters. . .

Sienna - "Birds have beaks because they need beaks (why?) to eat!"

Oliver BH - "They like worms" (to eat)

Alesha - "He (the crow) might eat him!" (Superworm)

Sienna - "The spiders, they hang down and make spider webs. And there's a caterpillar. Bees - honey comes from bees - how do they make honey?"

When we had finished the book, we shared the children's thoughts about the story . . . 

Caleb - "I like Superworm because he's so strong!"

Willow - "I liked the bees ones 'cause that's my favourite part. I didn't like the lizard part (why not?) it was too scary!"

We would love to hear what you thought about the story - post us a comment or two and let us know! 

Whoosh around the Mulberry Bush . . .

Holding hands, linking toes, paw in paw, or tail to nose . . . 

We really enjoyed sharing this lovely book - here are just a few of the children's favourite parts:

Louie - "I like the polar bears because they were sliding"

Amelia - "I liked it when the frog did a handstand"

Evie - "I liked the bats, they flap and do 

whatever they want to!"

Casper - "I liked the end when they're all spinning round!"

We would love to hear about your favourite 

part too - let us know!

The Wheels on the Bus

'The Wheels on the Bus' is one of our favourite action 

rhymes - so we thought this would be a good 

choice for our next book . . .

The fun really starts when the bus drives into a wildlife park!

Ava S - "I liked the birdies. I liked them 

because they were colourful"

Billy - "I liked the baboons cause they jumped"

Meadow - "I like the animals because they 

were all different colours"

Emily - "I like the bus because they're singing!" (the people)

Have you been to a wildlife park? 

Which animals did you enjoy seeing?

Let us know!