Hello! Is that Grandma? is one of the stories that we read when we go and stay with grandparents, it’s an integral part of our visit to Grandma! My daughter enjoys lifting the flaps to see what is happening in the humorous, colourful illustrations.
The Story: Teddy is trying to phone Grandma but he manages to dial a series of wrong numbers and instead calls Sheep, Duck and Cow who are all too busy to talk. When hungry Crocodile answers he invites Teddy over for tea which scares Teddy. Luckily Teddy receives his own phonecall from Grandma who invites him to her house for birthday tea with Mum, Sheep, Duck and Cow (but no Crocodile). When Teddy arrives he realises that the animals were all busy because they were preparing surprises for Grandma’s birthday. At the table Grandma bans the use of phones but somebody gets caught out!
This is a really interactive story with the identity of each phone recipient hidden underneath a large flap. Teddy dialling the number is shown on the left of the double page spread and on the right is the flap where the dialling tone is shown. After dialling the reader lifts the flap to find out who has answered the phone. I love the interactivity of this story with the flap lifting and we often use funny voices for the animals and the dialling tones (which are all different). The easy to read text uses dialogue to move the story along and there are several pictorial clues about Grandma’s birthday before she mentions it in her own phonecall. Deborah Allwright’s illustrations are bold, colourful and full of little details, there is lots to look at and talk about as we read. I think it is funny that Grandma tells Mum off for using her phone at the table, it is a wonderfully subtle reference to table manners!
This would be a great story to use in the classroom as a stimulus for telephone roleplay and could also be used to teach children how to make a phone call.
A really fun book to share, we are still discovering new details in the pictures.
Age Range: 2 +
Author: Ian Whybrow / Illustrator: Deborah Allwright
We also love Say Goodnight to the Sleepy Animals! by Ian Whybrow and his stories about Harry.
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