2014
Picture book monsters and witches for Halloween
We’ve rounded up some of our favourite picture books about witches and monsters for Halloween. If you have any scary, monsterly, witchy, ghostly suggestions we’d love you to add them to the comments.
World Teachers Day – Fictional Teachers
Happy World Teachers Day! We’re celebrating the work of teachers everywhere. Teaching is a great job, it’s a wonderful feeling when you know you have been influential in a student’s learning or you help them to understand a concept that they have preciously found difficult. Time spent in the classroom can bring many surprises and you need to be flexible, inspirational and have a good…
Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett & Caroline Jayne Church
Leaf Trouble is a wonderful story for introducing autumn to young children and it’s a great book to use in the classroom to stimulate discussion about why trees lose their leaves. Before I read the story I ask children why they think that trees lose their leaves in the autumn, their answers are often interesting, one…
Picture Books for European Day of Languages
September 26th is European Day of Languages. The European Day of Languages is jointly organised by The Council of Europe and the European Union and celebrates linguistic diversity in Europe. I have compiled a list of some of the picture books that I have used to introduce English vocabulary to non native English speaking children.
Learning with Elmer by David McKee
Elmer is celebrating his 25th birthday this year! We have read many of the Elmer stories which have been translated into over 40 languages as well as being made into television series. The first story is still my favourite and I have used it countless times to promote learning within a variety of topics. It is particularly…
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr & Eric Carle
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? is a colourful first book for babies, a great book for a beginner reader and I have also read the English version many times to non native English speaking children.
Whiffy Wilson The Wolf who wouldn’t go to School by Caryl Hart & Leonie Lord
We’ve been reading another great picture book to prepare a child for starting school – Whiffy Wilson The Wolf who wouldn’t go to School. I love the humorous approach that Caryl Hart has added to a familiar situation and she has created a wonderfully supportive friend, Dotty, who helps to ensure that Wilson has lots of…
Audio books for long journeys
Audio books are a great way of passing the time on a long journey. Lots of our favourite picture books have great accompanying CDs so if you are looking for in car or in flight entertainment here are some that we really like. There are so many more that we could have included, we’d love to hear which…
Seaside picture books
We love spending time at the seaside but we live a very long way from the sea. While we’re waiting for our next beach holiday we’ve been reading our favourite seaside picture books.