Repetition
Peace at Last by Jill Murphy
Peace at Last was a favourite story in my classroom when I started teaching. The story of Jill Murphy’s three bears takes a humorous look at not being able to sleep, a theme that is familiar to children and adults.
Happy Hooves Oh! Oh! Oh! by A. Bogie & Rebecca Elliott
This fun, festive rhyming story about The Happy Hooves gang includes snow, beautifully decorated trees, snazzy Christmas jumpers and a catchy, repetitive refrain.
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.
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd
Booktrust are giving away a copy of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy to every child starting school in the UK in 2014 /15. We have several Hairy Maclary stories, their bouncy rhythm makes them lovely to read aloud and the repetition is great for beginner readers. Hairy Maclary’s canine friends appear in several of the stories as does Scarface Claw, the…
Penguin by Polly Dunbar
Penguin, a lovely story about friendship, loyalty and toddler tantrums, includes characters that children can identify with. My daughter was very excited to find the German translation ‘Sag doch was!’ in the library, it’s great to read a well loved story in another language.
The Night Pirates by Peter Harris & Deborah Allwright
The Night Pirates has a crew of girl pirates who ingeniously outsmart a crew of grown up pirates and steal their treasure. This swashbuckling adventure is fun to read and overturns traditionally stereotypical pirate roles. It is a celebration of girl power (with help from a little lad, Tom).
Time for Bed, Fred! by Yasmeen Ismail
Fred is a very cute, black dog but his bedtime avoidance tactics mirror those of children everywhere. His story is definitely one that children and parents can relate to!
Splash, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke & Lauren Tobia
Anna Hibiscus lives in amazing Africa and her stories reflect the culture and traditions of the country but also show her engaging in activities that are enjoyed throughout the world. Splash, Anna Hibiscus! is the story of Anna Hibiscus’ day at the beach, an activity that we also enjoy.
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
We have so many spiders around and so many spiders’ webs to look at that my daughter decided that The Very Busy Spider was a good book to read so she could see how spiders make their webs. I love the simplicity and the repetition in this story and it has stimulated some interesting discussions.
On The Way Home by Jill Murphy
My copy of On the Way Home has a different picture on the cover and is old, battered and well loved. It was well read when I first started teaching and it’s now the perfect story for my daughter who is trying to make sense of real characters versus fantasy characters, we have long conversations…
