A DARK DARK TALE

RUTH BROWN

• Builds up a lot of suspense
• Repetition to encourage children to join in
• Can try to spot the cat in each of the pictures
• Very well illustrated
• Nice ending - the cat finds what he was looking for
• Teacher can ask questions to engage children

SANTA'S BIG SNEEZE

H.E. TODD

• Santa becomes ill and so a family help to deliver the presents
• They end up mixing the name tags and so everyone in the village get the wrong presents
• They have a party where they all exchange gifts
• Did a story sack on this where children can choose presents out of a santa hat, and it attached is a clue to an object that was one of the presents featured in the book. Tests to see how much they remembered

THE THREE SILLIES

TONY ROSS

• A man falls in love with a "silly but pretty girl", but says he will only marry her if he can find someone sillier in the village
• He comes across many silly people but eventually marries Jess, and instead of teaching her how to be sensible, he learns how to be silly
• Big photographs on each page - very attractive
• Funny book. The characters do lots of silly things that the children would find amusing

TABBY MCTAT

JULIA DONALDSON

• By the creators of The Gruffalo
• Lots of rhyme
• I found it quite difficult to get into the rhythm of it. Some sentences were long and the words that you thought would rhyme didn't
• It focuses on a cat who would busk with a man, but he loses the busker and moves in with a new family
• Illustrations were quite good

FORGET ME NOT

MICHAEL BROAD

• Elephant leaves the herd to investigate a blue bucket. He forgets the two things his mum told him to remember: never leave the herd and that she loves him
• There is a lot of repetition - perhaps could encourage the children to join in with the story. Phrases such as "I found a forget-me-not but forgot something important"
• Teaches you to listen to your parents and obey instructions
• Quite a good book I think

HARRY AND THE BUCKETFUL OF DINOSAURS

IAN WHYBROW

• First page shows a list of dinosaurs and their names. Written in a way to help you pronounce the long words
• Story focuses on a boy who find dinosaurs in his nan's attic. They only whisper to Harry.
• He leaves them on the train and is very upset
• He eventually finds them in lost property
• It teaches you to look after the things that are special to you

THE FANTASTIC MR WANI

KANAKO USHI

• Very big illustrations - cartoon pictures that surround the text. Quite hard to follow I found
• Lots of sounds - SMASH BANG POP CRASH
• Emphasised by being put in a bigger and bolder font

LITTLE CROC AND WHALE

TONY MADDOX

• All about helping each other
• Croc tries to get onto dry land after he falls down a waterfall so the whale helps
• A whale gets stuck on the sand bank so the croc gets help from other animals
• Similar to Elmer book
• Couple of sentences per page

• 

CATHERINE'S STORY

GENEVIEVE MOORE

• Illustrations were fantastic!
• Lots of warm colours, water colour paintings with ink
• It focuses on a young girl who is disabled
• Teaches children about some of the symptoms
• It doesn't describe them in a negative way, but more as special
• Says the things that Catherine can do, noone else can e.g only being able to walk in particular boots or not being able to talk makes her a great listener
• Encourages children to be accepting

VERY SPECIAL FRIENDS

JANE CHAPMAN

• Lots of adjectives to describe what the characters are doing
• E.G dragonflies zipped, tadpoles plipped, water splashed, butterflies fluttered
• Gives children a real sense of what the objects or animals are sounding like
• Friendly characters (rabbit, mouse)
• Nice ending. Shows the purpose of friendship.
• Very polite ("may I wait with you?") - manners

A CAKE FOR TEA

SUE GRAVES AND RICHARD WATSON

• TIDDLERS designed for children who are starting to read alone
• Illustrated front cover which engages the reader before they even open the book
• Big detailed pictures within in. They help to guide the reader and assist the story. You can discuss pictures while you read
• There is a game the end to entertain reader. Checks to see how much they understood. Engage them more.

SPORTS DAY

LADYBIRD

• LEVEL 2 - beginner readers who can read shot, simple sentences with help
• Part of the Peppa Pig series - very popular among children
• Big pictures with detail
• Short concise sentences
• A lot of alliteration (Rebecca Rabbit, Peppa Pig, Richard Rabbit)
• Questions at the end to see how much the children understood - Comprehension
• Sports day - linking in with school activities

THE GRUFALLO'S CHILD

JULIA DONALDSON

• Nice illustrations - very pretty and colourful
• Introduces rhyme
• Lots of animals feature within
• Teaches difference in size - shadows and science

ELMER AND THE BUTTERFLY

DAVID MCKEE

• Very colourful book
• Popular character among children
• Teaches you the importance of helping others, no matter what size, shape, colour etc
• Part of a series of books

THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA

JUDITH KERR

• Very much like the illustrations
• Funny and surprising theme
• Quite silly
• Imaginative
• Ending was quite sad
• Raises a lot of questions such as what is the tiger doing now?

PIECE OF CAKE

JILL MURPHY

• Elephants feature
• Supportive family
• Emphasis on the importance of healthy eating and lifestyle

ZAGAZOO

QUENTIN BLAKE

• Very funny and surprising events
• Strange and random animals featured
• Imaginative and creative
• Very silly, children will find it amusing
• Like the illustrator

WHAT'S THE TIME MR WOLF?

DEBI GLIORI

• Gives detail on the times
• Includes characters from other books and popular nursery rhymes so children can become familiar 

MOODY MARGARET CASTS A SPELL

FRANCESCA SIMON

• Part of the Horrid Henry Series