Win a bundle of Emily Gravett books!
Posted on Friday, June 23, 2017
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We're celebrating the launch of Emily Gravett's new website with a giveaway of three of her newest books - Old Hat, Tidy and the Monkey and Me board book.
You can read teacher reviews of the books, below, and link to the website for the latest resources for Tidy. To enter the competition, just Comment, below, or email your school's details to us at: [email protected] Subject: Emily Gravett We will draw the winning school on Friday 14th July - good luck! OLD HAT review: It's always such a treat to discover a new book by Emily Gravett and Old Hat does indeed prove to be another, giving us a perfect twist on the phrase, 'that's old hat'. 'Harbet had a hat' we learn, it was warm and cosy and he loves it, but it was 'OLD HAT!', the other characters tell him, and so Harbet gets a new hat, just like theirs. The only problem is, Harbet's new hat is 'old hat' before it makes it onto his head and the rest of the picture book sees Harbet increasingly panicked and disconsolate as each new hat he tries is already 'OLD HAT'. There are lots of visual clues in the pages that children can use to spot how the increasingly unhappy Harbet feels - for example, the upside down box he puts on his head with the word 'fragile' on it. The hats, by the way, are marvellous creations from fruit, feathers, jewels, sauspans and even traffic cones! How much fun children will have fashioning and trying on their own hats, inspired by these examples, or drawing their own creations with tips about what makes their hat so special. My own favourite is Harbet's 'traffic cone' hat. "This hat really was the latest thing. It came with a state-of-the-art flashing light and was highly visible to oncoming traffic." Eventually Harbert has had enough of trying to find the newest and best hat and does something that 'no one had ever done before....Harbert took off his hat'. That gives us, the reader, and the other animals a lovely surprise and Harbet definitely wins the day. Emily Gravett's illustrations are so expressive that children will be rooting for Harbet, and will recognise the unkindness of the group of creatures who mock each of his attempts at a new fashion. It is a wonderful story for teaching children about the importance of being yourself and that difference is to be celebrated. For early KS2 children, the references to 'Top Hat Magazine' can also be developed into work around branding and help to explain what marketing is - and how swept up we can all become in the latest fad or playground craze. This is a gorgeous picture book, full of a wonderful energy - and hats! Picture book / Ages 4+ / Reviewed by Ellie Green. MONKEY AND ME review 'Monkey and Me' is a beautifully illustrated story for young children, filled with imagination and fun. The gentle watercolour illustrations are utterly charming, with the limited use of colour adding a 'pop' to each page. The story shows the imaginative play of a young girl and her toy monkey, acting out a host of different animals. Children will be guessing what the animals are by looking at the the play between the girl and the monkey, before the animal is revealed on the next page. The book encourages children to use clues, in this case picture clues, to predict what might happen next. This is an essential skill in reading. The clear rhythm and repetition will have children following along and reciting the story with ease. They will then be shouting out the different animals that have been acted out, joining in with the actions. This book is perfect for encouraging role-play by getting children to join in and act out the animals. They could create their own 'Monkey and Me' stories by adding in their own actions for chosen animals whilst reciting the repeated verses of the story. Children could also create their own 'Monkey and Me' guessing games by acting out animals for others to guess. This is such a fun book - a wonderful read aloud to actively engage young children and encourage imaginative play. Picture book / Ages 2+ / Reviewed by Torie Walton, teacher. Find teachers' resources for TIDY here:
