Years
3/4 Learning to Read Core Book list (Extract)
AARDEMA
Verna: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain,
illustrated by Beatriz VIDAL
Macmillan Picturemac 1986 £4.99 0333351649
Ki-pat, a young African cowherd rescues the cattle he tends
from the drought by shooting down a rain cloud. A rhythmic
cumulative tale with a pattern distinctly reminiscent of The
House That Jack Built. The strong and vibrant illustrations
complement the pattern of the story.
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AHLBERG
Allan & Janet: Mrs Wobble the Waitress
(Happy Families)
Puffin 1980 £3.99 0140312390
Mrs Wobble gets the sack from her job as a waitress because
she wobbles and spills food over everyone. She and her enterprising
family turn their own house into a successful cafe with its
‘famous juggling waiters’. The whole concept of
this series is brilliant - the format of the ‘Happy
Family’ - Mr, Mrs, Master and Miss, gives a predictable
structure and allows for meaningful repetition, and yet, in
the hands of Allan Ahlberg, it is also often used to challenge
gender stereotypes.
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AHLBERG
Allan: Mrs Lather’s Laundry,
illustrated by Andre AMSTUTZ (Happy Families)
Puffin 1981 £3.99 0140312439
Mrs Lather gets sick of washing laundry, then babies, then
dogs until she and her family finally end up washing elephants!
All the regular features of this series are here - humour,
repetition, dialogue in speech balloons which echoes the text
- and it still has a distinctive identity as an individual
story.
There are 20 titles in the ‘Happy Families’ series
and a whole set of them would be a useful addition to the
classroom. They include Mr Creep the Crook, Mrs Jolly’s
Jokeshop, Mrs Plug the Plumber, Miss Brick the Builder’s
Baby, Ms Cliff the Climber.
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AHLBERG
Allan & Janet: Funnybones
Puffin 1999 £4.99 0140565817
Kid Sized Puffin 2000 £2.99 0140566929
Pack of 6 books: £26.99 0582435390
Big book: Longman 2000 £12.50 0582435188
Pack of 1 big book & 6 small books: £37.99 0582435382
Video: Bumps in the Night £7.99, available from Madeleine
Lindley Ltd.
Humour rather than horror is the key to the perennial popularity
of this story of two skeletons who set out at night to frighten
people. Instead they end up putting their dog skeleton back
together again, visiting the skeleton animals at the zoo and
finally, frightening each other, before returning home to
their ‘dark dark cellar’.
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ALLEN
Jonathan: Who’s at the Door?
Orchard 1993 £4.99 1852135158
Big book: Orchard 1998 £14.99 1860398766
Video: Rat-a-tat-tat (Purple Unit) Channel 4 £14.99
1862155860
A variant on the story of the three little pigs. Wolf tries
to gain access to their home by means of disguise but they
turn the tables on him by dressing up as a wolf. This causes
confusion as he himself has dressed as a pig! Split pages
are used to create a front door and the dialogue all takes
place in speech balloons. There is the added bonus of jokes
on the endpapers.
Links could be made with: Jon Scieszka/Lane Smith: The True
Story of the Three Little Pigs (Literature core list Years
3/4), Catherine Storr: Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf (Literature
core list Years 1/2).
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BLACKMAN
Malorie: Space Race (Corgi Pups),
illustrated by Colin MIER
Corgi 1997 £3.50 0552545422
A short book with a science fiction theme to encourage readers
tackling their first chapter books. Lizzie challenges the
boastful Jake, a fellow inhabitant on the Astra Space Station,
to a space ship race to Pluto and back. Readers familiar with
the fable of the tortoise and the hare will not be surprised
at the outcome. The diagram of the solar system at the beginning
of the book helps to contextualise the story.
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BLUNDELL
Tony: Beware of Boys
Puffin 1993 014054156X £4.99 014054156X
Like Catherine Storr’s Clever Polly (Literature core
list 1/2) and its traditional prototype Red Riding Hood, this
is a tale of a child outwitting a hungry wolf. The story in
this picture book has the pattern of a fairy tale, from the
‘Once upon a time’ opening to the three attempts
on the boy’s part to distract the wolf from eating him
by recounting ever more delicious recipes for boy soup, boy
pie and boy cake. The telling incorporates a certain amount
of repetition and also introduces procedural writing in the
form of recipes complete with ingredients and instructions
for method.
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BROWN
Ruth: The World That Jack Built
Andersen Press 1990 £8.99 0862642698
Red Fox 1991 £4.99 0099789604
Ruth Brown takes the rhythm of the traditional rhyme and leads
the reader on a journey accompanied by a black cat through
verdant countryside, until we reach ‘the stream - that
flows past the place where the trees used to grow - next to
the factory that Jack built.’
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BROWNE
Anthony: Bear Goes to Town
Puffin 1995 £4.99 0140553576
What begins as a surreal but seemingly innocent tale of a
bear with a magic pencil develops into an adventure involving
Bear’s rescue of a group of farm animals, and his pursuit
by faceless Nazi-like men. A deceptively simple text with
illustrations which provide food for thought.
Also: Bear Hunt Puffin 1994 £4.99 0140553568
Big book: Addison Wesley Longman 1999 £12.50 0582362865
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BURNINGHAM
John: John Patrick Norman McHennessy, the boy
who was always late
Red Fox 2000 £4.99 099752200X
Every time John Patrick Norman McHennessy “sets off
along the road to learn” he is delayed from reaching
his destination by the intervention of wild animals and natural
disasters. His old-fashioned teacher, complete with mortarboard,
does not believe his excuses and sets him lines. But eventually
the tables are turned... The pattern of the text will support
less confident readers whilst giving them access to some thought-provoking
ideas about the meaning of education. Readers may also see
visual links with other Burningham titles, and be reminded
of a popular animated TV series!
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BURNINGHAM
John: Oi! Get Off Our Train
Jonathan Cape £9.99 0224026984
Red Fox 1991 £4.99 009985340X
Read & Respond booklet by Elaine Sturman & Jo Melhuish
Scholastic £9.00 059053730X
A boy and his pyjama-case dog take a dreamtime train and on
the way pick up several animal passengers. Each animal is
initially greeted with the refrain ‘Oi! Get Off Our
Train’ but each has an environmentally sound reason
for getting on board. The reader can revel in the lines and
colours of Burningham’s distinctive illustrations.
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BUSH
John: The Fish Who Could Wish, illustrated
by Korky PAUL
Oxford University Press 1992 £4.99 0192722409
Big book: Oxford University Press 1998 £12.99 019272360X
CD-ROM: Oxford University Press £12.99 0192683373 PC/Mac
A humorous rhyming story about a foolish fish who does not
learn to wish with wisdom. Korky Paul’s detailed drawings
make this a good book for CD-ROM conversion with numerous
hotspots to click on. An additional support is provided by
having the text read aloud on computer.
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CHARLES
Faustin: Caribbean Counting Book,
illustrated by Roberta ARENSON
Barefoot Books 1997 £4.99 1901223868
A medley of counting rhymes with the music and rhythm of Caribbean
speech from a number of different islands including Jamaica,
Cuba and Martinique. Bold collage illustrations complement
the clear typeface.
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COHEN
Izhar: ABCDiscovery!
David Bennett 1998 £10.99 1856022439
An alphabet book which invites the reader to find many words
beginning with a particular letter which feature in exciting
and surreal pictures. The letters themselves are portrayed
in unusual and imaginative ways. However, this is not all
this book has to offer. There are puzzles to solve which encourage
thinking about words and a comprehensive index which indicates
all the places a particular word is pictured. Another alphabet
book which makes fascinating use of graphics and encourages
the reader the examine the pictures closely is:
Graeme BASE: Animalia Puffin 1990 £5.99 0140541128
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COOK
Helen & Morag STYLES (eds) Bananas in Pyjamas
Cambridge University Press 1991 £3.95 0521399483
A collection of short rhymes some of which are ‘paired’
with another on a related theme, for example two versions
of the traditional ‘This little pig went to market’,
one from Louise Bennett’s ‘Jamaica Maddah Goose’,
the other by Michael Rosen.
Also: Don’t Do That! £3.95 0521399521
Pussycat, Pussycat £3.95 0521399467
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DODD
Lynley: Slinky Malinki
Spindlewood 1990 £7.99 0907349749
Puffin 1992 £4.99 0 14 054439 9
Children will revel in the rhyming and alliterative language
describing Slinky Malinki, ‘rapscallion cat’,
and his night-time escapades as a neighbourhood thief.
Also: Slinky Malinki, Open the Door Puffin 1995 £4.99
0140533266
Slinky Malinki Catflaps Ragged Bears 1998 £7.99 1857141571
Puffin 2000 £4.99 0140565728
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DUNBAR
Joyce: This is the Star, illustrated
by Gary BLYTHE
Picture Corgi 1998 £4.99 0552528226
A retelling of the birth of Jesus patterned on the cumulative
rhyme ‘The House that Jack Built’ recounted with
solemnity and warmth. The accompanying illustrations are atmospheric
and evocative oil paintings.
See also: Collington, Peter: A Small Miracle Red Fox 1999
£4.99 099680718
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EYLES
Heather: Well I Never! illustrated
by Tony ROSS
Andersen Press 1997 £4.99 0862647878
Polly’s mother thinks she is joking when she declares
that she can’t get dressed because there are all manner
of monsters around the house. However, when she goes to investigate,
what does she find? Reading the pictures as well as the written
text is integral to the full enjoyment of this book.
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FARLEY
Jacqui: Giant Hiccups, illustrated
by Pamela VENUS
Tamarind 1994 £4.25 1870516273
Ayesha the giant is causing a near earthquake in the town
with her hiccups and the search is on to find a cure. This
story confounds stereotypes as the friendly giant is black
and female.
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FOREMAN
Michael: Dinosaurs and All That Rubbish
Puffin 1993 £4.99 014055260X
Pack of 6 books: £26.99 0582434874
Big book: Longman (Storytime Giants) 1999 £12.50 058242092X
Pack of 1 big book & 6 small books: £37.99 0582434866
A book with a large theme, an ecological fable whose central
message is that the planet is home for all those who inhabit
it and that all have a responsibility for its future. The
language is simple and direct and the warmth of the pictures,
in particular those depicting the kindly, caring dinosaurs,
contribute enormously to making this a hopeful story.
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GRINDLEY
Sally: Knock Knock Who’s There?
illustrated by Anthony BROWNE
Puffin £4.99 0140555560
A girl preparing to sleep hears a knock at the bedroom door.
‘Who’s there?’ A succession of scary beings,
all mysteriously wearing the same slippers as her dad who
appears at the end. Repetition of the well-known joke in the
title and the folk tale phrase ‘Then I won’t let
you in!’, coupled with illustrations which aid prediction,
make this a supportive book for inexperienced readers.
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GRINDLEY
Sally: Shhh! illustrated by Peter
UTTON
Hodder 1999 £5.99 0340746629
Video: Rat-a-tat-tat (Purple Unit) Channel 4 £14.99
1862155860
A truly interactive book in which we are led by an anonymous
guide through a giant’s castle, peeking through doors,
viewing things from different angles, the whole object being
not to wake the sleeping giant. However, when he does awake,
the only way we can escape is to SHUT THE BOOK!
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HALLWORTH
Grace: Down By the River, illustrated
by Caroline BINCH
Mammoth 1997 £4.99 0749730250
Big book: Mammoth 1999 £12.99 074973762X
A collection of Afro-Caribbean rhymes, games and songs. The
illustrations reflect the variety of backgrounds that make
up the population of the Caribbean.
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HAWKINS
Colin and Jacqui: Come for a Ride on the Ghost
Train
Walker 1995 (2000 reissue) £4.99 0744536715
A ride on a more bizarre ghost train than you are ever likely
to encounter at the funfair. At each stage - ‘the slimy
swamp’, ‘the gruesome graveyard’ you turn
a half page to discover what earsplitting noise ‘SSQUEEAL!’
‘WWAAIL!’ you will make when you get there.
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KITAMURA
Satoshi: Lily Takes a Walk
Happy Cat Books 1997 £3.99 1899248862
Innocent Lily takes a walk accompanied by her dog Nicky who
observes many strange things in the environment to which the
girl is oblivious. The reader’s eye is drawn to the
unusual by the dog’s open-jawed response. Parallels
could be drawn with Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk
(Learning to read core list 1/2), although Lily does not have
Rosie’s knowing gaze. The style of illustration means
that this, along with Colin McNaughton’s Suddenly! (Learning
to read core list 1/2) could be offered to a slightly older
age group to gain experience in reading beyond the text in
a picture book.
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