Storybook Sunday - Leaf Man

Another favourite book of mine, especially when I've taught in Reception (Kindergarten) is Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.

The best part of the book is without doubt the amazingly clever illustrations which are pictures completely made out of leaves.

The children are fascinated working out what they are. And of course, once we are done, we all head outside to look for our very own leaf men! This book is obviously best introduced in autumn. There is also a page at the end which allows the children to identify common leaves.

As I usually do a whole week on leaves and autumn, I often follow up Leaf Man with We're Going on a Leaf Hunt (based on a familiar story!) which is another gorgeous book to read about that time of year.

Go link up with Paula's Place for more great book suggestions on Storybook Sunday!

Storybook Sunday - Giraffes Can't Dance

Linking up with Paula's Place for the first time to join in with Storybook Sunday.

The story I want to post about is one of my all-time favourite books. Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae. 

Gerald is a giraffe who doesn't seem to be good at dancing, all the other jungle animals are holding a Jungle Dance and he gets laughed away, until a friendly cricket speaks to him and shows him that he is special too. This is such a fun book to read with rhyming verses and a very sweet message at the end of the story. 

Whilst I read it every year with my class, last year I decided to do it as my class assembly to parents. I dressed the children up as the different jungle characters and had them each say 2 line or a verse (depending on their public speaking ability!). They then sang the song 'Good to be me' to show that they recognised just like Gerald that they were special in their own ways!