Charlie Cook would often curl up in a chair with his favourite book of the day, the first of which was entitled 'Shiver Me Timbers: The Story of an Old Sea Dog'. And in that book the old sea dog found a treasure chest, inside which was … yes, you've probably got it, a book! Relaxed Performances are provided for people who would benefit from a more relaxed environment, or are uncomfortable with sudden lighting changes or loud noises, including those with an Autistic Spectrum Condition, sensory or communication needs or a learning disability. Find out more here.

I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. Take some digital photos of your friends reading their favourite books in some weird and wonderful places!

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Describe the different types of books featured in the story. Can you find the story books, a magazine, a comic, an encyclopedia? How are they similar / different? Before launching into any story spend a little time looking at the front cover picture and title. You’ll be surprised at the benefits of doing this. The children can guess the content of the story. This will not only help them brainstorm ideas about what they may be about to listen to, it will also arouse their interest. They will be drawn into listening to you once you begin reading. Look at the different fonts used in each book. Could you choose appropriate fonts to use in different places (e.g. comic strips, news headlines, adverts). You can spend a whole lesson just with the double spread of pictures of Charlie’s books on his bookshelf. Each book has a symbolic image that represents the genre e.g. a ghost for Out of this World, a collection of ghost stories. Or a pirate and ship for Shiver me Timbers or My First Encyclopedia with a series of objects labelled with the first letter. With this picture you could make a poster sized version for the whole class to see. You could Tippex out the titles leaving just the illustrations. The children could then predict what sort of books they are.

Los cuentos se encuentran separados no solo por el texto sino también por los formatos en que se presentan, creando una delimitación visual entre uno y otro. I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.Make sure before you begin to read that the seating is such that all the children can actually see the illustrations. You can slowly turn the book as you read from above. This takes practice. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. Make sure everyone is listening before you begin. You should allocate a part of the room for telling stories. If you don’t have the luxury of moving tables, chairs or even children then have at least the ritual of clearing desks and so creating a change in the pace of the lesson. If you don’t have their undivided attention to begin with it will be a hard slog to get their attention while reading and you will spoil the experience for those who are trying to listen when you stop to tell others to listen. Carry out a survey of your class / school to find out their favourite books / authors. Could you create a report about the results? Cada historia introduce un tipo de cuento diferente, viajamos desde los países más alejados de fantasía, pasando por fábulas, cuentos cómicos, de misterio o aventuras, presentando así a todos los tipos de personajes que podemos encontrar en ellos como animales que hablan, fantasmas, princesas, piratas, caballeros, dragones, etc. Esto consigue transmitir al iniciado lector en las diferentes emociones que se pueden experimentar ante los diversos géneros literarios existentes.

I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. On a design feature, the book has great endpapers which feature Scheffler's design of bookends encompassing a selection of books featured in the story' Use publishing software to create your own story about a person who reads a book about a person who finds a book about… This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.What was the ghost's book about? It was about a cosy armchair and boy called Charlie Cook … and he's still reading! Los cuentos que son mencionados van desde los más conocidos como son "Ricitos de Oro" o "La princesita" hasta otros menos conocidos como "La rana Renata" o "El pirata Patapalo". En mi opinión, "El cuento sin fin de Martín" es una historia original y divertida que anima e invita a leer toda clase de cuentos, haciendo descubrir e inclinando al joven lector hacia el género que más puede llamar su atención. Lo recomiendo muchísimo para trabajar con niños que se inician en la lectura ya que ofrece numerosas oportunidades de adentrarse en el mágico mundo de los cuentos. Furthermore, the beautiful and creative illustrations add to the fun. This is a great introductory text to use as an example of a story with key stage one children. The rhyming throughout is a trademark of Donaldson’s stories, subtly introducing poetic language and new vocabulary. Each illustration reflects the type of text allowing children to see the difference between a comic, a magazine or a traditional fairy tale. This is useful as part of the national curriculum, key stage one children identify the features of different types of texts and produce their own in English.

They could then make up their own titles – you could allocate one book to one group if time is an issue, if not it could be interesting to compare the different titles the groups come up with.The book can be used throughout key stage one and two. At key stage one level it can be read to the class by the teacher during story time whilst the children enjoy the illustrations, and then read independently during key stage two once the children become more developed readers. Cabe destacar que la historia es cíclica por lo que no cuenta con los tres elementos estructurales que caracterizan a los cuentos; presentación, nudo y desenlace. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.