Well it goes without saying that I like books!!
You may know the original version of this story as it was written in English.
Please watch this short (2 minute) video introducing it, then come back to this blog!
Language of text: French
Type of text: picture book
Author or source: Anthony Browne, published by kaléidoscope
Intended age of students: Key Stages 1/2/3
Source reference: 9782211096386
This story is self-explanatory: the monkey goes through all the different kinds of books that it likes, and it is obvious what they are thanks to the illustrations which are very clear.
After looking at the front cover and asking the children what they think the story is about, as ever, I will read it to them. I am lucky enough to be able to show to the children one of each one of the types of books in French; you could do it in English with the help of your school or local library if needed! With copies of the books for the children to be able to hold we can do all sorts of activities: “qui a le livre…?”, putting them all in a bag, hiding one and playing “qu’est-ce qui manque ?”, showing the back cover and asking “c’est quelle sorte de livre ?” etc. The children will of course also happily repeat after you the writing on each page of the book; choral repetition is great, non-threatening!
Rationale:
It is such a fun book promoting all sorts of books and reading. Every child is bound to be interested in at least one kind of story!
Even though it was written in English, “comics” got translated by ” bandes dessinées” which are so popular in France they deserve a special mention! Tintin, Astérix and les Schtroumpfs are classics and popular ones, the ones they might have heard of.
Outcomes:
After really playing with the story and practising saying the different types of books, the children could write about their favourite types of books and even give some examples of their favourite titles. For instance: “J’aime les livres de contes comme “Les trois petits cochons””. Older children might even, with your help, be able to say and write why they like them.
After working with this book, the children will remember the word “livre” and the phrase “j’aime” for sure!
Topics or themes:
World Book Day… or any day! Practice of decoding skills.
Grammar:
J’aime + les; adjectives (position and agreement); pour + infinitive
How much time required:
1 lesson
You can buy the book here on Amazon.co.uk.
There are excellent resources to exploit this story further here in the blog “La classe de Sanléane” and here in the blog “La maîtresse aime”; there is also a lovely video of Anthony Browne talking about this book on the école des loisirs website here, alongside more about the author.
Click here for more ideas of books about books!
What is YOUR favourite type of books? Funnily enough, I think mine is… a picture book!!! “Un album”!! Please share yours in the comments!
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Merci !
Nathalie