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I love Bénédicte Guettier and her work (see here how many blogs I have written about her books already!) and this Trotro story is a little gem. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

You can also watch me tell you a little bit about the book here!

Language of text: French
Type of text: picture book
Author or source: Bénédicte Guettier
Intended age of students: Key Stage 1/2
Source reference: 9782070613984

This is a fantastic story with which the children can join in, with gestures, from the first reading: all standing up, pretending to be cycling, without the left hand etc. On second reading, the can join in with “il fait du vélo” and “oh zut!”; on third reading they could join in with just about everything! If the children don’t know it already, you may want to teach them “la main droite/gauche/les pieds” and “sans” with a game of “Jacques a dit”.

Rationale:
This story reminds children that riding a bike can be dangerous… but with a humourous twist at the end!
The pupils will definitely never forget how to say that someone rides a bike after this story.

Outcomes:
From this story, work could be done on “faire” in the present tense. The story could be rewritten in the 1st person or in the 3rd person plural for instance. Any of the grammatical points highlighted below could be worked on from this book. Alternatively, the children could rewrite the story with “une moto” which would introduce “de la moto”.

Topics or themes:
means of transport, hobbies, body parts, teaching right and left

Grammar:
The verb “faire” in the 3rd person singular; “être” in the 3rd person singular; partitive article “du”; the plural of la & le

How much time required:
1-2 lessons

Gallimard, the publisher, have produced this amazing document which features photocopiable resources for all the Trotro books: Ane_trotro! Wow, thank you Gallimard!

If you like this story, you may want to check out my other blogs with books by Bénédicte Guettier. Amongst others: Le papa qui avait 10 enfants, Trognon et Pépin, Le petit fantôme qui voulait qu’on le voit, Je m’habille… et je te croque! and at Easter time L’âne Trotro: Zaza et les œufs de Pâques.

How about doing some work on “Le Tour de France” now? Click here for a full blog of ideas relating to it!

Do please let me know in the comments what you think of it!