Book Corner – Pip and Posy by Axel Scheffler
One of my all time favourite book series, Pip and Posy, oh sooo good.
Before I tell you a bit about this book, just a few tips on reading aloud to children who are behind with their language and struggle to talk.
It is often assumed that “reading a book” means that we read the text exactly as it stands. We tend to read it quite quickly and, therefore, we also turn the pages quite quickly to match our reading. This may be too quick and not quite the right way of reading to your child, if she/he is struggling with speech and language development.
Instead, perhaps try this:
Sit opposite your child so that she can see you easily – check out my previous post – and start by letting your child open the book.
Now, instead of reading and pointing to everything you see, it can be really helpful to “hang back” and wait for your child to lead. S/he can point to what is interesting and then talk about freely what s/he can see. You can then respond and expand on what your child is pointing to or saying.
So, for example:
Child points to Posy looking out of the window and says: “Posy”.
You can then fill it and reply with : yes! there she is! – now give her some time to reply and take her turn.
If she is struggling to say anything more you might add: She is looking at the rain…. . – take another break and wait and let your child take her turn.
Letting your child take the lead and waiting, allowing your child to fill in and take a turn, is a great way to encourage a two-way conversation and it allows your child to lead the pace of what is being said.
So then, Pip and Posy – the scary Monster:
What’s it about:
Posy is bored indoors as it’s raining. She decides to bake some cupcakes and whilst waiting for her cakes to bake there is a knock at the door…..a big blue monster appears. Posy feels scared and starts to cry. Soon she realises that it’s her friend Pip dressed up in a monster costume and now she feels fine and both end up having fun trying on the monster costume. The sun has now come out and they go and play in the garden. It all finishes with a lovely picnic and those home made cupcakes. Happy end!
All Pip and Posy books are simple in that your child will discover every day situations and they are truly beautifully written and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
Age group:
Around 1-6 years
Explore these themes:
- animals
- foods and drinks
- friendships
- household activities
- toys and games
- dress up and monsters
- places – kitchen, garden
- what’s a picnic
Develop Speech Sounds, particularly good for:
- K – kitchen, cupcakes, cases, careful , costume, cry
- M – monster, mixture, milk
- P – Pip, Posy, paper, put, popped, open
Concepts:
- matching
- labelling
- describing
- predicting
- prepositions (in/into/upstairs/downstairs/inside/outside)
Emotions and Social concepts
- making friends
- taking turns
- feelings: bored/sad/scared/happy/delighted/hungry/ curious
Published by:
Nosy Crow Ltd in the UK in 2013 (ISBN: 9780857632432)
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