Snail Story Sack - Featuring ‘Are you A Snail?’ by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries – Budget Story Sack

Recently my sister who is a Key Stage 1 teacher acquired some Giant African Land Snails as class pets, and as I was instrumental in her decision to have the snails in class, I put together a Snail Story Sack, as an educational resource.

we on SOTB do an array of Story Sack features, and from time to time we do a budget sack to show that they don’t have to be expensive to assemble. This Snail inspired Story Sack is indeed a budget sack, and came in at under £14.00. So before we start here is a reminder at what is included in a Story Sack…

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel).
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. 
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children). 
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book. 
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack. 

Books…

So firstly I kept my eyes peeled whilst out and about, and in a charity shop I picked up a good condition hardback copy of ‘Are you a Snail?’ by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries for 50p. This is a beautifully illustrated picture book which is full of facts about snails posed in questions and answers, all accompanied by charming illustrations.

Now, there are oodles of other snail books that you could use as the non-fiction element of the story sack, like ‘Snail and the Whale’ By Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, ‘Watch out Snail’ Gay Hay and Margret Tolland, ‘Snail Trail’ by Ruth Brown or ‘Norman, The Snail with the Silly Shell?’ by Sue Henra to name just a few alternatives. 

For the non-fiction element I chose to get a second hand copy of ‘Snail’ by Karen Hartley and Chris Macro, because it is a full colour picture book, which is fact based but the right level for Key Stage One students. This I got from a second hand book dealer on line for £3.50. In addition I have included a copy of the RSPB’s ‘My First Book of Garden Bugs’ which I also found in a charity shop for 50p, so children can use it to help discover snails in the garden. 

Soft Toys, Games & Activities…

Now soft toys are tricky, as snails are not the most snuggly of animal. However I did find a plush snail finger puppet by The Puppet Company for £3.50 which is charming and fun.

For games I managed to pick up a snail puzzle for £1.00 in a budget shop and ‘Little Bug Bingo’ by Orchard Toys for £4.50 from a well-known supermarket. I have paired these with a magnifying glass and plastic bug viewer which I picked up for 25p each from a charity shop. To further ignite interest and curiosity, I found some empty snail shells in the garden, disinfected them and have included them for the children to observe with the use of the aforementioned magnifying glass. 

This story stack should be a fun way to help the children further their understanding about snails, plus also provide a good display to go alongside the class pets. It came in at a modest cost of £14.00. Of course if you have a smaller budget with good buying, you could go for a smaller sack with fewer games, or if you are lucky enough to have a larger budget you could go for the Hansa Plush Snail and possibly the Snail Pace Race Game! Either way there is lots of stuff out there to compile great snail Story Sacks whatever your budget.

Thank you for stopping by, please come back soon!

‘I Love You Stick Insect’ by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros -Review & Story Sack

There are some animals that get staring parts in fiction books over and over again and then there are some that you’d be hard pushed to find even making a guest appearance let alone a whole book dedicated to them.  So it is a delight when you do find a book which shines a light on an under represented creature, and in this case, as you can tell by the title, it is Stick Insects that get the spotlight!

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros’s picture book ‘I love You Stick Insect’ is an endearing read, full of humour and is beautifully illustrated with equally charming images.  The story is one long declaration of love from one stick insect to another, as it proposes a romance full of adventures and fun, whilst a sceptical butterfly looks on. And although a romance does not blossom in this particular case, the Stick Insect is a true romantic and his aspiration remains steadfast as he turns his affection elsewhere.

Being a mother of a child who has a passion for natural history and animal husbandry and living in a home with an ever growing menagerie, I obviously share the house with a colony of Stick Insects, Sunny Stick Insects to precise, I was delighted to find ‘I love you Stick Insect’ on the shelves of my favourite independent bookshop. Also, I imminently saw the potential to use it as the basis of a story sack which could be in turn used as a teaching resource in classrooms too.   So here is our ‘I Love You Stick Insect Story Sack.’

But first let just have recap of what is included in a typical Story Sack…

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel)

• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. 

• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children). 

• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book. 

• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack. 

Our 'I Love You Stick Insect' Story Sack...

Books…

For books we have paired ‘I Love you Stick Insect’ with ‘Keeping Unusual Pets Stick Insects and Mantids’ by June McNicholas, this is a children’s guide to both the entomology and husbandry of keeping both Stick Insects and Mantis, full of full colour photos and interesting facts.

Toys…

So, I have found that not only are stick insects sadly unrepresented in books, they are also scarcely available as toys. However there is one exception, you can purchase from either EBay, or the large online retailer who shall not be named, a toy model of an Australian Lord Howe Island Stick Insect (this is a very interesting variety that literally came back from extinction, which is well worth looking up!) The toy is by Science and Nature and is model number 75348.

Game or Activity…

As for a game or activity I have two, one is a model stick insect which can be simply made, by using you’ve guested it a STICK! Plus pipe-cleaners and with sticker for eyes or googly eyes. If you want to do antennas then you can also use ‘Twisty Sticks’ which are wax covered string. All items are easily available at a hobby/craft shops.  It is pretty easy and self-explanatory, each stick insect will take (if you aim for a 6-8 inch insect) 1 and half standard pipe-cleaners and half a Twisty Stick.

The second activity is well Stick Insect keeping. They are really easy and inexpensive to keep, as they live on brambles. You can either purchase a kit, which will come with a pop-up mesh enclosure water bottle and a voucher to order your stick insects, (available online at aforementioned sites from £12). Or alternatively if you have an exotic pet shop by you, you could just buy some stick insect which (species depending) are usually only a couple of £ each (just check with the shop owner about the suitability of the stick insect variety for keeping with children). You can keep them in an old fish tank, just put a netting cover over so they get lots of air flow, mosquito netting, fruit netting or tutu netting would suffice. You feed them on brambles, which you can place in a jam-jar, or even better, a children’s no-spill painting water pot. Then sit and watch them munch, shed, grow, and maybe reproduce!

  

Thank you stopping by and reading our little blog. please do leave us a comment.

3D Review, ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ by Candy Gourlay and Francesca Chessa – Story Sack

To round up our week long 3D features celebrating Candy Gourlay and Francesca Chessa’s beautiful picture book ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ we bring you a story sack constructed around the book.

Before we start let’s have a quick reminder of what a story sack is. Story Sacks are fun education tools, which can be used to help children immerse in a book and gain greater understanding of the story. They typically include…

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel)
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. 
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children). 
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book. 
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack. 

Books…

Obviously the fiction book is the lovely ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ but we have paired it with Manatees & Dugongs by James Powell, which although may be a bit advanced for very young readers, contains many beautiful colours photographs and illustrations, plus facts to dip in and out of.

TOYS…

For the toys we obviously needed a Dugong, this is not the easiest plush to find but we did find a reasonably priced one by Colorata, which is available from Amazon, Ebay and The World Wildlife Fund. Beware though many people advertise Dugong plush toys that are actually manatees, TIP – look at the tail, if it is like a dolphin (or mermaid) it is indeed a dugong, if it more like a club it’s a manatee!


For Bel and Benji, we had an equally difficult search, as it is very difficult to find plush doll in any other ethnicity but white. However I have found a company that do plush toys in a range of ethnicities and both genders, for a reasonable price. The company is Lanka Kade, and you can buy directly from their website or other toy shops, (I got mine from a museum). To make them even better they are suitable to play with from birth, are handcrafted and are fair trade.

Games...

Again, as Dugongs are not the most well-known of animal, there are few games featuring them, there are a few, one where you mix up animals and fight, which isn’t really in keeping with the book and another conservation card/ board game which is quite pricey and advanced (for more info press here) , so we have made a kind of match the tail to the animal pairs game. This should be easy to do either by drawing or, using clip-art/internet images. So have fun and create!

Thank you for stopping by and reading out 'Is it a Mermaid' Features. Please do pop back again! 

Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist – Jess Keating & Marta Àlvarez Miguéns - Review and Story Sack

'Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist’ penned by Jess Keating and illustrated by Marta Àlvarez Miguéns, is a beautiful, engaging picture book which to add to its charm is a true story.

The vividly illustrated hardback picture book tells the story of The Shark Lady, Eugenie Clark, from her first childhood trip to aquarium, through to her becoming one of the most respected and pioneering shark expects in the world. Through the charming told story, Jess Keating shows the childhood passion, and Engine’s determination to rise above discrimination, and prove to the world that she as a women was both intelligent enough to become a zoologist and brave enough to explore the watery depth of the ocean.

Along with the main story, the book is full with facts about Marnie creatures, like the inside covers which are bursting with Marta’s illustrated species of sharks and the ‘Shark Bites’ which are small factoids dispelling common shark myths, plus a timeline depicting Eugenie’s amazing achievement and discoveries.

Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark, is an inspiring insight into the life of an amazing lady, but is also a message to young children that determination and hard work along with the tenacity to never give up can lead to the realisation of your dreams.

Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist – Story Sacks

Story Sack are fun education tools, which can be used to help children immerse in a book and gain greater understanding of the story. Most Story Sacks are constructed around a fiction picture book, but there are many children who much prefer to read non-fiction, so SOTB thought we’d have a go at constructing a story sack around Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist.

So just before we begin, I’ll start with as quick refresher of what is included in a story sack..

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

Shark Lady Story Sack for Younger Children

For the Non-Fiction book element we have paired Shark Lady, with Miles Kelly Publishings ‘I Love Sharks; First Facts and Pictures’ which is a beautiful picture book filled with shark facts.

For the younger readers activities, we have a plush Shark Lady, and Shark, plus a Magnetic wooden ocean fishing game.

Shark Lady Story Sack for Older Children

The older childrens storysack utilised the same nin-fiction book, but we’ve swapped out the soft toys, for Schleich Wildlife Shark set with three shark figures, plus a playmobile female diver (it is the only female diver figure I could find, proving socusity still belives it a masuclie pursuit!) For the game element, we choosen the fact filled Top Trumps Shark cards.

The Ninjabread Man by Katrina Charman & Fabiano Fiorin – Story Sack

It’s time for a Christmassy Story Sack, and what could be more festive than gingerbread? So we at SPOB present our Ninjabread Man story sack based on the book by Katrina Charman and illustrated by Fabiano Fiorin.

The Ninjabread Man is an educational title by Hopscotch Twisty Tales, as it as exciting and exquisitely illustrated as any picture book published purely for pleasure, with the addition of a fantastic and funny twist. I chose it, because of its humour, exciting storyline, and because my sister a foundation class teacher is often asking for entertaining, good quality contemporary stories based on The Gingerbread Man to use in class, and this fit’s that criteria beautifully.

The story funs along the same lines as the original, but with a feistier protagonist complete with kung-fu skill baked almost to perfection that kicks and fights his way past many hungry animals in a bid for freedom. However, the crafty fox tries to outwit him by the river, but the confident cookie decides to leap across the water but is saved from a water end, by a surprising spry old ninja baker!

So before we start talk about building a story sack around this all-kicking adventure, let have a reminder of the elements that make up a good story sack…

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

So, Good quality fiction book – check!

Non-fiction book, that relates to the story - This could go two ways, you could opt for a book about ninjas/kung-fu, or as this is a (slight dubiously) festive themed Story Sack, I’ve chosen to go with a book about gingerbread. The book in question is Ginger Bread Wonderland by Mima Sinclair, which gives an introduction with a history about gingerbread followed by 30 instructions of gingerbread bakes and projects, all accompanied by delightful and festive photographs.

Toys – and soft toys are a must for this age range, so I’ve included a Gingerbread soft toy, of which there are plenty to be found at this time of year, and a fox hand puppet. With this pair children can roll play for hours, replaying the ending of the story.

A Game or Activity  - well, I think I’ve gone a little overboard with this element but it was so much fun, I couldn’t help it! So there is a lovely Orchard Games, Run, Run, As Fast as you Can, board game, which is available from any well stocked toyshop. Plus some gingerbread foam character to decorate, available cheaply in many shops during the approach to Christmas. Lastly, there’s got to be some baking!

 So I’ve found three NINJABREAD cookie cutters, which can be used in conjunction with recipes from Ginger Bread Wonderland as an activity. Or can be used with Plastercine/Play Dough. I have included a recipe sheet of modelling and Play Doughs recipes that I’ve tried and tested and adapted to make it look and taste like gingerbread. Alternatively I’ve include a large pack or orange Plastercine for instant use.

Worksheet – lastly, I’ve made a make-your-own Ninjabread Man worksheet which can be used to colour and cut to make a Ninjabread man whose legs move so fast he looks like he’s actually doing kung-fu! Or course you can let you imagination go wild, maybe the gingerbread man is dancing, maybe a ballerina –bread person!

So here we are one, festive, action-packed and tasty story sack bursting with fun!

Story Sack – Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph

Here at Space on the Bookshelf we are rather fond of Story Sacks, as a playful learning devise, to help children foster their love of stories. Last year we did a series of features on how to create Story Sacks, along with pushing the concept to include non-fiction Story Sacks, plus ones for older reads, even up to YA.

It’s been a while since we did a Story Sack feature, so it is about time we remedied that with a Story Sack based on Rob Biddulph’s beautiful picture book Odd Dog Out. 

Odd Dog Out is a vibrant beautifully illustrated picture book, about a Dachshund, who is the Odd Dog Out in a city where all the other resident dachshunds look and behave the same; crowds of suited bowler hat wearing clones, who don’t approve or understand Odd Dog Out and his individual style. So Odd Dog out longing to be understood goes in search of other Odd Dogs Out like him. When he finds a place inhabited by dogs just like him, he meets an Odd Dog Out and realises that individuality is no bad thing, and becomes proud to stand out in the crowd. Odd Dog Out, is more than just an entertaining story and a veritable feast for the eyes, it also contains subtle yet positive messages about individuality and loving who you are.

Odd Dog out is a perfect book to be the basis of a Story Sack, it is an engaging story, with a moral core, and has much potential variation on way that you could compile the story sack. But first let us begin with a recap of what a Story Sack is comprised of…

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

So, every Story Sack should contain soft toys. So for Odd Dog Out that is going to have to be sausage dogs. Now you can ether purchase one, like this TY one on the photograph, or if you a feeling creative, you can decorate your own, using blank dachshund soft toys (these ones found a well-known hobby retailer for £2.50 each.) To complete the look I got my Mum to crochet Odd Dog Out’s scarf and hat, and the bowler hat was also donated by Bookaholic and Crafter extraordinaire Leilah Skelton. Alternatively you could make a bowler hat with egg boxes and black paint.

For the non-fiction book, I opted for an Usborne book about dogs, which is informative colourful and accessible for younger children. 

For the games, I have two options, The first one is Wiener Dog Playing Cards set which has different Dachshunds on every card, which can be purchased on line, and used to play happy families, or like story cubes. The second option is cheaper and involves a spot of crafting. In Addition to the book Rob Biddulph’s Odd Dog Out Characters feature on a line of stationary, cards and gift wrap. The gift wrap you can use it to make your own Odd Dog Out pairs game!

The last element of a story sack is the Worksheets, now usually I create sheets based on the book, however, for Odd Dog Out it is much easier as on Rob Biddulph’s web-site there are a downloadable PDF Worksheets based on the book – Thank You Rob! 

So there we have it one colourful and fun, Odd Dog Out Story Sack! 

But before I go, I would like to quickly celebrate that fact that this tory sack was a collaborative effort, and would not have shaped up so well without the kindness of others both, and so please join me in thanking them.


A BIG Space on the Bookshelf Thanks goes to the lovely Leilah Skelton, who saw my twitter post and sent me the bowler hat for Not-So-odd-Dog-Out! Leilah is a senior bookseller from Waterstones in Doncaster. She does a lot of crafting with book promotion, and is a big fan of Rob Biddulph's work. So much of a fan that she has reviewed each of his books in rhyme! Leilah can be found on twitter at @Leilah_Makes

Also Thanks to my every obliging mother, Brenda Berry, who is often crocheting items for story sack, for the lovey Hat and scarf for Odd Dog Out.


And finally to Rob Biddulph for the fabulous books, and the worksheets!