Key stage 1 books

The Just So Stories typically have the theme of a particular animal being changed from an original form to its current form by the acts of man, or some magical being. For example, the Camel has a hump given to him by a jinn as punishment for the camel's refusing to work (the hump allows the camel to work longer between times of eating). The Leopard's spots were painted by an Ethiopian. The Kangaroo gets its powerful hind legs, long tail, and hopping gait after being chased all day by a dingo.

Click here to view Just So website 

Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica is a collection of fables said to have told by Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE.

These short stories always have animals in them and a moral that one learns at the end of the story.

Click here to view Aesop's Fables website

The story begins in Africa in a big, deep, muddy river, where the big crocodile (the title character) is telling a slightly smaller crocodile, called the "not-so-big one", that he wants to leave his dirty home and eat some real children for his lunch. 

Click here to view The Enormous Crocodile website

This book was first published in 1966 but children of all ages find it entertaining today. It is a short book at only 57 pages, with illustrations from Quentin Blake on every page, making it accesible for younger ages . I have used it with key stage 1 and found that the children could easily relate to characters in the book and that it stimulated their imagination. The story is about a girl who has the power to  put spells on people who make her angry . Themes of the book is one of empathy, in particular to animals. Below you will find a 5 week plan supported by animated readings of the book. 

Click here to view The Magic Finger website