Suggested Books for Forest School

Included are suggestions concerning what age groups these books might appeal to and a star rating system, as follows: * not really worth the effort, **a reasonably enjoyable story, *** a good book to share with children, ****excellent reading. BB indicates if the story is available in Big Book format. Spots Walk in the Woods *** Eric Hill ISBN 0-140-55274-X Walker Books Suitable for 3-5 yr olds Spot, with his friendly classmates and teacher travel by bus to the woods where they explore together. Links: introducing the idea of travelling on a bus and Forest School The Magic Forest ** By Peter Kavanagh ISBN 0-590-54341-5 Suitable for 5-6 yr olds A child goes for a walk in a forest with his parents and discovers a variety of creatures and imaginary characters that help show him the way home when lost. This story includes witches, wolves and bears. Links: laying a route, imaginary woodland characters. Follow My Leader*** Emma Chichester Clark ISBN 0-00-664760-X Suitable for 3-6 yr olds A little boy leads a group of animals through the countryside to a wood where they encounter a tiger who takes over a their leader. Links: Follow My Leader game through the wood. Little Rabbit Foo Foo **** Michael Rosen ISBN 0-7445-6945-1 Suitable for 3-6 yr olds Rabbit Foo Foo is a comical character that treats the forest animals unkindly and gets turned into a goonie by the Good Fairy. Links: how to treat animals in the wood. Alone in the Woods** Ian Beck ISBN 0-439-99898-0 Suitable for 4-6 yr olds Teddy is taken on a picnic but gets carried away by a kite into the woods where he finds a huge teddy bears picnic taking place. Links: If you go down to the woods today song, making kites.

Percys Friends*** Nick Butterworth Suitable for 5-6 yr olds A series of books that enables children to find out where animals play, the things they like and the things they dont, with some funny moments captured on Percys camera. Animals include the owl, the hedgehog, the fox, the squirrel, the rabbit and the badger. Links: how woodland creatures live. Also Percy the Park Keeper Everyones Friend ISBN 0-00-711976-3 Bunny and Bees Playful Day** Sam Williams ISBN 1-84362-034-0 Suitable for 3-5 yr olds These two characters live in a tree house and enjoy playing outside whatever the weather. Links: Hide and Seek, 123 Where are you?, being out of doors. Owl Babies**** (BB) Martin Waddell ISBN 0-7445-6313-5 Suitable for 3-5yr olds The mother of three baby owls leaves them to hunt and they wonder where she has gone and when she will return. Links: parental absence, owl habits, being left alone in the woods. The Grandad Tree**** Trish Cooke ISBN 0-7445-7875-2 Suitable for 5-6yr olds Changes in the life of a tree are sensitively used to reflect the life of the childrens granddad in whose memory they plant a new tree. Links: plant growth and life cycles, seasonal change, death and bereavement. Wheres my Teddy ***(BB) Jez Alborough ISBN 0-7445-3620-0 Suitable for 3-5yr olds Eddys lost his teddy, so he goes off to the woods to find him where he gets a huge fright. This could make some children wary of woods! Links: favourite toys. Walking through the Jungle**(BB) Julie Lacome ISBN 0-7445-6326-7 Suitable for 3-5yr olds A variety of animals are encountered in the jungle all make their own noises and move in special ways. Links: animal actions and noises, what animals can be found in particular habitats. Itchy Bear***(BB) Neil Griffiths ISBN 0-9540 498-3-7 Suitable for 3-5yr olds

The bear has an aggravating itch, which he tries to cure, but ends up annoying the other woodland animals. Links: where animals live in the woods. Quick as a Cricket***(BB) Audrey Wood ISBN 0-85953-331-x Suitable for 3-5yr olds This colourful picture book links human emotions and feelings to members of the animal kingdom. Links: emotions, animals of different habitats, creating poems. Cant you Sleep Little Bear?****(BB) Martin Waddell ISBN 0-7445-3691-X Suitable for 4-6yr olds Little Bear has trouble sleeping because he is afraid of the dark, much to Big Bears annoyance. Links: sizes, nighttime, personal fears. Goldilocks and the Three Bears***(BB) Susan Price ISBN 0-521-66653-8 Suitable for 3-6yr olds Traditional story. Links: sizes. Were Going on a Bear Hunt****(BB) Michel Rosen and Helen Oxenbury ISBN 0-7445-4781-4 Suitable for 3-5yr olds A family go looking for bears and have to cross some demanding terrain! Links: sounds, movement. Dinosaurs and All that Rubbish**(BB) Micheal Foreman ISBN 0-582-42092-x Suitable for 5-6yr olds Man leaves a polluted earth behind him, which is restored by the dinosaurs, as he travels to a new planet. Links: pollution, mans impact on the environment. Window**** Jeannie Baker Suitable for 3-6 yr olds A story told through wonderful pictures of how the locality where a child grows up changes over time, becoming increasingly urbanised. Links: mans impact on the environment, change, growth, comparison of town and country. Where the Forest Meets the Sea **** Jeannie Baker ISBN 0-7445-1305-7 Walker Books

Suitable for 3-6 yr olds The reflections of a young boy exploring a prehistoric rain forest. With natural material, collage illustrations of the past, present and future. Links: the importance of our environment, ancient trees, growth, natural and man-made materials. Deep in a Rainforest***(BB) Gwen Pascoe ISBN 186374-094-5 Suitable for 3-5yr olds Another beautifully illustrated picture book exploring the colours that can be found in a rainforest. Links: identifying colours in the environment, comparing a rainforest with a wood, creating poems. The Gruffalo (BB)**** Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler ISBN 0-333-71093-2 Macmillan Suitable for 3-6 yr olds A quick-thinking mouse takes a stroll through a deep dark wood and comes face to face with a fox, an owl, a snake and a hungry gruffalo. Links: woodland animals, animal predators and their woodland foods. The Wide Mouthed Frog (Pop-up book)*** Keith Foulkner ISBN 1-84357-054-8 Suitable for 3-6 yr olds A humorous tale about a talkative frog who cant stop asking other creatures what they eat until he meets a creature that eats wide mouthed frogs. Links: talking to peers, animal diets. If You Give a Moose a Muffin***(BB) Laura Joffe Numeroff ISBN 006-443366-8 Suitable for 4-6yr olds A child invites a moose into their home to eat a muffin and the animal gets up to some funny antics that are most un-mooselike! Links: Food, animal habits. Butterfly Kiss***(BB) Vicki Churchill and Charles Fuge ISBN 0-340-78307-9 Suitable for 4-6yr olds Ant and caterpillar enjoy eating contests, but Caterpillar always wins. Until the day she becomes a butterfly and finds her mouth has changed shape. Will she find some food she can eat? Links: food, change. Red Bird**(BB) David Orme ISBN 0-00-301230-1 Suitable for 3-5yr olds

Red Bird is angry. The only thing he likes to eat are blackberries and someone has taken them all. Who can it be? Links: food, woodland animals and what they eat . The First Musician***(BB) Amanda Graham ISBN 1-86374-270-0 Suitable for 3-5yr olds This book illustrates how music can represent different places and times. Links: making musical instruments. The House at Pooh Corner**** A A Milne Suitable for 3-6 yr olds Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet build a shelter in the woods for Eeyore on a cold snowy day. The picture of this basic, tent styled shelter is useful. Links: shelter building The Three Little Pigs Traditional tale Links: shelter building Hansel and Grettel and the Sandwich Trail Traditional tale Links: Laying and following trails Tree Folklore and Superstitions PNL Press Links: Tree studies The Aspen Tree story Links: Tree studies The Elder Tree story Links: Tree studies, making jewellery Bella the Buzzard Links: Caring for wildlife and the environment, bird studies Native American Indian Stories