Books on the theme of ‘Growing’

Bring the outdoors in with this fresh selection of books focusing on outdoor play

Katy the Shooting Star by Dame Kelly Holmes, Glyn Walden and Mike Webb

The animals in the park will not play ball games with Katy the cat because she only has one eye. Katy feels left out until she is spotted practising by a coach, who invites her to play in a team. Katy is a big success and all the other animals are very impressed. The children in our setting loved the colourful illustrations and agreed with the other animals at the end of the book, that even though Katy seems a bit different, she is the best at playing basketball.

Suitable for ages three and upwards (Big Park Books, PB £5.99).

Maisy’s Nature Trail by Lucy Cousins

Follow Maisy the mouse as she comes across many different types of natural creatures in this pull-tab book that has relevant, illustrated nature vocabulary on every page. The children loved the hands-on style of the book and particularly enjoyed making the flower open to reveal the bee inside. The book is already looking well-loved as it is rarely on the shelf for long.

Suitable for ages two to four (Walker Books, HB £8.99).

Fergus in the Park by Tony Maddox

The adventures of Fergus as he decides to visit the park, instead of waiting in the truck for Farmer Bob. Fergus is chased by the park keeper and ends up skateboarding and swimming before a group of friendly ducks help him to escape. Fergus runs back to the truck to wait for Farmer Bob, who arrives and decides to reward him for waiting so patiently with a walk in the park. The illustrations are engaging and the text made the children giggle.

Suitable for ages three to five (Piccadilly, PB £5.99)..

Big Blue Train by Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds

Ben and Bella hop on their Big Blue Train and go on an imaginary journey. They visit the North Pole, the jungle, the farm and the desert, picking up different animals in every place, and all end up at a big party at the seaside. The book is quite big and very brightly-coloured, which kept the children captivated throughout. The rhyming text was also very appealing, and prompted discussion as to why the train was called ‘Chuffa Luffa’.

Suitable for ages three to six (Orchard Books, HB £10.99).

The Ding-Dong Bag by Polly Peters and Jess Stockham

This award-winning book is about two boys who have a wonderful time playing outside trying to make as many different noises as possible. The detailed illustrations show the boys collecting the different noises and putting them into a bag before unleashing them all at the same time to make a wonderful din. The children loved all the different noise words such as ‘Clang! Dang! Clash!’ for rattling spanners and ‘Swoooo! Sweee! Swish!’ for a flying frisbee.

Suitable for ages four to six (Child’s Play, PB £5.99).

Got a book to add to this list? Then email your review to aboutbooks@scholastic.co.uk