We're Going on a Bear Hunt; Little Rabbit Foo Foo

When I first saw these 'Story Play' books with their colour-coded lines I was somewhat apprehensive. Surely the publisher would not allow the deconstruction of two of their excellent picture books to meet the prescriptive pedagogy and mechanistic structure some advocate for the literacy hour? I need not have worried. French has brought her skill as a performer and writer for children's theatre to bear to preserve the integrity of these popular picture books based on chants from the oral tradition. Her 'Story Play' versions give purpose to reading aloud, aid and indeed, demand, expressive reading and encourage co-operation and shared performance. The colour coding of lines from the text to denote different narrators makes it easier for young and inexperienced readers to participate and follow a scripted play structure and, if the Big Book version is used, a whole class can take part. Children are likely to use these books as models for their own original plays or adaptations of storybooks. The potential is enormous.