This book has been dear to me ever since it was bought as a Christmas present back in 1989. Written by the successful duo Janet and Allan Ahlberg, it’s most definitely a heartfelt and mesmerising story for babies and young children that will last a lifetime. Peepo would be ideal for children aged 1-5 depending on the child’s level of reading. The illustrations throughout the book are detailed, colourful and inviting to the reader and portray a very British and traditional culture. Peepo uses rhythmic and descriptive language in a collection of poems to take us through what is seen throughout a typical day as a baby – in their cot, at home, at the park and going to bed. Each poem starts with ‘Here’s a little baby, one, two, three,’ – between the two sections of the poem we see part of the illustration from the next page through a cut out circle on the page. The story is set in wartime with traditional wartime hair, clothes, home decor and other iconic details creating a historic and educational element to the book. The book would appeal to nursery aged readers due to the use of poetic language and the lovely illustrations however; it would also appeal to older children of 4 and 5 due to the busy, creative pages and highly descriptive language. The illustrations are very congested with different, everyday items and would draw in a child if they were asked to look for something. This would be a wonderful book to read as a parent to their child as the text has both quality and quantity but it would also be ideal in the classroom as one to one or group reading material to improve general literacy skills. Within the classroom, this book could be good to use with music, tying in some songs relating to family, bedtime, going to the park, colours (etc) at the end. This is classic material to engage the child, encouraging them to think about different things and use their imagination. For older children it may help with certain phonics and vocabulary building – encouraging the child to discuss things about their home, family, leisure time which will lead to confidence with speaking, listening, reading and writing. This would be an excellent resource to use for teachers who teach children with English as an additional language, especially due to the strong connotations of British culture.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Peepo
By Janet and Allan Ahlberg
This book has been dear to me ever since it was bought as a Christmas present back in 1989. Written by the successful duo Janet and Allan Ahlberg, it’s most definitely a heartfelt and mesmerising story for babies and young children that will last a lifetime. Peepo would be ideal for children aged 1-5 depending on the child’s level of reading. The illustrations throughout the book are detailed, colourful and inviting to the reader and portray a very British and traditional culture.
Peepo uses rhythmic and descriptive language in a collection of poems to take us through what is seen throughout a typical day as a baby – in their cot, at home, at the park and going to bed. Each poem starts with ‘Here’s a little baby, one, two, three,’ – between the two sections of the poem we see part of the illustration from the next page through a cut out circle on the page. The story is set in wartime with traditional wartime hair, clothes, home decor and other iconic details creating a historic and educational element to the book.
The book would appeal to nursery aged readers due to the use of poetic language and the lovely illustrations however; it would also appeal to older children of 4 and 5 due to the busy, creative pages and highly descriptive language. The illustrations are very congested with different, everyday items and would draw in a child if they were asked to look for something. This would be a wonderful book to read as a parent to their child as the text has both quality and quantity but it would also be ideal in the classroom as one to one or group reading material to improve general literacy skills.
Within the classroom, this book could be good to use with music, tying in some songs relating to family, bedtime, going to the park, colours (etc) at the end. This is classic material to engage the child, encouraging them to think about different things and use their imagination. For older children it may help with certain phonics and vocabulary building – encouraging the child to discuss things about their home, family, leisure time which will lead to confidence with speaking, listening, reading and writing.
This would be an excellent resource to use for teachers who teach children with English as an additional language, especially due to the strong connotations of British culture.
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