One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth is the wonderful, wintry tale of a bitterly cold night when the snow starts to fall.
Percy the Park Keeper is snug in his wooden hut in the middle of the park but he gets out an extra blanket out just in case, makes himself a hot cup of cocoa and then gets ready for bed. Instead of a cosy night’s sleep, Percy’s rest is constantly interrupted by the animals from the park seeking refuge in the warmth of Percy’s hut.
A scratching and scraping under the floorboards causes even more commotion, until everyone finally finds their own special place to get some rest. We love spending time on the penultimate page looking for each of the animals in their hiding places.
Talk about
Percy the Park Keeper is a friendly, cheerful character and at the beginning of One Snowy Night we are told that he shares his lunch with the animals who live in the park. Then, when the snow falls, he even shares his home with them. He is kind and caring. We used the story as a basis to talk about sharing, what that means and how sharing makes us feel.
Here are some ideas or questions that you might want to use to start a discussion in your family. You know your family and which questions they are ready to tackle now and which can be left for another day:
- What does it mean to share?
- Who do we share our home with?
- Who do we share our toys/belongings with?
- Is it easy to share?
- When do you find sharing hard?
- How do you feel when someone shares their toys/belongings with you?
- When you share your toys/belongings with someone do you think it makes them happy?
- Can you think of anything that makes it easier to share?
- What would the world be like if no-one wanted to share anything?
Snow crafts and activities for kids
After we read One Snowy Night we made our own woodland animals so that we could ‘act out’ the tale with the characters and allow for lots of opportunities to re-tell the story. We also made hot chocolate and painted ‘snow’ with white paint on black paper using cotton buds or q-tips.
Have a look at the Pinterest board full of snow crafts and activities for kids…
Or take a look at these activities to accompany reading the book:
- Read and Create Cardboard Tube Percy the Park Keeper and Woodland Animals
- One Perfect Day story basket
- The Imagination Tree snow and ice play ideas
- Domestic Goddesque snow discovery table
- Red Ted Art snowglobes
- Science Sparks pretend snow
- Here Come the Girls indoor snow
What have you been reading this week?
What a brilliant idea to include ‘discussion points’ in the review. I’m looking forward to reading more of these!
Thanks Helen. I have some real treasures coming up so stay tuned!
Oh you pick some fabulous books, Kirsty. This one looks just as adorable as last week’s book and I do love the reoccurring snow theme. I really think Amy would like this one and have fun spotting all the animals in their hiding places. Have pinned this to my Reading with Children board x
Carolin recently posted…Wednesday Wishlist: Pretty Diaries for 2014
Thank you Carolin. It is a lovely, gentle story and a big favourite now in our house 🙂
this is a great book! lovely story!
Eileen Teo recently posted…Hello Kitty Chinese New Year Ang Bao / Pow Lantern #3
What brilliant illustrations, love the fox, looks like it’s a great book.
Hellie’s Corner recently posted…The Empire State Building In Our Living Room!!
What a lovely book. My children would love it, especially since our cat is called Percy!
Louisa recently posted…The dummy fairy has been
Love your book reviews and this book looks great! Will get posting something to link up soon 🙂
anna recently posted…Reading Eggs & Mathseeds: Review & 4 Weeks Free Trial
I love love love this book - haven’t read it with the kids in ages! And I love that you have all sorts of associated activities too!
Actually Mummy… recently posted…Wot so Funee? Proud moments for parents
love Percy the Park keeper, he is a favourite in our house too 🙂 x
Fritha Strickland recently posted…A little outing
I’m really on board with the idea of not only reading, but discussing the books content and moral lessons after reading. This is such a fab tool for tired mums, who can just have the questions to hand when the brain is not firing enough to be creative with the content. Did Nick Butterworth do Wibbly Pig? My kids loved wibbly pig when they were small and it seems to ring a bell. Gorgeous book, which I would defo read with my lovely nephews 🙂 x
Vicky recently posted…Highlight of 2014: Yves Saint Laurent YSL Touche Eclat highlighter pen/concealer JANUARY GIVEAWAY
Thank you. Wibbly Pig is Mick Inkpen, another fantastic illustrator 🙂
oooh what a lovely book, I’ll definitely look at buying it.
Emma recently posted…Jumping Frogs
Seems like a great and educational book. And these activities are fun.
Astrid recently posted…Learning to Become Less Co-Dependent
That sounds and looks like a lovely book - just the kind of thing we enjoy reading together.
Mummy of Two recently posted…Little Mr A’s last day of holiday
That book looks gorgeous! Will have to keep an eye out for it 🙂
Kate Williams recently posted…Southend Gets Yarn Bombed
we LOVE this book and Elle always requests my husband to read it as he does funny voices for all of the animals. Elle can recite it word for word without even having to open the book! x
Keri-Anne recently posted…Video: Elle’s questions
We love this one - Ozzy was given it for Christmas and loves it to bits x
Mammasaurus recently posted…Simplifying my blog
This looks adorable. I’d like to get a few more books…although we have hundreds I’m always up for getting more! Love the discussion points too! Thank you for sharing 🙂
This looks like a delightful book, more traditional than some of the new one. Just right!
Kara recently posted…New Playsets from LEGO CHIMA
Gosh this is brilliant - the ‘talk about’ list is such a help! Subscribing to your blog right now!
Emily recently posted…Quorn Stroganoff with courgettes and clotted cream (recipe)
Thank you 🙂
I love books like this that produce such excellent conversation and learning. Looking forward to more of these 🙂
Anya from Older Single Mum and The Healer recently posted…50 is the new 30.
Brilliant idea, we love reading in this house and the girls are starting to read independently so this kind of book is perfect for them. I’m off to join in your weekly link up before it closes!
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