Reading to her baby dolls or teddies could be a next-step activity, as well as making an animal themed craft to go along with the book or using the animals to set up a small world play scene. She remembered the key elements of the story and invented any parts that she forgot. Later, she came back to this and told the story herself, using just the props as she narrated from memory. All his books have simple text, often with repeating phrases, ideal. Rod Campbell makes books for babies and toddlers, the best known being Dear Zoo, which has sold over two million copies worldwide. He uses flaps and touch-and-feel elements when appropriate. I asked her to find me the right animal for each page as we went through the story, and she matched them up and named them all. All his books have simple text, often with repeating phrases, ideal for the pre-reader. Then we simply popped them into a basket, along with the book, and started to read the story together. Together we took a copy of our book and went on a search around the home for one of each animal to match all of the ones that are featured. It is also very easy to make a story prop basket for, especially if you have a bazillion little Playmobil animals in your home like we do! It has flaps to lift, is a lovely tale about seeking the perfect animal to receive as a gift and encourages lots of participation from its young readers. We started with Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, which is hands-down one of our absolute favourites and has been much loved by all of mine at toddler age. These also make a wonderful DIY gift, along with a new copy of the accompanying book, for a young child’s birthday or Christmas.

Having a range of these multi-sensory, storytelling baskets on the classroom shelf would be great for independent play or small group literacy work too. It’s a great early literacy development tool and makes a lovely way to engage in play with your child too. I’m starting a new series of simple and engaging storytelling baskets for toddlers and preschoolers, which will focus on using all of the senses and a range of story props to help retell and reenact favourite stories in an active way! We all know that learning through touch and movement is the best way to cement new concepts and help the brain to make sense of the information it is receiving, and the same is true for listing to and then retelling stories. Make a toddler storytelling basket for the popular story Dear Zoo, by Rod Campbell, for meaningful story telling and interaction through play.

Dear zoo book