Book Review - Jack and the Flumflum Tree by Julia Donaldson

We are very excited to be starting a new series of book reviews from the children of Overton Preschool Playgroup. Reading together with young children increases their literary skills and is brilliant for improving the bond between parent or grandparent and child. Try using some of the questions we’ve used at home on your young readers.

- Where Jack and his crew set sail to find a cure for Granny’s moozles on the faraway Isle of Blowyernose.

TOP TIP: This story gives a brilliant opportunity to make up a story sack with the items that Granny gave the children for their voyage, let your child choose the appropriate item for each section of the story.

A Story Sack can be any sort of cloth bag which contains items that appear in the story, it can be as simple as a few rubber ducks to accompany ‘5 Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day’, finger puppets, cuddly toys, picture cards or in this case Granny gives Jack a patchwork sack with a pair of wooden spoons, a porridge bowl, tent pegs, balloons, skipping rope, chewing gum, hankies and a tom-tom drum (any plastic tub with a lid) that the children use to get out of all sorts of scrapes on their journey.

Encourage your child to get involved with the repeating phrase:

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist” says Jack.

Q. What is the story about?

“Granny has chicken spots”

“The sharks get them in the boat”

“The monkeys are bad”

“They need the fruit to make Granny better”

Q. How do you think the children are feeling?

“They were scared when the boat was full of water”

“They can’t swim”

“Jack is happy because he is looking in the patchwork sack”

Q. What might happen next? (when the boat was full of water)

“It would sink”

Q. What is a hankie?

“I don’t know”

“We use tissues”

Kalan’s Old Nana and Great Grandma had hankies.

Linus’s monkey has a hankie for his bed.

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HAPPY STORY-TELLING!