This, archetype-ally, is about the power of the Crone. She cares for others and they become loyal to her. They area force for good. She is not alone after all her children are gone. It's a great representation of that. The witch eventually makes room on the broom for a cat, dog, bird, and frog. Are all of these characters considered friends? Students can discuss what makes people friends. Would you have made friends with the witch? How do you treat your friends? Further, because the witch allows everyone on her broom, it snaps in two. Students can consider why the witch continued to make room on her broom when there wasn’t really room. This edition features the captivating classic story with a stunning, redesigned cover and beautiful finish, making it a must-have addition to the bookshelves of all Donaldson and Scheffler fans – big and small!

To add the broach, cut out an oval of green felt. Place this on top of the yellowfelt and cut out a larger oval of this, around 1cm bigger on all sides. Shape this to go in and out so that it looks like mini jewels (or hills!). Glue or stitch this together and then attach to the top of the cloak with a couple of small stitches. Job done!

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Anyone with small children (and older ones too, I'm sure) will be familiar with Julia Donaldson, in particular The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which - along with Room on the Broom - have been made into animated films that regularly show on the ABC. My son, at three, enjoys the books but finds the movies too scary - he's still young like that. All of the animals in the story help the witch. Students can have discussions about why we help others. Why did the animals return the witch’s belongings? It could be that the animals care for the well-being of the witch. Or could it be that the animals have a self-interest to go on the broom? Could it be both? Is one reason better or worse as motivation to help others? Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. At the end of the story, the animals unite to save the witch from the mean dragon. Why did they do this and what made them successful? What does it mean to work on a team? What makes a good team? Questions for Philosophical Discussion Friendship To attach the plait to your witches hat, we were fortunate enough to have a label in the hat which we could feed the plait through and the knot held it in place. If this isn’t an option, just use a couple of safety pins to secure the plait to the hat. If you pin through the knot you’ll find you get better traction. Don’t forget to pin it up inside the cone of the hat so that the pin isn’t resting on your little one’s head. If they try it on and the plait is too long, simply knot it again over the first knot to reduce the length – this will save you starting from scratch with the plait.

If the animals knew that the witch could not make room on her broom for them, do you think they still would have helped her? One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. It was first published by Macmillan in 2001 ( ISBN 9780803726574) and since been made into an animated film, narrated by Simon Pegg and starring the voices of Martin Clunes, Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins, David Walliams, Gillian Anderson and Timothy Spall. The animated film was nominated for an Academy Award for best short animated film in 2013. [3]It is in my opinion often rather difficult if not even pretty well rare to find poetry specifically conceptualised for younger children that is not only thematically and content wise fun and engaging but that also presents itself at the same time as lyrically and rhythmically adept (in other words, I mean to say that I do tend to find it often not all that easy to find children specific poetry that does not read somewhat awkwardly and haltingly at times, that continuously presents both a good and successful rhyme scheme and a decent and melodious lyrical flow). A witch and her cat fly around on a broom and the witch accidentally drops some of her things. Other animals on the ground return her items to her and ask for a ride on the broom. The witch says yes to them all, but is there room for all of these new friends? I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. The book was made into an audiobook narrated by Josie Lawrence and adapted for the stage by Tall Stories Theatre Company in 2008, and has toured around the United Kingdom and the rest of the world since then. Room on the Broom is one of our favourite family books, so it’s no surprise that when we needed a costume for World Book Day we opted for the Room on the Broom witch! This Room on the Broom costume is simple to make, has minimal costs and works well for themed days and Halloween as well. Plus, it’s super cute. Thankfully it’s a pretty easy costume to put together, so in the interests of sharing, here’s how we made our simple witches costume from Room On The Broom. Room On The Broom Costume – The Witch Costume Elements