Grandad's Secret Giant

Product Information

There is a secret giant living in the town of Gableview. Billy’s Grandad tells him stories about the giant and all of the ways he has helped the people in town, but Billy just thinks they are just tall tales. One day, Billy actually sees the giant! He is so terrified that he runs away. He knows that he has hurt the giant’s feelings and feels very bad, especially after remembering that his grandad had taught him that people can be scared of things that are different. Billy and Grandad come up with a plan to make things better and make the giant feel welcome in Gableview.

Pazientzia apur bat gehiagorekin, bere aitonak beti kontatzen dionari buruz, baina sekula ikusi ez duenari buruzko zerbait gehiago ezagutuko du istorio honetako protagonistak. Eta, bide batez, oso garrantzitsua den zerbaitez jabetuko zara. Ilustrazio politak! The people living in the town couldn’t finish the mural, so the giant completed it for them. Could you start a picture or painting and ask a friend to complete it?

LoveReading4Kids Says

Think of some thought bubbles for the characters in the illustrations. What are they thinking / feeling? How can you tell?

Given the festive feel of the cover this could be mistaken as a holiday book… one of the main characters, a young boy, even leaves his house late at night (...Polar Express?). What a wonderful thing it would be, if a child were to read or receive this book around the December holidays; Imagine a conversation about the increasing necessity of acceptance during the holidays. This month our #BeanstalkBrilliant Book of the Month is a 60 year old classic - 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak. We're exploring how classic books can have appeal across the generations and deepen a child's connection with the story... This is an incredibly rich text, that would work beautifully as an in-depth shared class read for a sustained period of time (i.e. over several weeks, or as a focus text for a half-term). I think it would lend itself best to a Year 1 class (KS1), though could also be shared and enjoyed in a lighter-touch way in the final Summer term for a Reception Class. David Almond introduces his new picture book, A Way to the Stars, a story about perseverance and finding a way to make dreams come true.Make a stop-motion animation that retells this story or tells a similar story about somebody who is ‘different’. This picturebook is an absolute joy from start to finish. The story is simple and accessible with some lovely figurative language (He has hands the size of tables, legs as long as drainpipes and feet as big as rowing boats…). The contrast between the atmospheres created in the opening and closing endpapers would provide a great basis for a discussion. David Litchfield’s use of colour throughout the vibrant illustrations is excellent, as is the way that he uses body language to show the different emotions of the main characters. There is so much to see in the pictures that it is a book that requires repeated reading. Grandad says ‘We all make mistakes sometimes’. Can you think of times when you have made mistakes? How did you deal with them?

This funny picture book for children three years and over comes from Britain’s best-selling children’s author David Walliams. It follows the day in the life of a school on bring your pet to school day. Miranda, who loves to be different, decides to bring in her pet snake to the dismay of her fraught teacher. Be warned: your class may want to follow suit after this reading session!Last week, I recommended Super Manny Stands Up, as it had been a favorite when I stuffed our front-facing bookshelf with books about kindness and inclusivity. Today, I bring you another favorite from that huge collection of books: The Boy and the Giant, written and illustrated by David Litchfield. Grandad's Secret Giant is a fabulous book written by the same author who brought us The Bear and the Piano. Billy, our main character, doesn't believe his loving Grandad when he tells him that there is a giant living in town, doing good deeds for all the residents of Gableview. Despite several attempts to convince his grandson, Grandad can't break down Billy's stubborn barrier and he refuses to believe that giant could move aroun town without being spotted. That is until a first hand experience changes his mind. This experience forces Billy to question his actions as he tries to undo a wrong. I read this book with my class of year 1 children and they loved it. Here are some of the things they said about it: 'I loved the colour pictures.' 'I really liked the ending.' 'I liked how the giant was described.' They all agreed that other children should have this book read to them and even mums and dads would enjoy it at bedtime. We would happily read this story, and others by David Litchfield, again. Author Anna Kemp introduces The Hollow Hills, the sequel to her dark magical tale, Into Goblyn Wood. This week, Coram Beanstalk's first Liverpool BookFest took place at The Very Group's head office, bringing author sessions with Marie Basting and Mark Powers to Coram Beanstalk partner schools in the North West.