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Rosie's WalkPat Hutchins
Rosie's Walk
by Pat Hutchins
Rosie the hen walks calmly across the farmyard, entirely unaware of the fox behind her, who meets a rake, a pond, a haystack and a beehive.
A story about animals, funny and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 3–5, and at a reading age of about 4 for reading alone.
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Our take on this book
Rosie the hen goes for a stroll around the farmyard, entirely unaware that a hungry fox is stalking her every step — and just as unaware that at each turn the fox comes to spectacular grief, in the pond, under the haystack, into the flour, while Rosie walks serenely on and is home in time for dinner. Pat Hutchins's near-wordless 1968 classic is a masterpiece of picture-book comedy: the sparse text follows only Rosie, while every disaster befalling the fox happens in the pictures, so the child reader is in on a joke the heroine never notices. The peril is entirely the fox's, and entirely funny. For a three- to five-year-old it is a perfect early book — they can 'read' the story from the pictures, delight in knowing more than Rosie does, and shout out what's about to happen to the fox. A brilliant, enduring demonstration of how much a picture can tell that the words don't.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
I Want My Hat BackJon Klassen
This Is Not My HatJon Klassen
Duck in the TruckJez Alborough
Mr Gumpy's OutingJohn Burningham
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.