Room on the Broom

Product Information

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.

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? In this much-loved picture book, a little mouse walks through the woods and encounters a fox, an owl and a snake.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. Room on the Broom has a delightful rhyme that almost sounds like song, or music - any picture book that rhymes like this is a pleasure to read out loud. The story just flows so well, it's fun to read, and pleasurable to the ear. Doesn't stop a kid from interrupting, though! We're a family of witch fans and this book is so much fun to read and very exciting for my little boy. Great opportunity to do silly voices for all the different characters and the rhymes are fab. Love this book! From former Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson and longtime collaborator Axel Scheffler comes this much-loved tale about a witch and her gang of friends. Peter Fogarty has kindly contributed a set of Thinking Hat resources linked to the book (see Resources below).

The ‘horrible beast’ that rises from the ditch makes lots of strange noises. Can you think of other animal noises? Can you find other examples of onomatopoeia?A magical tale about friendship and family from Magic Light Pictures, the producers of the hugely successful The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child. Why did the witch let the animals on her broom? Would you have made room on the broom for the animals? And you can never get them started on fantasy too young - good witches and bad dragons - perfect! We'll get him reading Tolkien before he's ten... I have a little boy and love reading to him, so this reading list will cover the classic (and new) children’s stories we’re enjoying together.