A hilarious story celebrating friendship and difference from an exciting new picture book partnership.

Simon Sock - Scholes (Elmet) Primary School, Leeds Simon Sock - Scholes (Elmet) Primary School, Leeds

That is until he meets Betty the Banana who does enjoy the same things as Simon and the story ends with a lovely message, 'even though they didn't match, they really did make a great pair'. We also have this super versatile Similarities and Differences Worksheet, too, which can be used to compare and contrast a variety of topics. I liked this book because even though Simon sock found his match at the end he had more fun going out with the banana than he did his matching sock. Simon Sock’ can be used to explore children’s friendships and lead children to consider what they look for in a friend as well as consider where and with who they find a sense of belonging. As an odd sock, Simon Sock is left out of the paired sock activities, he cannot race like the sports socks or go to parties like the sparkly socks.In this Literacy Live Lesson for KS1/First Level, CBBC’s Rhys Stephenson and Mr Smith from Bitesize Daily explore the book Simon Sock by Paul Linnet and Sue Hendra. With language suitable for young children, I would recommend this from birth upwards as the colours and pitch of your voice will excite any child. With beautiful, colourful illustrations, Simon Sock will capture the imaginations of all young children. The winners of The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2023, highlighting the work schools are doing to encourage a love of reading, have. Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet’s picture book would be a good class read for EYFS and Key Stage 1, and could be a nice addition to circle time or PSHE.

Simon Sock by Sue Hendra, Paul Linnet | Waterstones

Even when he finally does find Simone, his matching sock, he soon realises they have completely different interests. My son had plenty of questions after reading this, as the message about differences is clear enough for children to grasp and this opened a great dialogue for us about prejudice and discrimination (but in child speak). Classes are limited to a maximum of 30 children in Reception, Year 1 and 2 (like all schools), and classes in Years 3 to 6 are usually around this size, too. Complete unit includes downloadable and editable planning and teaching resources (pupil activity sheets, PowerPoint slides, text extracts and original illustrations) and moderation guidance.

It is a good fiction book about a sock who goes looking for its matching pair but ends up finding an unusual friend. Overall, ‘Simon Sock’ has a positive message but can also be looked at from different perspectives to think of different circumstances in which we want to be part of a pair, group or by ourselves.