Look at the vocabulary used to describe how the thieves are planning to steal the cow. What other direction words can you think of?

Beautifully illustrated by Lydia Monks, such an iconic style. Little C’s favourite character besides ladybird is the sea lion.Housing A Forest shares a ladybird craft that you can make using recycled cardboard. More Activities for Children’s Books The thieves ‘crept’ into the farm. Think of synonyms which describe how people can move. Can you demonstrate each one (e.g. sprint, crawled, paced). Have you read Sue Hendra’s Supertato books? We love them and this Evil Pea paper plate craft is perfect to make alongside the books. Try to find where different farms are in your local area. What crops do they grow? What animals do they look after? Remember to explore our teaching ideas for the sequel, What the Ladybird Heard Next. Teaching Ideas and Resources: English

Look at the illustrations of the farm in the book. Look at the different textures used on the tree / grass / buildings. Can you try to recreate these textures using different art materials? We’ve been big fans of Julia Donaldson’s What The Ladybird Heard series so I was excited to hear that there was a new book out in the series and as we enjoyed it so much I thought it would be good to share some easy What The Ladybird Heard at the Seaside activities too.I love these ladybird suncatchers from Here Come The Girls which would look beautiful on display in a school or preschool window or in your childs room at home. Invite the children to dress up like one of the characters from the book and re-tell the story for a friend, grandparent or other relative over Skype or Facetime. Write a character profile about Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len? what kind of people are they? Where do they live? Identify the rhyming words used throughout the book. Can you make your own rhyming dictionary, adding other rhyming words for the ones found? Of course for this particular book we have to include some mermaid activities! I love this paper plate mermaid from Red Ted Art which comes with a free printable, my daughter has made this craft previously and it was a big hit with her.

Why not make some story stones to help retell the story? These ones are sea themed and you could easily add stones with a mermaid, ladybird and any other of the characters from the book. As well as ladybird crafts and activities you’ll also fine ones for Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len, the mermaid and her friends in the sea with sharks, crabs, whales and a sealion.

The fourth title in the number one bestselling What the Ladybird Heard series – perfect for young children to read aloud.

This paper plate craft for The Snail and The Whale is movable so your characters can sail across the ocean, can you see the little snail on the whale’s tail? What the ladybird heard at the seaside is a fun rhyming adventure book. The characters in this book involve amazing sea creatures and the mythical sea-dwelling creature (a mermaid). This ladybird takes a trip to the seaside and spots, two bad men, planning to steal the mermaid’s desirable hair and sell it to someone famous … fortunately the detective-like ladybird has a great plan to stop these bad men! Sunday Post Bright, sparkling, full of humor, subterfuge and rhyming fun, this is another exceptional title from the award winning pair of Donaldson and Monks. Not only a funny tale of whimsy, it continues to show that even the smallest, quietest and most unassuming characters around us can make the biggest differences and overcome the most difficult of challenges. Themes of friendship, teamwork and communication are prevalent in this series with the fourth installment being just as strong. Expect nothing less than bold, beautiful and brillianceLook at the adjectives that are used to describe each animal. How many other adjectives can you think of to describe them? Use the animal posters (see Resources below) and write adjectives on them. I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. I made this paper plate What The Ladybird Heard craft with movable parts that mean you can hide away a little drawing or bit of writing too.