Hairy Maclary is the star of a series of rhyming books about a shaggy Scottish terrier. In this book, he is at the vet’s surgery, where the busy waiting room is full of different animals – dogs, kittens, mice and a cockatoo called Cassie.
The story begins with Cassie plucking a hair from Hairy Maclary’s coat, causing him to jump and knock over a bowlful of mice. A chain reaction of chaos ensues that even the vet cannot control. Budgies take flight, a cat takes chase, a goat butts Cassie’s cage, and she happens to see a stray hair on Hairy Maclary’s coat…
A GOOD CHOICE
This delightful and funny book will appeal to both adults and children. While the illustrations convey the storyline very well, the language level of the text is high, making it probably best suited to children from around three years old.
Older children who have learnt the rhyming verse are likely to enjoy exploring it independently. It is a book that can easily become a favourite if shared several times.
SHARING THIS BOOK
To get the most from this book, children will need to share it several times with an adult. They will also need to see the pictures in order for them to enjoy the rhyming verse.
The book’s strong rhythm means it is easy to speed up or trip on words while reading. So, take your time and where necessary pause to help children make the links between the words and pictures.
It is also useful to take a little time to explain or check children have understood some of the wonderful vocabulary so they will be able to remember it and start to use it.
The waiting room at the vet's surgery is full of lots of different animals
SUPPORTING LEARNING
Language development
Rhyme and vocabulary
Rhymes can help to develop children’s auditory awareness, so sharing this book several times with children may help them to focus on and learn the rhymes in the text. By pausing from time to time, children may be able to complete the rhymes.
This book also provides an effortless way to develop children’s descriptive vocabulary. There are plenty of phrases which you can draw children’s attention to such as ‘bottlebrush tail’ and ‘skidded and scampered’. The strong rhymes mean that children are likely to remember particular words, although it is important to unpick their meanings with children.
Sequencing
After several readings, see if children can retell the story using the pictures with prompts such as ‘what happened?’ and ‘then, what happened?’. Retelling stories can help children to practise sequencing. It can also be a way of checking children’s understanding of the text.
Understanding the World
Many children are not able to keep a pet at home. You could invite a vet or someone who cares for animals such as a dog groomer into the setting to talk to the children. You could also visit a pet shop and encourage children to find out more about what is involved in caring for pets.
Expressive Arts and Design
Set up a vet’s surgery, with cuddly toys to represent those in the book along with containers to transport them. As with a real vet’s waiting room, you could put out leaflets and posters as well as chairs and a set of scales. You could even ‘sell’ pet food! To help children establish the contextual language needed, take on the role of the receptionist as well as that of the vet. You might also like to create a pet shop.
Mathematics
Share mathematical games that involve animals such as snap, dominos and pairs. With older children, you could create a mathematical display that shows which breed of dog is the most popular among children. Using laminated photographs backed with a little Velcro, children can choose a breed of dog and put it in on a chart. Afterwards, count which dog received the most ‘votes’.
Early literacy
If you create a role-play vet’s, you might also like to create some written rules. What rules would ensure the animals do not upset each other and also that everyone is kept safe?
Finally, if this book proves to be a success, why not explore others in this series.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
Over the course of this monthly series on sharing books with children, Penny Tassoni will look at a range of fiction and non-fiction titles, from rhyming books for babies to picture books that adults and children can explore together.