[liztom71]

Hi. I've been doing 1 hour library workshops in my area as part of a regional reading/languages initiative. The concept is great but actually doing them is quite tricky, mainly because I never know what I'm going to get in the way of age or size of group, so finding the right kind of stories is tough. I've already done quite a few of these workshops, with varying success - I'm definitely learning as I go. They are open to primary age children between 5-11, though often there will be a predominance of very young children, sometimes including 3/4 year olds. Sometimes there is just a small handful of kids, and other times as many as 30. I'm really asking 2 questions here: first, any good ideas for books? I've found that Julia Donaldson's stories (The Gruffalo etc) work pretty well as they have great rhymes, rhythm, repetition and eye-catching pictures. They seem to appeal to all ages and have a good theme to work on. Some more of this kind of thing would be great. Second, any tips for keeping very young children actively engaged in efl lessons/workshops?