Traditional tales – fairy tales
Key texts:
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters - John Steptoe
Jamil’s Clever Cat: a folktale from Bengal - Fiona French
The Willow Pattern Story - Alan Drummond
Further Suggestions:
The Jolly Postman - Janet and Allan Ahlberg
The Paper Bag Princess - Robert Munsch
The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Tony Ross
Into the Forest - Anthony Browne
Guess who’s coming for dinner? - John Kelly
Little Red – A fizzingly good yarn - Lynne Roberts
Little Chicken Chicken - David Martin
Jasper’s Beanstalk - Nick Butterworth
Stories with recurring literary language
Key Texts:
That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown - Cressida Cowell
Meerkat Mail - Emily Gravett
Scaredy Squirrel - Melanie Watt
On the Way Home - Jill Murphy
Further Suggestions:
Once There Were Giants - Martin Waddell
Stars of Mine - Kevin Crossley-Holland
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! - Mo Willems
The smartest giant in town - Julia Donaldson
Traction Man is here - Mini Grey
A Dark, Dark Tale - Ruth Brown
Oi! Get Off Our Train - John Burningham
That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown - Cressida Cowell
Meerkat Mail - Emily Gravett
Scaredy Squirrel - Melanie Watt
On the Way Home - Jill Murphy
Further Suggestions:
Once There Were Giants - Martin Waddell
Stars of Mine - Kevin Crossley-Holland
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! - Mo Willems
The smartest giant in town - Julia Donaldson
Traction Man is here - Mini Grey
A Dark, Dark Tale - Ruth Brown
Oi! Get Off Our Train - John Burningham
Traditional tales – myths (creation stories)
Key Texts:
Just So Stories: How the Leopard Got his Spots (and others in the series) - Shoo Rayner
Further Suggestions:
How the Whale Became - Ted Hughes (Note: this is a challenging text for year 2)
Tiddalick the Frog - Susan Nunes
Ahmed and the Feather Girl - Jane Ray
How the zebra got its stripes - Justine & Ron Fontes
How the camel got its hump - Justine & Ron Fontes
How the turtle got its shell - Justine & Ron Fontes
Tinga Tinga Tales: why giraffe has a long neck
Tinga Tinga Tales: why lion ROARRRS!
Tinga Tinga Tales: why monkeys swing in the trees
Tinga Tinga Tales: why leopard has spots
Tinga Tinga Tales: why chameleon changes colour
Tinga Tinga Tales: why elephant has a trunk
+ some Tinga Tinga Tales are available on DVD
Aesop's Funky Fables - Vivian French and Korky Paul
