Lesson 1

1. Look at the front cover - when and for who do you think the book has been written ? Explain your thinking, giving evidence for your thoughts.

Now download (by clicking the link above) and read the book from beginning to end - you might find it easier to read it aloud. Spend time looking at the pictures.

2. Turn to the page that starts, ‘He sees his father sleeping in the big brass bed.’ Look at the picture of the bedroom.

a). What important job does the baby’s father have? List all of the evidence in the picture that supports your answer.

b). Hanging from the corner of the bed post is a green/grey box. What do you think this is and why is it hanging from    

     the bed?

3. Turn to the page that starts, ‘He sees his mother pouring hot porridge in a bowl.’ This page has a very busy picture  

    which is set in the kitchen of the family home.

a). Complete the table with 5 activities in the picture that would now be done in a different way, for example, in the picture, the tea has been made in a teapot (under the purple cosy) but today most people use teabags.

         b). What do you notice in the picture that we continue to do or use today?

Lesson 2

Spend some time looking through the book again - enjoy reading the rhyming story and looking at detailed pictures.

Turn to the page that starts, ‘He sees a bonfire smoking pigeons in the sky.’

1. Why has the author chosen to use this phrase - what is the effect of a bonfire smoking pigeons on the reader?
2. Who do you think the man in the blue uniform is and what do you think he is doing? (To answer this question, you will need to use what you already know about World War II, in addition to evidence in the picture.

Turn to the page that starts, ‘He sees his sisters fishing with a brown stocking net.’

  3.  Look at the picture and find this detail:

         a).What is the device that appears to be floating in the sky and why is it there?

         b). What other evidence of The Blitz can you see in the whole picture?

  4. Look at the picture below:

        a). Circle the following items:

* gas mask

* coal tongs

* baby’s two sisters

* soap in a cup

* needle and thread

  b). What are similarities and differences between this kitchen and what your kitchen might look like today?

  c). What clues does this illustration give about life for ordinary people in World War II? Justify your opinions  

       by giving evidence from the picture (you might want to start with why there is a gas mask on the

       mantlepiece).

5. Turn to the page that starts, ‘He sees the landing mirror with its rainbow rim.’ 

  a). What time of the day is it? How do you know?

  b). How do we know that the baby’s father is about to go out?

  c). Where do you think the baby’s father is going? Use what you know about life at that time to explain your opinion in addition to the evidence in the illustration

8. Think about some of the books you have read about World War II (for example, Friend or Foe, Goodnight Mister Tom, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit). 

  a).  How does the impression of World War II given in ‘Peepo’ differ from the impression given in other

        books you have read (or listened to)?

  b).  Why do you think the authors have given a different impression?

  c).  Although the story is set in World War II, the war is not mentioned in the words in the book. How do the  

        pictures help  to add to the story that is written?

9. Write a short review of the book (about half a page). Mention if you liked it or not, give a synopsis of the story (a synopsis is a summary of the story) and highlight two or three key details that stand out for you.