Story Retelling Flap Activity and “Are You My Mother?” Book Review

by Kathy Porter

This classic book became one of my favorites as a child. Now I’m a Nana Extraordinaire and it’s still a favorite read aloud. If you aren’t already familiar with the story, let me catch you up.

A mama bird goes to find food to feed her baby while he is still an egg. While she is gone, the egg hatches and the baby bird goes off to find his mama. He meets a few farm animals and some vehicles. To each, he inquires if one of them is his mother. Finally, a bulldozer scoops him up and puts him back into his nest just as his mama returns with a tasty worm.

I love to mimic the sounds of the animals and vehicles as I read the story. My favorite part is when the bulldozer makes a loud SNORT noise and the baby bird says in a disgusted voice: “Oh, you are not my mother, you are a Snort!” This book is a great vocabulary builder as children learn to read certain animal and transportation words.

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Retell the story in a different way by saying: “I want to find my mother (dad, grandma, or another caretaker). I came to some bones. Are you, my mother? [Raise the flap] No! growled the dinosaur. I came to a space ship. Are you, my mother? [Raise the flap] No! I am a space alien. I came to a bee hive. Are you, my mother? [Raise the flap] No! buzzed the bee. I came to a house. Are you, my mother? [Raise the flap] Yes, said my mother and hugged me. OR Yes, said my ___________ and hugged me. (Insert the type of caretaker: dad, grandparent, sister, etc.) .

Supplies:

Activity sheet, scissors, glue stick, crayons or markers.

Directions:

1. Color all the pictures on the activity sheet. Draw clothing, and hair on the caretaker, in the last box.
2. Cut out the four pictures on the top half of the page BUT leave the bottom four pictures uncut.
3. Glue the top of each cut-out picture to the GLUE box on each of the bottom squares. For example: The bones are glued to the dinosaur, the bee to the hive and the alien to the space ship.

Different Variations:

• A blank activity sheet is included. The child draws any pairs of animals or objects for their story. Examples: Cave and bear; headphones and tablet; cocoon and butterfly, anything from your imagination. Retell the story using the child’s original pictures as guides.