Once in the train,Bluebear is lookingfor his seat. He findsit straight away as itis close to the doors.The train managerhas just announcedthe imminentdeparture of theEurostar.....Bluebearis on its way toFrance.

‘Will I see any fishes? Goodness! It's

all dark in here! I can'tsee anything in the

tunnel’

Bluebear is very excited. It is the first time he is travelling on board of the Eurostar. He knows thetrain goes through theChannel, but he is notafraid. When the trainapproaches near thetunnel, Bluebear looksthrough the window.

Bluebear was shocked and didn’t expect it....

‘‘Yummy!This looks good! I am

so thirsty too!!!''20 minutes later the traincame out of the tunnel andBluebear was on the Frenchside. He tried to look at thewindow, but the trainspeeded up so quickly and itwas going so fast, Bluebearcould hardly see the treesand the cars on the road...Itwas around 1:45pm, Bluebearhad been so excited by thetrip that he forgot to havelunch. He felt very hungry.

Then boarding onthe train,Bluebear leavesNewport andwatches wales andits greencountrysidethrough thewindow of thetrain for the verylast time.

....and Bluebearrushed to theboarding gate,showed his ticketand off he went tothe platform wherethe train waswaiting for thisspecial passenger...

‘I really can't wait any longer to say hi to my cousin Paddington,otherwise I will be late to

catch the Eurostar to Paris’

2 hours later Bluebear arrives in the busy train station 'Paris Gare duNord' Bluebear thought he would takethe 'Metro' it is like the tube inLondon and he is looking for the Metrosign. But he then realises that themetro is not working.'Oh! Well, nothing can stop me to meet my new family. Ineed to go to Gare de Lyon to catchanother train for the South of France by any means....

‘Here it is that's the Eurostar!...

that's the train I am taking to go to France.....wow!

That is a very long train...’

thought Bluebear who struggleda bit but got there in the end......

‘Ah! At last coach 4... right at thefront ..oh! those stepsare very high to

climb’

‘Hello I’m Bluebear.

It is Wednesday 3rd Februaryand I am very excited this

morning as I am travelling to France to meet my new

French family’.

‘It is 7 am and I have got all my suitcases ready waiting

at Newport station for the train toLondon Paddington. I have a long journey

ahead with a change in London to take theEurostar, and another change in Paris to

Clermont-Ferrand where my new family lives’.

After a quiet and peacefultwo hours journey on thetrain, Bluebear arrives atLondon. He headed straightfor King's Cross St Pancrasto catch the Eurostar whichwas leaving at 12:30pm. Destination: Paris Gare Du Nord.

Bluebeararrives at StPancrasInternationalwhere he iscatching the Eurostar. He is waitingpatiently atthe boardinggate.

‘Hey look!!! this is the boarding gate forthe Eurostar...Number 10.....

I can't wait!!!!’

This storysounds veryfamiliar,thoughtBluebear....

He was reallylookingforward tomany moregreat storiestogether withTitouan.

'Look Bluebear this isthe gingerbread man

running away.....'

Le Bonhomme de pain d’épiceRaconte par Jim Aylesworth Illustre par Barbara Maclintock

C’est l’histoire d’un petit bonhomme de pain d’épice qui s’enfuit ensortant du four et qui nargue tous les personnages qu’il rencontre. L’histoire est répétitive dans la mesure ou le petit bonhommeraconte a chaque fois d’un ton moqueur la même chose auxdifférents personnages rencontres. Cela plait bien a notre petitTitouan.

Les personnages interviennent les uns après les autres et sont très bien illustres, ce qui permet a notre petit Titouan après chaquenouvelle lecture de mémoriser les différentes venues despersonnages dans l’histoire. A la fin de l’histoire, il y a une moralecar l’impertinent petit bonhomme de pain d’épice qui se croyaitruse, se fait mange a la fin par le renard au vu de tous sespoursuivants.

Gingerbread Manby Jim Aylesworth and Illustrated by Barbara Maclintock

Loved by Philippe (dad), Anne (mum) and Titouan (aged 3)Reviewed by Philippe

This is the story of the Gingerbread Man who escapes from theoven. Each time the Gingerbread Man meets a character on hisadventure he derides them with a mocking tone of voice. The storyis repetitive as the Gingerbread Man says the same thing to eachnew character. Titouan likes this repetitiveness. The characters inthe story are introduced one after the other and they are very

well illustrated. We have shared the story so much that Titouancan anticipate each new character’s arrival. This story has a moral.The impertinent Gingerbread Man who believed he was so cunninggets his comeuppance as he gets eaten by the fox!

This is witnessed by all the other characters. Philippe and Annewere attracted to this book because of the old fashioned cover. It reminded them of their childhood when their parents andgrandparents read to them. Philippe and Anne wanted to replicatethis experience with their son.

what the family sayWe have been obliged once again to take 'the gingerbread man' outfrom our local public library as Titouan keeps asking for this book.We will probably end up by buying the book! He loves his teddy bear:Bluebear. He takes it with him to bed every night.

Nous avons ete oblige une fois de plus de reemprunter 'Le PetitBonhomme De Pain d'Epices' a notre bibliotheque municipale carTitouan nous le reclame souvent. Nous allons finir par l'acheter!. Ilest devenu tres amis avec Bluebear qui l'accompagne toutes les nuits.

At last, it’s7pm and atrain arriveson theplatform totakepassengersgoing toClermont-Ferrand.

However, his train hadbeen cancelled andBluebear, who was comingfrom so far away to meethis new family andthought he was theunluckiest bear on theplanet, had to wait againand again and again...along, long, very longtime......It's 6pm and whilewaiting Bluebear thoughthe would treat himself toa French delicacy: un painau chocolat....

‘Oh no! there are too many

people there! Come on people!

Quick, quick!!!’

Bluebears plea wentunnoticed as nobody couldunderstand what he wassaying in English. He triedto jump the queue but nosuccess. Bluebear had toqueue and wait, wait andwait a long, long, very longtime...He eventually got a taxiand arrived in the othertrain station ‘Gare de Lyon'just minutes to sparebefore his 5pm train leavesfor Clermont-Ferrand.

This has beena long journeyfor Bluebearbut he finallymade it andmet his newfamily Anne,Philippe etTitouan.Titouan isnearly 3 years old.

Bluebear got inthe train forthe last leg ofhis journey.Another 3h30and he wouldmeet his newfamily.

‘Let'stake a taxi, but look at the traffic, I will never get in time to catch the

train!!!!'

‘This is YUMMY’

Tyrannosaurus Dripby Julia Donaldson

A vegetarian dinosaur growing up withfierce meat eating T’rexs.

It is funny, has rhyming text, brilliant.

Allison Age 36

Guinness Bookof RecordsIts about world record attempts.

Its very interesting reading all aboutdifferent kinds of everything, human,animal.

Kevin Age 31

Book Reviews

Narutoby Masashi Kishimotor

Is about fighting and becoming the newmaster.

I like it because I watch it on TV.

Umer Ali Aged 9

Match of the Day

Its about football players.

I like it because its all about football.

Ben Aged 9

Mr Pusskins

Its about a cat who is spoilt.

I like it because he is grumpy at thestart and happy at the end.

Huw Aged 5

High SchoolMusicalIt is about basket ball.

It has nice people in it and I likesinging, acting, playing.

Luisha-jo Aged 7

By Leona age 8 and 8/9

Fun on the Farm

In to the kitchen comes farmer flat. Find mehis mug and his dog and his cat. Breakfast!The children all want to be fed!

Find me some eggs, some milk and some bread.

Time to get ready now. Find the stool and thepail and the pretty brown cow.Farmer flat’s wife has a peep…

By Leona age 8 and 8/9

One day Anwen is dressed upin her zebra costume. Thetrousers were too long andwent down to Anwen’s shoes.

One day Anwenwas dressed inher red dresswith red earson.

One day Anwen saw a caterpillarToday Anwen went to herballet class

Anwen

By Anwen age 4

One day Anwen went to the toy shop.

The plates are hot. They will bend and theearth will crack and lavacomes out. Lava is hot. The earth is not the onlyplanet in the solar systemwhich has volcanoes. Mars has an enormous one.

Luisha aged 7

Spiderman

Superman

I like superman because he can jump and fly.

What is it about ?

A greedy sheep who keeps eating theneats the world, then gets sick and realiseshe was perfect just the way he was

I Like it because it’s funny

by Sophie aged 5

Marvin wantedmore

What is it about ?

Sheep, cows, horses, chickens, tractors –all with touchy feely bits

I Like it because the pictures are simple,lots of touchy / textures / shiny

By Grace aged nearly 2

Usborne touchyfeely farm book