ALBUMBLE

Chapter 5 - The Poster Comes To Life

Where had Norman’s mother moved to?

Who had sent Luigi to work on the farm?

What were the four steps Mary had to do to get the clothes clean?

What did the GI want to do at the riverbank?

Where did the children hide when Millington came into the greenhouse?

Why did the lost lady look familiar? Do you they are right to be wary?

Which two characters have Kodak and Leica cameras?

Why do you think the woman at the door angry?

Chapter 4 - Trouble For Mary

How did Mary know that Millington and Grainger were definitely up to something?

Why do the children NOT think Millington is a spy?

What three items of food were on the notices in the shop?

Where does Millington eventually put the pound note?

What did the yellow circle indicate?

Do you think Luigi will cause trouble on the farm? Why?

What did Mary get for supper?

The author says about Millington: “She sounded like Mary’s father”. What do you think Mary’s father is like?

Chapter 3 - Spies All Around

How does ‘hammered’ describe the knocking at the door?

Where was the meeting taking place?

Why do you think Millington lied about where Mary was?

Although wearing gas masks seemed like a good idea – what were the main two problems?

What does a ‘spiv’ do?

What disguises did Mr Jenkins suggest spies might be wearing?

What had happened to Mary’s chocolate?

What might Grainger be up to in the middle of the night?

Chapter 2 - Grainger Danger

Who is Polly?

Why are Norman and Dennis so shocked at the sight of their breakfast?

What does Mary have for breakfast and what does Miss Millington have?

Miss Millington says “Clear the table”. Which sentence type is this?

After Norman puts his foot in a cowpat, name 4 places or animals the children visit in the farmyard.

How does the phrase ‘inching closer’ help describe how the cows were moving?

Who does Amy pay rent to?

Why can’t you milk a bull?

Instead of using her proper name, how does Grainger refer to Amy Hobbs when he talks to Millington?

The next book I'm reading is the Look and Read book "Spywatch", a BBC School series that originally aired in 1996. It starred Lesley Joseph as Miss Millington, a young Russell Tovey as Dennis and Keith Barron as the older version of Norman, who was the focus of the modern day educational inserts. Access to episodes from almost the whole Look and Read canon can be found at  https://www.youtube.com/c/lookandreadtv and you can find out further information about the shows by following their twitter account at https://twitter.com/LookandReadTV

 

Chapter 1 - Sent Away

Who is Mrs. Thompson?

Why did Norman have to put a label around his neck? What might have been on it?

Why might Mary have still been wearing her school uniform?

Do you think Mary likes chocolate too? Why?

What did Mrs Hobbs give Norman to eat?

How might Miss Millington make sure Mary doesn’t go ‘snooping around’ ?

Where did Amy find Dennis and why was he there?

What do you think the author meant when he describes Dennis and Norman as ‘the lucky ones’?

Who or what might be at the window?

Chapters nine & ten - Panic on the Lake & Stripey the Superbadger 

Using alliteration, Deal says "There's more money in........."

How did Norman convince the others he was good with boats?

Who told the Badgerman that they had gone to the wrong place?

What was dangerous about the lake?

Who were Barker and Deal trying to fight off?

Which 3 people arrived at the scene to catch the baddies?

At the very end of the story, Debbie says "See you next year!" How do you think her attitude to the countryside has changed since the very start of the story?

Chapters seven & eight - Mick's Map & Finding the Ponies

What does the Badgerman say will happen to the ponies in France?

Jane Miles kept finding what in the photos?

What does Mick think happens to the ponies? Do you think he is being truthful?

How did Jane's photos help the children discover they had made a mistake?

Why did Norman not go with Kiran and Debbie?

Where was the little hut?

Chapters five & six - Lost on the Moor & The Secret Passage

Why was Norman scared when he heard the sound?

What are the names of the two men? Are they RSPCA men?

Why do you think Mick gets upset when talking about the pony rustling?

What word printed on the letter means 'animals'?

Which 3 words describe the secret passage as they climbed the steps?

How did the men discover there was someone else in the church?

Why do you think the ponies were going to France? What might they be used for?

Chapters three & four - Running Away & The Badgerman

Who did Norman first meet when searching for Debbie and Kiran and why could they not help immediately?

Why was Norman disappointed that a paper trail had been left?

What is the Badgerman's real name?

Who does the Badgerman say is the badger's main enemy?

What did the two men feed the ponies?

Do you think the two men really are from the RSPCA? Why?

This is Badger Girl one of the many stories created for the series Look And Read - some of you reading may remember Wordy, Magic E and Bill the Brickie some of the many insert characters for the original TV show. However here on the podcast, I am simply reading from the children's read-along book, with each chapter only being about 4-6 pages long.

 

With each episode comes a number of comprehension questions, which will test your retrieval, sequencing, grammar, vocabulary and inference skills on the way !

 

Chapters one & two - Sounds in the night & Stripy

What is the name of the area where Debbie and Kiran were going to stay?

Name 2 things the that Debbie liked about the city.

Why did Mick call Debbie "Badger Girl" ?

What does 'trouble with a big T' suggest to the reader?

Can you explain what 'nocturnal' means?

What do you think Debbie is going to do next?