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Room on the Broom is the tale of a witch who keeps losing things whilst on her broomstick, her belongings are returned by various animals on the way in return for a ride on her broomstick. Inevitably the broomstick breaks and the witch is trapped by a hungry dragon. The animals help the witch escape the snapping jaws of the dragon and in return she builds a delux broomstick for them all to travel on. (Lisa Gregory)

Reader's Reviews[]

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Room-On-The-Broom-010

a scene from the short film adaptation

Room on the Broom is another brilliant book from the creators of The Gruffalo. Julia Donaldson always manages to create stories with great pace and excitement. This story follows a witch as she embarks on an eventful journey on her broomstick. The elements are against her and the witch loses her hat, bow and wand, but she makes new friends who help her find her belongings and when disaster strikes they save her from a witch eating dragon! To repay her friends the witch performs a magic spell and creates a magnificent new broom with room for all of them.

Julia Donaldson used to be a songwriter before she started writing books, and this is evident in many of her stories. Room on the Broom has a great rhythm and has elements of repetition which young children are able to follow so they can join in with the reading. The illustrations are colourful and attractive and clearly depict the action taking place in the story. I think this book is great to read aloud to foundation and key stage 1 children as the story presents clear morals about friendship and sharing and you can encourage them to identify the animal characters and learn about the different habitats in which they live. This story also has a lot of potential for dramatization because the story has a clear and simple structure which is accessible for young children to reproduce.

Overall this is another triumph from Julia Donaldson and is a great book to read aloud, or for young children to explore on their own through the fantastic illustrations. (Rachel Dixon)

This is a wonderful book with snappy, intelligent rhyme and large, beautiful illustrations. Although it conveys the message of frienship overcoming adversity it is also incredibly fun! For this reason the book can be enjoyed by a large range of children. The rhyme, repetition and high tempo make it suitable to read to children of 4 and upwards and as well as the topics above, it also serves as a great way to introduce a child to Halloween. (Nick Rawlins)

                 

Book Review: Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

Donaldson, J. 2002. Room on the Broom. London. Macmillan Children’s Books.

Plot: A witch and her cat are flying on their broom, the witch drops items such as her hat, wand etc. The objects are found by animals and the animals join them on the broom. When the broom later breaks, the witch is captured by a giant dragon, but with the help of her new animal friends, they scare off the dragon and make a new broom.

Room on the broom is an illustrated children’s book I would probably aim at KS1. The main themes throughout the book include breaking stereotypes and focusing on relatable situations young children might find scary, and turning them into situations that are less intimidating through the use of friendly, loveable characters. For example the main character of the book is a friendly witch who shares her broom with the likes of a dog, bird, frog and a cat. Another theme within the book is sticking up for your friends and you can overcome any obstacle.

The language used in Room on the Broom is adventurous and descriptive and really enhances imagination and thinking skills and ensures an engaging read. Donaldson uses repetition throughout the story which creates an improved understanding for young children, for example throughout the book the witch is losing another item and has similar conversations with the animals, repeating the line “Is there room on the broom for a ---- like me?”.  The rhyming throughout the book gives good structure and a really easy read, the book flows well and the rhyming has a good humour to it.

The colourful illustrations used in all of her books are bold and really portray the emotions of the characters. The facial expressions of the witch are brilliant and really show how she is feeling in different stages of the book. The illustrations become dark and gloomy whilst the witch has been captured and really changes the feeling and mood of the audience.

I would highly recommend Room on the Broom to anyone who wants to use it for personal or educational purposes, links to the National Curriculum or EYFS could include nature and the outdoors and friendships.

For anyone who does love the book, there are additional resources available such as a larger book, a board book, activity books and picture books, an audio addition (including a room on the broom song), an interactive e-book and a sounds book!

A fantastic book! Children love this book which makes it the perfect tool for looking at some key aspects of the curriculum. Room on the Broom is full of repetiton, rhyme, phonics and punctuation! The book has such lovely illustrations that children can talk about the book using the images. An ideal book for children aged 4-7. Highly reccomended! Rfreer

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