Willy And Hugh

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Willy hasn’t got any friends and no-one ever lets him join in with their games. He is lonely . . . until the day he bumps into Hugh Jape in the park. Willy and Hugh are very different but they make a great team!

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• The author uses lots of ellipses in the story. Can you explain why?
• ‘Hugh Jape’ sounds like Huge Ape. Can you think of other names that sound like different words / phrases?
• When Hugh bumps into Willy, there is a SMACK sound. Can you think of other examples of onomatopoeia?
• When Willy and Hugh go to the zoo, there are humans in the cage. Write a conversation that they might have in the cages.
• Write a persuasive argument for / against keeping animals in zoos.
• Willy and Hugh visit the library. What types of books might gorillas enjoy? If you could recommend a book to Willy and Hugh, what would it be? Why would they like it?
• Use the speech within the story to write a playscript based on it.
• Retell the story from Willy’s point of view?
• Write three entries in Willy’s diary for the day before, the day of, and the day after the story takes place. How do his feelings change over the three days?
• The author has written lots of books that include the character Willy. Can you write a new story about him?

Maths

• Look at the repeating patterns in the illustrations (the repeating banana pattern on the inside cover, the patterns on Willy’s clothes etc). Can you design your own repeating patterns?

Science

• Write a report about gorillas. What kinds of habitat do they live in? How are they adapted to live there? What do they eat?

Computing

• Make an animation that retells the story. Watch this example for inspiration:

Art

• Use different types of materials to design your own repeating patterns, like the ones on Willy’s clothing.

Physical education

• Look at the different activities that are taking place in the pictures (e.g. football, running, kite-flying). Could you try some of these? Could you make a set of instructions to teach other people how to do these things?

PSHE

• At the start of the story, Willy is lonely. Can you think of things that he might be able to do (or things that other people could do) so that he doesn’t feel like this any more?
• Look at the facial expressions / body language of the characters in the illustrations. How are they feeling? How can you tell?
• Buster Nose sneers at Willy. Can you think of ways to deal with people who aren’t very nice? What is the best course of action to take?
• Hugh is scared of spiders. Think of ways that Willy might be able to help him to overcome his fear.
• What fears to different people have? What fears do you have? How can we overcome our own fears?