Stick Man

Product Information

Stick man is a cute little twig and he lives at home in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and three stick children. He is eventually reunited with his family in the "family tree" as a result of his interaction with Father Christmas. Taking your craft knife, cut a line straight across the background and plate (as pictured), or slightly curved, large enough for your stick people to move around a little.

On the other hand, it's billed as a Christmas book and the Santa part really just drops out of nowhere and the first half of the story has nothing to do with Christmas. From the rhyming melody of the text to the amazing illustrations by Axel Scheffler, stick man is a classic. For one, I do NOT AT ALL appreciate that in the illustration where Stick Man points out that he is not a bow, the individual using Stick Man as a bow is someone "playing Indian" and wearing a feather headdress (as that is considered majorly offensive to and for many Native Americans and Canadians, and even though in Europe, they are sadly still a bit behind the times with regard to this, it really does bother me that even in the 21st century, Axel Scheffler would depict people playing at being "Native"). For foundation stage of history, the events of the stick man’s journey can be plotted on a time line, to help 5-7 year-old's understand the concept of past events. You can either use the cut out images as decals for the background, or as extra stick puppets to pop onto craft sticks.Colour in the prepared wintry plate background, or you can colour in and stick the scenery decals onto the blank background template instead – whichever you prefer. When Stick Man, who lives with his "Stick Lady Love and their stick children three", is mistaken for an ordinary twig in this humorous rhyming tale, he experiences a series of misadventures that take him far from home. When he frees himself from the nest he is carried out to sea and ends up on a beach where children use him for a flagpole on their sandcastle before he encounters other children who use him for a variety of things that do not please him. With that in mind, we’ve created a free Stick Man paper plate puppet craft printable that you can download right here on Rainy Day Mum.

He is worryingly placed in the grate but, thankfully, before the fire can be lit someone comes down the chimney and gets stuck. While others find many ignominious uses for Stick Man – a bat, a pen, a bow and a boomerang among others – Stick Man does all he can to find his way back home…And, happily, he does! That said, my GoodReads friend Manybooks also makes some excellent points in her review regarding other problematic content here and I suggest reading her review before you share this with your littles. I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise.I found this story really interesting, it takes the reader on a journey, uncovering the activities that wrongly mistake the Stick Man and use him as a stick for; a snowman, a pen, a twig to name a few. Best of all, we’ve also included some stick on background elements for a beach scene, a Christmas scene (and more) so if drawing isn’t your thing – you can use those! Her other books include Room on the Broom, Stick Man and Zog, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, The Hospital Dog, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures, illustrated by Lydia Monks. After you’ve made the craft together, say the lines of the character using a silly voice as you use each of the stick puppets, modelling how to use expression. Having enjoyed a number of British author Julia Donaldson and German illustrator Axel Scheffler's other rhyming picture-book adventures, from The Gruffalo to Room on the Broom, I picked up this holiday tale with a great deal of pleasant expectation.