‘How long is an hour, Dad? Could you please say? I feel like an hour might take us all day!”

Road Trip by Danny Parker and Nathaniel Eckstrom is a journey in a story viewed through the eyes of a child.

Father and Son embark on a long journey to a holiday destination – perhaps lower than the son would wish. Various landscapes are driven through, pit stops are made and games are played but the journey drags on – everyone has been on those road trips – they feel like they never end!

This story tries to teach the reader that although an hour may seem forever when you are waiting for something, it really is a short amount of time. And when you are spending that time with someone you love, perhaps it isn’t the worst thing!

Nathaniel Eckstrom’s illustrations allow us to see the journey through both the father and son’s eyes – the amazement of the countryside and the boredom of the waiting!

Road trip is a great story to read when learning about patience, empathy and the concept of time. Perhaps this should be read just before you embark on another road trip these holidays!

So what can you do with this book? 

Literacy

Punctuation marks – Look for speech marks, question marks and exclamation marks. How are these used in the story and how does it change the way we read out loud?

Rhyme – explore the words that rhyme in this story. Create word banks of rhyming words. Compare the spelling of these words – do words have to spell the same to rhyme?

Parents

Talk about how long an hour is.

Plan some games for the car trip, checklists for your children of things to look for so they feel more in control about what is happening on the trip!

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