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"I can highly recommend this book to all early years settings.  I was incredibly impressed with the quality and range of products."

Julia Jones, Practical Pre-School


"I love the Puddles/Pwllyn books and recommend them to all our students. The books, together with the appealing resources and excellent teachers' notes, provide the ideal tools for teaching excellent RE in the Foundation phase."

Dr Geraint Davies, Senior Lecturer, Initial Teacher Education and Training, University of Wales Trinity Saint David


"Would like to say how the children love Puddles and her adventures! We have purchased all of the big books to date."

Stephanie Evans (Headteacher), Pontycymer Nursery, Bridgend

"Puddles is very much loved by all our new Reception Pupils!"

Sian McGrath, Longtown Primary, Herefordshire


"Puddles is such a hit in my class and my RE has been transformed thanks to all your wonderful resources. You were definitely instrumental in changing my RE after that superb course at Wells."

Hazel Dwyer, Norton Primary School, Taunton


“Puddles and the Reverend Freddie Fisher really make our RE lessons for Christianity. The children enjoy the stories and fall in love with Puddles every time. There are so many opportunities for activities to follow on from the stories and role play is great using Puddles and Freddie Fisher. These resources are a great asset to any school.”

Rachel Davey

Class teacher and RE coordinator, Baden Powell Primary School, Cardiff


“I love your resources. So do the children. I teach a class of 4-7 year olds and they all adore Puddles!”  

Headteacher, Trefnanney Primary School, Powys.


“These Early Years resources are highly original and attractive. They combine effective teaching strategies with unusual content and are excellent value for money: a great find!”

Rachel Barker RE Today

A Wet and Windy Harvest for Puddles


“This 32 page 'big book' about the Christian festivities at harvest is a full-colour feast. Vigorous and cheery drawings swing the story (of a cat who wanders into church at harvest festival) along apace. Some very good thinking about how children learn in the early years lies behind the surface - simple story-telling. Links to the wide curriculum for 4 year olds are obvious: you won't use the book without having a discussion about the seasons, working out who we thank and why, talking about people who help us and what happens inside a church. Obvious though these links are, the free downloads about how to use the resource for good RE in early years at the 'Books at Press' website, make all the teaching potential of the resource very easy to see and put into action. Given the dearth of good resources for RE in this age group, it's a pleasure to discover Gill Vaisey's work, which also includes similar big book approaches to two Islamic stories.If you work in early years RE, you'll love this example of how to do it. Highly recommended.”

Lat Blaylock RE Today


A Wedding Day Wish for Puddles

“There are not enough creative resources for RE with 4-6 year olds, which is one reason the big books about Puddles the Cat from Gill Vaisey are popular. This new large format book, which can be read as a big book by a big group, opens up all kinds of good questions through its feline hero Puddles the cat and her good friend the Reverend Freddie Fisher. The story told is of a wedding in a traditional looking parish church, and the drawings have lots of large scale interest. Child-friendly, colourful, including key words for children to learn and with some fun going on, the story is all about special friends. Sometimes I find anthropomorphised animals with human voices and thoughts a bit ridiculous, but here the cats, rabbits and swans who make special friendships are in parallel with some examples of humans who love each other, some of them getting wed. I think the story will work very well for children who are 1/10 of my age. Religious education in the early years sometimes drifts away from anything that is actually to do with religion – topics like ‘myself’ or ‘special feelings’ proceed without any reference points inside a faith. Gill Vaisey’s approach is to weave the religious material into the story in ways that the teacher can make explicit. From this book, children will learn to use words like wedding, marriage, ring, church, Bible. They will also get plenty of easy opportunities to think about friendship, being partners and loving each other. Actually, this is rather an impressive achievement from a story about a cat.The Puddles series of books, and Gill Vaisey’s other books about religion for 4-5 year olds, are a significant contribution to resources for early years education in RE, linked on the website to early learning goals and to the normal requirements of reception year RE. Not cheap, but good value, and well supported, this resource is highly recommended, not least because you can buy a soft toy cat to get into the role of Puddles which your pupils will love (£9.99, worth it)”.

Lat Blaylock RE Today


The Baby Birds

“If you're looking for a bright, colourful, engaging and entertaining book to help you teach RE in the Foundation Phase look no further The Baby Bird’s is a fantastic resource. It is full bold illustrations, beautifully presented and a superb resource. This book also contains a CD-ROM, which contains a visual and audio version of the book, which can be used on the white board. The Baby Birds is a traditional Muslim story allowing children to think about their own attitudes towards living creatures as well as the beliefs of others.”

Liz Arthur, Waunlwyd Primary School, Blaenau Gwent

 

“The Baby Birds should be on every subject leader’s shopping list! ENJOY!”

Eileen Bellett, Diocesan Schools’ Adviser for the Bradford and Leeds and Ripon Dioceses.


"This 32 page 'big book'about the Christian festivities at harvest is a full-colour feast. Vigorous and cheery drawings swing the story along apace. It's a pleasure to discover Gill Vaisey's work.

Highly recommended"

Lat Blaycock RE Today


Puddles Lends A Paw

“My six year old daughter simply loves this book, the colourful illustrations and of course Puddles the cat. This book has helped me to support my daughter in Foundation Phase RE and has prompted her to explore questions such as "Why do we sing hymns?" Reading this book at home has complimented the RE taught within school, has extended her vocabulary and made for easy, enjoyable reading. I unreservedly recommend Puddles Lends A Paw to parents and children alike.”

Emma Tapper, Parent


“Delightful resources for the Foundation Phase curriculum. They will enrich RE and, in addition, other areas of learning, such as Personal and Social Development and Cultural Diversity. Superb resources to support Welsh Language Development. Children will love them.”

Mary Parry, RE Adviser for Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion


“Adnoddau hyfryd ar gyfer cwricwlwm y Cyfnod Sylfaen. Byddan nhw’n cyfoethogi Addysg Grefyddol ac yn ogystal, meysydd dysgu eraill fel Datblygiad Personol a Chymdeithasol ac Amrywiaeth Ddiwylliannol, a Sgiliau Iaith, Llythrennedd a Chyfathrebu. Bydd plant wrth eu bodd gyda nhw.”

Mary Parry, RE Adviser for Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion


“Mae'r plant yn yr ysgolion ac sy'n dod i'm gwasanaeth teuluol wrth eu bodd efo Pwllyn a'r Parchedig Pedr Puw. Fe wnaethon nhw fwynhau'r stori am anturiaethau Pwllyn yn y gwasanaeth Diolchgarwch am y Cynhaeaf. Mae llyfrau Pwllyn yn adnodd gwerthfawr iawn i drosglwyddo neges y Ffydd Gristnogol yn enwedig i blant bach, ond roedd y plant hynaf hefyd wrth eu bodd efo'r stori.”

Canon Tegid Roberts, Cyfarwyddwr Addysg Esgobaeth Bangor a Ficer Plwyf Llandwrog a Llanwnda ger Caernarfon


We love using Parchedig Puw and Pwllyn to help our class of Reception children learn about the church and the work of the vicar.Each Bible story is introduced as being one that Pedr Puw will have told during the previous Sunday service in Church.The children have learnt so much about the Christian faith through these characters. We've visited our local church taking Pedr and Pwllyn with us to the delight of the children.This is a brilliant resource.

Sharon, Ysgol Gymraeg Abercynon


Rydym wrth ein bodddefnyddio Parchedig Puw a Pwllyn i helpu ein dosbarth o blant Derbyn dysgu am yr eglwys a gwaith y ficer. Mae pob stori o'r Beibl yn cael ei gyflwyno fel un y bydd Pedr Puw wedi dweud yn ystod y gwasanaeth ar y Sul blaenorol yn yr Eglwys. Mae'r plant wedi dysgu cymaint am y ffydd Gristnogol drwy'r adnoddau hyn. Rydym wedi ymweld â'n eglwys leol gan gymryd Pedr a Pwllyn gyda ni i foddhad y plant.Mae hwn yn adnodd gwych!

Sharon, Ysgol Gymraeg Abercynon


I love using your resources they bring this area of the curriculum to life. Thank you.

Jill Heraud, Hormead Primary, Hertfordshire


Many thanks to Gill for creating such wonderful characters. The children and staff at our school love them. We are always entranced on hearing the exciting adventures that happen to them.

Donna Nagy,  Canon Evans C of E Infant School Warwickshire


“Gill’s retelling of these timeless Muslim stories makes them accessible to even the youngest pupils, inviting challenging discussion of values and attitudes. The superb illustrations make these unique resources a joy to use.”

Heather Farr, Senior Adviser (RE), Staffordshire LA


“I have used all of Gill Vaisey's resources extensively to teach RE in the Foundation Phase. They are easy to use and the children adore the characters. The soft toys and puppets that are available really enhance the teaching and make the books come alive. The stories enable children to access RE at their level and allow teachers to explore, with their pupils, many of the key themes within the RE curriculum.”

Lisa Wilkinson, Foundation Phase teacher, Goytre Fawr Primary School, Monmouthshire


“Quality RE resources for an age group that often lacks the same choice of resources in RE which is available to the various key stages.”

Tania ap Sion RE News Autumn 2003