Traction Man Is Here (Traction Man, 1)

Product Information

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this story. I'd never heard of it before, but it was featured as one of the selections for the Toys themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads. Your class will used the word mat, either writing the words or cutting the pictures out and completing the sentences. Do your toy animals need rescuing from evil pillows? Are your dolls in danger of being buried alive? Traction Man always saves the day with aplomb.

Traction Man is Here | BookTrust

There’s a lot to talk about, here, and you can find out which part of the story children like best and talk about the reasons why. Tell the story Write a story about a new Traction Man adventure, e.g. Traction Man repairs the Giant Intergalactic People Mover. Research different action figures that are available for sale in local shops / online. Make a table to show the features and prices. Use sorting diagrams to compare them. Carry out a survey to find out which one(s) people prefer. This book is a delight!!! It reminded me of a Toy Story beginning (which I consider quite high praise!), where the toys are being played with by Andy. Yet a very different style here, because here everything Traction Man does is through the play. Before reading the story, encourage children to look at the cover and talk about what they notice. Then read through the book, pausing to talk about the pictures. Join in

Find the descriptive language used in the story (e.g. foamy waters, supersonic, hoist) and use this to create a collection of vocabulary that you can use in your own writing. This book is a delight in both text and illustrations, and is sure to be enjoyed by young and adults alike! I wanted to pour over all the detailed illustrations even now, and I'm sure I would have had it out for hours when I was little, looking at every inch of the pictures. This is a phonics resource linked to the popular story Traction Man is Here. The resource is aimed at Year and Year 2. We have differentiated the resource accordingly.

Traction Man is Here - Knowledge Organiser/ Revision Mat! - Tes Traction Man is Here - Knowledge Organiser/ Revision Mat! - Tes

The imagination & creativity of Traction Man will provide possibilities for expanding the story with activities. The action and dialog will attract readers. I recommend this humorous book for school and public library collections. A little boy gets what he REALLY WANTS for Christmas - a Traction Man Generic Action Figure! Boo-ya! ( Warning: Contains small parts and loud shirt. Do not microwave.) Traction Man immediately leaps into action battling some Evil Pillows. Hooray! The Farm Animals are saved! At the end of the story, an evil pair of scissors is approaching Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush. Can you write about what happens next?

The idea for Traction Man is Here came from a real thing that happened when I worked as a teacher. I was on playground duty and a little boy called Midge zoomed up to me. He had brought his Action Man into school, and his Action Man was wearing a new, home-made outfit (knitted by Midge’s granny I think.) The outfit was a suit, knitted out of emerald green wool with big buttons. And because it was knitted it looked just like a green romper suit that a baby might wear. The Action Man was clearly trying to rise above the suit and stay brave and heroic nonetheless. And I felt sorry for the Action Man and hoped it would get to home-time without anyone laughing at him. Years and years later I remembered Midge and his Action Man in the playground, and that is where the story started. Traction Man’s adventures mostly come from the perspective of being action-figure-sized, and the magic thing you can do when you’re playing with things (and making picture books too!) which is to make anything come to life.’ I see that there are three books featuring Traction Man, so we will certainly have to look for the other two at our local library. My killjoy objections have to do with two throwaway scenes here. The first is a scene where a bad guy (the characters are all toys or household objects) kidnaps a feminine character to make her his "wife," which is really not a funny joke in any context, and pretty messed-up to include in a story for kids. The other is a scene where the hero rescues a bunch of naked Barbie dolls from a pit, and they breathlessly ask, "How can we ever repay you?" It's one of those cultural tropes that, if you think about it, just doesn't belong in a kids' book.