Look at This Mess! Level 3-5

Look at This Mess! is a relatable and humorous story about two children attempting to tidy their chaotic playroom-with little success until Mum steps in to help. As children explore the storyline, they learn new high-frequency words such as Look, Mum, They, and up. The text uses playful repetition and everyday vocabulary to build confidence in early readers. With strong links to phonics and an emphasis on plurals and onset and rime patterns (e.g., a/way), this book reinforces decoding skills. The narrative also helps children understand sequencing, cause and effect, and basic problem-solving. The amusing ending provides a great opportunity to explore inference and discuss how teamwork helps solve problems.

Educational Benefits:

• Strengthens decoding skills through phonics patterns and sight words
• Develops sequencing and story retelling abilities
• Encourages children to make inferences based on text and illustrations
• Builds oral vocabulary and understanding of plural nouns

Classroom Ideas:

• Create a sorting activity with classroom items to mimic tidying up
• Use roleplay to act out the mess and clean-up process
• Build a word wall with items from the story (e.g., blocks, books)
• Encourage students to write or draw what they would clean up at home

Safety & Information:

• Ages: 4+
• Book dimensions: 14.5 cm x 16.5 cm
• Page count: 16 pages
• Safety: Ensure classroom play items used for roleplay are age-appropriate and non-toxic