TheTwoTallMen,Baba

Before We Read

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Family ,,

In the book *TheMan with the Two Long Legs*, we meet a little boy named Karamel who is getting ready to go to kindergarten with his father, but a minor car breakdown makes him feel anxious, and an unexpected adventure full of surprises and imagination begins.

This book touches on our child’s world, especially at the beginning of the year, when they enter a new environment and face a different routine that may make them feel hesitant or anxious. The story reveals to us just how important it is to have an adult who accompanies the child, reassures them, and helps them adjust—even when things don’t go as expected.

The story also invites us to talk with our child about questions that are simple yet profound—such as how to cope with change—and to draw on imagination and a warm relationship with an important adult in their life to safely overcome challenges.

We engage in dialogue and enrich our language

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We explain new words to our child based on their context, for example: “broke down,” “dragon,” “tractor,” “hose.”

We ask our child:

• Why did the car stop? What did Carmel ask his father after they arrived at the kindergarten?
• How did Carmel feel when the road changed? How did his father help him?
• Has anything ever suddenly changed in your day? How did you feel? Who helped you?

Let's play and have fun

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• We can walk on the way to the playground or inside the house—sometimes taking small steps like Carmel’s, and sometimes taking big steps like his father’s. We count the steps together until we reach the door or the tree, and ask, “Whose steps are bigger?”
• We act out the movements of the characters in the story (the bear, the dragon, and others).
• On our way to kindergarten, we look for a specific object with our child—it could be a red car, a flower, a bird, something long, or a small insect. Together, we observe and name the colors, sizes, and other characteristics of the objects.

We close our eyes and listen

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We focus our ears on sounds from our surroundings and ask ourselves: Is that the sound of a car? A bird? Footsteps? Then we try to imitate the sounds with our child and connect them to what’s in the story.

Let's Play with Karamel

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We add new stops or other imaginary routes along Karmel’s path to the playground. We can draw or build with blocks a bridge, a river, or any other stop the child chooses. Then we invite the child to suggest how Carmel will cross the road: Will he walk? Ride? Or fly?