Title: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Copyright: Candlewick Press 2006
Synopsis: A china rabbit named Edward is given to a girl named Abilene by her grandmother. The girl and her family go on a ship and the rabbit falls overboard and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The rabbit is eventually caught in a fisherman’s net and brought back up from the bottom of the ocean. Edward goes on quite an adventure as he is passed around from family to family throughout the story. One day the rabbit needed to get repaired. Not only did he get repaired but the owner put him up for sale in a doll store. A young girl and her mother (who happens to be Abilene) walk into the store where the rabbit is being sold. Abilene notices the rabbit and quickly picks him up and purchases it. Edward has learned his lesson and is happy to be back with Abilene after all these years.
Genre Prompt: Have the students discuss and write down who takes care of them and what they like that their caregiver does for them.
Title: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Copyright: Simon & Schuster 1978
Synopsis: The story begins with a family eating breakfast and a pancake lands on the head of Henry. The grandfather starts to tell the children a story about the town, Chewandswallow. In this town it didn't rain and it didn't snow. Instead, everything they ate came from the sky at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They would get things like eggs for breakfast, hamburgers, and splashes of soda. Whatever fell from the sky that day is what the town had to eat. It sounds like it would be very convenient until everything goes haywire. Towards the end of the story the town of Chewandswallow started to experience some strange things. Bread was falling larger than they had ever seen, there were salt and pepper winds and tomato tornadoes. A giant pancake and a maple syrup flood took over the school forcing them to close down. The town was too dangerous to stay in so everyone sailed on stale bread to evacuate. They created a new town somewhere else and found it odd they had to purchase their food from the grocery store. After grandpa finished telling the story, the two children were convinced they could see butter on the horizon and could smell mashed potatoes. That was probably all in their imagination.
Genre Prompt: I would put the students into small groups and have them create a meal plan (breakfast, lunch, and diner) to fall from the sky, if it were possible. Then I would have each group share their ideas with the class.
Copyright: Gardners Books 2007
Synopsis: The most beautiful fish in the ocean is asked to share one of his shining scales with a little blue fish, and to which he refuses. All the other fish in the sea leave him alone, and he wondered why. He goes to the wise octopus for advice, and she tells him to give away his scales. Rainbow Fish reluctantly does so, except for one. In the end, he is less beautiful then he was before, but he has new friends and is now the happiest fish in the sea.
Genre Prompt: I would give the children a piece of paper with a fish on it. In the middle of each table there would be glue, jewels, and different colors of paper. I would ask the students to share the materials like the fish shared his scales. They would make their own interpretation of the most beautiful fish.
Title: The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Synopsis: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie are four siblings sent to live in the country with Professor Kirke during World War II. The children explore the house on a rainy day and Lucy, the youngest, finds an enormous wardrobe. Lucy steps inside and finds herself in a strange, snowy wood. When Lucy tries to tell her brothers and sister about the magical land they do not believe her. One night, Edmund followed Lucy into Narnia and met the Witch who tells him to go back and bring her his siblings. The next day, the children hide in the wardrobe to avoid the housekeeper and suddenly all four Pevensie children find themselves in Narnia. Narnia is ruled by the White Witch, an evil sorceress who keeps the world in eternal winter. However, a prophecy tells that four humans will take down the Witch. Knowing this, the White Witch convinces Edmond to bring his siblings to her. The group is taken in by beavers and learns that Aslan, a mighty and powerful lion, is back in Narnia, ready to restore order. Scared, Edmond runs away from everyone and decides to visit the White Witch. When he gets there, he is punished for not bringing his brother and sisters. Edmond is rescued from the White Witch, but because he is a traitor, he technically belongs to the White Witch. Aslan and the White Witch make a deal so that Edmond can stay if Aslan is sacrificed. The White Witch kills Aslan and she takes her army to finish off Aslan's forces. Aslan comes back to life and revives the stone statues at the White Witch's castle. The White Witch and her forces are defeated in battle and Aslan appoints Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy as the kings and queens of Narnia. In the end, after years of living in Narnia, the group stumbles back into trees and reenters the normal world as they were as children.
Genre Prompt: We would read this book as a class, each child having their own book. After each chapter I would give them a set of questions to answer while discussing them with their table. When they were finished we would go over them as a class.
Synopsis: In an Italian village, Geppetto, an old woodcarver, receives a piece of wood which looks perfect for his next project, a puppet. But when he sets to work something magical happens – the piece of wood begins to talk. When Geppetto is finished, the puppet turns out to be cheeky, naughty, and can walk, run and eat with as hearty an appetite as any young boy. Geppetto brings him up to be his son. But Pinocchio is disobedient he tells lies, and every time he lies, his nose grows longer. Geppetto makes many sacrifices for his adopted son, but Pinocchio finds it hard to be good. He is easily led astray, tumbling from one disastrous adventure to another in which he is robbed, imprisoned, chased by bandits and only narrowly escapes death. His friends, the Cricket and the Blue Fairy, try to make see that his dream to be a real boy can never come true until Pinocchio finally changes his ways.
Genre Prompt: After the book I would put the children into small groups and have them create their own fairytale character. With a short story to go along with the character.
