Multi-Grade Readers Theatre

Multi-Grade Read ers Thea tre

Re cent ti tles in Teacher Ideas PressRead ers Thea tre Se ries

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Wings of Fancy: Us ing Read ers Thea tre to Study the Fan tasy Genre Joan Gar ner

Non fic tion Read ers Thea tre for Be gin ning Read ers An thony D. Fredericks

Mother Goose Read ers Thea tre for Be gin ning Read ers An thony D. Fredericks

MORE Fran tic Frogs and Other Frankly Frac tured Folk tales for Read ers Thea tre An thony D. Fredericks

Songs and Rhymes Read ers Thea tre for Be gin ning Read ers An thony D. Fredericks

Read ers Thea tre for Mid dle School Boys: In ves ti gat ing the Strange and Mys te ri ous Ann N. Black

Af ri can Leg ends, Myths, and Folk tales for Read ers Thea tre An thony D. Fredericks

Against All Odds: Read ers Thea tre for Grades 3–8 Su zanne I. Barchers and Mi chael Ruscoe

Read ers Thea tre for Af ri can Amer i can His tory Jeff Sanders and Nancy I. Sanders

Build ing Flu ency with Read ers Thea tre: Mo ti va tional Strat e gies, Suc cess ful Les sons, and Dy namic Scripts to De velop Flu ency, Com pre hen sion, Writ ing, and Vocabulary An thony D. Fredericks

Amer i can Folk lore, Leg ends, and Tall Tales for Read ers Thea tre An thony D. Fredericks

Multi-Grade Read ers Thea trePic ture Book Au thors and Il lus tra tors

Su zanne I. Barchers and Charla R. Pfeffinger

Read ers Thea tre

A Teacher Ideas Press Book

Li brar ies Un lim itedAn Im print of ABC-CLIO, LLC

Copy right 2009 by Su zanne I. Barchers & Charla R. Pfeffinger

All rights re served. No part of this book may be re pro duced in any form or by any elec tronic or me chan i calmeans, in clud ing in for ma tion stor age and re trieval sys tems, with out per mis sion in writ ing from the pub lisher, ex -cept by a re viewer, who may quote brief pas sages in a re view. An ex cep tion is made for in di vid ual li brar i ans anded u ca tors who may make cop ies of por tions of the scripts for class room use. Re pro duc ible pages may be cop iedfor class room and ed u ca tional pro grams only. Per for mances may be videotaped for school or library purposes.

Li brary of Con gress Cat a log ing-in-Pub li ca tion Data

Barchers, Su zanne I. Multi-grade read ers thea tre : pic ture book au thors and il lus tra tors / Su zanne I. Barchers and Charla R. Pfeffinger. p. cm. — (Read ers thea tre) In cludes in dex. ISBN 978-1-59158-819-1 (pbk : alk. pa per) — ISBN 978-1-59158-821-4 (ebook) 1. Oral read ing. 2. Read ers’ the ater. 3. Pic ture books for chil dren. I. Pfeffinger, Charla R. II. Ti tle. LB1573.5.B373 2009 372.45’2—dc22 2009011981

13 12 11 10 9 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also avail able on the World Wide Web as an eBook.

Visit www.abc-clio.com for de tails.

ABC-CLIO, LLC130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911

Santa Barbara, Cal i for nia 93116-1911

This book is printed on acid-free pa per Man u fac tured in the United States of Amer ica

www.abc-clio.com

For Bob, my best friend, best sup port, and best love.

—SIB

For my hus band Lyle, who has al ways en cour aged me to be the best I can be. He has walked through the val leys of my life and stood on the moun tain tops

with me for twenty-eight years.

—CRP

This page intentionally left blank

Con tents

In tro duc tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Part One:Grades One, Two, and Three

Verna Aardema, 1911–2000 Why Mos qui toes Buzz in Peo ple’s Ears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Mar ga ret Wise Brown, 1910–1952 A Writ ing Pi o neer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Barbara Cooney, 1917–2005 A Beau ti ful World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Jean de Brunhoff, 1899–1937 A Most Fa mous El e phant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, 1914–2001 May I Bring a Friend? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Aileen Fisher, 1906–2002 Mak ing Po etry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Don Free man, 1908–1978 From Trum peter to Art ist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Ezra Jack Keats, 1916–1983 Great Awards for Great Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

John Wellington (Jack) Kent, 1920–1985 Who’s a Fat Cat? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

James Ed ward Mar shall, 1942–1992 The Trou ble with a Pen Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

vii

Bill Mar tin Jr., 1916–2004 What Do You See? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Rob ert McCloskey, 1914–2003 Make Way for McCloskey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Clem ent Clarke Moore, 1779–1863 ’Twas the Night be fore Christ mas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Bill Peet, 1915–2002 From Car toons to Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Beatrix Pot ter, 1866–1943 A Woman with Tales to Tell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Wil liam Steig, 1907–2003 Mak ing Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Lynd Kend all Ward, 1905–1985 What Is Your Name Spelled Back wards? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Da vid Wisniewski, 1953–2002 From Clown ing to the Caldecott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Part Two:Grades Two, Three, and Four

Hans Chris tian Andersen, 1805–1875 The Shoe maker’s Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Lud wig Bemelmans, 1898–1962 Bon jour Paris! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Stan ley Berenstain, 1923–2005 If It’s by the Berenstains, It’s Got to Be about Bears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Vir ginia Lee Bur ton, 1909–1968 Trains, Steam Shov els, and Lit tle Houses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Randolph Caldecott, 1846–1886 A Short Life and a Long Leg acy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Wanda Gág, 1893–1946 Draw to Live and Live to Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Ken neth Grahame, 1859–1932 The Joy and the Ag ony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

viii \ Contents

Kate Greenaway, 1846–1901 From Dolls to De signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Ja cob Lud wig Carl Grimm, 1785–1863Wil helm Carl Grimm, 1786–1859 Once upon a Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Fred Gwynne, 1926–1993 A Mun ster of a Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Trina Schart Hyman, 1939–2004 See ing the Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Ar nold Lobel, 1933–1987 A Frog and a Toad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Mother Goose aka Eliz a beth Goose, 1665–1758 Who Is the True Mother Goose? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Leo Politi, 1908–1996 Cel e brat ing the Art ist of Olvera Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Shel Silverstein, 1930–1999 Tickle Me with Po etry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Esphyr Slobodkina, 1908–2002 From Si be ria to Amer ica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Tasha Tu dor, 1915–2008 A Sim ple Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Margot Zemach, 1931–1989 It Could Have Been Worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

In dex of Au thors and Il lus tra tors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Contents / ix


In tro duc tion

From Verna Aardema to Margot Zemach, tal ented au thors and il lus tra tors of pic ture bookshave been ded i cated to en sur ing that their work will ap peal to gen er a tions of chil dren. The scripts in Multi-Grade Read ers Thea tre: Pic ture Book Au thors and Il lus tra tors pro vide stu dents with asnap shot of the lives of thirty-six well-known au thors, il lus tra tors, and po ets. Drawn frombiographies, au to bi og ra phies, in ter views, news ar ti cles, obit u ar ies, and Internet sources, thees sen tial facts of each per son’s story have been care fully re searched. The con ver sa tions, how -ever, are largely fic tional. In some cases, the script is fan ci ful, and the read ers learn about theau thor or il lus tra tor through book char ac ters, such as the ducks in Rob ert McCloskey’s MakeWay for Duck lings.

There are thirty-six scripts, al low ing for a weekly script dur ing the school year. These shortscripts are in tended to be in tro duced, read, and dis cussed in a thirty-min ute class pe riod. Thescripts are fur ther de vel oped to ac com mo date a min i mum of three grade lev els. These lev els, in -di cated on the in tro duc tory page, may be dis closed to the stu dents at your dis cre tion. Thereby, ali brar ian or teacher can as sign parts to ac com mo date three grade lev els within a class.

Each script has been eval u ated us ing the Flesch-Kincaid read abil ity for mula for grade level.Once the proper nouns have been elim i nated, the scripts have a read abil ity level of grades one,two, and three in the first half of the book. The sec ond half of the book en com passes grades two,three, and four. There are a few scripts with broader grade lev els be cause of the in clu sion of po -etry or nurs ery rhymes. Some scripts have lines spo ken by Ev ery one or Au di ence, al low ing thein clu sion of all stu dents. With the vary ing grade lev els and the pre dict abil ity of these scripts,they are par tic u larly well suited for re me dial read ers.

Us ing Read ers Thea tre

Read ers thea tre can be com pared to ra dio plays. The em pha sis is on an ef fec tive read ing ofthe script rather than on a dra matic, mem o rized pre sen ta tion. Read ing orally helps de vel opsstrong read ing skills, and lis ten ing to scripts pro motes ac tive lis ten ing for stu dents in the au di -ence. Para phras ing of the lines, a nat u ral hap pen stance, should be al lowed. Chal leng ing names of char ac ters and places may be writ ten on the board and re hearsed in ad vance. In some scripts, thenar ra tors have more dif fi cult pas sages, and they should re hearse their lines care fully. If time al -lows, all stu dents should have am ple op por tu nity to fa mil iar ize them selves with their lines.

xi

Pre par ing the Scripts

Once scripts are cho sen for read ing, make enough cop ies for each char ac ter, plus an ex tra set or two for your use and a re place ment copy. To help read ers keep their place, have stu dents usehighlighter mark ers to des ig nate their char ac ter’s role within the copy. For ex am ple, some oneread ing the role of Nar ra tor 1 could high light the lines in blue, with an other char ac ter high light -ing the lines in yel low.

Pho to cop ied scripts will last lon ger if you use a three-hole punch (or copy them onpre-punched pa per) and place them in in ex pen sive fold ers. The fold ers can be color-co or di natedto the in ter nal high light ing for each char ac ter’s part. The ti tle of the play can be printed on theout side of the folder, and scripts can be eas ily stored for the next read ing. The prep a ra tion of thescripts is a good pro ject for a stu dent aide or vol un teer par ent. The prep a ra tion takes a min i mumof ini tial at ten tion and needs to be re peated only when a folder is lost.

Get ting Started

For the first ex pe ri ence with a read ers thea tre script, choose a script with many char ac ters toin volve more stu dents. Gather the stu dents in for mally. In tro duce read ers thea tre by ex plain ingthat read ers thea tre does not mean mem o riz ing a play and act ing it out, but rather read ing a scriptaloud with per haps a few props and ac tions. If pos si ble, have the stu dents lis ten to some ra dioplays, which can be found on sev eral Internet sites.

If read abil ity lev els are not an is sue for your stu dents, al low vol un teers to do an ini tial read -ing of a script, pro vid ing an op por tu nity to re view their parts be fore read ing aloud. If pre ferred,as sign the parts ac cord ing to the read ing lev els of your stu dents. Write pro nun ci a tions of anychal leng ing names or words on the board. While one group of stu dents is pre par ing to read ascript, an other group could be re view ing a dif fer ent script, brain storm ing ideas for stag ing andprops, or read ing books by the au thor or il lus tra tor who is the sub ject of the script.

Pre sen ta tion Sug ges tions

For read ers thea tre, read ers tra di tion ally stand—or sit on stools, chairs, or the floor—in afor mal pre sen ta tion style. The nar ra tors may stand with the script placed on mu sic stands orlec terns slightly off to one or both sides. The read ers may hold their scripts in black or col oredfold ers. The po si tion of the reader in di cates the im por tance of the role. On oc ca sion, key char -ac ters might sit on high stools to el e vate them above nu mer ous other char ac ters. The scripts in -clude a few sug ges tions for pre sen ta tion, but stu dents should be en cour aged to cre atein ter est ing ar range ments.

Props

Read ers thea tre has no, or few, props. How ever, if time al lows, sim ple cos tum ing ef fectswill lend in ter est to the pre sen ta tion. Stu dents should be en cour aged to de cide how much or lit tle

xii \ Introduction

to add to their read ing. For some read ers, the use of props or ac tions may be dis tract ing, and theem pha sis should re main on the read ing rather than on an overly com pli cated pre sen ta tion.

De liv ery Sug ges tions

De liv ery sug ges tions gen er ally are not im bed ded in the scripts. There fore, it is im por tant todis cuss with the stu dents what will make the scripts come alive as they read. Dur ing their first ex -pe ri ences with pre sent ing a script, stu dents are tempted to keep their heads bur ied in the script,mak ing sure they don’t miss a line. Stu dents should learn the ma te rial well enough to look upfrom the script dur ing the pre sen ta tion. Stu dents can learn to use on stage fo cus—to look at eachother dur ing the pre sen ta tion. This is most log i cal for char ac ters who are in ter act ing with eachother. The use of off stage fo cus—the pre sent ers look di rectly into the eyes of the au di ence—ismore log i cal for the nar ra tor or char ac ters who are un in volved with on stage char ac ters. Al ter na -tively, have stu dents who do not in ter act with each oth er fo cus on a pre ar ranged off stage lo ca -tion, such as the class room clock, dur ing de liv ery. Sim ple ac tions can also be in cor po rated intoread ers thea tre.

Gen er ally the au di ence should be able to see the read ers’ fa cial ex pres sions dur ing the read -ing. On oc ca sion, it might seem log i cal for a char ac ter to move across the stage, fac ing the otherchar ac ters while read ing. In this event, the char ac ters should be turned enough so that the au di -ence can see the reader’s face.

The Next Step

The scripts pro vide an op por tu nity for pre par ing a spe cial pro gram or for a di ver sion fromthe reg u lar cur ric u lum. A read ers thea tre work shop could be held pe ri od i cally, with each stu dentbe long ing to a group that pre pares a script for pre sen ta tion. A read ers thea tre fes ti val could beplanned for a spe cial day when sev eral short scripts are pre sented con sec u tively, with brief in ter -mis sions be tween each read ing. Con sider group ing to gether re lated scripts. For ex am ple, scriptsabout il lus tra tors who have won the Caldecott Medal could be pre sented af ter the script aboutRandolph Caldecott.

Stu dents who are par tic u larly in spired by the sto ries they have read in this col lec tion ofscripts should be en cour aged to do fur ther read ing about these and other au thors and il lus tra torsof pic ture books. Once stu dents have en joyed the read ing pro cess in volved in pre par ing and pre -sent ing read ers thea tre, they can cre ate their own scripts. All of the sub jects of this book are nolon ger liv ing, pro vid ing stu dents with many pos si bil i ties for writ ing scripts about their fa vor iteliv ing au thors and il lus tra tors.

Introduction / xiii


Part One

Grades One, Two, and Three

1


Why Mos qui toes Buzzin Peo ple’s Ears

Why Mos qui toes Buzz in Peo ple’ s EarsWhy Mos qui toes Buzz in Peo ple’ s Ears

Verna Aardema1911–2000

Sum mary and Back ground In for ma tion

Verna Aardema wrote many books based on folk tales from Mex ico and Af rica. She wouldtell them to her daugh ter and write the tales down for pub li ca tion. In this script, the read ers fo cuson Why Mos qui toes Buzz in Peo ple’s Ears. Il lus trated by Leo and Di ane Dillon, the book re -ceived the Caldecott Medal in 1976 and the Brook lyn Art Books for Chil dren Award in 1977.This script al ludes to the theme of the book, which is that it is better to lis ten care fully. In thescript, the girls can’t hear what they boys are buzz ing about, in part be cause they don’t want tolis ten. They fi nally cause the boys to leave af ter the boys are re minded of the events in theAardema story.


The nar ra tor should sit to one side of the room af ter in tro duc ing the set ting and re turn to thecen ter dur ing the con clu sion of the script. Ac tions im bed ded in the script should be fol lowed bythe read ers. The script is de signed to in volve the whole class, not just the char ac ters who pres entit. The girls and boys should get more and more in sis tent with their var i ous re sponses dur ing thescript. Pre pare the fol low ing cue cards: BOYS: Buzz, buzz, buzz; GIRLS: Go away! Go away!;GIRLS: Hurray! Hurray!

In tro duc tory and Fol low-up Sug ges tions

Show stu dents where Af rica and Mex ico are on a map. Then ask:

• In ev ery fam ily there are sto ries that we tell each other year af ter year. This is true inother coun tries also. Some of these sto ries are never writ ten down. Verna Aardema

3

loved to hear these sto ries from Mex ico and Af rica and would tell them to her daugh -ter. Do you know what these sto ries are called? (Folk tales)

• Why do you think peo ple tell folk tales?

Af ter read ing the script, dis cuss how Verna Aardema chose to write this story. Then ask:

• Is it better to write down a folk tale or to tell it over and over?

• Do your grand par ents tell you sto ries about their lives when they were young? Thesesto ries are called oral his to ries. Why should they be writ ten down?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Boys, Garth, Heidi, Tanya, Buck, Wendy

Grade Two: Nar ra tor, Jenell, Girls, Con nie, Sophie, Luke, Sadie, Bruce, Mari

Grade Three: Mr. Bright, Wendell

4 \ Why Mos qui toes Buzz in Peo ple’s Ears

Why Mos qui toes Buzz inPeo ple’s Ears

Nar ra tor: Mr. Bright has asked his stu dents to form five groups.Each group is to read a book and then write a skit about it.They have had a week to prac tice their skits, and now it istime to pres ent their skits to the class.

Mr. Bright: To day each group will pres ent its script, so I hope you arepre pared.

Wendell: Mr. Bright, my group is ready to pres ent our skit. May wego first?

Mr. Bright: Sure, Wendell. Class, let’s pay at ten tion as Wendell’sgroup does its skit.

Wendell: Be fore we be gin, I need to ex plain how you are all go ingto be part of our skit. When Jenell holds up this card, thegirls will say, “Go away! Go away!” (Jenell holds up hercard.) When Sadie holds up this card, girls will say,“Hur ray! Hur ray!” (Sadie holds up her card.) When Buckholds up this card, boys will all say, “Buzz, buzz, buzz.”(Buck holds up his card.) Ready?

Jenell: You for got the hand swats.

Wendell: Oh, yes. Girls, you should swat the air around your earswhen you say, “Go away! Go away!” Let’s start our skit.

(Buck holds up his card. Re peat as ap pro pri ate through out script.)

Boys: Buzz, buzz, buzz.

(Jenell holds up her card. Re peat as ap pro pri atethrough out script.)

Girls: Go away! Go away!



Con nie: Did n’t you hear us say go away?

5From Multi-Grade Read ers Thea tre: Pic ture Book Au thors and Il lus tra tors by Su zanne I. Barchers and Charla R. Pfeffinger. Santa Barbara, CA: Teacher Ideas Press/Li brar ies Un lim ited. Copy right © 2009.

Garth: This is how we pre fer to spend our day.


Sophie: You’re such pests. Why must you stay?


Garth: We like to buzz around your head.


Heidi: We don’t like to hear that buzz. Find some one else in stead!

Tanya: Who are you that you buzz and buzz?

Luke: We’re mos qui toes. When we say, buzz, buzz, buzz, whatdo you hear?


Sadie: We hear noth ing! You just make an noy ing noise.

Sophie: No won der you are such pests!



Bruce: Silly girls, you need to know what we have to say.

Jenell: Sadie told you, you say noth ing, that’s what you say!

Buck: You are wrong, you know. We don’t just buzz to waste the day. We do have some thing to say.

Mari: If you do have some thing to say, we don’t get it so . . .



Jenell: Won’t you please just . . .


Wendell: If you can’t hear what we have to say, I guess we shouldgo away.

Girls: Hur ray! Hur ray!

Garth: Do we re ally have to go? (All the girls nod their headsyes.) Then be fore we go, I want a bite.

6 From Multi-Grade Read ers Thea tre: Pic ture Book Au thors and Il lus tra tors by Su zanne I. Barchers andCharla R. Pfeffinger. Santa Barbara, CA: Teacher Ideas Press/Li brar ies Un lim ited. Copy right © 2009.

Heidi: Now that’s just not right!


Sadie: What are you buzz buzz ing about?

Luke: If you won’t hear what we have to say, we’ll have a biteand be on our way.

Wendy: If you bite, we will fight. You know who will lose if thereis a fight. So . . .


Buck: Oh, come on girls, you can’t fight us. We’re too quick foryou.

Bruce: Even with very fast hands, you’re not as fast as me. Youcan’t beat any of us.


Mari: Boys, you know you’re wrong. I know we can de feat you.

Sophie: Let’s put you to the test and see who re ally is the best. Orjust . . .


Wendell: Boys, we re ally do have im por tant things to say. Thesegirls, they just don’t hear us. I think it’s time we leave thisplace and find some one who will lis ten.

(Sadie holds up her card.)

Girls: Hur ray! Hur ray!


Wendell: Be fore we mos qui toes go away, I want to ask a ques tion.Why do mos qui toes buzz in peo ple’s ears?

Con nie: Be cause you are pests. Just like in the book Why DoMos qui toes Buzz in Peo ple’s Ears?

Sadie: You buzz and tell silly sto ries. Even the iguana did n’twant to hear you. He put sticks in his ears and then hecould n’t hear any one.


Mari: Then things just went crazy in the story. All be cause you . . .


Con nie: Right. So why don’t you just . . .


Garth: All right, we will. But you’ll never know what we had tosay. Come on boys.


Mr. Bright: Very well done. I know most of you have read the bookWhy Do Mos qui toes Buzz in Peo ple’s Ears? Can any onetell me how the story came about?

Bruce: It is an Af ri can folk story. Mrs. Aardema told it to her lit tle girl. Then she put it into a book.

Mr. Bright: That’s right. Now, I’m afraid we are out of time. So if youare won der ing how the story ends, you’ll have to read thebook. Buzz away . . . buzz away . . . but come back af terlunch! We’ll have the next skit.


A Writ ing Pi o neerA Writ ing Pi o neerA Writ ing Pi o neer

Mar ga ret Wise Brown1910–1952


Mar ga ret Wise Brown wrote nu mer ous books and sto ries dur ing her life. She is best knownfor Good night Moon! and Run away Bunny. She spent many hours lis ten ing to chil dren tell theirsto ries and en joy ing the po etry they wrote while she was at the Bank Street Ex per i men tal Schoolin New York City. That was how she learned to write in a vo cab u lary and rhythm that ap peal tochil dren. She drew on her love of an i mals as she cre ated main char ac ters for her books. She alsoused the ev ery day things in a child’s world to write about. She was pas sion ate about her books,her life, and the rights of those art ists who worked with her. Un for tu nately, she died at ageforty-two while in Europe.


This is a two-part script. The nar ra tors should sit to one side of the stag ing area at all times.Part one is the di a logue with a role for chil dren to read or re spond to in uni son. A few chil dren orthe rest of the class can read these lines. If you elect to have the whole class read in this role, con -sider mak ing cue cards with the nar ra tors cueing the class for their re sponses. Ms. Jack son andthe nar ra tors can be seated in chairs.


Be fore read ing the script, read aloud Good night Moon! Then ask:

• What do you know about Mar ga ret Wise Brown?

• What do you think it means to be paid a “roy alty” for writ ing a book?

Af ter read ing the script, ask:

• How would you keep your food fresh if you had no elec tric ity?

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• How would you stay warm if you had no fur nace?

• Call ing some one a bird brain these days is not con sid ered po lite. Why do you thinkMar ga ret Wise Brown named their group such a name?

Share ad di tional books by Mar ga ret Wise Brown with the stu dents.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Es ther, Chil dren, Isabel

Grade Two: Nar ra tor Two, Bernie, Jeremy, Vicky, Ga briel, Owen, Will

Grade Three: Nar ra tor One, Ms. Jack son

10 \ A Writ ing Pi o neer

A Writ ing Pi o neer

Nar ra tor One: The sum mer book clubs meet each Tues day. A group ofolder read ers helps Ms. Jack son with the youn ger ones.

Nar ra tor Two: The five year olds have a list of books their par ents mayread to them. On the list is Good night Moon! The olderread ers ask the chil dren about the book.

Es ther: What book be gins with “In the green, green room”?

Chil dren: Good night Moon!

Bernie: What is hang ing from the ceil ing?

Chil dren: A big red bal loon.

Jeremy: Who sleeps in the green room?

Chil dren: A bunny.

Isabel: What does the bunny tell each thing in the room?

Chil dren: Good night.

Vicky: Why does the room get darker and darker?

Chil dren: The moon goes away.

Ga briel: Do you see any pic tures on the wall?

Chil dren: Yes.

Es ther: What is the cow do ing in the pic ture?

Chil dren: It’s jump ing over the moon.

Bernie: How does the bunny tell what time it is when he is in hisroom?

Chil dren: There is a clock in his room.

Isabel: What else is in the bunny’s room?

Chil dren: A mouse is in the room. Kit tens are in the room.

Jeremy: What is the last thing the bunny says in the book?


Chil dren: Good night Moon.

Ms. Jack son: Can you tell our friends thank you for be ing here with usto day?

Chil dren: Thank you.

Nar ra tor One: It is time for the lit tle ones to leave. The older read ers staywith Ms. Jack son.

Ms. Jack son: I hope that you en joyed your time with the chil dren. I want to tell you about the au thor of that book. Mar ga ret WiseBrown wrote Good night Moon! She wrote many otherchil dren’s books.

Owen: How did she be gin writ ing books?

Ms. Jack son: She would spend a lot of time talk ing to chil dren. Shewould lis ten to them as they made up sto ries and po ems.She used the way they talked to help her write her sto riesand po ems. She was a pi o neer in the field of writ ing forchildren.

Vicky: What do you mean by a pi o neer?

Ms. Jack son: She was one of the first writ ers to write books just forchil dren.

Es ther: What did kids read be fore that?

Ms. Jack son: There were fairy tales. And there were fa bles. Be cause shewas an un usual per son, she liked her writ ing to be un usual, too.

Will: Why do you say she was un usual?

Ms. Jack son: She liked to play prac ti cal jokes on peo ple. She had ahouse in New York. She called it Cob ble Court. She tiedcher ries or lem ons to a pot ted tree in her yard. She wantedto fool city folk into think ing she had an un usu ally skill fulgreen thumb.

Isabel: It sounds like she re ally en joyed hav ing fun. What else did she do?


Ms. Jack son: There were no util i ties such as elec tric ity in her house. She cov ered the floors, walls, and fur ni ture with fur. She kepther house warm with fires in a fire place. She used her well as a re frig er a tor. She would hang things from a rope tokeep them cold. She also had a house in Maine. She calledit The Only House.

Owen: Ms. Jack son, that’s crazy. Are you mak ing this up?

Ms. Jack son: No, I told you she was un usual. She had a lot of friends.They started the Bird Brain So ci ety.

Ga briel: What did their so ci ety do?

Ms. Jack son: Any one of them could say it was Christ mas Day. Theywould all stop ev ery thing and have Christ mas.

Bernie: I think I like that club. Christ mas ev ery day! That’s a great idea.

Ms. Jack son: It does sound like fun, does n’t it? She was n’t all fun andgames, how ever. She was very se ri ous about her work. Theart ists that il lus trated her books did n’t get paid very well.She de manded that they get roy al ties, just like she did.

Jeremy: What do you mean by roy al ties?

Ms. Jack son: A roy alty is a per cent of the price of a book. The morebooks that sell, the more money she’d make. Ms. Brown’sbooks sold very well, so she made a lot of money. Shewanted the art ists who worked on her books to make a lotof money, too.

Isabel: I bet she got her way, did n’t she?

Ms. Jack son: Yes, she did. She was very strict with the art ists thatworked with her, too. She set dead lines and ex pectedev ery one to keep them.

Will: I bet you know a story about that too, don’t you?

Ms. Jack son: There was one art ist who was not work ing fast enough.They were do ing a book with Kerry Blue dogs as thechar ac ters. She bought two pup pies to be his mod els. Af ter a long day of paint ing pic tures for the books, the art isttook a nap. When he woke up, the pup pies had licked allof the paint off of the pictures.


Es ther: I bet they were both mad at those pup pies!

Ms. Jack son: I think you are prob a bly right. Ms. Brown was the firstwriter to do a se ries of books. They were called the “Noisy Books.” Who can tell me why?

Ga briel: The books were about things around us that make noise.

Ms. Jack son: That’s right. She wanted the read ers to lis ten to what wasaround them. She wrote with the idea that chil dren wouldlike to read about their own world. And she knew that thatworld could be a lot of fun.

Nar ra tor Two: Ms. Brown turned her dreams into words that could makea child laugh. Her words could make a child’s life fun,even on a bad day. They still do.


A Beau ti ful WorldA Beau ti ful WorldA Beau ti ful World

Barbara Cooney1917–2005


Barbara Cooney started as an il lus tra tor for books when she re al ized her art his tory de greewas not go ing to pro vide a liv ing. Her work was de railed when she en tered the Women’s ArmyCorps dur ing World War II. She even tu ally mar ried and had two chil dren. Af ter a di vorce, she re -sumed il lus trat ing to pro vide for her and her two chil dren. She later re mar ried and had two morechil dren. She trav eled ex ten sively, and af ter be com ing a widow, she moved to Col o rado un til her death. Her book, Miss Rumphius, won the Caldecott Medal. Al though she said the book was notre ally about her, there is a strong story line that par al lels her life, al though she did not re tire bythe sea. This script starts with a con ver sa tion be tween Barbara and a friend and then shifts to aclass room story time to dis cuss the book Miss Rumphius.


Ar range the read ers in the fol low ing or der: Nar ra tor, Barbara Cooney, Sa rah Hayes, El lenHayes, and the re main ing read ers. The stu dent read ers can be seated on the floor, with the otherread ers in chairs. Place a copy of Miss Rumphius in view.


De scribe where you spent your sum mers when grow ing up. Then ask:

• Do any of you visit your grand par ents or other rel a tives dur ing sum mer va ca tion?

• What makes vis it ing rel a tives spe cial?


• Do you like the area where you live—the en vi ron ment, the cli mate, and so forth? Why or why not?

15

• Miss Rumphis worked to make her com mu nity better. What could we do to im proveour school yard (com mu nity, neigh bor hood, park, etc.)?

List on the board a va ri ety of things chil dren can do to make the world more beau ti ful. Thiscould in clude easy pro jects around the school ground such as pick ing up the trash or plant ingseeds for a flower gar den. Or ga nize the pro jects from easy to hard, in ex pen sive to ex pen sive. En -cour age the stu dents to com mit to a pro ject in di vid u ally or in groups.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Sa rah Hayes, Benny

Grade Two: Barbara Cooney, El len Hayes, Judy, George, Fanny, Courtney, Pe ter

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, Ca thy

16 \ A Beau ti ful World

A Beau ti ful World

Nar ra tor: Barbara Cooney is hav ing tea with a friend. She talksabout what it was like to grow up in the city.

Barbara Cooney: When I was a child, we lived in the sub urbs of Brook lyn,New York. I hated city life. My fa vor ite days were when Iwas sick.

Sa rah Hayes: Why did you like be ing sick?

Barbara Cooney: I could stay home from school and draw all day. I loved todraw. My grand mother is the one who helped me learn tolove draw ing. She was an am a teur painter.

Sa rah Hayes: Where did she live?

Barbara Cooney: She lived in Maine, in the coun try. I would spend sum mers there, and it was just won der ful. I loved be ing away fromthe sub urbs and all of the noise. The coun try side was sopeace ful. And my grand mother gave me the free dom tolearn how to paint.

Sa rah Hayes: How did she do that?

Barbara Cooney: She let me use her paints all I wanted. I did have one rule,how ever. I had to keep my brushes clean. I wish I hadgone to art school.

Sa rah Hayes: Why did n’t you?

Barbara Cooney: I don’t know. I did go to Smith Col lege. I stud ied arthis tory there. Now that I use art for my books, art schoolwould have been a better choice.

Sa rah Hayes: Have you al ways worked on books?

Barbara Cooney: No. Dur ing World War II, I joined the Women’s ArmyCorps. While in the army, I got mar ried. I left the ser vicewhen I had my daugh ter, Gretel. My hus band and I bought a farm. In the sum mer, we had camps for chil dren. Then Ihad my son, Barnaby. I was di vorced and later mar riedagain. I had two more chil dren, Charles and Phoebe Ann.


Sa rah Hayes: Of all of your books, which is your fa vor ite?

Barbara Cooney: I don’t know that I have a fa vor ite. Miss Rumphius is one I love. She is like me in some ways. She trav els all over theworld and then she lives in the coun try when she is older.

Sa rah Hayes: I can see why you like the book . . . . Oh, dear. Look at thetime. I need to stop by the school. I’m meet ing my sis teraf ter her class.

Barbara Cooney: It’s time for me to go, too. Let’s get to gether again soon!I’ll buy the tea next time!

Narrator: Sa rah Hayes goes into her sis ter’s class room. El len Hayeshas just read Miss Rumphius to the class. She mo tions forSa rah to take a seat.

El len Hayes: Let’s talk about the book. What did Miss Al ice Rumphiuswant to do?

Ca thy: She wanted to make the world more beau ti ful.

El len Hayes: Who told her to make the world more beau ti ful?

Ca thy: Her grand fa ther told her.

El len Hayes: Did she do that first or later in her life, Benny?

Benny: No, first she worked in a li brary. She dusted the books.

El len Hayes: What else did she do at the li brary?

Judy: She helped peo ple find books to read. And she read a lotof books about far away places.

George: She thought it would be fun to go to those faraway places.So she trav eled a lot.

El len Hayes: Do you re mem ber where she went?

Fanny: She went to an is land. There were mon keys and cock a toosthere.

George: And she met a king! His name was Bapa Raja.

Courtney: When it was time for her to leave the is land, the king gaveher a spe cial sea shell. It had a bird drawn on it. The words, “You’ll al ways be in my heart” were on it, too.


El len Hayes: Where else did she go?

Pe ter: She climbed up huge moun tains! Then she went into thedes erts and the jun gles. She sure was brave to do so much!

El len Hayes: She did get to do a lot, did n’t she? Where did she go af terher trips?

Benny: Back to live by the sea in the coun try. That was where sheliked it best.

Sa rah Hayes: Ex cuse me. Can I tell you some thing I just learned?

El len Hayes: Of course you can. Is it some thing about Miss Rumphius?

Sa rah Hayes: It is about the au thor. I just had tea with Barbara Cooney.She is a friend of mine.

Judy: Did she talk about how she came to write this story? Doesshe look like Miss Rumphius?

Sa rah Hayes: She talked a lot about what it was like to grow up. And Ithink you are right. She looks a bit like Miss Rumphius!

Pe ter: Did she live in the city or in the coun try?

Sa rah Hayes: She lived in the city. She spent her sum mers in the coun try with her grand mother. She taught Mrs. Cooney to love to draw.

Fanny: She sounds a lot like Miss Rumphius. She had a spe cialper son who taught her things.

Ca thy: Did Barbara Cooney travel a lot too?

Sa rah Hayes: Yes, she did. She was also in the army dur ing World WarII. And she had four kids! But I don’t think she plantedlu pine seeds. And, like us, she lives by the moun tains, notby the sea.

Courtney: I think she gave us some thing spe cial with her books.Those live on, just like flow ers.

George: They make the world more beau ti ful.

Sa rah Hayes: That is so true.


El len Hayes: Do you think she would come to visit us some day?Per haps we could talk about how to make our school morebeau ti ful.

Sa rah Hayes: I will ask her the next time we have tea. I think she wouldlike the idea of help ing you.

El len Hayes: Time to go home!

Nar ra tor: The stu dents leave El len Hayes’s class room. El len turns to her sis ter.

El len Hayes: Do you re ally know Barbara Cooney?

Sa rah Hayes: Now, El len, have I ever lied to you? Let’s go have tea! Ithink I’ll have a scone with mine. How about you? MaybeI’ll tell you who I ran into at break fast.


A Most Fa mousEl e phant

A Most Fa mous El e phantA Most Fa mous El e phant

Jean de Brunhoff1899–1937


Jean de Brunhoff was born in Paris. He joined the French army at the end of World War Iand reached the front lines when the war was nearly over. Re turn ing to Paris, he de cided to be -come a pro fes sional art ist and he stud ied paint ing. In 1924, de Brunhoff mar ried Ce cileSabourand, and the cou ple had three sons: Laurent, Mathieu, and Thierry. In 1930, Ce cile deBrunhoff in vented a bed time story about a lit tle el e phant to amuse their four year old, Mathieu,who was ill. Jean wrote the story as it was re told to him by his son. In 1931, it was pub lished asHistoire de Babar, le pe tit éléphant. In 1933, the story was pub lished in Eng lish. The Story ofBabar, the Lit tle El e phant be came the spring board for a se ries of Babar books, first writ ten byJean and then by his son Laurent after Jean died.


The nar ra tor and read ers should all sit in a semi cir cle so they can see each other and the lis -ten ing au di ence as they in ter act while they read.


Be fore read ing the script, dis cuss how peo ple learn les sons from all sorts of places: fromtheir par ents, their friends, their teach ers, and so forth. Then ask:

• Writ ers use an i mals to tell a story that has a les son for peo ple to learn. Why do youthink they use an i mals?

• Do you have a fa vor ite book about an an i mal?

21

• How many el e phants can you name that are in storybooks?

Af ter read ing the script, dis cuss how Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff wrote a se ries of books.Then ask:

• What is the name of the se ries of books about a mon key? (Cu ri ous George by H. A.Rey)

• What do we mean by a “se ries” of books?

• What is your fa vor ite se ries?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Baby El e phant One, Baby El e phant Two, Mama El e phant, Mar sha

Grade Two: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Mr. Perry, Ahmed, Denise, Ma son, Callie,Carlos, Hayden

Grade Three: Papa El e phant, Un cle El e phant, Janey, Jocelyn

22 \ A Most Fa mous El e phant

A Most Fa mous El e phant

Nar ra tor One: A small herd of el e phants lives in a big zoo. The youngones dream of be ing fa mous one day. To day they talkwith each other about life at the zoo.

Baby El e phant One: Look at all the peo ple watch ing us. They must think weare spe cial.

Mama El e phant: You are very spe cial to me. The kids love to watch you.

Baby El e phant Two: That’s just be cause we’re in a zoo. I wish we werefa mous. Do you know any fa mous el e phants?

Papa El e phant: There are many fa mous el e phants. Jumbo was in theParis and Lon don zoos for a while. Then he was in acir cus.

Mama El e phant: He was a hero, too. He saved a baby el e phant from be ing hit by a train. But he was hit and died.

Papa El e phant: Queenie lived in Aus tra lia. She was very smart and gavekids rides on her back. She could also be naughty. If thekids teased her, some times she squirted them with wa ter!

Un cle El e phant: These days the most fa mous el e phants are not real. Theyare in mov ies or car toons or books. One even flies, if you can imag ine that!

Baby El e phant One: How do you find out about them?

Un cle El e phant: I lis ten to the school chil dren that visit. Look, hereco mes a group now. They al ways seem to be talk ingabout el e phants. Let’s lis ten to this group.

Mr. Perry: I just love el e phants, don’t you? They are so big andstrong, and I love the way their trunks sway back andforth as they run.

Janey: I love books about el e phants. My fa vor ite is the storyabout Babar. Ahmed and I did a re port on the de Brunhoffs last year. They started the se ries of books.


Mr. Perry: There is a good story about the au thors. What can youtell us about it, Ahmed?

Ahmed: Ce cile de Brunhoff, a young mother, made up Babar. Her four-year-old son was sick. She told him the Babar storyat bed time. The story made him feel better.

Mr. Perry: That’s right. Later, Ce cile’s sons told their fa ther thestory. He wrote it down, and then he drew the pic tures.His name was Jean de Brunhoff. The book was firstpub lished in French. Then it came out in Eng lish andwas called The Story of Babar, the Lit tle El e phant.

Denise: I have read a lot of the Babar books, but some don’t have Jean de Brunhoff’s name on the cover of the book. Theysay Laurent de Brunhoff. I don’t un der stand that. Who is Laurent?

Ahmed: I can ex plain that. When Jean was a young man, hebe came very ill. He had tu ber cu lo sis. The doc tors said he could not stay home. So while he was away, he wrotefive more sto ries for his sons.

Ma son: But I am sure I have read more than six Babar books.How many Babar books did Jean write once he was well?

Ahmed: Jean wrote six Babar books be fore he died. His old estson wrote the other fifty Babar books. His name wasLaurent. That is why some books have a dif fer ent first name.

Jocelyn: What was the last book that Jean wrote?

Janey: It was Babar and Fa ther Christ mas. His other bookswere The Trav els of Babar, ABC of Babar, Zephir’sHol i days, and Babar and His Fam ily.

Ma son: Did Jean ever get to go back home?

Mr. Perry: No, he did n’t. Sadly, he died when he was thirty-sevenyears old. But his sons knew he loved them be cause ofthe books he wrote. He wanted to tell them things theyneeded to re mem ber when they grew up.


Callie: What did he want them to re mem ber?

Janey: I think he wanted them to re mem ber that you have towork hard in life. When you work hard, peo ple willre spect you for it. Also, you need to make other peo plehappy and do the right things, even when that is hard to do.

Carlos: Those are good things to learn.

Mar sha: Jean died young just like Babar’s mother. His sons musthave been just as sad.

Mr. Perry: It is al ways sad to lose some one you love.

Hayden: At least they did n’t need to run away like Babar did.

Mar sha: I have seen some of the Babar books on TV. I think it’sfun to watch them.

Callie: I like to read the books. Then you can imag ine moreabout the story.

Carlos: Laurent must have liked to imag ine things. He wrote alot more Babar books!

Jocelyn: I re ally like his books with the bright col ors. They showa lot of imag i na tion.

Marsha: Denise, you said you’ve read a lot of the Babar books.Have you read all fifty of them?

Denise: I don’t think so. I should have kept a list, and then I’dknow how many I have read.

Mr. Perry: What do you like best about the Babar books, Denise?

Denise: I think Babar is smart and cares about his friends.

Hayden: That’s just what Jean wanted his sons to learn from his books.

Janey: Those are the things we all should learn from his books.I’m glad Laurent de cided to write more books af ter hisfa ther died.


Mar sha: And I am glad they are on TV. Some lit tle kids can’tread yet. But they can learn about Babar and then theycan read the books.

Mr. Perry: We need to go see the mon keys, class. Any one know thename of a fa mous mon key?

Chil dren: I do! I do!

Nar ra tor Two: The el e phants watch the class leave to see the mon keys.Then they talk about what they heard.

Baby El e phant Two: Papa, had you heard about Babar be fore?

Papa El e phant: No, but I know about him and the au thors now. I amcu ri ous about that fa mous mon key. Any one know whohe is?

Mama El e phant: Oh, Un cle and I know all about him. Do you want to tellthe story?

Un cle El e phant: Let me see what I can re mem ber. Once upon a time there was a man with a yel low hat who went to Af rica . . . .

Nar ra tor One: Do you know who that fa mous mon key is? If you don’t,it’s time to go to the li brary. You’ll find out what les sons you can learn from those books!


May I Bring a Friend?May I Bring a Friend?May I Bring a Friend?

Beatrice Schenk de Regniers1914–2001


Born in La fay ette, In di ana, Beatrice Schenk de Regniers stud ied so cial work ad min is tra tionand later re ceived a mas ter’s of ed u ca tion. She be gan writ ing for chil dren in the 1950s, even tu -ally com bin ing a suc cess ful ed i to rial role with writ ing. In this script, Mrs. Tully, the li brar ian,reads aloud the book May I Bring a Friend? by de Regniers. The book tells the story of a lit tleboy who is in vited to the pal ace for din ner. He asks if he may bring a friend. The first time heco mes to din ner, he brings a gi raffe. Each time he is in vited to the pal ace, he asks the same ques -tion and brings dif fer ent an i mals with him. Mrs. Tully uses the story as a model for dis cus sion ofspe cial places that the chil dren would like to go.


The nar ra tors should sit on one side. The boys should be on one side and the girls on theother side of Mrs. Tully. There are spe cific lines for two boy and two girl read ers. The re main inglines are in uni son and can be read by any num ber of stu dents. Be fore the read ers say their ques -tions or an swers, they may pre tend to be dis cuss ing their ques tions or an swers. This should be abrief si lent ac tiv ity, mimed, and may need rehearsing.


If pos si ble, read aloud May I Bring a Friend? Then ask:

• Who goes with you when you visit spe cial places?

• What are your fa vor ite spe cial places?

27

Af ter read ing the book, ask:

• The au thor, Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, uses a re pet i tive pat tern. What other sto riesuse a pat tern?

• What ques tions do you ask ev ery day? (What time is it? What’s for din ner? Can I turnon tele vi sion? May I have a cookie?)

• What ques tions do your par ents ask ev ery day? (Do you have any home work? Whatdid you do in school to day?)

• How could you turn these ques tions into a re pet i tive pat tern for a story?

Try do ing a group story with one of the pat terns. If time, have stu dents write their own in di -vid ual sto ries.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Boy One, Girl One, Boy Two, Girl Two

Grade Two: Mrs. Tully, Girls, Boys

Grade Three: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two

28 \ May I Bring a Friend?

May I Bring a Friend?

Nar ra tor One: A group of chil dren are at the li brary for story time.To day’s story is May I Bring a Friend? The story is abouta lit tle boy. He is in vited to din ner at the pal ace. When heis asked to din ner, he asks if he may bring a friend.

Nar ra tor Two: When he goes to the pal ace, he takes an an i mal or two.The an i mals sur prise the king and queen. They all have avery good time at the pal ace. Mrs. Tully asks the chil drenwhere they would like to go that is special.

Mrs. Tully: In our story, the lit tle boy went to the pal ace. We don’thave pal aces in the United States, do we? Where is aspe cial place you would like to go?

Boy One: I would like to go to a wa ter park.

Girl One: I would like to go to Dis ney World.

Boy Two: I would like to go to a theme park.

Girl Two: I would like to go eat pizza and play games.

Mrs. Tully: Let’s play a word game. Pre tend you are the lit tle boy inthe story. What would you ask me if I said, “Let’s go tothe wa ter park.”

Ev ery one: May I bring a friend?

Mrs. Tully: Yes, you may. Boys, I want you to ask the girls who theyare go ing to bring. You need to tell them what the per sonis go ing to do. Their an swer needs to rhyme with yourques tion. Here is an ex am ple: Let’s say the boys asked,“Who are you go ing to bring to swim with my mother?”What could you girls an swer?

Girls: We are go ing to bring our older brother.

Mrs. Tully: Very good. All right boys, what is your first ques tion?

Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to go down the gi ant twist ing slide?


Girls: We are go ing to bring a beau ti ful bride.

Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to float on a rub ber raft?

Girls: We are go ing to bring a brown and yel low gi raffe.

Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to sun bathe on our towel?

Girls: We are go ing to bring a big horned owl.

Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to swim in the wa ter?

Girls: We are go ing to bring a very fast ot ter.

Mrs. Tully: Very good. Let’s change the place where we are go ing togo. Girls, you ask the ques tions this time. The boys willtell you who they are go ing bring. Now let’s go to a theme park.


Mrs. Tully: Yes, you may.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to go down the wa ter in a big,brown log?

Boys: We are go ing to bring a fat, green frog.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to ride on the huge twister?

Boys: We are go ing to bring our very brave sis ter.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to ride on themerry-go-round?

Boys: We are go ing to bring our dog that’s a hound.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to ride on the twirl ing swings?

Boys: We are go ing to bring seven royal kings.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to ride on the park’s train?

Boys: We are go ing to bring a whoop ing crane.

Mrs. Tully: This is so much fun! Let’s change the place we are go ingto again. Girls, you will still ask the ques tions. Boys I want you to keep giv ing your clever an swers. Now let’s all go to Dis ney World!




Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to ride in the Mad Hat ter’stea cup?

Boys: We are go ing to bring a cocker pup.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to do rides that spin?

Boys: We are go ing to bring all of our kin.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to ride on Don ald Duck’sboat?

Boys: We are go ing to bring a pigmy goat.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to ride along with Pooh?

Boys: We are go ing to bring Paul Bun yan and his ox, Babe theBlue.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to watch the big pa rade?

Boys: We are go ing to bring Zeke’s cat named Jade.

Girls: Who are you go ing to bring to watch the fire works?

Boys: We are go ing to bring two store clerks.

Mrs. Tully: Let’s change the place we are go ing to go to again. Phyl lissaid she wanted to eat pizza and play games. This time,boys, you ask the ques tions and the girls will an swer. Now let’s go eat some pizza and play some games!



Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to play air hockey?

Girls: We are go ing to bring Terri’s cousin Rocky.

Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to chal lenge you at skee-ball?

Girls: We are go ing to bring Phyl lis’s Un cle Paul.

Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to race in the car?

Girls: We are go ing to bring Gerda’s Aunt Starr.

Boys: Who are you go ing to bring to play pin ball?


Girls: We are go ing to bring Angelee’s brother Saul.

Mrs. Tully: We are out of time. I have one last ques tion for all of you.What will you ask the next time your par ents say yourfam ily is com ing to the li brary?



Mak ing Po etryMak ing Po etryMak ing Po etry

Aileen Fisher1906–2002


Aileen Lu cia Fisher, an award-win ning au thor of more than one hun dred chil dren’s books,was born in Iron River, a small min ing town in the Up per Pen in sula of Mich i gan. She earned ade gree in jour nal ism and wrote sto ries, plays, po etry, bi og ra phies, and mul ti me dia pro grams.Chil dren who love po etry are most fa mil iar with her many col lec tions of po etry. Aileen Fisherlived in Boul der, Col o rado for many years, in spired by the beauty of the moun tains. This scriptex plores a pro cess for writ ing po etry. The read ers will con struct a poem using prompts from theteacher.


The nar ra tor should be to the far side of the stag ing area. Mrs. White and Mr. Bake well andthe nar ra tor should stand to one side, with the stu dents on the other side. Their po si tions shouldal low them to read with out their backs to the au di ence. If avail able, use a free stand ing chart withpa per or a chalk board. Dur ing the read ing, the reader for Mrs. White should write the lines of thepoem on the chart pa per or board as it de vel ops. The script opens with Mrs. White shar ing a poem by Aileen Fisher. A poem can be se lected from one of these col lec tions: Heard a Blue bird Sing,Sing of the Earth and Sky: Po ems about Our Plan ets and the Won ders Be yond, Cricket in aThicket, or Feath ered Ones and Furry.


Share po etry from sev eral fa vor ite writ ers, in clud ing Aileen Fisher’s. Then ask:

• What is a poem? How is it dif fer ent from a short story or a novel?

• Have you ever tried to write a poem? What is hard about it? What is easy?

33

Af ter read ing the script, have the stu dents write a poem in di vid u ally or in small groups, us -ing the pro cess in this script as a model.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Juanita, Nor man, Pe ter, Mil lie

Grade Two: Kyle, Sabrina, Peggy, Maxine, Angelo, Mario

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, Mrs. White, Mr. Bake well

34 \ Mak ing Po etry

Mak ing Po etry

Nar ra tor: To day Mrs. White is go ing to help her class write a poem.One of the great est po etry writ ers is Aileen Fisher. Mr.Bake well knew Ms. Fisher be fore she died. He is go ing tohelp Mrs. White to day. Ms. Fisher’s po ems are about thethings you see or do ev ery day. Mrs. White reads aloudone of Ms. Fisher’s poems.

Mrs. White: (Reads se lected poem.)

Juanita: That was a great poem! I wish I could write po etry.

Mrs. White: Would you like to learn how to write po etry like Ms. Fisher?

Ev ery one: Yes!

Nor man: Is it easy to do?

Mrs. White: I don’t think it is easy, but if you work real hard, you cando it.

Kyle: How do you get started when writ ing a poem?

Mr. Bake well: Ms. Fisher said her ideas came to her from the things shedid or read about. Some ideas came from things shere mem bered from grow ing up.

Sabrina: Once she got an idea, what did she do first?

Mr. Bake well: She would write her first draft by hand with a pen cil or apen. Most writ ers start with a draft, which is a roughver sion of what they have in mind.

Peggy: What would Ms. Fisher do if she did n’t like her first draftof a poem?

Mr. Bake well: She would keep the things she liked and erase what shedid n’t like. Then she would re-read what she had left andadd new thoughts. She would do this over and over againun til she had her poem just the way she wanted it.

Sabrina: How long did it take her to write a poem?


Mr. Bake well: I don’t know for sure. I do know that she worked on herideas for four hours ev ery morn ing.

Juanita: What did she like to write about most?

Mr. Bake well: She liked to write about an i mals and na ture. She wroteabout things she did.

Nor man: Why did she write po etry?

Mr. Bake well: She liked the rhythm, or the beat, of po etry. The words had to rhyme and make sense from line to line. Rhythm andrhyme make a poem fun to read.

Maxine: Can we write a poem to gether?

Mrs. White: All right. First some one has to de cide what the poem isgo ing to be about. Re mem ber it should be a poem aboutsome thing we all know.

Kyle: Ev ery one likes dogs or cats. How about cats?

Mrs. White: Now that we have a topic, we’ve started our poem. I’llwrite down “Cat” while you tell me what you al readyknow about cats.

Sabrina: They get can be very fast when they are chas ing a mouse.

Angelo: They love to play and re ally love to play with cat nip.

Peggy: They love sit ting in the sun and to clean their faces withtheir paws.

Pe ter: They can be big or small. Their fur can be dif fer ent col ors.

Mrs. White: Now that we have sev eral good ideas, what should we donext?

Nor man: We need to find some rhym ing words.

Pe ter: We can change mouse to rat. Cat and rat rhyme.

Sabrina: If a cat eats too many rats he gets fat. That’s an otherrhym ing word.

Mrs. White: So let’s put our ideas to gether to get our first line.

Angelo: I have two lines to start our poem. Once there was a cat.He napped upon a mat.


Mil lie: How about this next? That cat, he ate a rat.

Mario: When he is done eat ing the rat, he is re ally fat.

Mrs. White: How could you shorten that to con tinue the poem, Mario?So far we have “Once there was a cat. He napped upon amat. That cat, he ate a rat.”

Mario: What if we said, “He got so very fat”?

Mil lie: I like that, Mario. Can we read it aloud and see how itsounds?

Ev ery one: Once there was a cat. He napped upon a mat. That cat, heate a rat. He got so very fat.

Nor man: This is fun! Can we write some more lines, Mrs. White?

Mrs. White: Of course we can. Who has a line for an other part of thepoem?

Peggy: Well, he’s pretty fat by now. So we could say some thingabout how he weighed a ton.

Mrs. White: It would be an ex ag ger a tion, but that’s fun in po etry. What words rhyme with ton?

Pe ter: Run, fun, bun, done.

Mrs. White: Which of those words can some one use in our poem?

Mil lie: We could say, “When his lunch was done, he must haveweighed a ton.”

Mrs. White: Very good. Now, if we could come up with a sur priseend ing, that would be es pe cially fun.

Juanita: What if we told rats to stay away?

Mrs. White: That’s very clever, Juanita. Can any one think of a way touse that idea for the last two lines?

Maxine: We could say, “Our ad vice for a rat? Stay away from thatcat!”

Kyle: Look, we have a real poem up there, Mrs. White!

Mrs. White: Yes we do. Let’s read it now that it is fin ished.


Ev ery body: Once there was a cat. He napped upon a mat. That cat, he ate a rat. He got so very fat. When his lunch was done, he must have weighed a ton.Our ad vice for a rat? Stay away from that cat!

Mr. Bake well: You all did a ter rific job, and you made it look pretty easy, too. I have to leave now, but you have one more thing todo—de cide on a ti tle. Maybe the au di ence can help you!Good bye!

Nar ra tor: (to the au di ence) Can you help think up a clever ti tle?Af ter that, you might be ready to try writ ing some po etryof your own.


From Trum peterto Art ist

From Trum peter to Art istFrom Trum peter to Art ist

Don Free man1908–1978


In this script, Don Free man’s fa ther gives him a trum pet be fore his early death. Don, raisedby a guard ian, even tu ally goes to art school where he earns money play ing his trum pet un til heleaves it be hind on a sub way. He mar ries, has a son, and be gins sell ing his sketches. Upon the ad -vice of a li brar ian, he sub mits his book to a pub lisher. The script con cludes with a visit to hisson’s art class.


The Free mans should stand in the mid dle. Fa ther, the doc tor, the art teacher, the li brar ian,and the nar ra tors should stand on one side of the Free mans. Mr. Manley, Juanita, Ethan, Leigh,Jon a than, and Lila should stand on the other side.


Show the stu dents a sketch pad. Then ask:

• What is this used for?

• How would it be use ful if you were an art stu dent?

Af ter read ing the script, dis cuss how Don and Lydia Free man used their life ex pe ri ences aspart of the sto ries they cre ated. Then ask:

• What other kinds of life ex pe ri ences might con trib ute to sto ries that a writer tells?

39

• Art ists keep sketches in a sketch pad. Where could writ ers keep notes, ideas, or shortsto ries?

• What kinds of sto ries have you thought about writ ing or il lus trat ing?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Doc tor, Lydia Free man

Grade Two: Nar ra tors One and Two, Don Free man, Fa ther, Li brar ian, Juanita, Ethan,Leigh, Jon a than

Grade Three: Art Teacher, Mr. Manley, Lila

40 \ From Trum peter to Art ist

From Trum peter to Art ist

Nar ra tor One: Don Free man, a young boy, gets a sur prise from his fa therone day.

Fa ther: Don, look what I have for you!

Don Free man: Wow! Is that a mu si cal in stru ment? What kind is it?

Fa ther: It’s a trum pet. You love mu sic so much. I thought it wastime you started learn ing to play an in stru ment.

Don Free man: Thanks, Dad! Is it hard to play?

Fa ther: It’s hard to get started. But if you prac tice, you’ll be goodat it in no time. Look how good you have got ten byprac tic ing with your draw ing. I bet you’ll be il lus trat ingbooks in no time!

Nar ra tor Two: Don works hard at play ing the trum pet and at draw ing.Then one day he gets ter ri ble news from the doc tor.

Doc tor: I’m sorry to tell you this, Don. Your fa ther has died.

Don Free man: What is go ing to hap pen to me now?

Doc tor: You’ll be taken care of. Don’t worry, son.

Nar ra tor One: Don is raised by a guard ian. He prac tices his draw ing andhis trum pet. He plays in a dance band. When he is a young adult, he de cides to leave Cal i for nia and go to New YorkCity. He goes to art school and works hard.

Art Teacher: Don, your draw ings are im prov ing, but I’m wor ried aboutyou. How are you get ting along? What are you do ing forin come? How do you pay for the mod els in yourdraw ings?

Don Free man: I’m do ing okay. I study dur ing the day and play mytrum pet at night. I’m earn ing just enough money to get by. I’m sketch ing peo ple on the sub way. They don’t seem tono tice me.

Nar ra tor Two: A few days later, Don looks very tired and sad.


Art Teacher: Don, you don’t seem to be your self to day. Has some thinghap pened?

Don Free man: I was sketch ing peo ple on the sub way last night. When Igot off, I for got my trum pet. I just stood there on theplat form and watched it ride away.

Art Teacher: I’m so sorry, Don. What are you go ing to do?

Don Free man: I’m go ing to try sell ing my work. I fig ure I’ll start bydo ing sketches of peo ple backstage dur ing Broad wayshows. Then I’ll see if I can sell them to the news pa persand mag a zines.

Nar ra tor One: Don suc ceeds with his sketches. Later, he mar ries Lydia, awoman he had met in an art class. They start a fam ily andhave a son named Roy. They live in an apart ment near aset of rail road tracks. The sound of the trains be ingswitched in the round house each night of ten wakes them up.

Lydia Free man: I am so tired of those trains wak ing us up at night.

Don Free man: Me too. I’ve de cided to do some thing about it. I’m go ingto go over there and draw the trains. Look at that ca booseover there—it looks so lonely.

Lydia Free man: You should do a book about it. You know, when I takeRoy for a walk in the stroller, we pass the switch man. Hehas a small shack, and he even has a gar den. Maybe hecould be in the book.

Don Free man: That’s a great idea. Why don’t I get some sketches doneand then we can work on the plot to gether?

Nar ra tor Two: Don and Lydia call the book Chuggy and the BlueCa boose. They take it to a li brar ian to see if she thinkschil dren will like it.

Li brar ian: I re ally en joyed your book, and I think chil dren will loveit. I think you should try to get it pub lished.

Don Free man: Where should we send it?

Li brar ian: There’s a chil dren’s book ed i tor at Vi king Pub lish ing.Why don’t you send it there? She might like it, too.


Nar ra tor One: Chuggy and the Blue Ca boose is pub lished and sells well.Many years later, Don and Lydia visit Roy’s art class.They tell the story of how their first book started. Theclass is taught by Mr. Manley.

Mr. Manley: That’s a won der ful story. We have been study ing abouthow some pic ture books get pub lished. I’d like some ofthe stu dents to share what they have learned, and I knowthat they will have some ques tions. Would you start,Juanita?

Juanita: We looked at a lot of pic ture books. We were sup posed tojust look at the pic tures and not read the sto ries.

Ethan: All the peo ple who drew the pic tures used a lot of col ors.They all did dif fer ent kinds of peo ple, too.

Mr. Manley: What do you mean by dif fer ent kinds of peo ple, Ethan?

Ethan: Their shapes were all dif fer ent—they had their own style.And you could tell who drew the pic tures in a book bytheir style.

Lila: We also learned that some pic tures were not drawn by thewriter. They were added later by an art ist.

Leigh: We also learned that some peo ple can do both. They writeand il lus trate their books. They also might start with afolk tale or a fa ble.

Juanita: How can it be that no one ever owned the story?

Mr. Manley: Many of the sto ries were just told. They were n’t writ tendown. No one re ally knows who first told the story. Also,there are many ver sions around.

Jon a than: I have a ques tion. What is your fa vor ite book, Mr.Free man?

Don Free man: That’s easy. It’s Cor du roy. He was an or phan, like me. My fa ther died when I was very young, and so Cor du roy has alit tle bit of me in the story.

Lila: Did you al ways want to write and il lus trate books?


Don Free man: When I was a child, I never knew I would do books. Iloved to draw, but it was the trum pet that led me to writing books.

Mr. Manley: Now, that sounds like a good story!

Don Free man: You know, I think it is. Let me tell you the story. Onceupon a time a fa ther brought a young boy a trum pet . . . .

Nar ra tor Two: And so the stu dents learned a fine les son—one good storyleads to an other.


Great Awards forGreat Books

Great Awards for Great BooksGreat Awards for Great Books

Ezra Jack Keats1916–1983


Ezra Jack Keats, dis tin guished for writ ing some of the ear li est books fea tur ing Af ri canAmer i can chil dren, was born to a poor fam ily in Brook lyn, New York. He showed his ar tis tic tal -ents as a young child, win ning his first medal when he grad u ated from ju nior high school.Although times were dif fi cult, his par ents en cour aged him to paint as much as they could af ford.He worked dur ing the day and took art classes at night. He worked as a mu ral painter and as acomic book il lus tra tor be fore serv ing in the mil i tary dur ing World War II. He built a ca reer cre at -ing il lus tra tions for var i ous pub li ca tions be fore be com ing a chil dren’s book writer. This scriptdis cusses the role of awards con ferred on his books and those of other out stand ing il lus tra torsand writ ers.


Gather a va ri ety of award-win ning books, in clud ing The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.Dis play them on a ta ble. In clude books that dis play med als on the cov ers. See www.ala.org foraward pos si bil i ties, in clud ing awards such as the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, BelpréMedal, Geisel Medal, and Wilder Award. See www.ezra-jack-keats.org for in for ma tion aboutthe Ezra Jack Keats Book Award. For the read ing of the script, Mrs. Tay lor and Mr. Wrightshould sit at one end by a ta ble dis play ing the books. All other read ers can be fac ing the audiencein a semicircle.

45

www.ala.org

www.ezra-jack-keats.org


Hold up sev eral of the books that have won the Caldecott Medal. Then ask:

• What do you no tice about the cover of these books? (Caldecott Medal)

• What do you know about this award?

• Have you ever won an award? If so, for what?


• Can you name other au thors or il lus tra tors who have won an award?

If the class room has a com puter for chil dren to use, they can re search the award lists atwww.ala.org or www.ezra-jack-keats.org.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Ernie, Maria, Patsy

Grade Two: Mrs. Tay lor, Shelby, Samantha, Eddie, Trudy, Louie

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, Mr. Wright, Pedro

46 \ Great Awards for Great Books

www.ala.org

www.ezra-jack-keats.org

Great Awards for Great Books

Nar ra tor: Mr. Wright brings his stu dents to the li brary. They aretalk ing about books with Mrs. Tay lor. She is the li brar ian.

Mrs. Tay lor: Who has re ceived an award for good grades?

Shelby and Ernie: I have.

Mrs. Tay lor: What was your re ward, Shelby?

Shelby: I got money for a good re port card.

Ernie: So did I! I got one dol lar for ev ery A.

Mr. Wright: It shows that hard work pays off, does n’t it? Has any oneelse got ten an award for some thing they have done?

Samantha: I did last year.

Mrs. Tay lor: What was your award for, Samantha?

Samantha: My grand mother got sick and I went for help.

Mrs. Tay lor: That was great, Samantha. What are some other things you could get an award for?

Eddie: I got a tro phy for play ing ball.

Pedro: Once I got a rib bon for run ning a race.

Maria: Oh, I got a rib bon once. I got it for my dog. He was thesil li est dressed dog at the dog park.

Mr. Wright: Very good. Now we know that there are many dif fer entkinds of awards for things we do. To day, we are go ing tolook at awards won by Ezra Jack Keats. Who knows whoEzra Jack Keats was?

Trudy: He was a writer. He wrote a lot of books.

Ernie: And he drew great pic tures! I think they are the best partof his books.

Mrs. Tay lor: Why do you say that, Ernie?


Ernie: He used such great col ors in his pic tures. My lit tle brotherloves to look at them.

Mrs. Tay lor: Many of Keats’s books won awards.

Eddie: Why would you give a book an award?

Mr. Wright: Does any one know the an swer to Eddie’s ques tion?

Pedro: Be cause the book tells a very good story.

Maria: And he did draw some great pic tures.

Samantha: What was the award, Mrs. Tay lor?

Mrs. Tay lor: The Snowy Day won the Caldecott Medal for its draw ings.

Patsy: How can you tell if a book won an award?

Mrs. Tay lor: I looked on the back cover of The Snowy Day. The backcover tells about the award. On some books there aremed als on the front cover.

Louie: Is that the only award The Snowy Day won?

Mr. Wright: No. It got the Brook lyn Art Books for Chil dren Ci ta tion,also.

Shelby: Are there other awards out there for books?

Mrs. Tay lor: Oh, yes. There are many of them. Here let me show yousome other books with awards on them. (Show a va ri ety of award-win ning books.)

Eddie: Do you know what book has won the most awards ever?

Mrs. Tay lor: No, I don’t Eddie. I do know there are a lot of books in our li brary that have each won one or more awards.

Pedro: Did Keats win an award for any other book?

Mrs. Tay lor: Yes. Gog gles re ceived the Caldecott Honor Book award.Later on, Mr. Keats de cided to give awards to other writ ers for their hard work.

Samantha: You mean there is an Ezra Jack Keats Award? Why?

Mr. Wright: Mr. Keats wanted to en cour age other art ists. He was verypoor and could n’t af ford to go to art school. So he workedall day and went to art school at night. He lived dur ing the

48 From Multi-Grade Read ers Thea tre: Pic ture Book Au thors and Il lus tra tors by Su zanne I. Barchers andCharla R. Pfeffinger. Westport, CT: Teacher Ideas Press/Li brar ies Un lim ited. Copy right © 2009.

Great De pres sion and World War II. Those were toughtimes. An award like this one lets other peo ple know thatthe art ist is special.

Ernie: Did he win any med als when he was go ing to school?

Mr. Wright: He won his very first medal in ju nior high. He kept it allhis life with his other awards.

Patsy: Did he do other kinds of art?

Mr. Wright: He did mu rals and draw ings for mag a zines. He even diddraw ings for comic books! It took him a while to get achil dren’s book pub lished.

Maria: I think we should start a read ing club. We should read only books that have won an award.

Trudy: That’s a great idea, Maria. Can we do that, Mrs. Tay lor?

Mrs. Tay lor: I think it’s a great idea, too. If you would like to start aread ing club, I’ll be happy to help you.

Pedro: How will we know what books have won awards? Thereare so many books in here!

Mrs. Tay lor: I can give you book lists. Then you can go down the listand choose the books you want to read.

Maria: We need a goal for our read ing club.

Samantha: What would be our goal?

Louie: We should have to read three award-win ning books aweek. Then we could talk about them.

Ernie: Would read ing to my brother count?

Mrs. Tay lor: That is a very good idea, Ernie. Yes, that would count.

Eddie: Why would you want to read to your brother, Ernie?

Ernie: He loves the pic tures in Keats’s books. And he likes tohear those sto ries.

Patsy: And they are easy to read, right Mrs. Tay lor?

49From Multi-Grade Read ers Thea tre: Pic ture Book Au thors and Il lus tra tors by Su zanne I. Barchers and Charla R. Pfeffinger. Westport, CT: Teacher Ideas Press/Li brar ies Un lim ited. Copy right © 2009.

Mrs. Tay lor: Even if they are easy to read, it is still read ing. Some ofyou will want to read eas ier books, and that is okay. Theim por tant thing is you are read ing. I am ex cited about your clubs. I’ll have a list of books for you to read to mor row.See you then.

Mr. Wright: Time to get back to class, chil dren. See you to mor row,Mrs. Tay lor.


Who’s a Fat Cat?Who’s a Fat Cat?Who’s a Fat Cat?

John Wellington (Jack) Kent1920–1985


Jack Kent was born in Burlington, Iowa. He be gan his ca reer as a free lance com mer cial art -ist at the age of fif teen. He worked un til he joined the U.S. Army, Field Ar til lery, in 1941. Hissyn di cated comic strip, “King Aroo,” was dis trib uted in ter na tion ally from 1950 to 1965. When it was dropped from the news pa pers, he re turned to work ing as a car toon ist and hu mor ist. An othershort-lived strip was “Why Christ mas Al most Was n’t.” in 1968. His re tell ing of old clas sicsus ing his unique il lus tra tions pro duced won der ful chil dren’s books that are still read to day. Hedied of leu ke mia in 1985. This script is based on the Dan ish tale The Fat Cat. The fol low ing are afew of the well-known books by Kent: The Bre men Town Mu si cians, Seven at One Blow, a non -vi o lent col lec tion of rhymes for the young in Merry Mother Goose, and two books based on Fa -bles of Ae sop.


The nar ra tors and Mrs. Herrera can sit to one side of the stag ing area. The reader for Mr.Snyder should sit fac ing the nar ra tors on the op po site side of the stag ing area. The other read erscan sit in the cen ter slightly fac ing Mr. Snyder.


Read aloud The Fat Cat by Jack Kent. Then ask:

• What does an il lus tra tor do?

• Why are pic tures im por tant in a book?

• Can you tell who a book’s il lus tra tor is by look ing at his pic tures? How?

• What is the most im por tant thing about an il lus tra tion to you?

51

Af ter read ing the script, find a col lec tion of Ae sop’s fa bles with out il lus tra tions. Copy a fa -ble and have the chil dren read and il lus trate it.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Josie, Jerald

Grade Two: Nar ra tor Two, Marrie, Mr. Snyder, Levi, Della, Wil son, Mrs. Herrera, Mr.Petersen

Grade Three: Nar ra tor One, Latashia

52 \ Who’s a Fat Cat?

Who’s a Fat Cat?

Nar ra tor One: Many chil dren live in the high-rise on Spring Street. Theylive far from the li brary. Each Sat ur day morn ing, a li braryco mes to them. Mr. Snyder is the li brar ian. He drives andruns this li brary on wheels.

Nar ra tor Two: On nice days, Mr. Snyder has story time out side. He pullsout the awn ing on the side of the bus. He puts out his chair and a small ta ble. On the ta ble is the book he is go ing toread to the chil dren. The chil dren are al ways happy to seehim ar rive.

Marrie: Hurry up, Josie. Mr. Snyder’s go ing to read a story to day.

Josie: I am hur ry ing up.

Marrie: Do you have your books to turn in?

Josie: Yes, and I have my mat. I’m ready. Let’s go!

Nar ra tor One: The chil dren gather un der the awn ing, ready for story time. Mr. Snyder co mes out of the bus. This time the ta ble isempty. In stead, he holds a book be hind his back.

Mr. Snyder: Good morn ing. Are you ready to hear a story to day?

Ev ery one: Yes. What are you go ing to read?

Mr. Snyder: I am go ing to read one of our fa vor ites. It is about a cat.Let’s see if you can guess which book it is. (Mr. Snyderblows his cheeks up real fat.)

Ev ery one: The Fat Cat!

Mr. Snyder: Yes, I am go ing to read The Fat Cat. But first I want to ask you some ques tions. Who re mem bers who wrote the bookThe Fat Cat?

Jerald: The book was writ ten by Jack Kent. But it was n’t hisstory.

Mr. Snyder: Good mem ory, Jerald. Since it was n’t his story, where didit come from?


Levi: First it was a Dan ish folk tale. Mr. Kent re told the tale inhis book. And he drew car toon-like pic tures for the book.

Mr. Snyder: Why is the book called The Fat Cat?

Latashia: It’s about a greedy cat. It eats any thing it sees and getsre ally fat.

Mr. Snyder: Are you ready for me to read the book?

Ev ery one: Yes.

Nar ra tor Two: Mr. Snyder reads The Fat Cat to the chil dren. The peo plein the high-rise can hear the chil dren laugh as he reads thebook. Some of the par ents come down to see what is sofunny.

Nar ra tor One: When Mr. Snyder looks up he sees a lot of par entslis ten ing to the story. He is sur prised to see them. Even the par ents laugh as the cat gets fat. Fi nally, he fin ishes thestory.

Mr. Snyder: That is such a funny story. Are any of you fat cats?

Della: No! I think ev ery one of us is smarter than that cat. If anyof us ate thirty-five pies, we’d get sick be fore we got fat!

Wil son: And I don’t know any one who would eat a real per son.

Della: And I sure would n’t eat an el e phant!

Josie: I am glad I am not greedy like that fat cat.

Marrie: I am glad our mama taught us good man ners. I would hateit if you did “slip slop, sluuurp” when you ate.

Ev ery one: Slip slop, sluuurp, slip slop, sluuurp!

Mr. Snyder: (laughs) I am glad to know none of you is a fat cat. Doesany one have any ques tions be fore we check out books?

Mrs. Herrera: I would like to know who wrote the book you just read tothe chil dren.

Ev ery one: Jack Kent. He drew the pic tures, too.

Mrs. Herrera: Oh, my. You all knew that! Mr. Snyder, do you al ways tell them about the writ ers?


Mr. Snyder: Yes, I do. A book is a re flec tion of some one. They need toknow about the per son who writes and il lus trates the book.

Mr. Petersen: What can any of you tell me about Jack Kent?

Levi: He cre ated a comic strip. It was called . . .

Ev ery one: King Aroo.

Latashia: He drew post cards for a card com pany.

Della: He drew pic tures for a lot of books. He also did funnyfa bles.

Jerald: He drew pic tures to go with rhymes and folk tales, too.

Wil son: He did n’t write any books with his own words. He re toldgood sto ries and drew the pic tures.

Mr. Petersen: You all sure do know a lot about Jack Kent. I would like to read some of his books to my chil dren. Can I check outThe Fat Cat, Mr. Snyder?

Mr. Snyder: Of course you can. I have sev eral of his books in side youmight want also. Is ev ery one ready to check out newbooks?

Nar ra tor One: Books were dif fer ent years ago. They had many shortsto ries in them but no pic tures.

Nar ra tor Two: The pic tures make this book more fun. The fat catwould n’t be as funny if you could n’t see him get fat ter and fat ter.

Nar ra tor One: A good il lus tra tor can take an old story and make it seemlike new. Pic tures can make us laugh, cry, or think aboutthe plot. They can even help us read the words. We can see what is hap pen ing through the pic tures.

Nar ra tor Two: Have you ever tried to draw pic tures from words you haveread? Why not try it? Maybe you can be an il lus tra tor oneday.


The Trou ble with aPen Name

The Trou ble with a Pen NameThe Trou ble with a Pen Name

James Ed ward Mar shall1942–1992


James Ed ward Mar shall dil i gently stud ied the vi ola as a way to move away from Texas. Hewon a schol ar ship to the New Eng land Con ser va tory in Boston. Un for tu nately, a hand in jury cutshort his mu si cal ca reer. Mar shall had al ways had an in ter est in draw ing, but he had given up theprac tice in the sec ond grade when a teacher had laughed at his art work. He picked up the hobbyonce again and a friend saw his sketches and brought them to a neigh bor who worked at Hought onMifflin. When an ed i tor there saw the draw ing, he of fered Mar shall a con tract for his first as sign -ment. This first book, Byrd Baylor’s Plink, Plink, Plink, was pub lished in 1971. This opened up a new ca reer path for Mar shall, whose leg acy lives on in more than sev enty books that he has writ -ten or il lus trated.


The nar ra tor and Mrs. White should sit on ei ther side of the stage. James Mar shall should sitfac ing the au di ence with the other char ac ters in a semi cir cle around him.


Read aloud George and Mar tha and Fox at School. Show the cov ers. Then ask:

• What is alike and what is dif fer ent about the books?

• What other books did James Mar shall write? Ed ward Mar shall?

56

Af ter read ing the script, dis cuss other rea sons why peo ple might use a pen name. Ask:

• What is an other word for a pen name? (pseud onym)

• What was Mark Twain’s real name? (Sam uel Clem ens)

• What are other rea sons why a per son might use a pen name?

• If you were go ing to use a pen name, what would it be?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Gavin, Billie, Riley, Mrs.White

Grade Two: Irene, Henry, Walt, Opal, Mar gue rite

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, James Mar shall, Ce cilia, Russ

The Trou ble with a Pen Name / 57

The Trou ble with a Pen Name

Nar ra tor: Mrs. White has asked James Mar shall to talk with herclass. They are go ing to write an ar ti cle about him for theschool news pa per. Gavin asks the first ques tion.

Gavin: How do you get your ideas?

James Mar shall: My ideas come from my day dreams and doo dles. Once Ihave a char ac ter drawn, then I write my story.

Irene: Do you al ways work alone?

James Mar shall: No. I of ten work with an other au thor.

Ce cilia: What is your fa vor ite thing to do with a story line?

James Mar shall: I want to make read ers laugh. Read ing should be fun. Ifmy sto ries make you laugh, you will read more.

Henry: What is the ti tle of the first book you ever wrote?

James Mar shall: My first book was George and Mar tha. One day I saw two dots on my draw ing pa per. I added two more dots, andbe hold! I had the eyes of George and Mar tha. I loveddo ing George and Mar tha be cause I could make themfunny. It did n’t mat ter what hap pened to them. They wereal ways best friends.

Walt: Are they the char ac ters you like the most?

James Mar shall: I like them a lot be cause they were in my first book. ButVi ola Swamp has to be the one I like most of all. Do youknow who she is?

Opal: That aw ful teacher in the book Miss Nel son Is Miss ing.

James Mar shall: Yes, she is. And can you guess where I got the idea forher?

Billie: Was she one of your teach ers?

James Mar shall: She looks just like my sec ond-grade teacher who laughedat me.


Russ: Did your teacher ever see her self in your book?

James Mar shall: Yes, she saw the book. She told me she thought it wasamus ing that I used her as the wicked teacher. So I don’tfeel too ter ri ble about us ing her as my model.

Gavin: Did you al ways want to write and draw for books?

James Mar shall: No. When I was a young boy I wanted to play the vi ola. Iwas very good. I won a schol ar ship to go to the NewEng land Con ser va tory in Boston. Then one day I was in aplane and I in jured my hand. I could only play my vi olafor a few min utes a day. I had to give up that dream.

Ce cilia: What did you do af ter your ac ci dent?

James Mar shall: I went to col lege. I got a de gree to teach. Then I starteddoo dling as a hobby. A friend gave my doodlings tosome one who worked in a pub lish ing house. They askedme to do draw ings for a book.

Billie: What was the book called?

James Mar shall: Plink, Plink, Plink.

Irene: Was it a great suc cess like your other books?

James Mar shall: No, it flopped. But that is when I knew I wanted tobe come an il lus tra tor and writer.

Russ: Who did you co-au thor the Miss Nel son books with?

James Mar shall: Harry Allard. We did two dif fer ent se ries. The first wasthe Miss Nel son Books. Then we did the Stu pid Fam ilyBooks. Have you read any of the Stu pid Fam ily Books?Did they make you laugh?

Opal: I laughed so hard at them, I cried. Do you think peo ple arere ally that stu pid?

James Mar shall: I hope not. To think you are dead just be cause the lights go out is re ally stu pid. But if it made you laugh, then it waswhat we wanted you to do.

Henry: I thought they were very funny. But I am sure glad I amnot that stu pid.


James Mar shall: I think we all feel stu pid some times. But no one is asstu pid as the Stu pids are. When you read about how stu pid they are, you don’t feel so stu pid your self.

Walt: What other se ries of books did you write?

James Mar shall: I wrote a se ries of books about a fox. I did n’t want any oneto know I was writ ing it. I used a pen name. I pre tendedmy cousin, Ed ward Mar shall, wrote the books.

Riley: Why would you do that?

James Mar shall: I had a con tract with a pub lish ing house. It said I had to do all my books with them. I had these great sto ries in myhead. They were to be sto ries that were easy-to-readbooks. I could n’t pub lish them un der my con tract. If Ichanged my name, then I could get them pub lished. Nowsome peo ple write un der dif fer ent names be cause peo pleex pect cer tain things in their books.

Opal: Oh, I bet I know what you mean. In all of your books youdrew cer tain things in the pic tures. Like the fat cat was in a lot of your books.

James Mar shall: Very good. That is ex actly the kind of things I mean.Read ers ex pect to see cer tain things. Does any onere mem ber any thing else that I of ten put in my pic tures?

Mar gue rite: There were stacks of things in the pic tures. Some of themwould be about to fall over.

James Mar shall: You are a very alert group of read ers!

Mrs. White: Yes, they are. Our time is al most up, Mr. Mar shall.

James Mar shall: Do I have time to tell you what hap pened to me as Ed ward Mar shall?

Mrs. White: I think so.


James Mar shall: There is moral to this story. When I used the name Ed ward Mar shall, I told the ed i tor he was my cousin. The ed i tordid n’t think I was writ ing the book. I said he lived inTexas. One day the ed i tor called me. He said he could n’tget ahold of my cousin. He needed to ask him someques tions about his back ground. He asked me if I couldtell him some things about Edward.

Mrs. White: You got caught, did n’t you?

James Mar shall: Not right then. But I did have to tell him some thing. Imade up this big story about my cousin. He be lieved it.They printed this story on the cover of the book! So whatis the moral of the story?

Mar gue rite: Tell your ed i tor if you want to use a pen name.

Riley: And al ways tell the truth!

James Mar shall: I think that’s pretty good ad vice.

Nar ra tor: Mr. Mar shall says good bye. Then the stu dents start writ ing their ar ti cle for the school news pa per. They don’t use apen name!


What Do You See?What Do You See?What Do You See?

Bill Mar tin Jr.1916–2004


Bill Mar tin Jr. grew up in Kan sas, in a fam ily with lim ited re sources. Al though he loved sto -ries and the sounds of the lan guage, he did n’t learn how to read un til col lege. It took a col legepro fes sor to con vince him to read a book, cover to cover. He be came a teacher, prin ci pal, andhighly re garded au thor of more than three hun dred books. The one that most aptly dem on strateshis ap pre ci a tion of lan guage and his de ter mi na tion to give chil dren books that they can read suc -cess fully is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, il lus trated by Eric Carle. This script,drawn from many in ter views with Bill Mar tin Jr., pro vides an over view of key events in his life.The lines read by Speaker One through Speaker Twelve can be collapsed into fewer parts ifnecessary.


The nar ra tors can stand to gether on one side. Speaker One through Speaker Twelve shouldstand with the re spond ing reader. For ex am ple, Speaker One should stand with Grand mother,Speaker Two should stand with Mother, and so forth.


Read aloud Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Iden tify the au thor and il lus tra torof the book. Ex plain that the au thor, Bill Mar tin Jr., died in 2004. Then ask:

• What makes this book easy to read?

• Can you name any other books by Bill Mar tin Jr.?

• If you could ask Bill Mar tin Jr. any ques tions, what would you ask him?

62


• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is called a pat tern book be cause it fol -lows a pre dict able pat tern. What are the key parts to the pat tern? (an ad jec tive plus anoun that is re peated, fol lowed by a ques tion and an answer)

• What else could be used for a pat tern? Think about peo ple, places, things, num bers,sizes, ad verbs, prep o si tional phrases, ex clam a tory sen tences, and the like.

If time al lows, cre ate a group story that uses a pat tern.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Speaker One, Speaker Two, Speaker Three, Speaker Four, Fa ther, SpeakerFive, Pro fes sor, Speaker Nine, Speaker Twelve

Grade Two: Nar ra tor Two, Grand mother, Speaker Six, Speaker Seven, Speaker Eight,Speaker Ten, Eric Carle

Grade Three: Mother, Mrs. Da vis, Drama Teacher, Speaker Eleven

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Ber nard, Teacher, Pub lisher, Mi chael Sampson, Bill Mar tin Jr.

What Do You See? / 63

What Do You See?

Nar ra tor One: Bill Mar tin Jr. died on Au gust 11, 2004. He wrote morethan three hun dred books dur ing his fifty years as a writer.Al most ev ery child knows one of his books. It is BrownBear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Nar ra tor Two: Many peo ple helped Bill along the way. Some have alsodied. Some are still alive. If each one could an swer aques tion about Bill, this is what each might say.

Speaker One: Bill Mar tin’s grand mother, what did you see? What did helike to do?

Grand mother: I saw a boy who loved to lis ten to sto ries. We worked hard in those days, but there was al ways time for a good story.

Speaker Two: Bill Mar tin’s mother, what did you see? Can you tell usabout his name?

Mother: I saw a boy who was named af ter his fa ther and me. Hisfa ther was named Wil liam. My name was Iva. We namedhim Wil liam Ivan. He got teased about the name Ivan. Heleft it out of his name, and peo ple as sumed he was Wil liam Mar tin Jr. That’s how he be came Bill Mar tin Jr.

Speaker Three: Bill Mar tin’s fifth-grade teacher, what did you see? Washe a good stu dent?

Mrs. Da vis: I taught fifth grade. I read aloud to the stu dents twice aday. Bill loved lis ten ing to the sto ries. He es pe cially likedTrea sure Is land. He did n’t read very well, but he was verygood with lan guage.

Speaker Four: Bill Mar tin’s fa ther, what did you see? Did he grow up tobe like you?

Fa ther: We did n’t have any books in our home. But I lovedan i mals, and Bill shared that love. You can see his love ofan i mals in the books he’s writ ten.


Speaker Five: Bill Mar tin’s high school teacher, what did you see? Whatdid Bill like about high school?

Drama Teacher: I was Bill’s drama teacher. He loved Wil liamShake speare’s plays. He could n’t read them well, but heloved the sounds of the lan guage.

Speaker Six: Bill Mar tin’s pro fes sor, what did you see? How did Bill do in col lege?

Pro fes sor: Bill was in my writ ing class, and he still could n’t readwell. One day I brought him some books to read. I toldhim that if he wanted to write, he needed to learn to read.Bill worked hard at it, and he taught him self how to read.

Speaker Seven: Bill Mar tin’s brother, what did you see? What did Bill doaf ter col lege?

Ber nard: Bill taught Eng lish and drama af ter col lege. He went intothe mil i tary dur ing World War II. But the best mem ory Ihave is that we worked on his very first book to gether. Ihad been in jured dur ing the war. Bill had writ ten a storycalled “The Lit tle Squeegy Bug.” He asked me to il lus trate it. That kept me busy while I was get ting better. We dideleven books to gether dur ing the next ten years.

Speaker Eight: Bill Mar tin’s teacher friend, what did you see? How didyou know him?

Teacher: I knew Bill when he was a prin ci pal. He worked very hardat all that he did. He even got a doc tor ate in ed u ca tion!You al ways knew that read ing aloud and the beauty oflan guage were im por tant to Bill.

Speaker Nine: Bill Mar tin’s pub lisher friend, what did you see? What did Bill do with you?

Pub lisher: Bill de vel oped a won der ful read ing se ries. He used thesame ideas he had used to learn to read. He re lied on thesounds of lan guage to en gage read ers. He also be lievedthat kids should be able to read some thing on their firstday of first grade. They should be able to say, “I did it!”That was so im por tant to Bill.


Speaker Ten: Bill Mar tin’s il lus tra tor, what did you see? How did youand Bill meet?

Eric Carle: Bill found me. I had de signed a red lob ster for a mag a zinead. Bill saw it and asked me to il lus trate Brown Bear,Brown Bear, What Do You See? He had writ ten that bookon a train ride. Be ing asked to work with him changed mylife. I started writ ing and il lus trat ing my own books.

Speaker Eleven: Bill Mar tin’s writ ing part ner, what do you see? How didyou get to gether?

Mi chael Sampson: We met in 1977 while I was get ting my PhD in read ing.We both loved chil dren’s books, and that started ourfriend ship. My fam ily and I lived near Bill for sev eralyears be fore he died. We would write to gether at hiskitchen table.

Nar ra tor Two: Bill Mar tin Jr. gave many in ter views be fore he died. Let’slet his words speak to us now.

Speaker Twelve: Bill Mar tin Jr., what do you see? What else can you tell usabout your writ ing?

Bill Mar tin Jr.: If any one had told me that I was go ing to be a writer ofchil dren’s books when I was a child, I would have said,“You’re badly mis taken. I can’t even read.” I still am avery slow reader, but I’m an avid reader. I read all thetime. Stu dents will only learn to read when they havelan guage in side of them selves.


Make Way forMcCloskey

Make Way for McCloskeyMake Way for McCloskey

Rob ert McCloskey1914–2003


Rob ert McCloskey took pi ano les sons as a child and planned to pur sue mu sic for his ca reer.Then he dis cov ered how much fun it was to in vent things. In high school, he learned how muchhe loved art and draw ing. In art school, he painted in oil, but no one bought his art. That led himto writ ing and il lus trat ing for chil dren. He was in spired to write Make Way for Duck lings af terob serv ing the ducks in Boston Gar den when walk ing to art school. Mr. McCloskey won aCaldecott Medal for Make Way for Duck lings in 1942 and a Caldecott Medal for Time of Won derin 1958. He won Caldecott Honor awards for Blue ber ries for Sal, One Morn ing in Maine, andJour ney Cake Ho! In this script, Mr. Mal lard, fea tured in Make Way for Duck lings, re turns to hisfam ily and shares the ex cit ing news that Rob ert McCloskey has won the Caldecott Medal. Healso de scribes how Mr. McCloskey brought mal lards into his stu dio in New York City to learnhow to draw them.


The nar ra tors can be on one side with Mr. and Mrs. Mal lard on the other side. The duck lingscan stand or sit in the mid dle. To ac com mo date more stu dents, there can be more duck lings. Stu -dents read ing the duck parts can wear ex tra large yel low T-shirts over their clothes and nametagswith the ducks’ names.

67


Show stu dents where Boston and New York City are on a map. Then ask:

• Have you vis ited ei ther Boston or New York City? What is it like?

• Do you think a big city is a good place for a fam ily of ducks? Why or why not?

Read aloud Make Way for Duck lings and have stu dents read the script. Then ask the fol low -ing ques tions:

• In the script the ducks talk to each other. Do you think an i mals can com mu ni cate?Why or why not? Ex plain that some times writ ers give an i mals hu man abil i ties, whichis called an thro po mor phism. Dis cuss other books that use an thro po mor phism.

• What did you learn from the script that is n’t in the book?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack, Quack

Grade Two: Mrs. Mal lard, Mr. Mal lard

Grade Three: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two

68 \ Make Way for McCloskey

Make Way for McCloskey

Nar ra tor One: Eight duck lings swim in a la goon in Boston.They are named Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack,Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack. Mrs. Mal lardwatches while they swim.

Nar ra tor Two: All of a sud den they hear wings flap ping. Mr.Mal lard flies down to the wa ter. He pad dles inbig cir cles.

Mrs. Mal lard: You look like you have ex cit ing news for us.What has hap pened?

Mr. Mal lard: I have very big news! It’s about Mr.McCloskey.

Mrs. Mal lard: What is it? Is he okay?

Mr. Mal lard: Don’t you worry about Mr. McCloskey, mydear. He told me the big news him self.

Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack: Tell us, Papa! Tell us the big news!

Mrs. Mal lard: Yes, tell us what he said. We all want to know.

Nack, Oack, Pack, and Quack: Tell us now! We can’t wait.

Mr. Mal lard: Well, he won a big award.

Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack: What is an award?

Mr. Mal lard: An award is like a big prize.

Nack, Oack, Pack, and Quack: Why did he get an award?

Mr. Mal lard: This award is called the Caldecott Medal. Hegot it for the draw ings in one of his books.Guess which book!

Mrs. Mal lard: It must be for the book about us!

Mr. Mal lard: That’s right, dear. Do you re mem ber the book,chil dren?

Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack: Tell us the story! Tell us the story!


Quack: I know how it starts! I re mem ber it all.

Mrs. Mal lard: You can’t re mem ber some of the story. It starts a bit be fore you were born.

Nar ra tor One: Mrs. Mal lard talks to her chil dren. She tellshow she and Mr. Mal lard looked for a safeplace to raise a fam ily. They started out at thePub lic Gar den. But a boy on a bike al most ranher over.

Mrs. Mal lard: We looked ev ery where to make our nest. Thenwe found just the place, an is land in theCharles River. That’s where we met our goodfriend, Mi chael. He is a po lice man. He wouldfeed us lots of pea nuts.

Quack: I re mem ber him! I used to eat all the pea nuts.

Nack, Oack, Pack: No you did n’t!

Quack: Yes, I did!

Mr. Mal lard: No, Quack, you still had n’t ar rived. But that isthe next part of our story! Eight duck lingshatched and we named you . . . .

All the Duck lings: Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack,and Quack!

Mrs. Mal lard: That’s right! Your fa ther de cided to look for agood home again. So he left us for a week. Istarted giv ing you les sons on how to be goodlit tle duck lings. That week was so very busy.Soon it was time to meet your fa ther in thePub lic Garden.

Quack: I know what hap pened next. I was there!

Mrs. Mal lard: Yes, you were there, Quack. We had to getacross some busy streets to get to the Pub licGar den. Those cars would just whiz by. Noone would stop for us un til Mi chael helped us.He stopped the traf fic, and then he had hisfriends help us get to the Pub lic Gar den safely.


Mr. Mal lard: And there I was, wait ing for all of you! Yourmother and I de cided this was the best place tolive. We have been here ever since that day.

All the Duck lings: Yeah!

Mr. Mal lard: I found out some other things.

Mrs. Mal lard: What did you find out? Are they about Mr.McCloskey or about the book?

Mr. Mal lard: They are about both. Mr. McCloskey did n’tmake the book here in Boston. He used tocome here to feed the ducks. Of course, thatwas be fore our time. But he wrote the storyand made all the draw ings some where else.

Mrs. Mal lard: Where was he liv ing?

Mr. Mal lard: He lived in New York City.

All the Duck lings: New York City!

Mrs. Mal lard: How did he make such good draw ings? Hemust have looked at a lot of pic tures of ducks.I don’t think there are many ducks in NewYork City.

Mr. Mal lard: There are ducks in a big park called Cen tralPark. But he did n’t go there. He bought somebaby mal lards and took them right to hisstu dio!

Quack: What’s a stu dio?

Mr. Mal lard: It’s a place where art ists can draw or paint.

Mrs. Mal lard: Would n’t that be kind of . . . messy? What didMr. McCloskey do about . . . well . . . aboutyou know . . .

Mr. Mal lard: He said he fol lowed those duck lingsev ery where. He even let them swim in hisbath tub! He made lots of draw ings of them.Then he’d use tis sues to clean up af ter them!


Mrs. Mal lard: I’m glad I don’t have to clean up af ter all ofyou. I would be too busy to even take a swim!

Mr. Mal lard: Chil dren, I have a ques tion for you. What isthe name of Mr. McCloskey’s book?

All the Duck lings: Make Way for Duck lings!

Quack: Do you think they’ll make a movie next?

Mrs. Mal lard: You never know, dear. You never know.

Nar ra tor Two: Rob ert McCloskey did n’t plan to be a writerand an art ist. He planned to be a mu si cian. Helearned to play the pi ano, the drums, and theoboe when he was a young boy. He played one other in stru ment. You can find out what it wasif you look at the cover of his book Len til. Best of all—he grew up to make great books forchildren!


’Twas the Night be fore Christ mas

’Twas the Night be fore Christ mas’Twas the Night be fore Christ mas

Clem ent Clarke Moore1779–1863


Clem ent Clarke Moore is cred ited with writ ing A Visit from St. Nich o las, also known as’Twas the Night before Christ mas. In 1855, one of his daugh ters, Mary C. Moore Ogden, painted“il lu mi na tions” to go with A Visit from St. Nich o las, which was later pub lished as a book. Clem -ent Clarke Moore was more fa mous in his own day as a pro fes sor of Asian and Greek lit er a ture atCo lum bia Col lege, now Co lum bia Uni ver sity. He was also a pro fes sor of bib li cal learn ing at theGen eral Theo log i cal Sem i nary in New York. While there, he com piled a two-vol ume He brewand Eng lish lex i con. He also pub lished a col lec tion of po ems in 1844.


The read abil ity for groups one and two is at grade one. Groups three and four have vari a tions in the read ing lev els. The read ers will have to pay close at ten tion to the script, as they do not al -ways read in chro no log i cal or der. Se lect as many read ers as you want for the groups. The nar ra -tor should sit on the far side of the stag ing area. The groups should sit or stand in the mid dle of the stag ing area. The chil dren and Mrs. Eng lish should sit on the other side of the staging area.


Be fore read ing the script, ask the fol low ing ques tions:

• What are some of your fa vor ite Christ mas sto ries or po ems?

• Can you name the eight rein deer in ’Twas the Night before Christ mas?

• Who is the ninth rein deer pull ing Santa’s sled?

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• Can you re mem ber the names of all the rein deer?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Group One, Group Two, Frank

Grade Two: Lisa, Mama, Mrs. Eng lish, Gabe, Brody, Stacey, Missy

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, Group Three, Group Four

74 \ ’Twas the Night be fore Christ mas

’Twas the Night be fore Christ mas

Nar ra tor: It is al most Christ mas. Lisa has got ten some mail.

Lisa: Mama, look at what I got in the mail to day.

Mama: What is it, Lisa?

Lisa: It says Mrs. Eng lish is go ing to have a party. You arein vited to come, too. Will you go with me?

Mama: Of course I will go with you. I re ally love par ties,es pe cially at this time of year.

Nar ra tor: It is the day of the big party. All the boys and girls andtheir par ents have ar rived.

Mrs. Eng lish: It is so nice so many of you could come to day. To be ginwith, I need all the adults to join me in the break room.We’ll be right back.

Gabe: I won der why she wants to meet with our par ents.

Brody: I bet they are plan ning a sur prise.

Stacey: I can’t wait to see what they are plan ning. Mrs. Eng lish isso clever! I know it’ll be a lot of fun.

Frank: Here they come. What do they have in their hands?

Missy: It looks like they are car ry ing pa pers.

Mrs. Eng lish: I have asked the adults to read a poem to you.

Frank: Is it a Christ mas poem?

Mrs. Eng lish: Yes, it is. Can any one guess the name of the poem?

Ev ery one: ’Twas the Night be fore Christ mas!

Mrs. Eng lish: You are so smart! Let’s lis ten to the adults read ’Twas theNight be fore Christ mas!

Group One: ’Twas the night be fore Christ mas, when all through the house

Group Two: Not a crea ture was stir ring, not even a mouse;


Group One: The stock ings were hung by the chim ney with care,

Group Two: In hopes that St. Nich o las soon would be there;

Group One: The chil dren were nes tled all snug in their beds,

Group Two: While vi sions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

Group One: And mamma in her ’ker chief, and I in my cap,

Group Two: Had just set tled down for a long win ter’s nap,

Group One: When out on the lawn there arose such a clat ter,

Group Two: I sprang from the bed to see what was the mat ter.

Group One: Away to the win dow I flew like a flash,

Group Three: Tore open the shut ters and threw up the sash.

Group One: The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Group Two: Gave the luster of mid-day to ob jects be low,

Group One: When, what to my won der ing eyes should ap pear,

Group Two: But a min ia ture sleigh, and eight tiny rein deer,

Group One: With a lit tle old driver, so lively and quick,

Group Two: I knew in a mo ment it must be St. Nick.

Group Four: More rapid than ea gles his cours ers they came,

Group One: And he whis tled, and shouted, and called them by name;

Group Three: “Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

Group Four: On, Comet! on Cu pid! on Donder and Blitzen!

Group One: To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Group Two: Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

Group Three: As dry leaves that be fore the wild hur ri cane fly,

Group One: When they meet with an ob sta cle, mount to the sky,

Group Two: So up to the house-top the cours ers they flew,

Group Four: With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nich o las too.

Group Three: And then, in a twin kling, I heard on the roof


Group Four: The pranc ing and paw ing of each lit tle hoof.

Group Three: As I drew in my hand, and was turn ing around,

Group Four: Down the chim ney St. Nich o las came with a bound.

Group Three: He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

Group Four: And his clothes were all tar nished with ashes and soot;

Group Three: A bun dle of toys he had flung on his back,

Group Four: And he looked like a ped dler just open ing his pack.

Group Three: His eyes—how they twin kled! His dim ples how merry!

Group Four: His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

Group One: His droll lit tle mouth was drawn up like a bow,

Group Two: And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

Group One: The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

Group Two: And the smoke it en cir cled his head like a wreath;

Group One: He had a broad face and a lit tle round belly,

Group Three: That shook when he laughed like a bowl ful of jelly.

Group Two: He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

Group One: And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of my self;

Group Two: A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Group One: Soon gave me to know I had noth ing to dread;

Group Two: He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

Group One: And filled all the stock ings; then turned with a jerk,

Group Three: And lay ing his fin ger aside of his nose,

Group Four: And giv ing a nod, up the chim ney he rose;

Group Three: He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whis tle,

Group Four: And away they all flew like the down of a this tle.

Group Three: But I heard him ex claim, ere he drove out of sight,

Ev ery one: “Merry Christ mas to all, and to all a good-night.”


From Car toons toBooks

From Car toons to BooksFrom Car toons to Books

Bill Peet1915–2002


Bill Peet, born Wil liam Peed, au thor and il lus tra tor, pre ferred to draw and spend his timeout doors. His gift for draw ing was rec og nized while he was in high school, and he won a schol ar -ship to art school. At the John Herron In sti tute of Art, he re al ized he did n’t like what he called“or ga nized art” but would rather draw com i cal pic tures. Peet was asked to send in some car toonac tion sketches to Walt Dis ney. He worked with Dis ney for twenty-seven years, grate ful for thework. Fi nally, he left Dis ney when his ca reer as an au thor and il lus tra tor of chil dren’s booksbecame his main focus.


The Nar ra tor and Mrs. Stu art can sit off to one side of the stag ing area. The car toon char ac -ters can sit on the other side, with the stu dents in the mid dle. If you do not have enough read ers,the stu dents can dou ble by read ing the car toon char ac ters’ roles as well. If pre ferred, have theread ers wear nametags with pic tures of the car toon characters.


Bring in the com ics from the Sunday news pa pers. Read a few aloud. Then ask:

• How do you think car toon ists get their ideas?

• Do any of these car toons some times ap pear as mov ies?

• What an i mated mov ies have you seen?

78


• Walt Dis ney Stu dios did most of the an i mated films for many years. Do you know thenames of other stu dios? (Pixar, which is now as so ci ated with Dis ney, andDreamworks An i ma tion, may be fa mil iar to the students.)

• How is a car toon dif fer ent from other art?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Brooke, Allison, Mer lin the Ma gi cian

Grade Two: Mrs. Stu art, Kent, Amanda, Crys tal, Craig, Elliot, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bear,Hubert

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, Dwayne, Gordon, Duck, Dal ma tian

From Car toons to Books / 79

From Car toons to Books

Nar ra tor: Mrs. Stu art has asked her stu dents to do a re port on BillPeet. He was an au thor and an il lus tra tor. He cre atedthirty-five chil dren’s books.

Mrs. Stu art: I think you are go ing to en joy to day’s re port. Brooke, isyour group ready?

Brooke: We have been asked to tell you about Bill Peet. He was anau thor and an art ist.

Kent: Bill Peet was born Wil liam Peed. When he started writ ingbooks, he changed his name to Bill Peet.

Amanda: He grew up near In di a nap o lis. He would go up to the at ticto draw when he wanted to be alone.

Dwayne: He loved draw ing so much that he al ways had asketch book with him. Some times he would sneak in somedraw ing at school. And that got him into trou ble at times.

Allison: But he also liked to hike in the coun try with his friends.

Crys tal: He grew up dur ing World War I. He lived near the rail road tracks and watched flat cars rum ble by their house.

Craig: He went to art school when he was old enough. He liked to draw car toon-like pic tures. He did n’t like to do what hecalled “or ga nized art.”

Crys tal: Be fore he wrote books, he worked for Walt Dis ney.

Allison: He drew storyboards. They were used to make mov ies.

Elliot: A story board is a set of sketches. They are drawn to tellthe story.

Brooke: Soon his job was go ing well. He mar ried a woman namedMar ga ret.

Kent: They had two sons, Bill and Steve. Mr. Peet would makeup sto ries to tell them at bed time, which helped his work at Dis ney.


Amanda: He used his draw ings to help with the story lines.

Gordon: He worked on an i mated fea tures for Mr. Dis ney. He wasone of the very best.

Craig: He en joyed be ing cre ative at his job.

Gordon: He worked on a lot of mov ies that we have seen. We haveasked some of the char ac ters from his mov ies to visit us.They are go ing to tell you about his work.

Duck: I was the first char ac ter Bill drew and drew and drew. Hedrew me so many times that he got tired of draw ing me.One day he stormed out of the stu dio scream ing, “No more ducks.”

Pinocchio: Bill did storyboards for my movie. He was a sketch art ist.He worked on my movie for one and a half years. None ofhis storyboards were used in the movie.

Dumbo: Bill Peet drew me in 1941. He said my cud dly shape waslike the shape of his baby boy. He made me fa mous.

Dal ma tian: He re told the story of The 101 Dal ma tians. He also did the sketches. This was the first time he wrote a story and howhe started his writ ing ca reer.

Mer lin the Ma gi cian: It was Bill’s idea to re tell the Sword in the Stone. I have a bad tem per and I like to ar gue a lot. So did Mr. Dis ney. I evenhave his un usual nose. Do you think there is a con nec tion?

Bear: I am in The Jun gle Book. This is the last movie Peetworked on for Dis ney. He left be fore the movie was doneto work on his chil dren’s books.

Hubert: I am the rea son Bill went out on his own. I am the lion inhis first book, Hubert’s Hair-Rais ing Ad ven ture. I was agreat suc cess. Why would Bill need to keep work ing forDis ney now?

Kent: Now Bill could cre ate his own sto ries and draw things hisway. He no lon ger had to an swer to Dis ney.

Allison: Mr. Peet thought about the sto ries he had told his sons.They liked them a lot. So he de cided to pub lish them.


Dwayne: Mr. Peet liked to write about an i mals. He had spent a lot of time on his grand fa ther’s farm as a child. He would seemany an i mals in the woods.

Elliot: He would go to the zoo and sketch the an i mals there.

Dwayne: He also loved the cir cus an i mals. That’s why his fa vor itebook was Ches ter the Worldly Pig. Of course he drew lotsof peo ple, too.

Kent: And now we will fin ish by in vit ing you to visit Mr. Peetthrough his books. We like them, and we think you will,too.


A Woman with Talesto Tell

A Woman with Tales to TellA Woman with Tales to Tell

Beatrix Pot ter1866–1943


Beatrix Pot ter grew up in a priv i leged house hold in the Lake Dis trict of the United King -dom. Iso lated from other chil dren and ed u cated by a gov ern ess, she de voted her self to draw ing.She be came a knowl edge able nat u ral ist but was not al lowed to pur sue for mal study. When sheper sisted in her search for a pub lisher, she met and fell in love with Nor man Warne, part of Fred -er ick Warne & Com pany. He died shortly af ter they be came en gaged, and she de voted her self tode vel op ing her books. She be gan to ac quire land with her roy al ties and even tu ally mar ried thelaw yer who was as sist ing her. They moved to one of her prop er ties, Hill Top, and later boughtand moved to a large sheep farm. She be queathed her vast land hold ings to the Lake Dis trict Na -tional Trust, where one can visit her home at Hill Top. For more information, see:http://www.lake-district.gov.uk/.


The nar ra tors can stand to one side. Beatrix can be on a stool, with Pe ter and Benjamin onshort chairs in front of her. The other char ac ters can stand or sit on chairs. For youn ger chil dren,con sider dec o rat ing the area with stuffed an i mals that might be found in a gar den or forest.

83

http://www.lake-district.gov.uk/


Share a map of the United King dom and point out the Lake Dis trict, just to the north andwest of Man ches ter. Tell stu dents that this script is about a woman who grew up in Vic to rianEng land dur ing the reign of Queen Vic to ria, 1837 to 1901. Then ask:

• What do you think it was like for women in the 1800s? Do you think they had manychoices in their lives?

• What did rich peo ple do? What did poor peo ple do? What did work ing-class peo pledo?

Stu dents may have no idea what life was like at this time. You can prompt spec u la tion on the life by men tion ing that many poor chil dren worked in mines or fac to ries af ter they turned eightyears old. Af ter read ing the script, ask:

• What kind of per son was Beatrix Pot ter? What kind of per son al ity did she have?

• How is life dif fer ent to day for most women?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Bertram Pot ter, Benjamin

Grade Two: Beatrix Pot ter, Pe ter, Mrs. Pot ter, Mr. Pot ter, Har old Warne, Nor man Warne

Grade Three: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Gov ern ess

84 \ A Woman with Tales to Tell

A Woman with Tales to Tell

Nar ra tor One: Beatrix Pot ter, age ten, lives with her par ents and brotherin Eng land. Like many young girls in the 1870s, shedoes n’t go to school. She is taught at home by a gov ern ess. Her brother Bertram and her pets are her only friends.Beatrix is in the gar den when Bertram runs out to talk with her.

Bertram Pot ter: Beatrix! Guess what! I’m go ing to go to board ing schoolthis fall. There will be teach ers, and I’ll live right at theschool! Won’t that be grand?

Beatrix Pot ter: You are so lucky! I would love to go to board ing school,but I know what Mummy and Daddy would say. “You’re a girl, Beatrix. Girls stay home with their fam ily. Girls aretaught by a gov ern ess.”

Bertram Pot ter: I wish you were a boy so you could go to school, too.

Beatrix Pot ter: Well, there’s noth ing we can do about that! I guess I’ll just have to talk to Benjamin and Pe ter from now on.

Bertram Pot ter: But they are rab bits! They can’t talk with you.

Beatrix Potter: You just think they don’t talk be cause you don’t hearthem. They ac tu ally have plenty to say.

Bertram Pot ter: If you say so, Beatrix . . . . Oh! I al most for got! We needto help pack our things for sum mer hol i day. Let’s get back to the house be fore we get in trou ble.

Nar ra tor Two: A few months later, the Pot ter fam ily is home again.Bertram is at board ing school. Beatrix sits in the gar den.She prac tices draw ing her pet rab bits. She talks withthem—and it seems to her that they are talk ing, too.

Beatrix Pot ter: Benjamin, you are such a ras cal. How can I draw a pic tureof you if you won’t sit still? I can’t get your back legsquite right when you hop all around like that.


Benjamin: What do you mean, sit still? I can’t find some thing to eat if I just sit around. Why don’t you draw a pic ture of Pe ter?He’s not do ing much of any thing.

Pe ter: I’ll have you know I’m busy! I’m watch ing for thatgar dener. If he co mes back and finds you eat ing, thenwe’re in trou ble.

Benjamin: A likely story! You’re just sit ting in the sun. Once I findsome food, you’ll be eat ing with me.

Beatrix Pot ter: Now, boys, stop fuss ing. The gar dener is hav ing lunch atthe house.

Mrs. Pot ter: Beatrix! Who are you talk ing with? Why aren’t you at thehouse for lunch? Young lady, I don’t know what I’mgo ing to do with you. You’re art is won der ful. But youshould be learn ing use ful skills too, such as nee dle point.

Beatrix Pot ter: Oh, Mother, nee dle point would bore me to tears. Look atthis pic ture of Benjamin. I think it’s one of my best rab bitdraw ings ever. I can’t wait to show it to Fa ther.

Mrs. Pot ter: Yes, it’s lovely dear. But you can’t live out side draw ing.Af ter lunch you need to get to work on your real les sonswith your gov ern ess.

Nar ra tor One: Af ter lunch, Beatrix opens her book and yawns.

Gov ern ess: Beatrix, I know you would rather be out side. Let’s get thisles son done quickly. Then we will take a walk and look for in ter est ing things to draw.

Beatrix Pot ter: Could we look for mush rooms? They are eas ier to drawthan rab bits. They aren’t mov ing around all the time!

Gov ern ess: Mush rooms may seem easy to draw. Still, there are somany dif fer ent kinds. Why don’t you fo cus on how eachone is unique? You’ll have a use ful re cord when you’re done.

Beatrix Pot ter: That’s a grand idea! Maybe some day I could do a bookabout them!


Nar ra tor Two: Beatrix grows up go ing to mu se ums and prac tic ing herdraw ing. She loves sci ence. She wants to study at theRoyal Bo tanic Gar dens. But women are not al lowed. Herpar ents want her to take over the man age ment of theirhome. Beatrix wants to do more than that.

Mr. Pot ter: Beatrix, you need to set tle down and help more at home.

Beatrix Pot ter: But Fa ther, you can hire a house keeper for that. It isbor ing. I want to learn more. Some day I want to il lus trate a book.

Mr. Pot ter: Don’t be fool ish, Beatrix. You will man age this houseun til you get mar ried. Then you will be pre pared toman age your own home.

Nar ra tor One: Beatrix stays home, but she con tin ues to draw. When sheis twenty-six years old, she draws an i mals for a bookcalled A Happy Pair. She just uses her ini tials on the bookin stead of her name. Few peo ple know that she did thedraw ings.

Nar ra tor Two: Three years later she writes to the son of a for mergov ern ess. He is very sick, and Beatrix wants to cheer himup. So she writes and draws a story about a rab bit namedPe ter. She shows the story to some friends. They tell her to make the story into a book.

Nar ra tor One: At first, no one wants to pub lish The Tale of Pe ter Rab bit.So Beatrix has her own books made. A few years later, she meets with Har old Warne, a pub lisher.

Har old Warne: Beatrix, we like your story. But it needs to be in color. Can you il lus trate the book in color?

Beatrix Pot ter: Of course I can! Thank you so much!

Har old Warne: You’re wel come. Now, I’d like to meet my brother,Nor man. He’ll be your ed i tor. He can an swer anyques tions you have.

Nar ra tor Two: The Tale of Pe ter Rab bit is a big hit. Beatrix works withNor man on other books. By 1905, they have fallen in love.


Nor man Warne: Beatrix, I want to speak to your fa ther about us. It is timethat we get mar ried and have our own home.

Beatrix Pot ter: Let me pre pare them first.

Nar ra tor One: Beatrix tells her par ents about her plans. She is sur prisedat their re ac tion.

Mrs. Pot ter: Oh, Beatrix. I don’t think this mar riage is a good idea.

Beatrix Pot ter: Why not?

Mr. Pot ter: He’s just a trades man, my dear. He works for a pub lisher.

Beatrix Pot ter: I love Nor man very much. I plan to marry him, with orwith out your bless ing.

Nar ra tor Two: Sadly, Nor man dies be fore their wed ding. Beatrix setsaside her sad ness. She writes more suc cess ful books. Sheis able to buy her own farm and calls it Hill Top.

Nar ra tor One: Beatrix falls in love again. Af ter get ting mar ried, she andWil liam move to Hill Top. Later they move to a largesheep farm.

Nar ra tor Two: Beatrix never has chil dren. But she has many an i malfriends on their farm. She also buys many pieces of landand farms. When she dies, she leaves her land to the LakeDis trict Na tional Trust in the United King dom. If youvisit, walk to her house at Hill Top. If you’re lucky, youmight see a de scen dant of Pe ter or Benjamin!


Mak ing MagicMak ing MagicMak ing Magic

Wil liam Steig1907–2003


Wil liam Steig grew up in New York City. He had fond mem o ries of lamp light ers light ingthe lamps, peo ple sit ting out on the stoops at night, and gyp sies roam ing the streets. As a child, he loved Grimm’s fairy tales, Char lie Chap lin mov ies, and Pinocchio. He was ex tremely gifted andgrad u ated from high school at age fif teen. He was an ac com plished wa ter polo player who hadgiven up the sport to sup port his fam ily dur ing the Great De pres sion. The first year he sent someof his car toons to mag a zines, he made $4,000. When a friend started a pub lish ing com pany, hewas asked to il lus trate Roland the Min strel Pig. At age sixty, he started a new ca reer, writ ing andil lus trat ing chil dren’s books. When he died in 2003, he had writ ten or helped il lus trate more thanthirty books. One of his fi nal books, Shrek, in spired a series of successful children’s movies.


The char ac ters can be sit ting ca su ally as if hav ing a con ver sa tion while watch ing the Acad -emy Awards on tele vi sion. Wil liam Steig should be seated centrally.


Ask stu dents to name their fa vor ite an i mated film. List the films on the board. Then ask:

• Some times the books we read are made into mov ies. Were any of these films booksfirst?

• How many of you have read the book Shrek?

• Who is the au thor?

• What other books has Wil liam Steig writ ten?

89

Af ter read ing the script, list the ten books rep re sented in the script. They are: Shrek, TheAmaz ing Bone, Brave Irene, Dr. DeSoto, Abel’s Is land, Farmer Palmer’s Wagon Ride, Amosand Boris, Sylvester and the Magic Peb ble, Pete’s a Pizza, and Ca leb and Kate. Re read Shrek.Then ask:

• What are some of the dif fer ences in the movie and the book? (The in tro duc tion of thefairy-tale crea tures; Fiona is an ogre in the book but a woman and then an ogre in themovie; Shrek is bald; Lord Farquaad is not in the book.)

• What ef fect do these changes have on the movie, if any?

Char ac ters

Grade One: Shrek, Sylvester, Pearl, An nouncer

Grade Two: Irene, Doc tor DeSoto, Abel, Amos, Farmer Palmer, Pete

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, Wil liam Steig, Ca leb

90 \ Mak ing Magic

Mak ing Magic

Nar ra tor: Wil liam Steig waits for the Acad emy Awards to be gin ontele vi sion. He wrote the book Shrek. It may win an Os carfor best an i mated film. Shrek and many of Steig’s bookfriends are with him. They talk with him about their bookswhile they wait.

Shrek: I am so ner vous! Just think! First I was in a book. Then Iwas part of a film. Now I am fa mous. It’s all be cause ofyou, Wil liam.

Wil liam Steig: It’s hard to be lieve, is n’t it? I had no idea chil dren wouldlove an ugly ogre like you so much, Shrek!

Shrek: My life had lots of sur prises. I met a knight in shin ingar mor. I met a dragon. I met a witch. And I met my truelove! I’m glad you wrote about me, Wil liam.

Sylvester: Did you al ways write books for kids, Wil liam?

Wil liam Steig: No, first I drew car toons. I did that for a long time. In factI was sixty years old be fore I started writ ing andil lus trat ing chil dren’s books.

Sylvester: Did you like to draw when you were a kid?

Wil liam Steig: Yes, I did. But I re ally wanted to be a wa ter polo player!

Irene: You’d have to be re ally brave to be a wa ter polo player!Were you good at it?

Wil liam Steig: I was pretty good, but I had to go to work. My fam ily waspoor, and I needed to make money.

Irene: I know what that is like. Some times it takes brav ery just to help out.


Wil liam Steig: That’s true, Irene. I en joyed mak ing car toons, so I did n’tmind help ing out and I made pretty good money at it. Then a friend sug gested that I try do ing a chil dren’s book. Idis cov ered that was even more fun! Even though we werepoor, I had fun grow ing up. So now I could be like a kidagain myself!

Doc tor DeSoto: I’ve al ways wanted to ask you a ques tion. You havesev eral books with mice in them. Why did you do so many books with mice?

Abel: I’ve wanted to know that too. Was it be cause we are somuch fun to draw? Be cause we’re so clever? Or be causewe’re so good look ing?

Amos: I think I know why you use mice a lot. Mice are smallan i mals, and these mice had big prob lems to solve. So they had to be smart—in cred i bly smart!

Wil liam Steig: Well, what do you think? Is Amos right?

Doc tor DeSoto: I think he is. If Mrs. DeSoto and I had n’t come up with our plan to out wit the fox, we would n’t be here to day.

Abel: I had to learn many les sons so I could get back home.

Amos: Just think how smart a mouse has to be to res cue a whale!

Wil liam Steig: Chil dren of ten feel lit tle—just like a mouse. Maybe thechil dren who read my books feel a bit smarter or braver.

Pearl: You seem to like pigs, too. Why is that?

Farmer Palmer: Wait! I think I know why. It’s not be cause we are lit tle and cute, Pearl! It’s be cause we like to go on jour neys andad ven tures!

Pearl: I do like a good ad ven ture. But I don’t like be ing scared by a fox who thinks I’d be de li cious to eat.

Farmer Palmer: But that’s what makes the book so ex cit ing. Right,Wil liam?

Wil liam Steig: You’re right about that. A story has to have somesus pense. And to be sat is fy ing, it needs a happy end ingtoo.


Sylvester: I’m glad you like happy end ings. Thank good ness formagic, or I might not be here.

Wil liam Steig: Oh, I would have thought of some thing to save you!Some times love and faith can be just as mag i cal.

Pete: My story did n’t have magic. And it did n’t have an i mals.

Wil liam Steig: You’re right about the an i mals, Pete. But I think there wasa lot of magic.

Pete: What do you mean? There was noth ing mag i cal like apeb ble or bone.

Wil liam Steig: You were in a pretty bad mood at the be gin ning of thestory. By the end of the story, you were in a pretty goodmood. Some read ers would think that is mag i cal. Don’tyou think love has some magic in it?

Ca leb: I know what it means to have love and magic in a story.

Wil liam Steig: You sure do, Ca leb!

Ca leb: Why do you write and draw so many an i mals?

Wil liam Steig: They can act just like peo ple with out be ing too scary. Andthey can make chil dren laugh at the same time. Be sidesthat, they are re ally fun to draw. Wait a sec ond. I thinkthey are about ready to an nounce the win ner for bestan i mated film.

Nar ra tor: Wil liam and his friends hold their breath and lis ten.

An nouncer: And the Os car goes to . . . Shrek!

Nar ra tor: Ev ery one cheers, with Shrek the loud est of all.

Shrek: Thank you, thank you, Wil liam. This is the best day of my life!

Wil liam Steig: Thanks to all of you! You’ve made my life richer throughyour sto ries. Who wants to cel e brate with some pop corn?

Ev ery one: I do!

Nar ra tor: Now it’s your turn to get into the act. Wil liam’s friendscame from ten books. Can you name them?


What Is Your NameSpelled Back wards?

What Is Your Name Spelled Back wards?What Is Your Name Spelled Back wards?

Lynd Kend all Ward1905–1985


As a young child, Lynd Ward spent hours look ing at pic tures in the two books his Meth od istmin is ter fa ther al lowed him to have. Those pic tures took on a life of their own for this young boywho was so ill that he was con fined to a home in the Ca na dian wil der ness. When Lynd’s healthim proved, the fam ily moved back to the United States. Lynd’s fa ther’s so cial ist activites had apro found ef fect on him. It has been sug gested that Lynd Ward was an ac tive com mu nist at onetime. Re gard less of his po lit i cal up bring ing, his wood carv ings and books have cap tured ac claimover the years. In this script, the read ers learn about the child who be came a great il lus tra tor ofchildren’s picture books.


The nar ra tors should sit to one side of the other read ers.

Introductory and Fol low-up Sug ges tions

Show stu dents how close Il li nois and Can ada are on a map. Show stu dents ex am ples ofwood carv ings and dis cuss how they are made. Then ask:

• Where is Can ada?


• When Lynd Ward was born he was very sick. Why do you think a doc tor would tellhis par ents to go to Can ada so he could get well?

94

• How do you think Lynd felt liv ing far away in the woods in Can ada?

• How would you spend your days if you lived like he did?

• When Lynd Ward was well, his fam ily moved back to Chi cago. In first grade, hewrote his name Ward back wards. His name spelled his fu ture job.

• Write your last name back wards. Does it tell you any thing? Try this with your firstname.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Joyce, Tom, Elaine

Grade Two: Allyson, Terry, José, Jas per, April, Candy

Grade Three: Nar ra tor One, Mrs. Phillips, Nar ra tor Two

What Is Your Name Spelled Back wards? / 95

What Is Your Name Spelled Back wards?

Nar ra tor One: Mrs. Phillips is talk ing to her class about Lynd Kend allWard. He was born in Il li nois. He was very sick as a baby, and their doc tor said he would get well if they movednorth to Can ada. Mrs. Phillips has started class so let’slis ten in.

Mrs. Phillips: The Wards lived by a big woods. There were lots ofan i mals there. Lynd Ward loved watch ing them.

Joyce: Why did n’t he watch TV?

Mrs. Phillips: They did n’t have any TVs when Lynd was a child.

Allyson: What else did he do while he lived in the woods?

Mrs. Phillips: He drew a lot.

Terry: What did he draw?

Mrs. Phillips: Things he saw in the woods. Lynd Ward loved to draw.Some times his fa ther would let him draw rather than dohis chores.

Tom: I wish my fa ther would let me draw rather than do mychores.

Mrs. Phillips: Lynd Ward drew so much that it led to a job.

José: When did Lynd Ward de cide to make draw ing his job?

Mrs. Phillips: When he was in first grade.

Joyce: Why did he de cide that in first grade?

Mrs. Phillips: Lynd Ward wrote the let ters of his last name back wards.

Nar ra tor Two: Now, I just have to stop ev ery thing right here! Do youknow what word he saw when he wrote Ward back wards?He saw the word “draw”!

Mrs. Phillips: He knew it was a sign that he was to al ways draw.

Terry: How did he make money draw ing?


Mrs. Phillips: He started by do ing woodcarvings. Then he drew pic turesfor books.

Jas per: What was his first book for chil dren?

Mrs. Phillips: His first book for chil dren was The Big gest Bear.

Tom: What was the book about?

Candy: I know what the story is about. Can I tell the story?

Mrs. Phillips: Sure, Candy, go ahead.

Candy: The story is about Johnny Or chard. He goes into thewoods to shoot a big bear.

Jas per: Wow, he wanted to kill a bear! Why would he want to killa bear?

Candy: He wanted his fam ily to have a bear skin on the side oftheir barn. Other peo ple had one. He wanted their barn tolook like the other barns.

April: Candy, please tell me that he did n’t kill a bear for its skin.

Candy: Johnny did n’t kill a bear, but he found a bear cub andbrought it home.

José: What would he do with a bear cub?

Tom: I bet he made it his pet.

Candy: Yes, but soon there was a re ally big prob lem. Can youguess what it was?

Jas per: I know. The bear got re ally, re ally big!

Terry: And I bet it kept get ting into trou ble.

Candy: You’re both right. Now Johnny has an enor mous bear athis house. What do you do with an enor mous bear?

Elaine: Let it go?

Candy: No, it would n’t sur vive af ter be ing a pet.

Elaine: Put it in a zoo!

Candy: Yes, and that is just what Johnny Or chard did.


April: What a great idea! He could still see the bear when ever hewanted to.

Allyson: That’s a great story.

Mrs. Phillips: You know, chil dren, those pic tures were not easy for Mr.Ward to draw. He did n’t like the first ten pic tures he drew.

Jas per: What did he do with them?

Mrs. Phillips: He threw them out and started all over. Mr. Ward won anaward for the il lus tra tions in The Big gest Bear. His bookwon the 1953 Caldecott Medal.

Terry: What other books did he draw pic tures for?

Mrs. Phillips: He drew the pic tures for The Lit tle Red Light house and the Great Gray Bridge. He also did a book all in pic tures withno words. It is called The Sil ver Pony.

April: I don’t un der stand. How could you read a book with outany words?

Mrs. Phillips: You look at the draw ings very care fully to see what they say.

José: That’s like be ing a de tec tive! What did the sil ver pony do?

Mrs. Phillips: The pony flew through the sky. There was a lonely boywho dreamed he was fly ing on the sil ver pony. Then hedid n’t feel so lonely. The lit tle boy started to think hisdream was real and told his fa ther he was rid ing on a sil ver pony.

Allyson: Did his fa ther be lieve him?

Mrs. Phillips: No.

Joyce: How did Lynd show that in a pic ture?

Mrs. Phillips: He drew a pic ture of the boy get ting spanked.

Tom: Did the dreams stop?

Mrs. Phillips: No, he still had the dreams, but he kept them a se cret.

Terry: Are you go ing to tell us about The Lit tle Red Light houseand the Great Gray Bridge?


Mrs. Phillips: Not to day, Terry, be cause we are out of time. I have agood idea, though. Why don’t you read the book and youcan tell us about it the next time we meet?

Terry: I can do that. Do you have a copy?

Nar ra tor One: Of course Mrs. Phillips had a copy. Maybe your li brar ianor teacher has a copy of The Lit tle Red Light house and theGreat Gray Bridge? It’s a great book!


From Clown ing to theCaldecott

From Clown ing to the CaldecottFrom Clown ing to the Caldecott

Da vid Wisniewski1953–2002


Da vid Wisniewski was born in Middlesex, Eng land, dur ing his fa ther’s ser vice in the United States Air Force. Af ter sev eral moves, Da vid at tended one se mes ter at the Uni ver sity of Mary -land. He de cided to go to Ringling Broth ers and Barnum and Bailey’s Clown Col lege and thenworked in the cir cus for three years. He ap plied for a job with a pup petry thea tre, later mar ry ingDonna Har ris, the woman who hired him. Hav ing a young fam ily prompted Da vid to search foral ter na tive ways to use his tal ents to make a liv ing. He be gan a suc cess ful chil dren’s book writ -ing and il lus trat ing ca reer, uti liz ing his ex pe ri ence with pup petry and stag ing as he made his de -tailed pa per-cut il lus tra tions. The Go lem won the Caldecott Medal in 1997. David died at ageforty-nine after a brief illness.


The nar ra tors, Mrs. Wisniewski, Mr. Wisniewski, and Donna can stand on one side of Da vid.The other read ers can stand on the other side of him. If pre ferred, the stage can be dec o rated withcir cus post ers or clown ing par a pher na lia.


Share books or pho tos about the cir cus. Then ask:

• Have you been to the cir cus?

• What was your fa vor ite part, or what do you think you’d like to see?

• How do you think clowns learn how to be clowns?

100

Af ter read ing the script, share that the Clown Col lege closed in 1998. Then ask:

• If you could take clown ing classes, what would you want to learn to do?

Ex plain that the Amer i can Li brary As so ci a tion has a com mit tee of li brar i ans that choose thewin ners for the Caldecott Medal (for il lus tra tions) and Newbery Medal (for writ ing). Share otherbooks that have won the Caldecott Medal and have stu dents dis cuss what makes an award-win ning book. Then have stu dents study the il lus tra tions in one of Wisniewski’s books. If pos si -ble, col lab o rate with an art teacher and have the stu dents cre ate il lus tra tions us ing cut pa per.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Mrs. Wisniewski, Mr. Wisniewski, Donna Har ris, Dor o thy Briley

Grade Two: Da vid Wisniewski, Friend, Ed i tor

Grade Three: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Re cruiter, Li brar ian

From Clown ing to the Caldecott / 101

From Clown ing to the Caldecott

Nar ra tor One: Da vid, who is in first grade, likes school. But he likesread ing comic books even more, and he wants to be an art ist.

Mr. Wisniewski: Da vid, it’s time to go to school. Put away your comic books.

Da vid Wisniewski: Okay, Dad. I wish I could draw pic tures like the ones inmy comic books.

Mrs. Wisniewski: I can help you, Da vid. Af ter school I’ll show you how todo some sim ple fig ures. You’ll be draw ing like that in no time!

Nar ra tor Two: Da vid’s mother shows him how to use ovals and cir cles tomake men. By third grade, he is one of the best art ists inclass. By the time Da vid goes to high school, he hasbe come a good ac tor, too.

Nar ra tor One: Da vid goes to col lege to study drama. But soon his moneyruns out. He hears about a free col lege. Da vid talks to there cruiter.

Da vid Wisniewski: Tell me about this col lege.

Re cruiter: It’s a great col lege for learn ing all about be ing a clown.

Da vid Wisniewski: A clown! What kinds of things would I learn?

Re cruiter: You’ll learn about things like how to put on clown makeup.You’ll also learn how to jug gle and how to fall down.

Da vid Wisniewski: What does it cost to at tend?

Re cruiter: You only have to pay for your room and meals. If you getac cepted, you have a good chance of get ting a job in the cir cus.

Da vid Wisniewski: Tell me how to ap ply . . . .

Nar ra tor Two: Da vid gets ac cepted to Clown Col lege. He tells his par ents about his plans.

Da vid Wisniewski: Mom, I just can’t af ford col lege, so I’m go ing to drop out.


Mrs. Wisniewski: I’m sorry, Da vid. I wish things were better. Are you go ingto get a job?

Da vid Wisniewski: No, I have a better idea. You know how I love to per formand how I love to make peo ple laugh.

Mr. Wisniewski: Of course we do. You’re very good at per form ing and atdraw ing. You’ll be good at what ever you choose to do.

Da vid Wisniewski: Well, this may sur prise you. I’ve tried out for RinglingBroth ers and Barnum and Bailey’s Clown Col lege. I wasac cepted.

Mrs. Wisniewski: You were? How will you pay for it?

Da vid Wisniewski: It’s free be cause a lot of the clowns are get ting older. Thecir cus will need new clowns, so they are train ing them. Imay end up with a job, too.

Mr. Wisniewski: I think that is great! You’ll make a fine clown!

Nar ra tor One: Af ter Clown Col lege, Da vid works with them for two years. Then he works with Cir cus Vargas for a year. He gets tiredof trav el ing and goes to work for a pup pet thea tre.

Nar ra tor Two: Six months later, Da vid mar ries the woman who hiredhim. They travel a lot with the pup pet thea tre. Soon theystart a fam ily.

Da vid Wisniewski: Donna, I need to do a job that lets me be home more.

Donna Har ris: You are so good at art. You can sell il lus tra tions.

Nar ra tor One: A few years later a friend talks with Da vid about his art.

Friend: Da vid, why don’t you make chil dren’s books?

Da vid Wisniewski: How would I get started? I don’t know any ed i tors.

Friend: There is a class on writ ing and il lus trat ing chil dren’sbooks. Why don’t you go? You might meet an ed i tor there.

Nar ra tor Two: Da vid goes to the class. He meets an ed i tor.

Ed i tor: I think your work is ter rific. I’m go ing to give you thenames and phone num bers of some ed i tors that I know.Call and tell them I sug gested you con tact them. The restis up to you.


Nar ra tor One: It takes Da vid a long time to find his cour age. He fi nallythinks of a good story. He writes it out and makes a fewdraw ings. Then he meets with Dor o thy Briley at apub lish ing house.

Dor o thy Briley: I like your work, Da vid. How long will it take you tofin ish this book?

Da vid Wisniewski: I’m not sure, but I’ll get started right away.

Dor o thy Briley: Good! I’m glad you brought it to me.

Nar ra tor Two: Da vid does a lot of re search for each story that he writes.He of ten starts with a leg end or a folk tale. He cuts pa perinto de tailed shapes for the il lus tra tions. Each one takespa tience and hard work.

Nar ra tor One: A few years pass by. Da vid has done sev eral books. Oneday in Jan u ary, Da vid gets an ex cit ing phone call.

Li brar ian: Is this Mr. Wisniewski?

Da vid Wisniewski: Yes, it is.

Li brar ian: I’m call ing to tell you that your book The Go lem has wonthe Caldecott Medal. Con grat u la tions! This is a greathonor.

Da vid Wisniewski: Oh . . . Thank you so much! Donna! Guess what! TheGo lem has won the Caldecott Medal.

Donna Har ris: What great news, Da vid!

Nar ra tor Two: Da vid makes other books and wins other awards. Hede cides to try writ ing funny books. That’s when he learnsthat it is eas ier to be a clown! His book The Se cretKnowl edge of Grown-Ups uses his good sense of humor.

Nar ra tor One: By the time Da vid is forty-nine years old, he has cre atedmany fine books for chil dren. Sadly, he be comes sick anddies in his sleep. This tal ented clown dies too soon.


Part Two

Grades Two, Three, and Four


The Shoe maker’s SonThe Shoe maker’s SonThe Shoe maker’s Son

Hans Chris tian Andersen1805–1875


Young Hans Chris tian Andersen does n’t read well. He’s small and un at trac tive, and hisfam ily is poor. He feels like a mis fit. He takes ref uge from teas ing by spend ing time with his fa -ther, who reads aloud to him and en cour ages his cre ativ ity. At age four teen, Hans has be come anac com plished sto ry teller and singer. He leaves Odense, Den mark, to seek his for tune in the bigcity of Co pen ha gen, where he seeks help from a fa mous bal le rina and a thea tre di rec tor. He’shelped with fur ther ing his ed u ca tion and be gins achieving success as a writer.


The nar ra tors and teacher can stand on one side. The chil dren can sit on the floor in front ofHans and his fam ily while they stand in the cen ter. The re main ing char ac ters can be on the otherside.


Show stu dents where Odense and Co pen ha gen are on a map of Den mark. Ask the fol low ingques tions be fore read ing the script:

• This story takes place more than two hun dred years ago. What do you think it was liketo live in Den mark then?

• The ti tle tells you that the fa ther is a shoe maker. The mother in the story is a wash er -woman. What might those jobs be like in the 1800s?

Read aloud “The Ugly Duck ling” be fore read ing the script. Then ask:

• Have you ever felt like you did n’t fit in, or have you ever been teased? How did itmake you feel?

107

If pre ferred, don’t re veal the au thor un til af ter read ing the script. Then ask:

• Do you know who the au thor is in this script?

• Some peo ple say “The Ugly Duck ling” is the story of his life. Do you agree? Why orwhy not?

• Can you think of other fairy tales by Hans Chris tian Andersen that are hinted at in thescript? (“The Con ceited Ap ple Branch,” “The Em peror’s New Clothes,” “The RedShoes,” and “The Lit tle Match Girl”) Chil dren may think of other tales with sim i larthemes, such as those by the Grimm Broth ers. Dis cuss the sim i lar i ties. Note that theGrimm Broth ers’ sto ries are of the oral tra di tion, whereas Andersen wrote his, andthey are thus called literary tales.

Char ac ters

Grade 2: Fa ther, Child One, Child Two, Child Three

Grade 3: Hans, Chil dren, Teacher, Sis ter, Ma dame Schall, Giuseppe Siboni

Grade 4: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Mother, Thea tre Di rec tor

108 \ The Shoe maker’s Son

The Shoe maker’s Son

Nar ra tor One: Hans is six years old. He lives with his fa ther, mother, andolder sis ter. They live in a house in Odense, Den mark. Hisfa ther is a shoe maker, and his mother is a wash er woman.Hans watches the snow fall ing outside.

Fa ther: Hans, come over here. I’ve made some thing just for you.

Hans: A pa per snow flake! It’s beau ti ful, Fa ther! Please show mehow to make one.

Fa ther: First, take a white piece of pa per and fold it over like thisand then like that. Next, watch how I use the scis sors tomake cuts in the pa per. Then just un fold it.

Hans: Can we make cut outs of other things?

Fa ther: Of course we can. Here’s some more pa per for snow flakes. While you are work ing on them, I’ll read aloud to you.

Hans: Can you read the next story in A Thou sand and One Nightsto me? I love hear ing you read aloud, Fa ther, but I wish Icould read it my self. Read ing is just so hard.

Fa ther: Some day you’ll be a good reader, Son. You just need tokeep try ing.

Nar ra tor Two: The next day Hans trudges off to school in the snow. Hestrug gles with read ing, so he spends most of his timedream ing up sto ries. He’s one of the small est and poor estchil dren in the school. This makes Hans a tar get forteas ing and bullying.

Chil dren: Lit tle bitty Hans! Lit tle bitty Hans! No taller than my knee. No big ger than a flea. Lit tle bitty Hans! Lit tle bitty Hans!

Teacher: Chil dren, stop teas ing! Hans, come back into theclass room and look at a book.

Nar ra tor One: Hans stays in the class room as much as he can dur ing theday. He hates the walk home be cause there is no teacher to stop the teas ing.


Child One: Hans, Hans, Hans! The shoe maker’s son. Does he havebuck les on his boots? No, he has none! Hans, Hans, Hans!The shoe maker’s son.

Child Two: Hans, Hans, Hans! The wash er woman’s son. Does he have but tons on his clothes? No, he has none! Hans, Hans,Hans! The wash er woman’s son.

Child Three: Hans, Hans, Hans! The shoe maker’s son. Can’t read orwrite. Can’t even do his sums. Hans, Hans, Hans! Theshoe maker’s son.

Nar ra tor One: As Hans gets close to home, he sees his mother sweep ingin front of the house. She hears the chil dren teas ing Hansand waves her broom at them.

Mother: Leave my Hans alone, you lit tle brats! Now get awaybe fore I blis ter one of your back sides with this broom!

Nar ra tor Two: Hans slips into the house. He watches out the win dow asthe laugh ing chil dren run away. He won ders if he’ll everfit in.

Mother: Hans, don’t you worry about those brats. Some day you’llshow them that you are better than all of them putto gether.

Hans: But Mother, I am the lit tlest in the class. I’m ugly, stu pid,and I can’t learn any thing.

Mother: What about all those sto ries you learn and the pup pet plays you make up? Quit fuss ing and have a bite to eat with your sis ter. And don’t for get that you’re go ing to see yourgrand mother on Sat ur day. You can make some thing out of cloth scraps and show it to her.

Sis ter: Maybe he should be learn ing to read, Mother.

Mother: Hans gets enough learn ing at that school your fa ther sendshim to.

Sis ter: And why do you let him spend so much time with hisgrand mother? There are so many crazy peo ple in that place.


Hans: I like go ing there! If I’m not help ing grand mother, I get tolis ten to the women in the spin ning room. They tellwon der ful sto ries.

Sis ter: Sto ries! Can’t you think of any thing else?

Nar ra tor One: Fa ther loves Hans’s cre ative pup pet shows and sto ries.Then, when Hans is eleven years old, his fa ther sud denlygets sick and dies. Hans has to go to a school for the poorwhere he is teased even more. Then things get even worse, and Hans has to go to work in a cloth fac tory. He leavesthat job af ter a few days. Then he works in a to baccofac tory for a while.

Nar ra tor Two: He is n’t good at work ing, but he gets very good at tell ingsto ries. He also gets very good at sing ing. Some times hestands in the gar den and prac tices his songs and sto ries.Peo ple lis ten to him and talk about how tal ented he is. Bythe time he is four teen, he has also fallen in love with thethea tre. He makes a big decision.

Hans: Mother, I need to tell you some thing. I want to go toCo pen ha gen.

Mother: What ever for? What will you do in Co pen ha gen? How will you make any money?

Hans: I shall go on stage, and I shall be come fa mous. It will behard for a while, but one day you’ll see that this is the right de ci sion.

Mother: Well, son, you are tal ented. Ev ery one in Odense talksabout your sing ing and your sto ries. I’ll try to find enoughmoney to send you there.

Nar ra tor One: Hans takes a coach to Co pen ha gen. Then he tries to get achance to prove him self. First he vis its a fa mous bal le rina.

Hans: Ma dame Schall, may I per form and sing for you? Youwon’t be dis ap pointed.

Nar ra tor Two: Ma dame Schall is sur prised at how young and brave Hans is.


Ma dame Schall: You have some tal ent, young man, but I have no work for you.

Nar ra tor One: Hans does n’t give up. He goes to see a fa mous thea tredi rec tor.

Thea tre Di rec tor: Son, you need to go back to school and get a gooded u ca tion.

Nar ra tor Two: Hans was about to run out of money. Then he heard abouta new di rec tor named Giuseppe Siboni. He went to see him.

Giuseppe Siboni: Son, you have some tal ent, but you have a lot to learn. You need act ing and sing ing les sons and need to learn Ger manand Latin. But if you are will ing to work hard, I will help you.

Nar ra tor One: Hans had his start, but he still had many chal lenges ahead.Hans stud ied hard and be gan writ ing books and sto ries.Peo ple in other coun tries liked his books and sto ries. But it took a long time for his sto ries to be ac cepted in Den mark.He of ten felt like he did n’t quite fit in. He felt like thatlit tle boy look ing through the win dow at the laugh ingchildren.

Nar ra tor Two: Hans was born more than two hun dred years ago. To dayhis sto ries are read and told by par ents and chil dren allover the world. He told his mother that he was go ing to befa mous, and he was right. His fa ther would have been very proud of Hans.


Bon jour Paris!Bon jour Paris!Bon jour Paris!

Lud wig Bemelmans1898–1962


Lud wig Bemelmans, born in the Aus trian moun tains, worked at his un cle’s re sort as a teen -ager un til an al ter ca tion forced him to im mi grate to the United States. He worked in New YorkCity ho tels, served in the U.S. Army dur ing World War I, and re turned to New York City to con -tinue res tau rant work. He be came in ter ested in writ ing for chil dren af ter meet ing an ed i tor fromViking. His first book, Hansi, was pub lished by Vi king in 1934. But his fame be came firmlyes tab lished with the pub li ca tion of Madeline in 1939. This script pro vides sev eral facts aboutLud wig Bemelmans and in tro duces French cog nates.


The Nar ra tor and Mr. Buf fet should stand on one side, with the chil dren ar ranged as if in aclass room. The reader for Mr. Buf fet should prac tice read ing the French words, all cog nates: res -tau rant, chocolat, des sert, les fruits, une banane, la salade, le menu, le cheque, l’hôtel, la lampe,l’artiste, le den tist, bon jour, au re voir. There can be ad di tional read ers in the Chil dren roles.Al though these words vary be tween grades 1 and 4 and ac cord ing to The EDL Core Vo cab u lar -ies, they are easy for read ers be cause of the prompts by Mr. Buf fet.


Show Paris, France, on a map or a globe. Then ask:

• Have any of you trav eled to Paris? If so, what do you re mem ber most about it?

• Do any of you know of fa mous things to see in Paris? (Pos si ble an swers in clude theEif fel Tower, the Seine River, the Lou vre, and No tre Dame.)

• What lan guage do most peo ple speak in Paris? Do you know any French words? If so,what are they?

113

Af ter read ing, dis cuss how we use many words from dif fer ent lan guages ev ery day. For ex -am ples, see “Words Bor rowed from Other Lan guages” in The Read ing Teacher’s Book of Lists,5th edi tion, by Ed ward B. Fry and Jac que line E. Kress (Jossey-Bass, 2006).

Char ac ters

Grade 1: Jeremy, Janeka, Char lotte, Pi erre, Ma rie

Grade 2: Louis, San dra

Grade 3: Mr. Buf fet

Grade 4: Nar ra tor

Vary ing Grades: Chil dren

114 \ Bon jour Paris!

Bon jour Paris!

Nar ra tor: It is the last school day be fore win ter break. Jeremy andJaneka dash into their third grade class. They run up totheir teacher, burst ing with ex cite ment.

Jeremy and Janeka: Guess what! We’re go ing to Paris!

Mr. Buf fet: Now that is ex cit ing! Paris is one of my fa vor ite cit ies. My par ents still live there. So I visit ev ery sum mer.

Jeremy: Do you think you can help us get ready?

Janeka: We need to be able to speak some French in three days.

Mr. Buf fet: I’m happy that you want to learn French, but I don’t thinkyou have to worry. Many peo ple speak Eng lish andFrench, and many of the signs are in Eng lish, too.

Jeremy: Our mom said it’s better if you know a few words.

Mr. Buf fet: She is ab so lutely right. Let’s wait un til the whole classar rives for a French les son. We can start our les son with abook that takes place in Paris. Can you re mem ber what it is?

Janeka: Madeline! I’ll get it!

Nar ra tor: Mr. Buf fet reads aloud Madeline. Then he talks about theman who wrote the story and did the draw ings.

Mr. Buf fet: Lud wig Bemelmans was born in the Aus trian moun tains.He came to New York City in 1914 and worked in ho tels.He also joined the Army. He kept a jour nal and drew lotsof pic tures. He got mar ried in 1935. Guess what his wife’sname was?

Chil dren: Madeline!


Mr. Buf fet: That’s right. They had a daugh ter named Barbara. Theywere vis it ing an is land near France. Mr. Bemelmans had abike ac ci dent and had to stay in a hos pi tal. He no ticed acrack in the ceil ing that looked like a rab bit, and he saw anun give some soup to a lit tle girl. Dif fer ent ideas just kept com ing to gether, and soon the book Madeline was born.Now, let’s talk about French words. Some of you haveFrench names, and they are ex actly the same in English.

Char lotte: My name is French, is n’t it?

Mr. Buf fet: Yes, Char lotte is French, and so are Ga bri elle, Ma rie,Pi erre, and Louis. There are many words that are al mostex actly the same in both Eng lish and French. Let’s startwith some very im por tant words. I’m go ing to say theFrench word, and you re peat it. Then say the Eng lishword. Res tau rant.

Chil dren: Res tau rant. Res tau rant!

Mr. Buf fet: See how easy this can be? Now here’s a fa vor ite ofmine—chocolat.

Chil dren: Chocolat. Choc o late!

Mr. Buf fet: Very good! Des sert.

Chil dren: Des sert. Des sert!

Mr. Buf fet: Here’s an other easy one in case you don’t want to just eatsweets. Pi erre, what is les fruits?

Pi erre: Les fruits. Fruit? But what does les mean?

Mr. Buf fet: It means the same as the in Eng lish, but it also means more than one fruit. Louis, here’s an other use ful one—unebanane.

Louis: Une banane. That’s an easy one, a ba nana. But what isune?

Mr. Buf fet: You said it right—a ba nana. The word une is also anar ti cle, like our words a or an. You’re catch ing on. Nowyou might want to eat la salade.


San dra: La salade. That has to mean salad, but can you ex plain theword la?

Mr. Buf fet: French has dif fer ent ar ti cles that go with dif fer ent words.But we don’t have time to learn all of the dif fer ences.Let’s keep go ing. Here’s an other easy one—le menu.

Ma rie: Le menu. The menu!

Mr. Buf fet: When you are all done with your meal, your par ents willask for le cheque.

Chil dren: Le cheque. The check!

Mr. Buf fet: That’s right. Here’s where you’ll prob a bly be stay ing—atl’hôtel.

Chil dren: L’hôtel. The ho tel!

Mr. Buf fet: And when you go in your room, you may want to turn onla lampe.

Chil dren: La lampe. The lamp!

Mr. Buf fet: Let’s talk about some words for peo ple. When you aresight see ing, Jeremy, you might see this per son—l’artiste.

Jeremy: L’artiste. An art ist?

Mr. Buf fet: Let’s hope you don’t need to see le dentiste, Janeka.

Janeka: Le den tist. The den tist!

Mr. Buf fet: We’re al most out of time. Are there some words youwould like to learn?

Janeka: How do we say hello?

Mr. Buf fet: That’s a word you must learn—bon jour. Let’s all say it.

Chil dren: Bon jour!

Mr. Buf fet: And now we’ll learn how to say good bye—au re voir. Try it.

Chil dren: Au re voir!

Mr. Buf fet: We are out of time, but there’s one more thing I need tosay to Janeka and Jeremy. Bon voy age! Have a good trip!

Chil dren: Bon voy age!


If It’s by theBerenstains, It’s Got

to Be about BearsIf It’s by the Berenstains, It’s Got to Be about BearsIf It’s by the Berenstains, It’s Got to Be about Bears

Stan ley Berenstain1923–2005


Stan ley Berenstain and his wife, Janice, met while they were in col lege in Phil a del phia.When asked who did the writ ing and who did the draw ings in their fa mous se ries of books on thelives of the bears, the an swer was sim ple. The one who thought up the idea wrote it all down.Then they each helped or ga nize the words and draw and ink the pic tures. They started do ing thebooks be cause their chil dren liked the Dr. Seuss books. They went to work for Dr. Seuss, andtheir first book was The Big Honey Hunt, pub lished in 1962. At the time of Mr. Berenstain’sdeath, they had pub lished more than 250 books. To day, Janice Grant Berenstain and her sonscon tinue the tra di tion of writ ing Berenstain Bears books.


The nar ra tors and teacher can stand on one side. Kevin should stand fac ing the other read ers, who can sit at an an gle on one side.

118


Ask the stu dents what books they have read by the Berenstains. Dis cuss what they re mem -ber about the books. Then ask:

• When Mr. and Mrs. Berenstain de cided to write chil dren’s books, they used bears topres ent their sto ries. What other books do you know that have bears in the story?(Blue ber ries for Sal by Rob ert McCloskey, Cor du roy by Don Free man, Goldilocksand the Three Bears, etc.)

• Mr. and Mrs. Berenstain used their sto ries to teach les sons. What les sons do you re -mem ber from the Berenstains’ books?


• The Berenstains wrote the Berenstain’s Bear books as a se ries of books for chil dren.When Mr. Berenstain died, how many books do you think were in the Berenstain’sBear se ries? (250)

• Who do you think is writ ing the Berenstain books now? (Mrs. Berenstain and her sons)

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Ronnie, Linc, Jake

Grade Three: Kevin, Jackie, Emma, Leah, Anna, Don, Maria, Julia

Grade Four: Nar ra tor, Mrs. Knight

If It’s by the Berenstains, It’s Got to Be about Bears / 119

If It’s by the Berenstains, It’s Gotto Be about Bears

Nar ra tor: Kevin is go ing to tell Mrs. Knight’s class about a writer he likes.

Kevin: I of ten read these books to my lit tle brother. They’re allabout an i mals that talk, play, and get into trou ble. Theirmama and papa have to care for them. The sto ries are likereal life, ex cept that it’s about bears. If it’s Berenstains’books, it’s got to be about bears. What do you think, Mrs. Knight?

Mrs. Knight: I thought you were go ing to tell us about the bears.

Kevin: First, I want to start by talk ing about Stan ley Berenstain.He was born in Phil a del phia, Penn syl va nia. His par entsknew he could draw well when he was very small.

Jackie: How did his par ents know that his pic tures were any good?

Kevin: He made an enor mous draw ing about box ing right on thewall. He drew it in their liv ing room.

Ronnie: I bet his par ents were up set with him!

Kevin: I am sure they were. They were a very poor fam ily. WhenStan was six years old, the econ omy was very poor in theUnited States. There was a de pres sion.

Linc: What do you mean by a de pres sion?

Kevin: It means a lot of peo ple lost their money in the stockmar ket. Many peo ple did n’t have jobs. It was a very hardtime. In 1941, Stan went to the Phil a del phia Mu seumSchool of In dus trial Art. This is where he met Janice.

Emma: Did he marry Janice?

Kevin: Yes, but first he joined the army. It was dur ing World War II. Ev ery one who could joined the mil i tary.

Leah: Did he have to give up be ing an art ist so he could fight inthe army?


Kevin: No, he made draw ings for the army doc tors.

Ronnie: What kind of draw ings would doc tors use?

Kevin: He might draw ways to fix wounds to the face or how tosew up bul let holes. Some times he’d draw new ideas sothere would n’t be ugly scars.

Mrs. Knight: That is just amaz ing, Kevin. What a won der ful thing to beable to do for oth ers.

Jackie: It must have been hard to see all those sol diers in jured.

Kevin: I’m sure it was, but some times he had free time. Then hewould draw car toons and sell them to mag a zines. Af ter the war, he mar ried Janice. She had been work ing as a riv eterdur ing the war.

Leah: I’ve read about them. There were women who worked inthe fac to ries dur ing the war. They were called “Rosie theRiveters.”

Jake: What did the riveters do?

Leah: They would put the riv ets into the ships that would be used in the war. Riv ets are very sturdy nails.

Kevin: Let me tell you about their writ ing. Stan and Janice hadtwo sons. Mi chael and Leo both loved the Dr. Seussbooks. Stan and Janice de cided to do sto ries for their boys. They wanted them to be funny sto ries. But they alsowanted them to help kids deal with things that re allyhap pen in their lives.

Emma: Was there any spe cial rea son why they chose bears?

Kevin: Be cause they are easy to draw. They could dress them upand make them look like real peo ple. They named themMama, Papa, Brother, and Sis ter so it would be easy forkids to re mem ber their names. Their first chil dren’s bookwas The Big Honey Hunt. I bet a lot of you have read these books, so I’m go ing to ask you some ques tions. First, what did Papa al ways wear?

Anna: He wore over alls. He also wore a yel low shirt.


Kevin: That’s right. What did Mama bear al ways wear?

Emma: She al ways wore this silly spot ted hat that matched her dress.

Kevin: Why do you think the bears al ways wore the same kind ofclothes in the draw ings?

Don: So chil dren could al ways find them in the pic tures.

Kevin: What did Sis ter wear, and what was her fa vor ite doll?

Julia: Sis ter had a Bearbie doll. And she al ways wore a pink bow in her hair and wore pink over alls.

Kevin: Did any one have a fa vor ite part in the book Too MuchVa ca tion?

Jake: Mama was us ing a new cam era. Click, click, click, click, click.

Anna: They had so many prob lems in that story.

Kevin: Like what?

Anna: The cabin was filthy, and there was no wa ter in the pump.

Julia: When they went out hik ing, they picked some ber ries, butthey were sour.

Ronnie: They wanted to watch the sun set. But lots of mos qui toesbit them!

Maria: They fi nally went home be cause it rained so much that theroof of the cabin leaked. Mama took pic tures of it all!

Don: When they got home they looked at the pic tures Mamatook. The pic tures were so good that they de cided they had had a good time af ter all.

Kevin: Does any one else have a fa vor ite book?

Maria: I liked the one about Sis ter and Lizzy. They had a big fight over who was go ing to be the teacher. When I was lit tle Iused to play school. I would be the teacher, just like Lizzyand Sis ter wanted to be.

Linc: I liked Trou ble at School. When Brother learned to behon est, good things hap pened to him.


Mrs. Knight: What was the most im por tant thing you learned from yourre search, Kevin?

Kevin: I learned that Mr. Berenstain wanted their books to teach. I also learned that keep ing things sim ple is best.

Mrs. Knight: What do you mean by keep ing things sim ple?

Kevin: The bears al ways dressed the same. They had names thatare easy to re mem ber. Things that hap pened to them couldhap pen to us. By read ing the books, I could learn how tohan dle my self if I have those same prob lems some day.

Mrs. Knight: I think that mes sage is a great place to end our dis cus sionof the Berenstains. Thank you, Kevin!


Trains, Steam Shov els,and Lit tle Houses

Trains, Stea m Shov els , and Lit tle HousesTrains, Stea m Shov els , and Lit tle Houses

Vir ginia Lee Bur ton1909–1968


Vir ginia Lee Bur ton spent her early years liv ing in Mas sa chu setts. Her mother was amusician and poet. Her fa ther served as the first dean at the Mas sa chu setts In sti tute ofTechnology un til he re tired in 1921. His re tire ment prompted a move to Car mel, Cal i for nia,where the fam ily mem bers con tin ued their in ter est in the arts. Vir ginia at tended art school andeven tu ally moved back east to Boston. There she mar ried George Demetrios, a sculp tor andteacher. Their two sons proved to be the in spi ra tion for her chil dren’s books, in clud ing theCaldecott Medal win ner, The Lit tle House. Young sters con tinue to en joy Mike Mul li gan and HisSteam Shovel more than sixty years later.


Place the read ers in the fol low ing or der: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Mrs. Bur ton, Mr. Bur -ton, Vir ginia, Mabel, Aris, Jim, Oley, Archibald, and Mike. If read for youn ger stu dents, addtrains and toy con struc tion ve hi cles to the stage.


Show stu dents sev eral books by Vir ginia Lee Bur ton. Then ask:

• How long ago do you think these books were writ ten?

• How are the il lus tra tions dif fer ent from or like other books?

124

Ex am ine the copy right page of each book. Sub tract the copy right year from the cur rent yearand de ter mine how long ago each book was pub lished. Af ter read ing the script, ask:

• What do you know about the years when Vir ginia Bur ton was grow ing up?

• Do you think her sons gave her good ad vice?

• Do you think her books are still good? Why or why not?

• What ad vice would you give au thors or il lus tra tors to day?

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Mr. Bur ton, Aris, Oley, Mike

Grade Three: Mrs. Bur ton, Vir ginia, Nar ra tor Two, Mabel

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Jim, Archibald

Trains, Steam Shov els, and Lit tle Houses / 125

Trains, Steam Shov els, and Lit tle Houses

Nar ra tor One: Vir ginia lives with her mother, fa ther, and sis ter in New ton Cen ter, Mas sa chu setts. Her par ents love mu sic and art.The fam ily en joys liv ing in the north east for many years.Then Vir ginia’s life changes.

Mrs. Bur ton: Vir ginia, your fa ther and I have some ex cit ing news toshare with you.

Mr. Bur ton: I am re tir ing from be ing a dean. We want to livesome place warmer. So we are mov ing.

Vir ginia: Do we have to move a long ways to be some placewarmer?

Mr. Bur ton: Yes, we’re mov ing to Cal i for nia.

Mrs. Bur ton: It is a long way away, but I think you’ll like it.

Nar ra tor Two: Vir ginia does like Cal i for nia. They live in a small townwhere there are three the aters. Vir ginia gets to be in plays.She learns to dance and en joys per form ing.

Nar ra tor One: When Vir ginia is in high school, she gets a schol ar ship toan art school. She loves the classes but does n’t want to goto col lege. She talks with her friend about her plans for the fu ture.

Vir ginia: Mabel, I think I want to keep go ing to art school. I alsowant to con tinue study ing bal let.

Mabel: Let’s move near San Fran cisco. We can com mute toschool to gether.

Nar ra tor Two: The two friends move to a town across the bay from SanFran cisco. They have to travel by train, ferry, and ca ble car to get to school. Some times the trip takes more than twohours.

Mabel: Vir ginia, don’t you get tired of these long trips to school?


Vir ginia: Not re ally. Look at the sketches of peo ple I’ve made onthis trip. Some day per haps all of this prac tice will pay off,and some one will pay me for work like this.

Mabel: What kind of art work would you like to do?

Vir ginia: I’d like to draw for books, maybe even for chil dren’sbooks. I used to love the books my par ents would get mefor Christ mas. They had such won der ful il lus tra tions. Ormaybe I’ll be come a dancer like my sister.

Nar ra tor Two: Vir ginia does n’t be come a dancer. She re turns to the EastCoast and goes to art school in Boston. She falls in lovewith George Demetrios, an art ist and teacher. They getmar ried and start a fam ily.

Nar ra tor One: Vir ginia and George have two sons named Aris andMi chael. Vir ginia loves watch ing her chil dren play, andshe loves draw ing while they play.

Nar ra tor Two: She watches Aris play with his trains and has an idea.

Vir ginia: Aris, you have been play ing with that train for hours. Canyou tell me what you like best about it?

Aris: The en gine is shiny and black, and it goes choo choo.

Vir ginia: What are those other noises you keep mak ing?

Aris: It has a whis tle that goes whoo whoo and a bell that goesding dong.

Vir ginia: Does it make a noise when it stops?

Aris: Yes, the brakes go sssswish re ally loud when the train stops.

Vir ginia: Aris, I’m go ing to make some draw ings of your train while you play. You can keep play ing while I work.

Nar ra tor One: Aris’s play with his train has in spired Vir ginia to cre ate astory about a train. When she cre ates a book, she startswith the il lus tra tions first. Then she works on writ ing thestory. Af ter a while, she shows Aris her drawings.

Vir ginia: What do you think of these train draw ings, Aris? Have Ifor got ten any thing?


Aris: You need to meet the peo ple on my train, and then you can draw them.

Vir ginia: Who are they?

Nar ra tor Two: Vir ginia can hear the train peo ple speak ing to her.

Jim: I’m the en gi neer. I make sure ev ery thing works right.

Oley: I’m the fire man. I feed the en gine coal and wa ter.

Archibald: I’m the con duc tor. I take the tick ets from the pas sen gers.

Nar ra tor One: Vir ginia works on her story ideas and tries them out onAris. Soon she has a story ready to try to pub lish. ChooChoo be comes her first pub lished book. She ded i cates it to her son Aris.

Nar ra tor Two: A year or so later, Vir ginia watches her other son play inhis sandbox. Mike pushes a toy steam shovel back andforth.

Mike: We’re go ing to dig a tun nel through the moun tains. Thenthe cars can get through to the city. Then we can helpmake the new build ings and sky scrap ers.

Vir ginia: Mike, tell me some more about your steam shovel and thework it’s do ing.

Mike: It’s a very busy steam shovel. There is a lot to do whenyou’re dig ging a tun nel. It’s also noisy when it’s work ing.Bing! Bang! Crash! Slam!

Vir ginia: You’ve given me a good idea for a story. Some of the newshov els are pow ered by die sel in stead of steam. What ifpeo ple thought those were better?

Mike: What would all the steam shov els do if they could n’t helpbuild things?

Vir ginia: That’s a good ques tion, and I think that is what the storyshould be about. I’m go ing to start work ing on somedraw ings while you work on your build ings. I’ll get yourhelp later.


Nar ra tor One: Vir ginia’s sec ond book is called Mike Mul li gan and HisSteam Shovel. Maybe you’ve read it. Mike is named af terher son, and the book is ded i cated to him. Mike Mul li ganproves that his steam shovel can dig a cel lar in one day.But then they have a prob lem to solve when they get stuckin that cel lar. Do you re mem ber how they solved theproblem?

Nar ra tor Two: Vir ginia cre ates seven books for chil dren. The Lit tle Housewins the Caldecott Medal. She share her ideas anddraw ings with her sons and their friends. She knows that if they like the books, other chil dren will like them. Morethan sixty years later, chil dren still love books by Vir giniaLee Bur ton.


A Short Life and aLong Leg acy

A Short Life and a Long Leg acyA Short Life and a Long Leg acy

Randolph Caldecott1846–1886


Randolph Caldecott was the third child of John Caldecott, an ac coun tant and busi ness man,and his first wife, Mary Caldecott. Randolph was an ex cel lent stu dent, who left school at age fif -teen to work in the field of bank ing. His true love was il lus trat ing, and he achieved enough salesof his work by the age of twenty-six to feel con fi dent in leav ing bank ing. He mar ried soon af ter,and he and his wife en joyed his suc cess. How ever, his health was pre car i ous, caus ing them toseek warmer climes in the win ters. In Jan u ary of 1886, they trav eled to Florida, hop ing to en joy awarm win ter. In stead, he be came sick and died sud denly. More than fifty years later, Frederic G.Melcher, a prom i nent pub lisher and ad vo cate for chil dren’s books, pro posed that the Amer i canLi brary Association cre ate a new award that rec og nized dis tin guished il lus tra tions in a pic ture book.The Caldecott Medal is named af ter Randolph Caldecott in rec og ni tion of his con tri bu tions tochildren’s book il lus tra tions.


Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, John Caldecott, and Mary Caldecott can stand to one side ofthe stage. Randolph Caldecott and Mar ian Caldecott can stand in the mid dle. The other read erscan be on the other side of the stage.

130


Show the stu dents a va ri ety of books that have the Caldecott Medal award sticker on thebook. Then ask:

• Which of these books do you know?

• Each book has an award on the front. What do you know about the award?

Af ter read ing the script, share a va ri ety of books that have been pub lished in the past year.Have the stu dents vote on which one they think should win the Caldecott Medal. Share the win -ning book af ter it is an nounced by the Amer i can Li brary As so ci a tion in Jan u ary. Then dis cusswhat makes the il lus tra tions distinguished.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Mary Caldecott, Mar ian Caldecott, Mar gue rite Melcher

Grade Three: John Caldecott, Thomas Armstrong, Randolph Caldecott, Frederic G.Melcher

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Edmund Ev ans

A Short Life and a Long Leg acy / 131

A Short Life and a Long Leg acy

Nar ra tor One: John and Mary Caldecott live near Ches ter, Eng land. Theyear is 1848. Their son, Randolph, is four teen years old.

John Caldecott: Mary, we need to talk about Randolph. He spends most ofhis time out side draw ing. You can’t make money draw ingpretty pic tures.

Mary Caldecott: He’ll fig ure out what to do to earn a liv ing. He’s onlyfour teen.

John Caldecott: He’s al most an adult, Mary.

Mary Caldecott: I know, but I also know that he’s a hard work ing youngman. You worry too much, dear.

Nar ra tor Two: A year later, Randolph leaves school and be gins work ingat a bank. He lives nearby in a small vil lage. He spends his spare time walk ing or rid ing his horse in the coun try side.

Nar ra tor One: Randolph is still a teen ager when his first draw ing ispub lished. The Queen Rail way Ho tel in Ches ter isde stroyed in a fire. Randolph’s draw ing of the fire ispub lished in a Lon don newspaper.

Nar ra tor Two: Randolph goes to art school af ter mov ing to an other bank.He prac tices his draw ings when ever he can. Then he getssome un ex pected help from a friend at the bank.

Thomas Armstrong: Randolph, there is some one I want you to meet. HenryBlackburn is the ed i tor of Lon don So ci ety. I think theywould buy your draw ings for the mag a zine.

Randolph Caldecott: I ap pre ci ate the in tro duc tion, Thomas. I’d like to show him my work.

Nar ra tor One: Randolph sells sev eral of his draw ings to the mag a zine. By now, he is twenty-six years old. He tells Thomas about abig de ci sion.


Randolph Caldecott: Thomas, I am grate ful you in tro duced me to Mr. Blackburn.I’ve sold many of my draw ings to him. So I am leav ingbank ing. I’m mov ing to Lon don.

Thomas Armstrong: Con grat u la tions, Randolph! I think you will do very well with your art.

Nar ra tor Two: By the time Randolph is thirty years old, he has re ceivedsev eral hon ors for his work. He makes friends eas ily. One ofthose is Edmund Ev ans, who is a printer.

Edmund Ev ans: Randolph, would you be will ing to il lus trate two chil dren’sbooks in time for Christ mas? Wal ter Crane is n’t work ing forme any more.

Randolph Caldecott: I would very much like il lus trat ing for you. But what are the books about?

Edmund Ev ans: You’d se lect the verses and sto ries and then il lus tratethem. And if you’re a good writer, you could add somewrit ing of your own.

Randolph Caldecott: Let’s work out the de tails, and I’ll get started right away.

Nar ra tor One: Randolph’s books are very suc cess ful. He de cides to cre atetwo chil dren’s books each year. He also de cides to getmar ried. A few years later, Randolph tells his wife someim por tant news.

Randolph Caldecott: Mar ian, my book of nurs ery rhymes is sell ing very well. It’ssell ing all around the world.

Mar ian Caldecott: That is won der ful news. If we don’t need to worry aboutmoney, then you should rest more. You have been work ing so hard, and I know you don’t feel well much of the time.

Randolph Caldecott: It’s these cold Lon don win ters that bother me. Let’s go to thesouth of France this win ter. We can eas ily af ford it, andwe’ll both en joy be ing near the sea.

Mar ian Caldecott: That’s a great idea. I’ll start get ting or ga nized for the trip.

Nar ra tor Two: Randolph be comes fa mous for his draw ings. But his health is very poor. In 1886, he and Mar ian dis cuss their win terplans.


Randolph Caldecott: What do you think about go ing to Amer ica for the win ter?

Mar ian Caldecott: Where would we go there?

Randolph Caldecott: To Florida, where it is sup posed to be very warm in thewin ter. We’ll go by ship to New York and then go south to Florida.

Nar ra tor One: That year hap pens to be a very cold win ter. Randolph getsvery sick and dies sud denly in St. Au gus tine, Florida. He isonly thirty-nine years old.

Nar ra tor Two: More than fifty years pass. Randolph Caldecott is still fa mous for his draw ings. He is about to be come even more fa mous.

Nar ra tor One: Frederic G. Melcher is a chil dren’s book pub lisher in theUnited States. He loves to pro mote chil dren’s books. He talks to his wife about a new idea.

Frederic G. Melcher: I want to start an award that hon ors chil dren’s books.

Mar gue rite Melcher: What a won der ful idea! Will it be for the writ ing?

Frederic G. Melcher: No, I think it should be for the il lus tra tions.

Mar gue rite Melcher: Well, that is what chil dren no tice most.

Frederic G. Melcher: And I think it should be named af ter Randolph Caldecott.He il lus trated so many fine chil dren’s books.

Nar ra tor Two: The Amer i can Li brary As so ci a tion awards the firstCaldecott Medal in 1938. It is awarded to Dor o thy P.Lathrop for her il lus tra tions in An i mals of the Bi ble, APic ture Book.

Nar ra tor One: Each year the lat est win ner is an nounced in Jan u ary. AndRandolph Caldecott will never be for got ten for his work in chil dren’s books.


Draw to Live and Liveto Draw

Draw to Live and Live to DrawDraw to Live and Live to Draw

Wanda Gág1893–1946


Born to im pov er ished par ents in the late 1800s, Wanda Gág (pro nounced gog) was the old -est of seven chil dren. Her fa ther, an art ist, died of tu ber cu lo sis when Wanda was fif teen. Be forehe died, he im plored her to take care of the fam ily. Be cause her mother was sick, Wanda took onjobs to keep the fam ily to gether through the early 1900s and World War I. By the time of theGreat De pres sion, she was be gin ning to earn money through her art and chil dren’s books. Mil -lions of Cats won the Newbery Honor Medal, which was un usual for a pic ture book. TheCaldecott Medal for il lus tra tions in pic tures books had not yet been es tab lished. A life longsmoker, she died of lung can cer at age fifty-three. This script is pre sented in a cho ral read ing for -mat, with Re spond ing Read ers read ing vari a tions on the sen tence made fa mous in Mil lions ofCats: Hun dreds of cats, thou sands of cats, mil lions and bil lions and tril lions of cats. Al thoughthe read abil ity of this line is Grade 5, the re pet i tive na ture of the lines makes it easier to read.


Read ers One, Two, and Three can be fac ing the Re spond ing Read ers if the whole class is in -volved. Al ter na tively, Read ers One, Two, and Three can be stand ing in the back row, with theRe spond ing Read ers seated in the front row.

135


If you be lieve that your stu dents are not fa mil iar with Mil lions of Cats, read it aloud to them.Then ask:

• Do you re ally think that an old man could bring home that many cats?

• What makes this book fun? (Ex ag ger a tion, rep e ti tion, draw ings, etc.)

Af ter read ing the script, share other books by Wanda Gág. Then ask:

• How are Wanda Gág’s il lus tra tions dif fer ent from books that are pub lished to day?

• Wanda Gág’s motto was “Draw to live and live to draw.” What does that mean?

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Reader Two

Grade Three: Reader Three

Grade Four: Reader One

Grade Five: Re spond ing Read ers

136 \ Draw to Live and Live to Draw

Draw to Live and Live to Draw

Reader One: You have prob a bly heard the book Mil lions of Cats. Doyou re mem ber how many cats were in it?

Re spond ing Read ers: Hun dreds of cats. Thou sands of cats. Mil lions andbil lions and tril lions of cats!

Reader Two: That’s right! The story was about an old woman and man who wanted a cat, so the man went out to bring back thepret ti est cat. He could n’t de cide which one was thepret ti est. So he brought back. . . .

Re spond ing Readers: Hun dreds of cats. Thou sands of cats. Mil lions andbil lions and tril lions of cats!

Reader Three: Of course the story did n’t end there. That is anim pos si ble num ber of cats to han dle!

Reader One: Let’s find out about the au thor, Wanda Gág. She wasborn in 1893 into a poor fam ily. Her par ents, Anton andLissi, had six more chil dren.

Reader Two: Wanda’s fa ther was an art ist. But he died when she wasfif teen years old. Be fore he died, he told her to take careof the fam ily. Her mother was sick, too. So Wanda gotjobs to keep the fam ily to gether.

Re spond ing Read ers: Hun dreds of jobs. Thou sands of jobs. Mil lions andbil lions and tril lions of jobs!

Reader Three: Not that many jobs! But she did work hard. Shegrad u ated from high school and be came a teacher for ayear. She also wrote and did illustrations for mag a zines.She de signed a lot of greet ing cards.

Re spond ing Read ers: Hun dreds of cards. Thou sands of cards. Mil lions andbil lions and tril lions of cards!

Reader One: She was busy, that’s for sure. She went to art school fora few years. She de cided to draw and paint more by1923. She il lus trated books and be gan mak ing somemoney from her paint ings.


Re spond ing Read ers: Hun dreds of dol lars. Thou sands of dol lars. Mil lions andbil lions and tril lions of dol lars!

Reader Two: Not many writ ers made that kind of money! But thingswere good for Wanda. An ed i tor saw her work. Sheasked Wanda to think about writ ing for kids.

Reader Three: Mil lions of Cats came out in 1928. It was an un usualbook for kids. But ev ery one loved it. It won the Newbery Honor Award.

Reader One: Times were hard dur ing the 1930s. The United Stateswas in a de pres sion. But Wanda kept writ ing andil lus trat ing. Snippy and Snappy was a book about twofield mice who wan dered away from home.

Reader Two: Those mice did n’t lis ten to their mother! They got intobig trou ble.

Reader Three: Wanda liked an i mals, it seems. She had a suc cess with abook about cats and then about mice.

Re spond ing Read ers: Hun dreds of mice. Thou sands of mice. Mil lions andbil lions and tril lions of mice!

Reader One: One of her books was a fam ily pro ject. Wanda’s brotherHoward and sis ter Flavia helped her cre ate ABC Bunny.

Re spond ing Read ers: Hun dreds of bun nies. Thou sands of bun nies. Mil lionsand bil lions and tril lions of bunnies!

Reader Two: There was just one bunny. But he had a big jour neythrough the al pha bet!

Reader Three: Wanda got mar ried in 1943. She died of lung can cer justthree years later. She was only fifty-three years old when she died.

Reader One: Wanda had one motto or say ing about life: Draw to liveand live to draw. She lived that motto ev ery day. Shenever had chil dren, but she cre ated books that wereloved and read by mil lions of read ers.

Re spond ing Read ers: Hun dreds of read ers. Thou sands of read ers. Mil lions and bil lions and tril lions of read ers!


The Joy and the Ag onyThe Joy and the Ag onyThe Joy and the Ag ony

Ken neth Grahame1859–1932


Ken neth Grahame’s life was filled with great sor row and trag edy. His fa ther was an al co -holic who rarely worked. His mother died when he was five years old from scar let fe ver.Grahame con tracted the dis ease, and his grand mother came to Scot land to get him and his sib -ling. He was raised in Eng land for a while in a sto ry book house with gar dens and ponds. Thesewere the best years of his life and are re flected in the de scrip tion of the ar eas in his writ ings, par -tic u larly The Wind and the Wil lows. He mar ried and had a son, nick named Mouse. Mouse hadsev eral birth de fects and was a spoiled child who mis be haved badly. He was in and out of board -ing schools and fi nally com mit ted sui cide at age twenty by ly ing on the train tracks. Grahame’sbe lief that it is best to al ways be a child is a re cur rent theme in his writ ing. In The Wind and theWil lows, Mr. Toad is con sid ered to be a par al lel to his son. The other main char ac ters rep re sentadults who want to change Mr. Toad. This script de scribes the in flu ences of Grahame’s dif fi cultlife on his writing.


The read ers should sit in a semi cir cle with Jeremy and Maria in the cen ter so they can facethem when they in ter act. Nar ra tor One can stand in front of the read ers to in tro duce the script and then leave the stag ing area. Nar ra tor Two can en ter the stage for the fi nal lines. If pre ferred, eachreader could stand dur ing his or her lines.

139


Be fore read ing the script, ask:

• Have you ever been sad or lonely? What are some things that made you feel sad or lonely?

• What did you do to es cape feel ing sad or lonely?

• Who takes care of you when you get sick?

Af ter read ing the script, re read se lected por tions of The Wind in the Wil lows as time al lows.Have stu dents iden tify other ev i dence of Ken neth Grahame’s feel ings of ag ony and joy.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Claire, Wilma

Grade Three: Jeremy, Maria, Ray mond, Edwin, Yolanda, Car o lyn, Jess, Stu art

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two

140 \ The Joy and the Ag ony

The Joy and the Ag ony

Nar ra tor One: Ken neth Grahame had a very hard life. He grew upwith out the help of lov ing par ents. Jeremy and Marialearned a lot about how Grahame used these ex pe ri enceswhen writ ing. They lead a book talk about him in thelibrary.

Jeremy: Maria and I read The Wind in the Wil lows. Then welearned a lot about the au thor. His name was Ken nethGrahame. First, Maria will tell you some thing about Mr.Grahame. You can ask ques tions at any time.

Maria: Ken neth Grahame was born in Scot land. When he was five years old, his mother died of scar let fe ver. He got scar letfe ver, too. His fa ther could not take care of him prop erly.His grand mother came to get him and his baby brother.She took them home with her to Eng land. Grand mother’shouse was called “The Mount.” Around the house were awild or chard, a ter raced gar den, and ponds. He said it waslike a sto ry book house.

Claire: Was Toad House like his grand mother’s house?

Jeremy: Yes, it was. He said the two years he lived there were thehap pi est years of his life. He never for got how won der fulit was there.

Wilma: Why did he live there only two years?

Jeremy: They had to move be cause the chim ney fell down on thehouse. Un cle John had to find them an other place to live.He rented them a smaller house. Ken neth did n’t like it aswell be cause it had no gar dens.

Ray mond: Why did n’t his fa ther find the fam ily a place to live?

Maria: Ken neth’s fa ther was n’t able to work for a while.

Edwin: Who paid the fam ily’s bills if the fa ther did n’t work?


Jeremy: Un cle John helped out un til Ken neth’s fa ther could takethe boys back to Scot land. But things did n’t go well, andKen neth was sent to board ing school when he was nine.

Yolanda: I bet Ken neth did n’t think much of his fa ther af ter he lethim down twice.

Maria: You’re right. Ken neth de cided that he could n’t count onadults.

Wilma: Did he like be ing at a board ing school?

Maria: The board ing school was a ter ri ble place. The build ingswere fall ing down, and the chil dren saw rats in them. Theboys were fed por ridge and fatty meat.

Car o lyn: What a hor ri ble place to go to school! How did he sur viveit all?

Jeremy: In his free time, he would walk along the River Thamesand pre tend things were better. When he fin ished school,he went to work as a bank clerk.

Jess: Did he want to work in a bank, or did he want to be awriter?

Jeremy: Un cle John got him the bank job, so he had no choice. Hebe gan to hate it and would take long va ca tions or call insick so that he could travel. He wrote when trav el ing.

Wilma: Was The Wind in the Wil lows his first book?

Maria: No. He started writ ing for mag a zines. Then he wrote astory about five chil dren who spent all their time play ingin the gar den of their un cle’s house.

Stu art: Did he ever get mar ried?

Jeremy: He did, but it was an un happy mar riage. His wife wanted a hus band who would stay home. He loved to wan der so that he could dream up sto ries to write.

Jess: Did they have any chil dren?


Maria: They had a son they called Mouse. He was blind in oneeye, but he was very smart. They spoiled him rot ten, andhe be came a ter ri ble child, es pe cially with other chil dren.He would even lie down on the road in front of cars whenhe did not get his way.

Edwin: That sounds like Mr. Toad! Spoiled, self ish, and al wayswant ing his way, even when it was go ing to hurt him. He’d throw fits and sneak around to do what he wanted. I betMr. Grahame used his son as a model for Mr. Toad!

Jeremy: No one knows for sure, but it seems like it. At first, Mr.Grahame told the sto ries in The Wind and the Wil lows tohis son when he was young. When he was away, he wouldwrite ad di tions to the story and send them to Mouse. It was never sup posed to be a book.

Ray mond: Why did Mr. Grahame make the sto ries into a book then?

Maria: His agent wanted him to do a new book, and the Grahames needed the money. Then The Wind and the Wil lowsbe came a big suc cess! They put Mouse in a board ingschool so they could travel more.

Car o lyn: I hope it was n’t a board ing school like the one Mr.Grahame went to.

Maria: Mouse went to fine schools, but it did n’t mat ter. He wasnever happy and died on his twen ti eth birth day.

Yolanda: Poor Mr. Grahame.

Claire: He had a sad and lonely life.

Jess: I won der why he did n’t write an other book.

Jeremy: He said he did n’t have the en ergy to write more books. Heknew peo ple liked his book, but he did n’t think read ersun der stood it.

Wilma: What did he mean?

Jeremy: He said that read ers did n’t see the ag ony or the joy in hisbook.


Stu art: I did n’t think there was ag ony in the book. The an i malsmade some bad de ci sions.

Edwin: I have n’t read the book. So what is an ex am ple of a badde ci sion?

Stu art: Mole did n’t know how to row a boat, but he tried to rowRat’s boat any way. He crashed the boat, and nearlydrowned. That was a very poor de ci sion.

Claire: I bet Rat was in ag ony. He lost his boat.

Stu art: I never thought of it that way. What was the joy thatev ery one missed?

Wilma: The joy of be ing a child.

Jeremy: I think you are right. Ev ery one wanted Mr. Toad to growup, and he just wanted to have fun. In the end, Mr. Toadre mained child like and happy, un like Mouse. Grahameal ways hoped Mouse would grow up and be comere spon si ble. Un like Mr. Toad, Mouse never had thechance.

Nar ra tor Two: Ken neth Grahame gave us one of the most be loved booksever writ ten. Next time you read The Wind in the Wil lows,think about the man who wrote books as his es cape.


From Dolls to De signsFrom Dolls to De signsFrom Dolls to De signs

Kate Greenaway1846–1901


Kate Greenaway, re nowned for her wa ter col ors of dresses and gar dens, was en cour aged byher fa ther to draw from the time she could hold a pen cil. A mas ter en graver, her fa ther in tro duced her to peo ple in the pub lish ing field who could ad vance her ca reer. Ms. Greenaway’s first bookwas im mensely pop u lar, and she en joyed sev eral years of pop u lar ity. Her il lus tra tions were soad mired that they were of ten pi rated. As her life en tered its fi nal years, her pop u lar ity de clined.She strug gled to main tain her life style, dy ing at age fifty-four of breast can cer. The KateGreenaway Medal, es tab lished in 1955, hon ors a distinguished artist living in Great Britain.


Kate Greenaway should stand in the mid dle with her fam ily mem bers on one side and herfriends on the other side. The nar ra tors can stand on ei ther side of the stag ing area.


Dis play a va ri ety of books that have won the Caldecott Medal and the Kate GreenawayMedal. Then ask:

• What do the stick ers on these books stand for?

• Do you know how the two awards are dif fer ent? (If the stu dents don’t know, ex plainthat they’ll learn the an swer dur ing the script.)

145

Show Great Brit ain on a map. Point out Lon don. Ex plain that Kate Greenaway lived in Hox -ton, which was near Lon don in the 1800s. (It is now part of Greater Lon don.) Af ter read ing thescript ask:

• Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott knew each other as adults. What dis tin -guishes their awards? (The Caldecott Medal, es tab lished in 1937, is for dis tin guishedAmer i can pic ture books; the Kate Greenaway medal is for dis tin guished il lus tra torsfrom Great Britain.)

• If time al lows, share the win ner and the honor books from a few years. Ask the stu -dents to de ter mine if they would have cho sen those books as win ners. Dis cuss whatmakes a pic ture book dis tin guished.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Eliz a beth Greenaway, Edmund Ev ans

Grade Three: John Greenaway, Thomas Crane, Kate Greenaway, Randolph Caldecott

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Nar ra tor Three

146 \ From Dolls to De signs

From Dolls to De signs

Nar ra tor One: Born in 1846, Kate lives with her fam ily in Hox ton,which is near Lon don. She has a brother and two sis ters.Her fa vor ite fam ily mem ber is her father.

Nar ra tor Two: Mr. John Greenaway is a fine en graver. En grav ing is away of mak ing draw ings on pa per or metal. Mr.Greenaway gives Kate a pen cil as soon as she can hold one.

John Greenaway: Hold the pen cil like this, Kate. You can make your ownil lus tra tions on this pa per and be an art ist like me.

Eliz a beth Greenaway: John, Kate does n’t want to draw pic tures. She’s too lit tleand only wants to play with her dress-up dolls.

John Greenaway: Now, just look at her very first draw ing, my dear. I thinkKate is go ing to de velop into a fine art ist.

Eliz a beth Greenaway: Well, that is a won der ful draw ing. You might just beright about Kate. But we need to talk about what we arego ing to do about our in come, John. With your motherand sis ters to sup port, we need more money com ing in.I’d like to open a dress shop. If we moved to Isling ton, Icould make clothes for children.

John Greenaway: I hate to think of you work ing as a dress maker, but times are hard. And you are very tal ented at it.

Eliz a beth Greenaway: So it’s set tled, then. You start look ing for a shop, and I’ll start think ing about dress pat terns.

Nar ra tor Three: The dress shop is a suc cess. Be fore long, Mrs.Greenaway has added lady’s cloth ing and hats to herline. Kate spends many happy hours in the shop,watch ing the peo ple. She no tices all the lat est fash ionsand never for gets them.


Nar ra tor One: Kate goes to art school when she is twelve years old. Ten years later, her fa ther helps Kate start her art ca reer. Sheis just twenty-two years old when she has a small artex hibit. That leads to Kate do ing some mag a zineil lus tra tions. Thomas Crane, who works for a com panythat makes greet ing cards, cal en dars, and books, alsosees her work.

Thomas Crane: Miss, I’d like you to do some work for us. We needil lus tra tions for our cards and cal en dars. Would you bein ter ested?

Kate Greenaway: I’d like to do some il lus tra tions for you. What kind ofin come might I ex pect from the draw ings?

Thomas Crane: We would pay you three pounds for each il lus tra tion.

Kate Greenaway: All right, let’s work out the ar range ments.

Nar ra tor Two: One of Kate’s card de signs sells 25,000 cop ies in a fewweeks. The Marcus Ward Com pany does very well withher work. Yet they re fuse to re turn the draw ings to Katewhen they are done with them. Af ter six years, she quitswork ing for them. Kate’s fa ther helps again.

John Greenaway: Kate, I want you to show your work to Edmund Ev ans. Ithink he’d con sider your draw ings for a book.

Kate Greenaway: I’m not sure about this idea, Fa ther. But I sup pose itwon’t hurt to show him some draw ings.

Nar ra tor Three: Kate shows her port fo lio and po etry to Mr. Ev ans. Helikes her draw ings and has an idea.

Edmund Ev ans: Kate, I like your draw ings. I’m sure you know that I dowood blocks for my print ing. What do you think aboutthat treat ment for your art?

Kate Greenaway: What would I be il lus trat ing? Will you use my po etry, too?

Edmund Ev ans: As a mat ter of fact, I do have an idea. I would like tobring out a book, but your po etry needs some work. Iknow a poet who could pol ish the po ems. We’ll bring outyour book in color, and it should do very well in deed.


Nar ra tor One: Mr. Ev ans is right. The book, called Un der the Win dow,is a huge suc cess. Kate is able to help the fam ily move to a better neigh bor hood. Kate con tin ues her in ter est incloth ing. She spends happy hours de sign ing the dressesthat she then paints in her draw ings. She plants flow ersin her gar den so that she can draw them.

Nar ra tor Two: Mr. Ev ans helps her by in tro duc ing her to his friends.

Edmund Ev ans: Kate, I’d like you to meet my friend, RandolphCaldecott. He is an art ist, too.

Randolph Caldecott: I’m happy to meet you, Miss Greenaway. But I wish you were n’t quite so tal ented.

Kate Greenaway: What do you mean?

Randolph Caldecott: I’m afraid peo ple will pre fer your books to mine!

Kate Greenaway: Well, I hope you’re right, but I think your work iswon der ful. I doubt that you need to worry about my work.

Nar ra tor Three: Kate and Randolph be come friends, even though they are com pet ing for book sales. Kate’s books are verysuc cess ful. Peo ple start us ing her art for things such asscarves, plates, and dolls. They don’t have per mis sion touse her work.

Kate Greenaway: Fa ther, I’m go ing to change how I do things. I’m go ingto keep my orig i nal art, and I’ll just sell the rights forus ing them.

John Greenaway: I don’t think that will to tally solve the prob lem, but itshould help. I hope your work is al ways this pop u lar!

Nar ra tor One: Mr. Greenaway’s words may have pre dicted the fu ture.Kate en joys many years of suc cess. She buys an evennicer house. Then peo ple seem to lose in ter est in herbooks. Sales be gin to de cline. Then, in 1890, her fa therdies. Four years later, her mother dies.


Nar ra tor Two: Kate has to cut back on ex penses. She does morepaint ings and por traits, hop ing to raise money. In 1900,she learns that she has can cer, and a year later she dies.She is just fifty-four years old. Her work has not beenlost, how ever. Mil lions of peo ple have en joyed herwa ter col ors.

Nar ra tor Three: In 1955, the Li brary As so ci a tion of Great Brit aines tab lishes the Kate Greenaway Medal. This awardhon ors the most dis tin guished il lus tra tor liv ing in GreatBrit ain. Kate Greenaway will never be forgotten.


Once upon a Time . . .Once upon a Time . . .Once upon a Time . . .

Ja cob Lud wig Carl Grimm1785–1863

Wil helm Carl Grimm1786–1859


Ja cob and Wil helm Grimm were born in Hanau, Ger many, to Philipp Wil helm Grimm, alaw yer and court of fi cial, and his wife Dorothea. Their par ents had nine chil dren; how ever, onlysix sur vived in fancy. Their fa ther’s death led them to move from their pleas ant coun try en vi ronsto a small ur ban house. The broth ers studied law and even tu ally be came li brar i ans. Fas ci natedwith folk tales, they pub lished Chil dren and House hold Tales in 1812, their first col lec tion,which in cludes eighty-two folk tales. They con tinued to gather folk tales and pub lish sev eral vol -umes, even tu ally be com ing li brar i ans and pro fes sors at the Uni ver sity of Göttingen. In thisscript, clues to ti tles of folk tales col lected by two fa mous writ ers (the Grimm Broth ers) are pro -vided through ten folk tale guests. The iden tity of the writ ers is prompted at the end of the script.All of the students or the audience can respond to the prompts.


Guests 1 through 10 can sit in chairs. The nar ra tors can stand on ei ther side of the seatedGuests.

151


Tell stu dents that the name of this script is “Once upon a time.” Then ask:

• What do you think of when you hear the words “Once upon a time”? What sto ries start that way?

• How old do you think these sto ries are?

If pre ferred, have the au di ence fig ure out the names of the writ ers upon the con clu sion of the script. Then share the dates of their lives and find Ger many on a map. Stu dents can also vote onwhich story is their fa vor ite. Dis cuss how these sto ries are sim i lar to and dif fer ent from HansChris tian Andersen’s lit er ary fairy tales.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Guest Four, Guest Five, Guest Six, Guest Seven

Grade Three: Guest One, Guest Two, Guest Three, Guest Nine, Guest Ten

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Guest Eight

152 \ Once upon a Time . . .

Once upon a Time . . .

Nar ra tor One: Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived two men.They were li brar i ans, and they loved sto ries.

Nar ra tor Two: They loved sto ries so much that they col lected them andwrote them down. In fact, they be came two of the mostfa mous writ ers in the world.

Nar ra tor One: Let’s see if you can fig ure out who these fa mous writ erswere. Our guests will give you a clue about the ti tle of astory. You can say the ti tle of the story. When we’redone, you will prob a bly be able to name the writ ers.Ready?

Stu dents or Au di ence: Ready!

Guest One: I was kept in a tower by a witch, and I had re ally longhair.

Stu dents or Au di ence: Rapunzel!

Guest Two: My brother and I vis ited a cot tage in the woods. I savedhim from be ing pushed into an oven.

Stu dents or Audience: Han sel and Gretel!

Guest Three: I had to spend most of my time cook ing and clean ing.Then a fairy god mother sent me to the ball where I metthe prince.

Stu dents or Au di ence: Cinderella!

Guest Four: I love wear ing the color red. A mean wolf tricked mygrand mother and me.

Stu dents or Au di ence: Lit tle Red Rid ing Hood!

Guest Five: All I ever wanted was to have a baby of my own. I neverthought the queen would guess my name.

Stu dents or Au di ence: Rumplestiltskin!


Nar ra tor Two: Bravo! You have got ten the first five sto ries right. Nowthe next sto ries aren’t as well known, so they are go ingto get a lit tle bit harder. If you can’t fig ure out thean swer, our guest will give you an other clue.

Guest Six: I had to save my broth ers who had been turned into swans.

Nar ra tor One: (paus ing) Can you pro vide us with an other clue?

Guest Six: There were six broth ers.

Stu dents or Au di ence: The Six Swans!

Guest Seven: I am one of a group of elves who helped a poor man.

Nar ra tor Two: (paus ing) A help ful group of elves is a good clue, but we seem to need a lit tle help too.

Guest Seven: The man was a shoe maker. You should be able to put itall to gether now.

Stu dents or Au di ence: The Elves and the Shoe maker!

Guest Eight: I am part of a group too, but we were poor an i mals. Wewent on a jour ney to gether and had an ad ven ture.

Nar ra tor One: (paus ing) Can you tell us some more about whathap pened on this ad ven ture?

Guest Eight: We came upon a house of rob bers and de cided to trickthem. Those fool ish men thought we were mu si cians!

Stu dents or Au di ence: The Bre men Town Mu si cians!

Guest Nine: In this story, I scared away some rob bers, too. But thatwas just one of many ad ven tures.

Nar ra tor Two: (paus ing) It looks like we’ll need some more in for ma tion to fig ure out this one.

Guest Nine: Well, I’m not very big in this story. In fact, I’m nobig ger than some thing you each have on your hand.

Stu dents or Au di ence: Tom Thumb!

Guest Ten: I went from be ing a poor fish er man to be ing rich andthen back to be ing poor.


Nar ra tor One: (paus ing) I think if you give an other clue about how yougot rich, we can get this one.

Guest Ten: I caught a fish that granted us three wishes, and my wifemade poor choices.

Stu dents or Au di ence: The Fish er man and His Wife!

Nar ra tor Two: You’ve iden ti fied ten sto ries by these writ ers. We’rego ing to take turns giv ing you a few more clues.

Nar ra tor One: These two men lived more than two hun dred years ago.There were n’t a lot of books for chil dren, so peo ple toldsto ries that they made up or heard.

Nar ra tor Two: The two men lis tened to a lot of peo ple tell sto ries andwrote them down.

Nar ra tor One: Now lis ten care fully to these last two clues. Some sto ries had happy end ings, and some were quite grim.

Nar ra tor Two: And the last clue is that they were broth ers. Just put it all to gether and you’ll have the an swer!


A Mun ster of a WriterA Mun ster of a WriterA Mun ster of a Writer

Fred Gwynne1926–1993


Fred Gwynne built a suc cess ful act ing ca reer long be fore he turned to writ ing books for chil -dren. With his tal ent for sing ing and act ing, he was sought out for roles on Broad way. In 1961, hebe came fa mil iar to tele vi sion view ers for his role as Of fi cer Fran cis Muldoon on Car 54, WhereAre You? He won the role of Herman Mun ster on The Munsters be cause of his height and boom -ing voice. In this script, the pri mary cast of The Munsters dis cusses their de par ture from the show and agrees to meet ten years later. They then dis cuss Fred Gwynne’s first book, The King WhoRained. Al though the in for ma tion about the char ac ters is real, the conversation is fictionalized.


The nar ra tors should stand on ei ther side of the other read ers, who can be seated in for mallyin chairs. If props are pre ferred, stu dents can re search the ap pear ance of the set for The Munstersand add sim i lar touches.


Write the names of some of the tele vi sion shows from the 1960s on the board, such asBe witched, The Andy Grif fith Show, Gilligan’s Is land, or The Dick Van Dyke Show. Dis cusswhich ones the stu dents have watched. Then ask:

• Have you watched a tele vi sion show called The Munsters? If the stu dents are not fa -mil iar with the show, ex plain that it was about an odd ball fam ily of mon sters, try ing to live what they con sid ered a rather nor mal life.

• Ex plain that the script is about the ac tors from The Munsters and that one also be camea suc cess ful chil dren’s book writer.

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Af ter read ing the script, read aloud one or more of Fred Gwynne’s books. Then have the stu -dents cre ate their own ex am ples of wordplay us ing ho mo phones or hom onyms. An ex cel lentsource for find ing ex am ples of these is The Read ing Teacher’s Book of Lists, 5th edi tion, by Ed wardB. Fry and Jac que line E. Kress (San Fran cisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006).

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Al Lewis, Mel Blanc, Noel Blanc

Grade Three: Fred Gwynne, Butch Pat rick, Pat Priest, Foxy Gwynne

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Yvonne DeCarlo

A Mun ster of a Writer / 157

A Mun ster of a Writer

Nar ra tor One: The Munsters was a TV show about a fam ily of odd ballmon sters. The first show was in 1964. It lasted only twosea sons. The ac tors talk about the end of the show.

Fred Gwynne: I sure hate to see this show end. How ever, I won’t missputt ing on that pad ding and hav ing lifts in my boots.

Yvonne DeCarlo: I’ll miss play ing your wife, but I won’t miss wear ing allthat makeup!

Al Lewis: I won’t miss that makeup ei ther. Mel, I think you had theeas i est role of all. You just had to say “Nev er more.”

Mel Blanc: That’s true, but that one word could sure stir up Fred!Nev er more! Nev er more! Nev er more!

Fred Gwynne: Now stop teas ing me, Mel! You know I’d never get mad at you. It was al ways my char ac ter Herman get ting mad atthat pesky ra ven.

Butch Pat rick: I’ll prob a bly never have a role as good as this one. Thebest ep i sodes were when we rode in the Mun ster Koach.

Pat Priest: I thought the Dragula was great, too. I won der what we’llall be do ing ten years from now? Let’s agree that we’ll getto gether then and see how we’re all do ing in our ca reers.

Fred Gwynne: Pat, that’s a ter rific idea. Do you mind or ga niz ing it forev ery one? Maybe Mel will have learned a new word bythen.

Mel Blanc: Just you wait! Well, I have to go. Bugs and the oth ers arewait ing for me. Th-th-th-that’s all folks!

Nar ra tor Two: Ten years later, the group gath ers again. Fred has broughtalong his wife, Foxy. Mel greets ev ery one in one of hismost fa mous voices.

Mel Blanc: What’s up, Doc? Hey, ev ery one. Meet my son, Noel, andthen tell us what you’ve been do ing lately.


Fred Gwynne: Noel, it’s great to see you and ev ery one else again. Ibrought along my wife, Foxy. She’ll agree that I missbe ing Herman Mun ster a lot.

Foxy Gwynne: He may miss the show and work ing with all of you, buthe’s keep ing pretty busy. He’s got two ca reers go ing.

Al Lewis: I’ve seen you in a cou ple of Broad way shows, Fred. Howwould you have time for any thing else?

Fred Gwynne: Well, you know I’ve al ways like to play around withwords. And I stud ied art af ter I got out of the navy. So Icame up with this lit tle book idea, and a pub lisher liked it.

Foxy Gwynne: It’s not just a lit tle idea. It’s a very clever idea.

Noel Blanc: This sounds mys te ri ous. Is the book out yet? Have youbrought a copy along?

Foxy Gwynne: I just hap pen to have a copy in my hand bag. But I’ll letFred ex plain what it’s about while you take a look at it.

Fred Gwynne: It’s called The King Who Rained. It builds on the idea thatsome words sound the same. But these words are spelleddif fer ently. They also have dif fer ent mean ings. So, in steadof a king reign ing, or rul ing, over his king dom, this king is rain ing like he’s a cloud.

Yvonne DeCarlo: That re ally is clever. I just thought of an otherex am ple—rein, like the reins you hold when rid ing ahorse. Aren’t those called ho mo phones?

Fred Gwynne: You’re right. Not all of the book uses ho mo phones,how ever. Some are things that would just make kids laugh. They are ex am ples of mis un der stand ings that kids might have.

Butch Pat rick: You mean like this page where the girl says that her daddy has a mole on his nose?

Noel Blanc: Look at that draw ing, ev ery one. Who does it re mind you of?

Ev ery one: Fred!


Noel Blanc: Here’s a funny page. This one says that boars are com ingto din ner. I can see how kids would get con fused eas ily.

Mel Blanc: Are you go ing to do any other books, Fred?

Fred Gwynne: Well, they were pretty happy with this one. So my nextone is com ing out any day now.

Al Lewis: What’s your next book called? The King’s Thrown? Youknow, thrown like a ball, in stead of the throne that a kingsits on.

Fred Gwynne: Very funny, Al, but not a bad idea. This one is called AChoc o late Moose for Din ner. But enough about me. Timeto hear what the rest of you are do ing.

Nar ra tor One: All of the Mun ster friends acted on Broad way, on TV, orin mov ies. For many years, Al wore his Mun ster suit as the host of hor ror mov ies on TV. Yvonne had a beau ti fulsing ing voice and per formed in many Broad way shows.She also had roles in hor ror films.

Nar ra tor Two: Mel Blanc did the voices for doz ens of car toon char ac ters.He trained his son Noel to do voice char ac ter iza tion. Noeltook over many of Mel’s voices af ter Mel died.

Nar ra tor One: Butch had many TV roles, played in a rock band, and hasbeen co-host of Ma ca bre Thea tre. Pat was also on manyTV shows, such as Be witched, and in films.

Nar ra tor Two: Fred kept act ing un til 1992, a year be fore he died. He alsokept writ ing for chil dren. His books with wordplay andjokes still make kids and adults laugh to day.


See ing the MagicSee ing the MagicSee ing the Magic

Trina Schart Hyman1939–2004


Trina Schart Hyman loved fairy tales, es pe cially “Lit tle Red Rid ing Hood.” She knew froma young age that she wanted to be an art ist. Al though very bright, she was mis er a ble in school un -til she at tended art col lege in Phil a del phia. She mar ried young and moved with her hus band forhis work, study ing art along the way. Af ter her di vorce, she worked for Cricket mag a zine dur ingmost of the 1970s. She strug gled for many years to rec on cile work ing with be ing a sin gle mother. She has won many awards for her il lus tra tions. She also gave fre quent in ter views and wroteabout her ex pe ri ences as an art ist. This script was de vel oped from her interviews and speeches.


Place the fol low ing read ers in the back row: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Mother, Karleen,and Har ris. Place the fol low ing read ers in the front row: Li brar ian One, Li brar ian Two, Trina,Friend One, Friend Two. The stage can in clude ar ti facts from “Lit tle Red Rid ing Hood,” such asa red cape, bas ket of good ies, and a stuffed wolf or dog. When as sign ing roles, note that the lasttwo read ings by Trina are ex cerpted di rectly from her Caldecott ac cep tance speech. There fore,the read abil ity is higher than Grade Three and should be rehearsed by the reader.


Read aloud Trina Schart Hyman’s Lit tle Red Rid ing Hood. Ex plore the il lus tra tions, es pe -cially the de tails in the bor ders. Then ask:

• Did you have a fa vor ite story when you were a pre schooler?

• Did you act it out? If so, what char ac ter were you?

• What is your fa vor ite fairy tale now?

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• What chal lenges did Trina Schart Hyman face in her life?

• What kind of art would you want to make if you could be an art ist? Paint ings? Wa ter -col ors? Black and white? Cut pa per?

Dis cuss other il lus tra tors’ styles and con trast them with Trina Schart Hyman’s.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Mother, Karleen

Grade Three: Trina, Har ris, Li brar ian One, Li brar ian Two, Friend One, Friend Two


162 \ See ing the Magic

See ing the Magic

Nar ra tor One: Trina lis tens to her mother read to her. She is fin ish ing“Lit tle Red Rid ing Hood.”

Trina: Read it again, Mommy. You know that’s my most fa vor ite story.

Mother: I’ve read it three times to day, Trina! That’s enough. Youcan prob a bly read it to your self by now.

Nar ra tor Two: Trina can read the story. She re al ized when she was fouryears old that the words on the page matched the wordsshe was hear ing. But she still loved hear ing her mother and fa ther read to her.

Mother: Be sides, I have some thing for you, Trina. Look what Imade for you.

Trina: It’s a cape, just like Lit tle Red Rid ing Hood’s! Mommy,can I use that bas ket in the kitchen? Tippy can be the bigbad wolf, and I can go to grand mother’s house! Thankyou, Mommy!

Mother: Your grand mother lives hun dreds of miles away! Do youre ally think you can make it all that way? You need to getback be fore din ner.

Trina: Don’t worry, Mommy. I’ll be back as soon as thewoods man res cues grand mother and me!

Mother: Then let me put some good ies in that bas ket. Don’t for get,Trina. Don’t speak to any strang ers!

Nar ra tor One: Trina spends many happy hours play ing in her back yard.Tippy does n’t even re al ize he’s the wolf. When her fa therre turns home each day, she greets him hap pily, just as ifshe is es cap ing a real wolf.

Nar ra tor Two: Be fore long, it is time for Trina to at tend school. She skips first grade, but she dis likes fol low ing all the rules. Shepre fers doo dling and draw ing pic tures.


Nar ra tor One: When she’s at home, Trina loves to play with her youn gersis ter, Karleen. They both en joy sto ries, pa per dolls, andfan ci ful games. The years pass, and Trina be gins at tend ing art school.

Karleen: What is col lege like, Trina?

Trina: It’s won der ful at art col lege! I don’t get in trou ble fordraw ing all day. That’s what they ex pect the stu dents to do.

Karleen: What are the other stu dents like?

Trina: They are all dif fer ent, but they are also all the same. Theyare all art ists, and we talk, eat, live, and dream about art.

Nar ra tor Two: Trina gets mar ried when she is in col lege. Her hus bandgets a job and they move around for his ca reer. She stud ies art in Boston and Swe den. She learns about book de signand printmaking. One day, while they are liv ing inSwe den, she tells Har ris, her hus band, some news.

Trina: Har ris, I’ve been asked to il lus trate a book!

Har ris: That’s ex cit ing news, Trina! What is the book about?What kind of il lus tra tions will you draw?

Trina: It’s a chil dren’s book, but I don’t know what it is aboutyet. It’s in Swed ish, so I’ll have to trans late it be fore I can start.

Har ris: How long will it take you to do the il lus tra tions?

Trina: I’ve never il lus trated a book be fore. I just don’t know.First I have to fig ure out the story!

Nar ra tor One: Trina’s ca reer has be gun. She and Har ris re turn to theUnited States. A few years af ter the birth of their daugh ter, they get a di vorce. Trina is now a sin gle mother, try ing toraise Katrin and earn a living.


Nar ra tor Two: Trina moves with some friends to New Hamp shire. Shegoes to work for Cricket mag a zine. She di rects the artpro gram. Cricket be comes one of the best mag a zines forchil dren. She does her own art, too. In 1984, her ca reergets a big boost when the phone rings early one Jan u arymorning.

Li brar ian One: Good morn ing, Trina. I am with the Caldecott com mit tee.Are you sit ting down?

Trina: I’m sit ting now!

Li brar ian One: Good news, Trina. You’ve won the Caldecott HonorMedal for Lit tle Red Rid ing Hood.

Nar ra tor One: This is a big honor, but a big ger honor co mes a year later.The phone rings again one Jan u ary morn ing.

Li brar ian Two: Trina, I hope you’re awake. Great job again! This timeyou’ve won the Caldecott Medal for Saint George and the Dragon.

Nar ra tor Two: Trina talks with some friends af ter she gets the call aboutthe award.

Friend One: I am so ex cited for you, Trina. This is the high est honoryou can get. Have you started think ing about what you’llsay when you re ceive the award?

Trina: I have been think ing more about my art and my life. Iwould like to get out of the pub lish ing busi ness. I feel likeI’m in a rut, but I need to make a liv ing. I don’t know howelse to do that ex cept with book il lus trat ing.

Friend Two: That’s the way it is for any one try ing to raise a child alone. You have to make dif fi cult choices, but you don’t have toget in a rut.

Trina: I would n’t give up be ing an art ist, and I would n’t give uphav ing a child. I do need to make a liv ing, but I think Ineed to do some art just for my self. That might help bringsome bal ance to my life—if I can find the time! I need towrite that speech be fore I change my life!


Friend One: I know your speech will be just as great as youril lus tra tions.

Nar ra tor One: Trina does write a great speech. This por tion talks abouthow she thinks about her draw ings.

Trina: I think I was born draw ing. I drew be cause I needed to aswell as for the sheer joy of it. I feel like an ac tor pre par ingfor a role when I’m work ing on a book. I need to get in side my char ac ters and be gin to think and feel their thoughtsand feel ings be fore I can suc ceed in my il lus tra tions. . . .

Nar ra tor Two: Trina’s words con clude our story of a truly mag i cal art ist.

Trina: One of the nic est things about be ing an art ist is the abil ityto see things a lit tle dif fer ently, a lit tle more care fully,per haps a lit tle more imag i na tively, than most other peo ple do. . . To be able to see the pos si bil i ties in things; to seethe magic in them . . . .


A Frog and a ToadA Frog and a ToadA Frog and a Toad

Ar nold Lobel1933–1987


Ar nold Lobel used draw ing and oral sto ry tell ing to fill his time as a child. He was of ten sickand missed a lot of school. When re turn ing to school in the third grade, he was be hind the rest ofhis class mates and was of ten picked on. His sto ry tell ing and draw ings won over his class mates.An early il lus tra tor for mag a zines and ads, he il lus trated his first book, Red Tag Come Back, in1961. The first book he wrote, Mis ter Mus ter, was the prod uct of his many vis its to the Pros pectPark Zoo with his fam ily. The Frog and Toad se ries came about as a re quest from an ed i tor whowas look ing for some thing to catch the at ten tion of chil dren as a fol low-up to Dr. Seuss and thebooks based on the Dolch word lists. Us ing cre ative wa ter color sketches, rep e ti tion, and shortsen tences, Lobel was able to build a se ries of books on friend ship with hu mor and events thatchil dren eas ily re lated to.


The nar ra tor should sit to one side of the stag ing area. The other read ers should sit on the op -po site side of the stag ing area. The girls can stand be hind a ta ble to do their pup pet show. TheToad and Frog pup pets can be made quickly by glu ing an over sized pic ture of a toad and a frog toa brown pa per bag. A third bag can have the face of a man drawn on it to rep re sent the au thor. Ifyou are not us ing the pup pet show props, the sug gested ac tions in the script can be ignored.


Be fore read ing the script, have the stu dents list the dif fer ences be tween a frog and a toad.Then ask:

• Where do frogs live?

• Where do toads live?

167

• How do most frogs and toads sur vive in the win ter time?


• How many of Frog and Toad’s char ac ter is tics are like real frogs and toads?

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Tricia, Wil lis, Jeremy

Grade Three: Mr. Dayton, JoEllen, Corbin, Troy, Ada, Damon, Maria, Freddie

Grade Four: Nar ra tor, Samantha

168 \ A Frog and a Toad

A Frog and a Toad

Nar ra tor: Mr. Dayton has asked his class to do re ports on a book oran au thor.

Samantha: Mr. Dayton, JoEllen, Tricia, and I all like the same se riesof books. May we work to gether on a re port?

Mr. Dayton: That is a good idea. I ex pect it to be a spe cial re port if youwork to gether.

JoEllen: We prom ise it will be re ally good.

Nar ra tor: The day has fi nally come for the last group to do theirre port.

Mr. Dayton: Girls, it is time for your re port.

Tricia: We need just a few min utes to set up our things. . . .

JoEllen: (Male Pup pet) My name is Ar nold Lobel. These are mytwo best friends, Frog and Toad.

Samantha: (Frog Pup pet) We are his best friends be cause we madehim very fa mous.

JoEllen: An ed i tor asked me to write a book. The first book I wrotefor him was called Frog and Toad Are Friends.

Samantha and Tricia: That’s us!

Tricia: (Toad Pup pet) We be came a se ries of books. They arecalled easy read ers.

JoEllen: I use very short sen tences in my books.

Samantha: And he uses the same words over and over and over andover.

Tricia: We sound silly when we talk.

JoEllen: That may be, but chil dren quickly learn how to read.

Tricia: Our books have very short chap ters in them.


Samantha: Our books aren’t just about words and chap ters. They areabout a lov ing friend ship be tween Toad and Frog.

JoEllen: The books are funny, too. And it is easy to guess what will hap pen next in my sto ries. Each of you is a uniquechar ac ter in my sto ries.

Samantha: I am al ways very calm. I love to be out doors and dothings.

Tricia: I get very ex cited. I shout a lot. I grum ble, too. And I amal ways wor ry ing.

Samantha: It is up to me to help Toad when he gets up set. I es pe cially need to help him when he tries to be brave.

Tricia: I can’t help the way I am. I did n’t write me this way!

JoEllen: I made each of you very dif fer ent. You bal ance each otherout. Where Toad is weak, Frog is strong. When one of you is funny, the other is se ri ous. Re gard less of what you twogo through, you are al ways good friends.

Samantha: I am a great sto ry teller. Does any one know the ti tles of thebooks where I tell good sto ries?

Wil lis: In Days with Frog and Toad you told the story “Shiv ers.”

Corbin: You told the story “The Cor ner” in Frog and Toad AllYear. I re ally like that story.

Tricia: I wish I could have told a story.

JoEllen: Toad, you are not a sto ry teller. Your pur pose is to makeread ers feel good. You even make read ers laugh.

Tricia: Is that a good thing?

Samantha: Yes it is. Ev ery one needs a good laugh.

Tricia: Let’s see if you are right. Who can tell me some thing I didthat made them laugh?

Troy: You planted a gar den. You kept shout ing at the seed tomake them grow. Then you started to worry that you havescared them and they won’t grow. Next you start to singand dance!


Ada: I thought it was funny when you went to buy Frog an icecream cone. You bought two of them and they meltedbe fore you ever got to give one to Frog. You were a hugechoc o late mess!

JoEllen: Now don’t you feel better about your self, Toad? You havemade peo ple laugh. I made you look dif fer ent, also.

Tricia: Was that sup posed to make peo ple laugh, too? I am shortand fat and brown. Frog is tall, green and is a snappydresser. Could I have a better ward robe?

Samantha: You don’t need a new ward robe to be a good friend or tomake me feel better. Re mem ber when I was sick and youcame to take care of me? That is more im por tant than howyou look or dress.

JoEllen: Very well said, Frog. Does any one have any ques tionsabout my books or me?

Damon: Who does the il lus tra tions for your books?

JoEllen: I do all of them. Which ones do you like the best?

Damon: The fear you drew on their faces when the rocks werefall ing to ward them. That was in the book Drag ons andGi ants.

Troy: I liked the sketches of Toad while he waited for his seedsto grow.

Corbin: I liked the sketches of the old dark frog in the story“Shiv ers” that Frog tells Toad. He was re ally scary.

Wil lis: Did you only write books about Frog and Toad?

JoEllen: I wrote Mouse Soup and Grass hop per on the Road. I wrote a lot of an i mal books.

Maria: Where do you get your mod els for the an i mals in yourbooks?

JoEllen: A zoo was close to my apart ment. I would go there of tenwith my fam ily. I could sketch the an i mals there.

Freddie: Where did the mod els for Frog and Toad come from?


JoEllen: We went to Ver mont a lot. There were toads and frogs allover Ver mont.

Maria: Did you write or did you il lus trate books first?

JoEllen: I did il lus tra tions for other au thors first. I was sick when Iwas in grade school. I missed all of sec ond grade. While Iwas sick, I did a lot of draw ing. I also told sto ries aboutmy draw ings, but I did n’t write them down.

Jeremy: Where do your book ideas come from?

JoEllen: I am a day dreamer. I see the pic tures in my mind. Then Icome up with the words for the story I have drawn.

Jeremy: Did you ever want to do some thing else? Maybe be a doc tor?

JoEllen: Never! Mak ing books is too much fun.

Corbin: What do you use to make your draw ings?

JoEllen: I al ways use wa ter col ors. I like them best. I can fade onecolor into an other with them. I think our time is up, is n’t itMr. Dayton?

Mr. Dayton: It was up a long time ago. But your pup pet show was soin ter est ing I hated to stop you. Thank you for all the workyou did on your re port, girls. Say good bye!

Ev ery one: Good bye!


Who Is the TrueMother Goose?

Who Is the True Mother Goose?Who Is the True Mother Goose?

Mother Goose aka Eliz a beth Goose1665–1758


Some his to ri ans as sert that the source for the Mother Goose rhymes was Eliz a beth Goose,wife of Isaac Goose of Boston, Mas sa chu setts. Eliz a beth Fos ter mar ried him when she wastwenty-seven, rais ing his ten chil dren, plus the six that they had to gether. There is no de fin i tivean swer to the ques tion re gard ing the true or i gin of Mother Goose. Fur ther, his to ri ans con tinue tospec u late on the or i gins of many nurs ery rhymes. This script pro vides an in tro duc tion to thebackground of some pop u lar nurs ery rhymes. The in for ma tion has been gath ered from TheOx ford Dic tio nary of Nurs ery Rhymes ed ited by Iona and Pe ter Opie (New York, Ox ford Uni ver -sity Press, 1997). The punc tu a tion for the rhymes, which are read by all the char ac ters (Ev ery -one), has been adapted to al low for eas ier read ing.


Mother Goose can sit on a stool in the cen ter of the stage with the nurs ery rhyme char ac terssit ting at her feet. If pre ferred, the nar ra tors can prompt the au di ence to join in with the read ing of the rhymes by dis play ing chart pa per or post ers with the scripts. Ad di tional read ers can be as -signed to the “Ev ery one” speakers.

173


Be gin by re cit ing a few nurs ery rhymes, such as “Pat-a-cake,” Pease Por ridge Hot,” or “Pe -ter Pe ter Pump kin-Eater.” Then ask:

• What are your fa vor ite nurs ery rhymes?

• How did you learn them?

• Where do you think they come from?

Af ter read ing the script, see how many more nurs ery rhymes the stu dents can re mem ber.Are there cul tural dif fer ences in the stu dents’ nurs ery rhymes? If so, ex plore how they are alikeand different.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Mother Goose, King of France, Georgie Porgie

Grade Three: Lit tle Boy Blue, Old King Cole, Lit tle Dog Gone, Mouse, Cat, Jack Hor -ner, Jack be Nim ble

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Lit tle Bo-peep, Fly

Var i ous Grades: Ev ery one

174 \ Who Is the True Mother Goose?

Who Is the True Mother Goose?

Nar ra tor One: Have you ever won dered who the real Mother Goose is?Many peo ple think she was Mrs. Eliz a beth Goose. Shelived in Boston in the late 1600s. She mar ried a man whohad ten chil dren and then they had six more chil dren. Thatis a lot of chil dren to en ter tain!

Nar ra tor Two: Some peo ple be lieve that Mrs. Goose made up all thenurs ery rhymes, but that’s not true. Nurs ery rhymes camefrom many dif fer ent times and places. Just lis ten.

Mother Goose: It is true that I loved sing ing to my chil dren. My daugh terEliz a beth loved the rhymes, too. When she grew up, shemar ried Thomas Fleet. He was a printer, and he wrotedown many of the rhymes. I’m sorry to say that no one can find proof of that first book.

Lit tle Bo-peep: I prob a bly was n’t in that book. It was in a book printed inLon don in about 1777. Do you re mem ber the rhyme?

Ev ery one: Lit tle Bo-peep has lost her sheep, and can’t tell where tofind them. Leave them alone, and they’ll come home, andbring their tails be hind them.

Lit tle Boy Blue: My rhyme is much older. Some peo ple think that I amabout Car di nal Wolsey. He was an ad vi sor to King Henrythe Eighth. That was in the early 1500s. Car di nal Wolseyhad a lot of power. Here’s my rhyme.

Ev ery one: Lit tle Boy Blue, come blow your horn. The sheep’s in themeadow. The cow’s in the corn. Where is the boy wholooks af ter the sheep? He’s un der the hay stack, fast asleep. Will you wake him? No, not I. For if I do, he’s sure to cry.

Mother Goose: Speak ing of kings, we have a fa mous king here.


Old King Cole: Many peo ple have tried to fig ure out where my song camefrom. Some one thought I was named af ter some one wholived in the third cen tury. Now that is a very long timeago! An other per son thought I was meant to be a richcloth ing mer chant who lived like a king. I like it that thereis a bit of mys tery about me, so I’m not go ing to tell thetruth. Make an old man happy though. Read my song.

Ev ery one: Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soulwas he. He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl,and called for his fid dlers three. Ev ery fid dler he had afid dle, and a very fine fid dle had he. Twee tweedle dee,tweedle dee, went the fid dlers. Oh, there’s none so rare ascan com pare with King Cole and his fid dlers three.

King of France: Don’t for get about me! You may not re mem ber my verse,so let’s say it now.

Ev ery one: The king of France went up the hill with forty thou sandmen. The king of France came down the hill and neverwent up again.

King of France: My verse is short. But I can tell you about it. I am KingHenry the Fourth. I had a huge army in 1610. Sadly, I waskilled soon af ter that march.

Georgie Porgie: Well, at least you know about your back ground. No oneknows for sure about me. I like to think it’s true that I wasre ally Charles II. He was king of Eng land in the 1600s. Iguess I’ll never know. But I still love to kiss girls—andrun away!

Ev ery one: Georgie Porgie, pud ding and pie. Kissed the girls andmade them cry. When the boys came out to play, GeorgiePorgie ran away.

Lit tle Dog Gone: Most peo ple don’t know who wrote my song, but I do.Septimus Win ner lived in Phil a del phia in the late 1800s.He wrote mu sic and pub lished more than two thou sandpieces. The song we sing is changed a lit tle from what hewrote. But it’s still my fa vor ite song.


Ev ery one: Oh where, oh where has my lit tle dog gone? Oh where, ohwhere can he be? With his ears cut short and his tail cutlong, oh where, oh where is he?

Mother Goose: There are lots of other rhymes about an i mals. Let’s hearfrom that mouse who loved to run up and down the clock.

Mouse: Don’t you love the rhythm in my nurs ery rhyme? Hick orydickory dock. The mouse ran up the clock. Here’s the truth about my rhyme. I come from Scot land, and shep herdsused the rhyme to help count their sheep. Chil dren wouldsay the rhyme to de cide who went first in a game. I’veprob a bly been around for hun dreds of year, but I’m not too old to make that trip up the clock again.

Ev ery one: Hick ory, dickory dock. The mouse ran up the clock. Theclock struck one. The mouse ran down. Hick ory, dickory, dock.

Cat: You’re lucky I was busy with my fid dle or you might have been my lunch! My rhyme is called a non sense verse. Thefirst time I was writ ten down was in 1765. There are allkinds of ideas about the mean ing of my rhyme. No oneknows for sure, but I don’t think that mat ters. It’s moreim por tant that it’s fun.

Ev ery one: Hey did dle did dle. The cat and the fid dle. The cow jumped over the moon. The lit tle dog laughed to see such sport.And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Fly: Speak ing of fid dles, peo ple were say ing my rhyme at thesame time. Back then, it started out like this.“Fid dle-dee-dee! Fid dle-dee-dee! The fly shall marry thehum ble-bee.” I bet you never heard of a hum ble-beebe fore. It’s just an old-fash ioned way to say bum ble bee.Let’s say it the mod ern way.

Ev ery one: Fid dle-dee-dee! Fid dle-dee-dee! The fly shall marry thebum ble bee. The bum ble bee was never so glad as when she had met with so pretty a lad, as . . . Fid dle-dee-dee!Fid dle-dee-dee! The fly shall marry the bum ble bee.


Mother Goose: Be fore we run out of time, let’s hear from some of the men who share the same name—Jack. Lit tle Jack Hor ner,would you like to start?

Jack Hor ner: This may be my story—or it may not be. I worked for anab bot when Henry the Eighth was king of Eng land. Theab bot sent me to Lon don with a Christ mas gift. It was a pie that had some im por tant pa pers in it. I took those pa pers,and that gave me the right to own a manor, a very finehome. Of course my fam ily thinks I bought the manormy self. A manor would be quite a “plum,” but do youre ally think I’d steal from the king?

Ev ery one: Lit tle Jack Hor ner sat in a cor ner, eat ing a Christ mas pie.He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum. And said,“What a good boy am I!”

Jack be Nim ble: My rhyme was just for fun. Peo ple in Eng land liked tojump over a can dlestick for luck. If you could jump over acan dle with out putt ing it out you’d have good luck in thenext year. I guess if your skirt or pants caught on fire, youhad bad luck right away!

Ev ery one: Jack be nim ble. Jack be quick. Jack jump over thecan dle stick.

Mother Goose: I’m go ing to end with one last nurs ery rhyme. You maynot have heard it be fore. This rhyme was told whenchil dren would keep ask ing for an other story. Here it is:I’ll tell you a story about Jack a Nory. And now my story’s be gun. I’ll tell you an other of Jack and his brother. Andnow my story is done!

Ev ery one: Good bye!


Cel e brat ing the Art istof Olvera Street

Cel e brat ing the Art ist of Olvera StreetCel e brat ing the Art ist of Olvera Street

Leo Politi1908–1996


Leo Politi cap tured the heart of Los An geles and its peo ple in his chil dren’s books andcount less artworks. He was called the “Art ist of Olvera Street.” Born in Cal i for nia, his par entsmoved the fam ily to It aly in 1941 when World War II be gan. He re turned to Cal i for nia in 1951and es tab lished him self as an art ist. Many of his wa ter color il lus tra tions were re pro duced inBunker Hill, writ ten for the adult au di ence. The book chron i cled the de mo li tion of Bunker Hill in fa vor of large of fice build ings. He was re ferred to by many as a hu mor ous man. Like many art ists dur ing those early years, he strug gled fi nan cially, of ten sell ing his paint ings for just enoughmoney to put food on the din ner ta ble. This script touches on the cen ten nial cel e bra tion that tookplace dur ing 2008 in the Los An geles area. The Web site www.leopoliti2008centennial.org pro -vides in for ma tion about Mr. Politi and the celebration in his honor.


The nar ra tors, Mrs. Flow ers, and Mr. Gar cia can sit on one side. Mr. Diaz should sit in themid dle. The chil dren should sit on the other side of the stag ing area. Books by Leo Politi can bedis played on the stage.

179

www.leopoliti2008centennial.org


Start the group by dis cuss ing their birth year(s). Then ask:

• What is a cen ten nial? What does it cel e brate? Then share that peo ple cel e brated LeoPoliti, a fine il lus tra tor, dur ing his cen ten nial in 2008. Then ask in what year he wouldhave been born.

• What is a mi gra tion of swal lows? (Each year the swal lows mi grate back to the Mis -sion San Juan Capistrano, on March 19, St. Jo seph’s Day.)

• Why would the swal lows re turn to the same place year af ter year?

• What is a mis sion?

Af ter the read ing of the script, read aloud The Song of the Swal lows. In vite stu dents to do re -search on the mi gra tion of the swal lows or mis sions.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Mrs. Flow ers, Mr. Gar cia, Fe lix

Grade Three: Susannah, Tim o thy, Hailey, Alanzo, Clarissa, Tito, Sara

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Mr. Diaz, Nar ra tor Two

180 \ Cel e brat ing the Art ist of Olvera Street

Cel e brat ing the Art ist of Olvera Street

Nar ra tor One: Mr. Diaz is meet ing with Mrs. Flow ers and Mr. Gar cia.They run the sum mer read ing clubs. He has an idea forfin ish ing the com ing sum mer program.

Mr. Diaz: How many chil dren come to your sum mer read ing clubs?

Mrs. Flow ers: Last sum mer there were one hun dred chil dren who startedthe club. Only half read all of the books on their list. Ithink they get bored be fore they are done.

Mr. Diaz: I have an idea that may keep the kids read ing through outthe pro gram. The city is hav ing a party. It’s in honor ofLeo Politi. All year long there will be events in his honor.

Mr. Gar cia: We’ve heard about the events, and we have plans to honorhim. His books will be on our read ing lists.

Mr. Diaz: That pro vides the per fect start for my idea. I want toor ga nize a Leo Politi Day. The chil dren will have to fin ishall of their read ings for the sum mer.

Mr. Gar cia: What will the chil dren do that day?

Mr. Diaz: First, they will go to a gal lery to see Leo Politi’s art. Theywill ride down Olvera Street and through Bunker Hill. Wewill go to lunch and then go to the San Juan CapistranoMis sion. The kids will hear the story Song of theSwal lows.

Mrs. Flow ers: That sounds like a won der ful day! You know, you couldhave ev ery child go on the trip who reads the books.

Mr. Diaz: Would ei ther of you like to do the nar ra tion on the trip?

Mr. Gar cia: I’d like to share that with you, Mrs. Flow ers. We can learnmore about Mr. Politi to gether.

Nar ra tor Two: Just as they start to leave, they no tice some chil drenlis ten ing.

Susannah: Ex cuse me. Who is Mr. Politi?


Mr. Diaz: He is an au thor and art ist who lived in Bunker Hill. Hewould take his ea sel to Olvera Street to make draw ings ofthe chil dren at play. He wrote books about the chil drenwho played in the neigh bor hood.

Tim o thy: Did you say the city is hav ing a party for him? Why?

Mr. Diaz: If he were still alive, he would be one hun dred years oldthis year. Ev ery where you go there will be events in his honor.

Mrs. Flow ers: Per haps you can join the sum mer read ing pro gram. Thenyou can learn more.

Susannah: I’ll ask my mother about sign ing up.

Tim o thy: Me too. She’s check ing out some li brary books now.

Nar ra tor One: Soon, the sum mer read ing clubs have come to an end. Thechil dren line up for the buses to take them on their trip inhonor of Leo Politi.

Mr. Gar cia: Boys and girls, this is Mr. Diaz. He or ga nized the tripto day.

Mr. Diaz: I hope ev ery one of you en joys the day.

Hailey: Mr. Diaz, are you go ing to go with us on our trip to day?

Mr. Diaz: Un for tu nately, I have some meet ings at the li brary. I’llmeet you at lunch and you can tell me all about yourmorn ing. I’ll spend the af ter noon with you at the mis sion.

Alanzo: Why are we vis it ing a mis sion, Mr. Diaz?

Mr. Diaz: I think I’ll let you dis cover why this mis sion is spe cial.

Nar ra tor Two: The morn ing went very fast. When the chil dren meet Mr.Diaz at lunch, they are all ex cited about what they have seen.

Fe lix: Mr. Diaz, did you know an art ist lived right here in our city?

Mr. Diaz: Yes, I did, Fe lix. What did you learn about Leo Politi?

Clarissa: When he was six years old, he moved to It aly. His par entswere from It aly.


Tito: In It aly he went to art school at age fif teen. He came backhere when he was twenty-three years old.

Sara: We saw a lot of his paint ings at the gal lery. He liked todraw peo ple and drew a lot of pic tures of his wife, too. Heliked to paint with wa ter col ors. But it is sad, be cause noone paid him very much for his paint ings. Now they areworth a lot of money.

Hailey: He did sculp tures, and he wrote more than twenty books!

Mr. Diaz: Have any of you read any of his books?

Alanzo: I read some of his books, in clud ing one about a mis sionand swal lows. Are we go ing to that mis sion?

Mr. Diaz: Yes, we are, Alanzo. While we are at the mis sion, we arego ing to hear the story that he wrote about the mis sioncalled Song of the Swal lows. Is ev ery one done with lunchand ready to go? Then let’s get on the buses.

Nar ra tor One: At the mis sion, they hear Mr. Politi’s story about Juan andthe swal lows. Swal lows fly all around them.

Clarissa: Mr. Diaz, a swal low is sit ting on your head!

Mr. Diaz: Swal lows are very gen tle birds. I am sure Juan did n’t mind if they sat on his head ei ther. Have you en joyed your day?

Tito: It is the best day I have had in my whole life! I had neverbeen to a gal lery be fore. And I have never seen so manypaint ings be fore.

Sara: It was a won der ful day, Mr. Diaz. Thank you for |ar rang ing this.

Mr. Diaz: Be fore we go, come with me to the front of the mis sion. Ihave a pho tog ra pher wait ing for us. Each one of you isgo ing to get a copy of our pho to graph so you will al waysre mem ber this day.

Fe lix: Will you stand be side me, Mr. Diaz? That way when Ilook at the pic ture I will al ways be able to find you in the pic ture.


Nar ra tor Two: There were events to honor Mr. Politi for a full year in theLos An geles area. You can see his paint ings in thegal ler ies and li brar ies in Los An geles. If you can’t get toLos An geles, you can see his work on the Internet.

Nar ra tor One: And if you can’t get on the Internet, just go to your near est li brary. You’ll find won der ful books by Leo Politi. Checkit out!


Tickle Me with Po etryTickle Me with Po etryTickle Me with Po etry

Shel Silverstein1930–1999


Shel Silverstein was a pri vate man who granted few in ter views. He loved draw ing and writ -ing as a child and built his ca reer as a car toon ist when serv ing in the U.S. Army in Ko rea and Ja pan.He be gan writ ing for chil dren with ÿ

S t o ry o f L a fc a di o , th e L i o n W h o Sh o t B a ck ,

pub lished in 1963. His fame grew with The Giv ingTree in 1964, which met with both crit i cal ac claim and crit i cism from fem i nists. Per haps hismost fa mous song was “A Boy Named Sue” re corded by Johnny Cash in 1969. With the pub li ca -tion of Where the Side walk Ends in 1974, he be came a fa vor ite of many chil dren, par ents, li brar i -ans, and teach ers. This script pro vides an out line of his life, in ter spersed with po ems from Wherethe Side walk Ends, A Light in the At tic, and Fall ing Up. The po ems can be read by in di vid ualread ers, in pairs, or as cho ral read ing. Preread all po ems for suit abil ity for your stu dents, sub sti -tut ing or skip ping po ems as pre ferred. The read ing lev els of the po ems vary, so al low stu dents topre view and prac tice them.


The nar ra tor and stu dents can sit in two or three rows, with Shel Silverstein sit ting on a highstool in the cen ter. Pho to cop ies of the po ems can be af fixed to heavy stock pa per so that stu dentscan fol low the script and turn to their in di vid ual po ems at the ap pro pri ate time. Al ter na tively,copy the po ems onto a flip chart and turn to each poem as the pre sen ta tion pro gresses. This hasthe added ad van tage of al low ing a stu dent to look up and toward the audience.

185


Show stu dents cop ies of Where the Side walk Ends, A Light in the At tic, and Fall ing Up.Then ask:

• What is your fa vor ite Shel Silverstein poem?

• What is your fa vor ite Shel Silverstein book?

• What do you think he was like as a child?

Ex plain that this script will com bine some in for ma tion about his life with some of his po -ems. Af ter read ing the script and po ems, ask:

• Can you think of other po ems that fit with Shel Silverstein’s life?

• What other po ets do you en joy read ing?

Share col lec tions of po etry by writ ers such as Jeff Moss, Jack Prelutsky, Aileen Fisher, andBruce Lansky. Dis cuss how they are alike and dif fer ent from Shel Silverstein.

Char ac ters

Grade One: Reader Four, Reader Six, Reader Eight

Grade Two: Reader One, Reader Three, Reader Seven, Reader Twelve

Grade Three: Nar ra tor, Shel Silverstein, Reader Eleven, Reader Thir teen, Reader Four teen

Grade Four: Reader Two, Reader Five, Reader Nine, Reader Six teen

Grade Five: Reader Ten, Reader Fif teen

186 \ Tickle Me with Po etry

Tickle Me with Po etry

Reader One: Reads “Where the Side walk Ends” from Where theSide walk Ends, p. 64.

Nar ra tor: Shel Silverstein was born in Chi cago in 1930. He died inKey West, Florida, in 1999. If Shel Silverstein were alive,this is what he—and his po ems—might tell us.

Shelverstein: I was born in Chi cago in 1930. When I was a teen, Iwanted to be a base ball player. But I could n’t playbase ball. I also wanted to be a hit with girls. But I could n’t even dance. It seemed like some kids, es pe cially the girls,were hard to please.

Reader Two: Reads “Hard to Please” from Fall ing Up, p. 174.

Reader Three: Reads: “Whatif” from A Light in the At tic, p. 90.

Shelverstein: I started to draw car toons and write po etry. I did n’t knowmuch about ei ther, but I liked to think that I was clever.

Reader Four: Reads “Tell Me” from Fall ing Up, p. 154.

Shelverstein: I went into the army in the 1950s. I got to draw car toonsfor a news pa per called Stars and Stripes. Some times I hadtoo much fun with those car toons. I would make fun ofthings in the mil i tary. I got into a bit of trou ble. But nottoo much.

Reader Five: Reads “Some body Has To” from A Light in the At tic, p. 28.

Shelverstein: I started writ ing chil dren’s books in the 1960s. It took awhile for my books to sell well, so I wrote songs, too.

Reader Six: Reads “Boa Con stric tor” from Where the Side walk Ends,p. 45.

Reader Seven: Reads “Rock ’n’ Roll Band” from A Light in the At tic, p. 24


Shelverstein: I loved writ ing for kids and a book of po ems called Wherethe Side walk Ends came out in 1974. I hoped I could make kids laugh.

Reader Eight: Reads “Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too” from Wherethe Side walk Ends, p. 16.

Shelverstein: Some peo ple think that my po ems teach les sons to kids.

Reader Nine: Reads “It’s Dark in Here” from Where the Side walk Ends,p. 21.

Reader Ten: Reads “La dies First” from A Light in the At tic, p. 148.

Shelverstein: Some peo ple think that they teach les sons to adults.

Reader Eleven: Reads “Obe di ent” from Fall ing Up, p. 90.

Reader Twelve: Reads “Ma and God” from Where the Side walk Ends, p. 119.

Shelverstein: Some peo ple think my po ems are rather weird.

Reader Thir teen: Reads “Reachin’ Rich ard” from Fall ing Up, p. 93.

Shelverstein: Mostly I like to play with words.

Reader Four teen: Reads “Shanna in the Sauna” from Fall ing Up, p. 104.

Shelverstein: You might also say that I like to turn things up side down.Or down side up.

Reader Fif teen: Reads “Re flec tion” from A Light in the At tic, p. 29.

Shelverstein: I’ll read the next poem, which is ex actly what I hope forall of you. Reads “Put Some thing In” from A Light in theAt tic, p. 22.

Nar ra tor: This last poem re minds us of all Shel Silverstein has given us.

Reader Six teen: Reads “This Bridge” from A Light in the At tic, p. 169.


From Si be ria toAmer ica

From Si be ria to Amer icaFrom Si be ria to Amer ica

Esphyr Slobodkina1908–2002


Esphyr Slobodkina was born in Chelyabinsk, Si be ria. The fam ily moved to Ufa, Rus sia, in1915, which be gan a se ries of moves prompted by the civil un rest in Rus sia. Esphyr and her fam -ily even tu ally moved to the United States, where she con tin ued her art stud ies. Af ter a brief mar -riage, she be gan il lus trat ing chil dren’s books, thanks to an in tro duc tion to Mar ga ret Wise Brown. She il lus trated sev eral of Ms. Brown’s books, in clud ing The Lit tle Farmer, The Lit tle Cow boy,and so forth. The most en dur ing by Ms. Slobodkina is Caps for Sale.


Ar range read ers in the fol low ing or der: Nar ra tor One through Nar ra tor Three, Fa ther,Mother, Ronya, Tamara, Esphyr, Ilya, Friend, and Mar ga ret Wise Brown.


This script in cludes a va ri ety of place names that may prove dif fi cult for stu dents to read.Write the fol low ing words on the board and dis cuss their pro nun ci a tions: Esphyr, Ufa, Si be ria,Omsk, Vladivostok, Pal es tine, Harbin, Man chu ria. Next, look up the fol low ing places on a map:Si be ria, Ufa, Omsk, Vladivostok, Pal es tine, and Harbin, Manchuria. Then ask:

• How many of you have moved? More than once? Twice?

• What does it feel like to move?

189

Dis cuss the chal lenges of mov ing long dis tances, es pe cially if you don’t know the lan guagein your new home. Ex plain that this story is about an au thor and il lus tra tor who trav eled thou -sands of miles to es cape prob lems the gov ern ment was hav ing in the be gin ning of the twen ti ethcen tury. Af ter read ing the script, ask:

• What char ac ter is tics do you think Esphyr and her fam ily showed? (Cour age, adapt -abil ity, de ter mi na tion, and the like)

• If you had to move, where would you like to live?

Read aloud Caps for Sale, which lends it self well to act ing out.

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Esphyr, Tamara, Mar ga ret

Grade Three: Fa ther, Mother, Ronya, Ilya, Friend

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Nar ra tor Three

190 \ From Si be ria to Amer ica

From Si be ria to Amer ica

Nar ra tor One: Esphyr and her fam ily like liv ing in Ufa, Rus sia. Theyhave a big ger apart ment than in Si be ria, where Esphyr was born. Her fa ther has a good job. Her mother is a tal entedsinger. They have par ties and go on sleigh rides. Thenthings be gin to change in 1917. The Rus sian Civil Warbreaks out.

Nar ra tor Two: Esphyr’s fa vor ite un cle is drafted into the White Army. He is killed in his first bat tle. Some of their friends arear rested. By 1918, Esphyr’s fa ther knows he must make a change.

Fa ther: I am send ing Mother and you girls to see Aunt Sonia. Itshould be safer there.

Esphyr: But she lives so far away. How will we get there?

Fa ther: I’ve ar ranged pas sage on an oil tanker.

Tamara: An oil tanker? Eww! We’ll prob a bly starve to death.

Mother: I think you’ll be pleas antly sur prised. We’ll eat with thecap tain and his wife. You’ll get to go on sev eralrivers—even the Volga River!

Esphyr: Well, it might be all right. But I’ll be glad when we get toAunt Sonia’s house, have some real food, and seeGrand mother.

Tamara: What about Ronya? Is he com ing, too?

Fa ther: No, he will stay be hind. Think of this as a hol i day forspe cial young la dies.

Nar ra tor Three: As prom ised, Esphyr and Tamara en joy the jour ney. Theyalso have fun vis it ing their rel a tives. The re turn jour ney isnot as much fun. The war has made it hard to travel.


Nar ra tor One: When they fi nally ar rive home, they have to share theirapart ment with rel a tives who are home less. They fear there will be food short ages. Then they learn that Grand motherhas died. The fam ily de cides they must leave again.

Mother: Chil dren, we are leav ing, this time for good. We aresell ing ev ery thing we can. We’ll give away the rest.

Esphyr: Where are we go ing?

Fa ther: First we are go ing to go on a troop train. We’ll stop to visit an un cle, and then we’ll get to Omsk. We’ll take theTrans-Si be rian Ex press train from there.

Ronya: Trains! I’m go ing to pack all my suit cases!

Fa ther: Only one suit case each—and you have to carry it. Once we get to Vladivostok, we’ll try to get a ship to Pal es tine.

Ronya: We’re also go ing on a ship? What an ad ven ture!

Nar ra tor Two: It is an ad ven ture, but a short ened one. They are un able tofind a ship, so they have to find a place to live inVladivostok. They find a small house and for three yearswatch their for tune slip away. Some thing has to change, so Mother and Fa ther make an other de ci sion.

Mother: Girls, you and I are go ing to Harbin in Man chu ria, where I am go ing to work as a dress maker.

Ronya: What about Fa ther and me?

Fa ther: It looks like I’ll have a job soon, so you can stay with meand fin ish school.

Nar ra tor Three: Mother builds a good busi ness. The girls go to school andtake art les sons. Ronya fin ishes high school and de cides to go to Amer ica.

Nar ra tor One: The Roar ing Twen ties have come to the United States.Esphyr loves the short dresses and new hair styles. She hasbe come a good dress maker and en joys a good life. But she dreams of go ing to Amer ica. The fam ily talks about theirfuture.


Mother: The only way Esphyr can go to Amer ica is as a stu dent. So she will go first and start school.

Tamara: Will Esphyr be go ing alone or will I be with her?

Fa ther: Mother will go next and start work ing. Tamara, you’ll join the fam ily next, and I’ll come last.

Nar ra tor Two: Esphyr makes the long jour ney to New York City. Thenshe dis cov ers that her brother has en rolled her in thewrong school. It is a mis sion ary school. But she stud iesEng lish there and goes to a de sign school in the eve ningun til she can go to art school. Her mother fi nally ar rives in 1929. Then they face more tough times.

Mother: Esphyr and Ronya, it is hard to find a good job. Thecoun try seems to be in a de pres sion. I am go ing to openmy own dress mak ing sa lon. There are still wealthy women who want fine dresses.

Nar ra tor Three: Tamara joins the fam ily, and the girls go to art classes.Fa ther joins the fam ily in 1931. Esphyr be comes closewith one stu dent, a fine painter. Ilya vis its her each weekat home.

Ilya: Esphyr, please quit that art school and marry me. I knowmore than all your teach ers put to gether.

Esphyr: Ilya, you keep pro pos ing, but I’m just not sure it’s right.

Ilya: Of course it’s right. Be sides, if we marry, you couldbe come a cit i zen.

Nar ra tor One: Esphyr fi nally gives in and mar ries Ilya, but it lasts onlythree years. They re main friends for many years.Mean while, an other friend changes her life.

Friend: Esphyr, I think you should il lus trate chil dren’s books. Iwant you to meet a writer friend of mine named Mar ga retWise Brown.

Esphyr: That’s a good idea. But I don’t have any art like that toshow some one. I’ll need some time to get ready.

Nar ra tor Two: Ephyr cre ates some col lages and takes them to showMar ga ret Wise Brown.


Mar ga ret: I like your art, Esphyr. It’s sim ple and hon est. Let’s talkabout what we could do to gether.

Nar ra tor Three: Esphyr il lus trates sev eral books writ ten by Mar ga ret WiseBrown. She works at a job to pay her bills. And shecon tin ues with her il lus tra tions. She be comes well knownfor her many dif fer ent works of art. But her true work ofart for chil dren is a book many of you probably know.

Nar ra tor One: It starts like this: “Once there was a ped dler who soldcaps.” Do you re mem ber it?

Nar ra tor Two: If you do, you prob a bly know what the ped dler said. If so,say it with me, “Caps. Caps for sale. Fifty cents a cap!”

Nar ra tor Three: And if you don’t know that story, it’s time to check it out!


A Sim ple LifeA Sim ple LifeA Sim ple Life

Tasha Tu dor1915–2008


Tasha Tu dor had an un con ven tional up bring ing for the times. Her mother re tained hermaiden name; her par ents di vorced when Tasha was nine years old; and she was raised by a fam -ily friend, “Aunt” Gwen, when her mother moved to Green wich Vil lage to pur sue her paint ing.Al though she en joyed her time with her par ents, her time with “Aunt” Gwen in spired a life longlove of farm ing and liv ing a sim pler life. Af ter her mar riage, she be gan il lus trat ing to help pro -vide the funds for the pur chase of a farm. She had four chil dren and pre ferred to farm in the styleof the 1800s, of ten with out mod ern con ve niences. She il lus trated nearly one hun dred booksbefore her death at age ninety-two.


Ar range the char ac ters in the fol low ing or der: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Nar ra tor Three,Star ling Bur gess, Rosamond Tu dor, Tasha Tu dor, Gwen, Thomas McCready, Bethany, Seth,and Tom. Char ac ters can be dressed in cloth ing of the early 1900s if preferred.


Share books il lus trated by Tasha Tu dor. Then ask:

• Where do you think the il lus tra tor got her ideas?

• What do you think it would be like to live on a farm?

• What do you think it would be like to live with out run ning wa ter or elec tric ity?

Af ter read ing aloud the script, ask:

• If you could change your name, what would you call your self?

195

• Tasha Tu dor pre ferred liv ing with out many mod ern con ve niences. What are the ad -van tages of liv ing a “sim ple life”?

• What are the dis ad van tages?

• What would you miss the most if you could n’t have elec tric ity?

• What would you like best about a “sim ple life”?

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Star ling Bur gess, Tom

Grade Three: Tasha Tu dor, Gwen, Thomas McCready, Bethany, Seth

Grade Four: Nar ra tor One, Nar ra tor Two, Nar ra tor Three, Rosamond Tu dor

196 \ A Sim ple Life

A Sim ple Life

Nar ra tor One: Born in Boston in 1915, Tasha has an un usual child hood.Her fa ther is named Star ling Bur gess. He de signs yachtsand air planes. Her mother is named Rosamond Tu dor. Shekeeps the name of Tu dor when she gets mar ried. Shepaints portraits.

Nar ra tor Two: The nanny teaches Tasha how to cook and sew. Bothpar ents love to read. They are not wealthy, but they havefa mous friends such as the writer Mark Twain. Tashaen joys her pleas ant child hood, even when it changes at age nine.

Rosamond Tu dor: Tasha, your fa ther and I need to talk with you about somechanges.

Star ling Bur gess: You see, we are get ting a di vorce.

Rosamond Tu dor: We won’t be liv ing to gether anymore. I’m mov ing toGreen wich Vil lage, and I will keep paint ing.

Tasha Tu dor: If you won’t be liv ing to gether, who will take care of me?

Star ling Bur gess: Now, you know that we love you very much, so we havegiven this a lot of thought. Green wich Vil lage is not thebest place for a child. My work means that I can’t takecare of you.

Rosamond Tu dor: My friend Gwen will take care of you dur ing the week,and you’ll spend week ends with me. So you’ll have thecoun try dur ing the week and have the city on theweek ends.

Tasha Tu dor: I love her farm, but I’ll miss both of you.

Nar ra tor Three: Tasha loves the sim ple coun try life of Redding,Con nect i cut. She soon calls her mother’s friend “AuntGwen” and makes many young friends. Gwen is cre ativeand fun to be around.


Gwen: Tasha, I have writ ten a new play for you and your friends.Why don’t you gather them to gether and read through it?

Tasha Tudor: Can we use the clothes in the at tic for our char ac ters?

Gwen: Those should make great cos tumes. Just put them all awaycare fully when you’re done.

Tasha Tudor: I love liv ing here, Aunt Gwen, and when I grow up I wantto have a farm, too.

Gwen: Tasha, if that is what you want to do, then I know you’llmake it hap pen!

Nar ra tor One: When Tasha is a teen ager, her mother buys a farm nearGwen’s. They spend the win ters in Ber muda and sum merson the farm. Tasha also dis cov ers a love of art. She de cides she wants to be an il lus tra tor.

Nar ra tor Two: Tasha grows up and falls in love with Thomas McCready.They get mar ried in 1938, and Tasha dreams of hav ing a farm.

Tasha Tu dor: Thomas, do you think we can have our own farm? Itdoes n’t need to be ex pen sive or fancy. In fact, I’m look ing for ward to fix ing it up my self.

Thomas McCready: I think we can get a farm some day. I also want you to thinkabout some thing else.

Tasha Tu dor: What do you mean?

Thomas McCready: I keep think ing about the story you wrote and il lus tratedfor my niece. I think you should try to get it pub lished.

Tasha Tu dor: It’s hard to break into pub lish ing, but I could try.

Nar ra tor Three: It takes a while to find a pub lisher for Pump kinMoon shine. Tasha has two chil dren and keeps dream ing of hav ing a farm. Her roy al ties from a book of Mother Goose rhymes help her re al ize her dream.

Nar ra tor One: Tasha and Thomas have two more chil dren. Tasha workshard at im prov ing the farm. They live with out run ningwa ter and elec tric ity. She washes clothes by hand, gar dens, bakes bread, and makes their clothes. The chil dren filltheir days with chores, play ing, and help ing Tasha withher il lus tra tions.


Tasha Tu dor: Chil dren, put on these dress-up clothes so I can makesome sketches.

Bethany: Can we have a tea party af ter wards?

Tom: I’ll only have a tea party if we can do a play, too.

Seth: We’ll each be a prince, and you can be the prettyprin cess. We’ll save you from a fire-breath ing dragon.

Bethany: Will you read us a story when you’re done paint ing,Mother?

Tasha Tu dor: I’ll read while you have your tea party, which might give you ideas for your play.

Tom: What story are you paint ing this time?

Seth: Are any of us in the story, Mother?

Tasha Tu dor: You’ll find out even tu ally. Let’s get to work be fore welose the af ter noon light. Af ter your tea party and play,you need to feed the horses, the cows, the chick ens, thecats, the dogs. And don’t for get to milk the cows!

Mom!

Nar ra tor Two: Many of Tasha’s sto ries do fea ture her chil dren. She also cre ates sto ries about the chil dren’s dolls. The chil drendon’t mind tak ing care of the many farm an i mals andpets. Tasha makes life on the farm too much fun.

Nar ra tor Three: Af ter the chil dren are grown up, Tasha moves toVer mont to be near Seth. He helps her build a bigfarm house, ex actly as she likes it. She con tin ues to livesim ply as she grows older.

Nar ra tor One: When Tasha is in her early eight ies, she talks about what it’s like to get old.

Tasha Tu dor: It’s won der ful to grow old. . . . Ev ery one takes great care of you. . . . I fully be lieve old age is one of the mostde light ful pe ri ods of my life.

Nar ra tor Two: Tasha Tu dor is ninety-two when she dies of old age. Sheil lus trated nearly one hun dred books.


Bethany, Seth, and Tom:

It Could Have BeenWorse

It Could Have Been WorseIt Could Have Been Worse

Margot Zemach1931–1989


Margot Zemach was born in Hol ly wood, Cal i for nia. At age five she moved to New Yorkwhen her mother, an ac tress, mar ried Benjamin Zemach who was a dance and thea tre di rec tor.Margot spent a lot of her time back stage on Broad way. She was fas ci nated with the trans for ma -tion in ac tors from plain to char ac ters on stage. As she waited back stage, she drew to keep her self amused. She also liked to tell jokes and sto ries to her self to keep from be ing bored. Fi nally, atage fif teen, she moved back to Hol ly wood. She re ceived a Fulbright schol ar ship in art andwent to Vi enna, Aus tria, to study. While there, she met Harve Fischtom. They started writ ingbooks af ter their mar riage. Harve did the words, Margot drew the il lus tra tions. In 1968, they de -cided to take their three daugh ters to Eu rope, where they lived un til Harve com mit ted sui cide in1974. Margot then re turned to Cal i for nia, where she lived and con tin ued work ing with au thorsand writ ing books.


Nar ra tors should sit off to one side of the stag ing. Hallie, Mar tha, and Gayla should be in thecen ter with the other chil dren ar ranged in a semi cir cle. Any num ber of read ers can read Ev ery -one’s lines.

200


Us ing a map, show the chil dren where Hol ly wood (Los An geles), Cal i for nia, is. TraceMargot Zemach’s trav els from Hol ly wood to New York City, back to Hol ly wood, and then over -seas. Point out the ar eas where she lived in Eu rope: It aly, Den mark, Eng land, and Aus tria. Thenask:

• Margot lived in a lot of places. Which one do you think would be the most ex cit ing?

• What is a folk tale?

• What folk tales do you know? How did you learn them?


• Margot and Harve used the name Zemach when they wrote their books. Their daugh -ter, Kaethe, uses Zemach on her books, too. She says it is to carry on her mother’s leg -acy. What do you think Margot’s leg a cies are?

Char ac ters

Grade Two: Mom, Rob, Erin

Grade Three: Hallie, Gayla, Mar tha, Ev ery one, Kelli, Wayne, Dottie, Jamie


It Could Have Been Worse / 201

It Could Have Been Worse

Nar ra tor One: Hallie, Mar tha, and Gayla have youn ger sis ters andbroth ers. The girls want to do some thing fun with themdur ing the sum mer.

Hallie: Mom? Mar tha, Gayla, and I want to do a play group thissum mer for the kids.

Mom: That is a great idea. Who are you go ing to in vite?

Mar tha: We want to in vite all the kids that live around us. Theyshould be the same ages as Rob and Kelli.

Mom: Do you re al ize how many kids that is?

Gayla: We think there are twenty of them. They may not all comeev ery time we do some thing.

Mom: What do you need from me, Hallie?

Hallie: First, can we use our back yard for the play group? Andthen would you fix lem on ade and cook ies for us?

Mar tha: You don’t have to do the lem on ade and cook ies ev eryweek. My mother said she’d fix some, too.

Gayla: And my mom said she’d do cook ies and lem on ade.

Mom: How of ten are you go ing to have these play groups?

Hallie: We thought we’d do two each month un til school starts.That would be six times.

Nar ra tor Two: Hallie’s mother agrees to have the play groups in theirback yard. She also says she will make the cook ies andlem on ade for two of the days.

Nar ra tor One: The girls make their in vi ta tions. They care fully plan whatthey will do each day. Fi nally, the first play day co mes.Eigh teen ex cited chil dren gather in Hallie’s backyard.

Mom: Girls, it looks like all the kids like your idea. What do youhave planned for to day?


Mar tha: Hallie’s go ing to read It Could Al ways Be Worse byMargot Zemach. Then we’ll see what things they can come up with for an It Could Be Worse game.

Gayla: Af ter that we’ll play tag so they have some ex er cise. Thenwe’ll do lem on ade and cook ies. We thought we could singsome silly songs. That should fill the two hours.

Nar ra tor Two: Hallie reads aloud It Could Al ways Be Worse. The girlshave worked very hard on the ques tions for their game.They are go ing to use some of Margot’s ex pe ri ences fortheir ques tions. Mar tha ex plains the game to the kids andthey start.

Hallie: When Margot was a lit tle girl, she lived in New York. Hermother was an ac tress. She would spend her daysback stage while her mother worked. She would drawpic tures of all the ac tors she saw back stage.

Ev ery one: It could al ways be worse!

Mar tha: How could it be worse?

Rob: She could have lived in the coun try with no one around.

Kelli: She would only have trees and flow ers to draw. Maybe she would see some in sects, like flies and bum ble bees.

Gayla: When she was four teen years old, she moved back toHol ly wood. She was born in Hol ly wood. She worked at alot of odd jobs, but she failed at all of them. She de cided to go to art school.


Hallie: How could it be worse?

Wayne: She could have been good at one of those jobs. Then shewould have never gone to art school or de cided toil lus trate a book.

Mar tha: At art school, she found out she en joyed do ing funnydraw ings. Sometimes she just used ink for line draw ings.Other times she used wa ter col ors to help tell the story.



Gayla: How could it be worse?

Dottie: The pic tures in her books would be re ally bor ing. They are a lot of fun to look at the way she drew them to make hersto ries better.

Hallie: Her hus band wrote the words for the first book sheil lus trated. Then she re told folk tales in most of her books.The book It Could Al ways Be Worse is a Yid dish folk taleshe re told.


Mar tha: How could it be worse?

Jamie: We would n’t get to hear a lot of folk tales if she did n’tre tell them. My mother does n’t know any folk tales.

Erin: Where do folk tales come from?

Gayla: They come from all over the world. She and her hus bandand their daugh ters lived over seas for five years. Shelearned a lot of folk tales while they lived there.

Rob: Then it re ally could have been worse. What if she hadnever gone over there to live?

Kelli: Did she write and il lus trate only folk tales?

Hallie: No. She did il lus tra tions for This Lit tle Pig Went to Mar ket and other rhymes.

Mar tha: And she drew pic tures for the song “Bingo.”

Wayne: I love to sing that song. Can we sing it?

Gayla: We were go ing to sing it later this morn ing. We can sing it now if you wish.

Nar ra tor One: Ev ery one around the block could hear the chil drensing ing. They had a lot of fun laugh ing at the mis takesthey made while they sang.

Nar ra tor Two: Fi nally, the morn ing is over. It is time for ev ery one to go home.

Jamie: This was a lot of fun. Thank you for ask ing us to come to day.


Erin: I can’t wait un til we get to come back. What will we bedo ing next?

Hallie: We are go ing to keep that a sur prise!

Gayla: Thanks for com ing. We are glad you had a good time. Bye now.

Nar ra tor One: The chil dren leave, and Gayla, ex hausted, looks at herfriends.

Gayla: Well, ev ery one seemed to en joy them selves. How do youthink it went?

Hallie and Mar tha: It could have been worse!



In dex of Au thorsand Il lus tra tors

Aardema, Verna, 3Andersen, Hans Chris tian, 107

Bemelmans, Lud wig, 113Berenstain, Stan, 118Brown, Mar ga ret Wise, 9Bur ton, Vir ginia Lee, 124

Caldecott, Randolph, 130Cooney, Barbara, 15

de Brunhoff, Jean, 21de Regniers, Beatrice Schenk, 27

Fisher, Aileen, 33Free man, Don, 39

Gág, Wanda, 135Grahame, Ken neth, 139Greenaway, Kate, 145Grimm Broth ers, 151Gwynne, Fred, 156

Hyman, Trina Schart, 161

Keats, Ezra Jack, 45Kent, John Wellington (Jack), 51

Lobel, Ar nold, 167

Mar shall, James Ed ward, 56Mar tin, Bill Jr., 62McCloskey, Rob ert, 67Moore, Clem ent Clarke, 73 Mother Goose, 173

Peet, Bill, 78Politi, Leo, 179Pot ter, Beatrix, 83

Silverstein, Shel, 185Slobodkina, Esphyr, 189Steig, Wil liam, 89

Tu dor, Tasha, 195

Ward, Lynd Kend all, 94Wisniewski, Da vid, 100

Zemach, Margot, 200

207


About the Au thors

Su zanne I. Barchers, Ed.D., has writ ten more than ninety books, rang ing from col legetextbooks to chil dren’s books. (See books and other read ers thea tre scripts atwww.storycart.com.) She has served as a pub lic school teacher, an af fil i ate fac ulty for theUni ver sity of Col o rado, Den ver, an ac qui si tions ed i tor for Teacher Ideas Press, Man ag ingEd i tor at Weekly Reader, and Ed i tor in Chief and Vice Pres i dent of Leap Frog En ter prises.She serves on the PBS Kids Me dia Ad vi sory Board and is a mem ber of the board of the As so ci -a tion of Ed u ca tional Pub lish ers (AEP).

Other re cent ti tles from Su zanne in clude Scary Read ers Thea tre, Multi cul tural Folk tales,From Atalanta to Zeus: Read ers Thea tre from Greek My thol ogy, Clas sic Read ers Thea tre forYoung Adults (with Jennifer Kroll), Judge for Your self: Fa mous Amer i can Tri als for Read ersThea tre, Get ting Ready to Read with Read ers Thea tre (with Charla R. Pfeffinger), and AgainstAll Odds: Read ers Thea tre for Grades 3-8 (with Michael Ruscoe).

Charla R. Pfeffinger re ceived her bach e lor of sci ence de gree in el e men tary ed u ca tion andher mas ter’s de gree in read ing from Il li nois State Uni ver sity, Nor mal, Il li nois. Mrs. Pfeffingerwas an ed u ca tor in Il li nois for twenty-two years be fore re tir ing. She has been a con trib ut ing au -thor to Learn ing mag a zine, Storycart Press, and the au thor of A Teen’s Book of Lists, Hol i dayRead ers Thea tre, and Char ac ter Counts! Pro mot ing Char ac ter Ed u ca tion: Read ers Thea tre.She is co-au thor with Ms. Barchers on Get ting Ready to Read with Readers Theatre.

www.storycart.com

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Multi-Grade Readers Theatre