Defeating Goblins with Teamwork

In The Porridge Pot Goblin, siblings Benny and Rose are frightened by an invisible goblin, only known by his pranks and his tracks. They fear the goblin is too big for them to stop. But working together, Benny and Rose learn they are much braver than they think.

After reading The Porridge Pot Goblin aloud, have the class discuss how teamwork saved the day for Benny and Rose. If Benny had refused to help, do they think Rose could have trapped the goblin on her own? Did Benny’s presence make Rose bolder? What role did Benny play in how they ultimately handled the goblin?

Ask students to share a time when they worked with another person to overcome a challenge. Could they have solved the problem on their own? What are the advantages of joining forces? Are there disadvantages?

Writing Prompt: Write your own goblin story. Imagine the presence of an invisible spirit in your home. How would it make itself known? What tricks would it play? Would you try to trap it or make friends? Would you work alone or with someone’s help?   

Happy Writing!

Jacqueline Jules

“Sure to Spark Intense Discussion”

by Karen Leggett Abouraya

When Ann Bausum wrote Denied Detained Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American Immigration in 2009, the starred review in Booklist called it a “landmark title, sure to spark intense discussion.” Indeed.  Eight years later, the discussion might be even more intense.

Ann Bausum is the winner of the 2017 Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award, given to an author or author-illustrator whose total work has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children.  Bausum’s work is wide-ranging – The March Against Fear: The Last Great Walk of the Civil Rights Movement and the Emergence of Black Power; Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights; Stubby the War Dog and Denied Detained Deported.

In Denied Detained Deported, Bausum ends many chapters with questions that are excellent, thought-provoking writing prompts for teens and in a few cases, younger students. 

·       “What individual rights should be sacrificed in the name of homeland security?”

·       “Do migrant workers contribute more to society than they take away?”

·       “What protections might Americans be asked to forfeit when their heritage makes them suspect during a time of war?”

Whether students are asked to write essays or debate both sides of each question, they can gain experience in using logical reasoning and facts for civil debate and discourse. 

A less intense writing activity would ask students to write a single diary entry for one of the children whose stories are told in the book. What was a day like for Mary Matsuda in a Japanese internment camp or Herb Karliner, a German Jewish boy expecting to sail to freedom and safety in the United States?  

Herb Karliner, a German Jewish boy expecting to sail to freedom and safety
in the United States in 1939

There are more stories about Chinese who came seeking gold in California in 1849 and cycles of Mexican migration in the 20^th century. As Bausum concludes, “The United States has been alternatively welcoming and hostile to those who have tried to cross through ‘the golden door’ into America.”

While you are contemplating which of Ann Bausum’s books to share with your students, make plans to hear her in person at the Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award Celebration on April 29 at Clyde’s Gallery Place in Washington, D.C.  Register here . Everyone is welcome!

 http://childrensbookguild.org/karen-leggett-abouraya

Writing Connections with Pam Munoz Ryan

by Mary Quattlebaum

Pam Munoz Ryan brings magic and music to a novel about social justice in Echo (Scholastic, 2015, ages 10-14). I talked recently with Pam about this new novel, set during World War II, and its magical harmonica.  Click here for the KidsPost/WashingtonPost  article.

Below are a few writing prompts for the classroom or for individual writers ages 8 and up.

FAIRY TALES AND MAGICAL OBJECTS:  The book opens with a fairy tale and an unlikely magical object: the ordinary harmonica.

Classroom Discussion:  Ask students how the harmonica helped the three children in the separate stories.  What did students learn about harmonicas?

Classroom Writing:  Ask students to bring in an ordinary object from home (baseball bat, stuffed toy, box, charm, etc.).  Have them write their own tale in which this object is magical.  What does it do?  If they do some research into the object (as Pam did with the harmonica), how might it enter into or make the tale even more interesting?

SOCIAL JUSTICE:  All the young characters wrestle with issues of social justice.  In Nazi Germany, Friedrich is marked as “undesirable” because of his birthmark.  In Pennsylvania, Mike and his younger brother can be farmed out to do unpaid labor by their orphanage.  In California, Ivy, who is Mexican American, must go to a school that’s different (and has fewer resources) than the one for white children.

Classroom Discussion:  How do these three children deal with the injustice in their lives?  Brainstorm other times in history when there was injustice (slavery, Civil Rights era, women denied the vote, etc.).  How did things change?  Have students think about some rules they may consider unfair at school or ways they feel they may have been treated unjustly at home or in the wider world.  How did this make them feel?  What did they do?  Have them list, first alone and then as a group, some injustices they see in this country and in the wider world.  What are some ways they might create change?

Classroom Writing:  Make up a character (or write about yourself) in a moment of injustice. First describe the injustice and how it affects others.  Then write about what happens to you or your character.  Read aloud and discuss.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT PAM:  Pam’s author website is www.pammunozryan.com.