Except When They Don't

by Laura Gehl

Except When They Don’t is written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Joshua Heinsz. The book is about how girls always love pink and princesses, and boys always love blue and robots…except when they don’t! In other words, it is a book that encourages kids not to worry about gender stereotypes and to just be themselves.

After reading Except When They Don’t out loud, try these writing activities with your students:

1. Make a list of “boy” stereotypes and “girl” stereotypes. Then write a story with a main character who does not fit with these gender stereotypes. Maybe you will write a story about a girl who is a football star, or a boy who has the lead role in a ballet. Maybe you will write about a boy who loves wearing necklaces to school, or a girl whose favorite toys are cars.  Remember: your character should have lots of sides to his or her personality, just like every real person does! A girl who loves football might also love pink and be great at math and have five pet cats. A boy who loves wearing necklaces might also be the president of the school student government and play soccer at recess and play the drums in the school band.

2. Can you think of a time in your own life when you felt like you couldn’t do something because of your gender? Maybe you couldn’t get the sparkly red shoes at the shoe store because they were “girl shoes.” Or maybe you couldn’t sign up for wrestling because “that’s for boys.”  Or if you can’t think of a memory like that, imagine that you have a friend coming to you with a secret. Your friend wants to paint his nails, but he is embarrassed to ask his mom to borrow her nail polish, because nail polish is just for girls. Or maybe your friend wants to cut her hair really short, but she is worried everyone will say she has a “boy” haircut. What advice would you give your friend? How could you help?

3. Imagine that you are the owner of a toy store. There are dolls, tea sets, trucks, trains, markers, robots…every toy you can imagine. What if a customer came up to you and said, “I want to buy presents for a little girl and a little boy. Can you give me some advice?” What questions would you ask the customer? How would you decide which toys to recommend?

4. Starting in elementary school, sports teams are usually separated by gender. There are girls soccer teams and boys soccer teams, girls basketball teams and boys basketball teams. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? Why?

5. Imagine 100 kids (50 boys, 50 girls) growing up with human parents and 100 kids (50 boys, 50 girls) growing up with alien parents. The alien parents just arrived on earth and don’t know about our human gender stereotypes. Do you think the kids raised by aliens would grow up wearing different types of clothes and liking different activities than the kids raised by human parents? Why or why not?

 Laura Gehl is the author of picture books including One Big Pair of Underwear (Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Title, International Literacy Association Honor Book, Booklist Books for Youth Editors’ Choice); Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel, And Then Another Sheep Turned Up, and Koala Challah (all PJ Library selections); the Peep and Egg series (Parents’ Choice Recommendation, Amazon Editors’ Pick, Children’s Choice Book Award Finalist); My Pillow Keeps Moving (Junior Library Guild selection, NYPL Best Books of 2018 selection); and I Got a Chicken for my Birthday (Kirkus Best Picture Books of 2018 selection). 2019 releases include Except When They Don’t (Little Bee), Dibs! (Lerner), Juniper Kai: Super Spy (Two Lions); Judge Juliette (Sterling); Always Looking Up: A Story of Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman (Whitman); and the Baby Scientist series (HarperCollins). Laura lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband and four children.  Visit her online at www.lauragehl.com

I Call Dibs!

by Laura Gehl

Dibs, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Marcin Piwowarski, is the story of two brothers. Julian calls “dibs” so frequently that his baby brother Clancy ends up saying “dibs” as his very first word. Things get out of control when Clancy starts calling dibs on a bakery, an airplane, and even the White House! But when Clancy gets trapped in space, it is Julian who needs to harness the power of dibs to rescue his little brother.

 After reading Dibs out loud, try these writing activities with your students:

1. If you could call dibs on ANYTHING, the way Clancy does, what would you call dibs on? Why?

2. Julian gets frustrated when Clancy doesn’t follow the “rules” of Dibs. Even though these rules are not written down, most kids know you can call dibs on the biggest cookie but not on a whole bakery. You can call dibs on sitting in the window seat in an airplane, but you can’t call dibs on a whole airplane. Think about rules in your life. What rules at home or school do you wish you could break? What rules do you wish other people followed? Do you have a sibling, cousin, or friend who breaks rules? How do you feel about that when it happens?

3. Some kids who read the book Dibs already know the expression “calling dibs,” and some kids have never heard the expression before. Make a list of expressions that you know. Which of these expressions do you actually use when you talk to your friends?

4. Look at your list of expressions that you know from #3. Can you imagine how a kid could take one of those expressions too far, the way Clancy takes dibs too far in the book Dibs? How could you turn that into a story? For example, think about the expression “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” What if a kid decided that she would eat ten apples—or a hundred apples—or a thousand apples—every day so that she would never, ever get sick? And then she ate so many apples that it actually made her sick! Or maybe she turned into an apple and then her grandma wanted to turn her into apple pie! Take one of the expressions from your list and write a story in which a kid takes the expression too far.

  

Bio: Laura Gehl is the author of picture books including One Big Pair of Underwear (Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Title, International Literacy Association Honor Book, Booklist Books for Youth Editors’ Choice); Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel, And Then Another Sheep Turned Up, and Koala Challah (all PJ Library selections); the Peep and Egg series (Parents’ Choice Recommendation, Amazon Editors’ Pick, Children’s Choice Book Award Finalist); My Pillow Keeps Moving (Junior Library Guild selection, NYPL Best Books of 2018 selection); and I Got a Chicken for my Birthday (Kirkus Best Picture Books of 2018 selection). 2019 releases include Except When They Don’t (Little Bee), Dibs! (Lerner), Juniper Kai: Super Spy (Two Lions); Judge Juliette (Sterling); Always Looking Up: A Story of Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman (Whitman); and the Baby Scientist series (HarperCollins). Laura lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband and four children.  Visit her online at www.lauragehl.com.

DELIVERY BEAR, COOKIES, AND CAREERS

by Laura Gehl

Delivery Bear, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Paco Sordo, is the story of a large bear named Zogby whose lifelong dream is to deliver cookies for the Fluffy Tail Cookies Company—a company staffed entirely by bunnies.

After reading Delivery Bear out loud, try these writing activities with your students:

1. Imagine you are in charge of the Fluffy Tail Cookies Company. You get to decide all of the different types of cookies that customers can order. Will you sell classics like chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin? Or creative new recipes like Peanut Butter Potato Chip Delight? Or a mix? Write or draw a list of the cookies you will sell.

2. Even when he is a small cub, Zogby knows what he wants to do when he grows up. What do YOU want to do when you grow up? What is your dream job? Why?

3. When all of the customers are scared of Zogby, he is tempted to give up on his dream. But in the end he thinks of a new way to approach the deliveries and succeeds in his own way. Think of a time in your own life when you were tempted to give up. What happened? How did you manage to overcome your frustration? Was there someone who helped you?

4. When Mrs. Rabbit hears the Fluffy Tail Cookies delivery song and opens the door, she expects to see a small bunny. Instead, she sees a large bear and screams “AAAAAAHHHH!” In this case, Mrs. Rabbit is judging Zogby based on his appearance. Have you ever judged someone based on her/his appearance? Has anyone judged you by your appearance? Do you think Mrs. Rabbit’s reaction is reasonable or unreasonable? If you were a rabbit and opened the door to a bear, what do you think your reaction would be?

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Birthdays, Chickens, and Writing Fun!

by Laura Gehl

I Got A Chicken For My Birthday, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Sarah Horne, is about a little girl who wants tickets to the amusement park…but receives a chicken instead.

After you read I Got A Chicken For My Birthday to your students, you can use the story as a writing prompt in the classroom. Here are some suggestions to get kids writing:

1) In this book, the chicken builds Ana an amusement park in her back yard. If you received a magical engineering chicken for your birthday, what would you want your chicken to build for you? Describe the creation you would wish for.

2) Ana has a special relationship with her grandmother, Abuela Lola. Think of a member of your family, or a neighbor or family friend, who is special to you. Write about that person and why you feel close to him or her.

3) At first, Ana is disappointed that she received a chicken instead of tickets to the amusement park. Have you ever received a gift that you weren’t expecting or didn’t want? What was it? What did you want instead?

4) The chicken gives Ana a list of items needed for building the amusement park. The list has both practical items and silly items. Make up your own list of supplies for building an amusement park. What would you include on your list?

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Pillows, Dogs, and Writing Fun

by Laura Gehl

My Pillow Keeps Moving, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Christopher Weyant, is the story of a lonely man who tries to buy a pillow and accidentally buys a dog—who becomes his new best friend.

After you read My Pillow Keeps Moving out loud to your students, you can use the story as a fun writing prompt. Try these suggestions for getting your students writing:

1) In this story, a man walks into a pillow store and accidentally buys a dog. Write your own story using this formula:

? walks into a store to buy ? and accidentally buys ?

Replace the first question mark with a character, the second question mark with an item you might buy in a store, and the third question mark with an animal.

2) The man in the story starts out with no pets and ends up with two. Do you have a pet? Do you wish you had a pet? What pet would you like to have, and why? You can even write about an imaginary creature you would love to have as a pet, like a unicorn or a dragon!

3) This book has a lot of pages without text, where the story is told only through pictures. Choose one of those pages and imagine that you need to describe what is happening to someone who cannot see the illustration. Use words to tell that part of the story.

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Earth's Point of View

by Laura Gehl

Get your class thinking about writing fun, humorous nonfiction with Stacy McAnulty’s Earth: My First 4.54 Billion Years (illustrated by David Litchfield).

After you read Earth out loud, here are some ideas for getting your students writing:

1)    Earth is written in first person, from Earth’s point of view. Think of an object in your classroom. Write about the school day from the point of view of that object. Make sure to show your object’s personality in your writing…is the object shy? A know-it-all? Silly? Vain?

2)    Earth tells the life story of our planet. Whose life story would you like to tell? Pick a person, object, or animal in your life, and write a short autobiography. (Hint: before you start writing, you will need to decide what are the most important events and details to share…you can’t include everything, or your story will be too long and boring!)

3)    At the end of the book Earth, author Stacy McAnulty has a funny note addressed to an “alien visitor.” What if an alien visited Earth and it was YOUR job to teach that alien everything important about our planet? Write a speech, make a pamphlet or poster, draw a cartoon…use your creativity to show what facts you would tell the alien visitor about Earth, and how you would make those facts seem interesting to your audience!

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I'm Not Taking a Bath

by Laura Gehl

In Peep and Egg’s third adventure, Peep And Egg: I’m Not Taking A Bath, Egg gets muddy playing with the pigs. Peep tries to convince Egg to take a bath…but Egg is not taking a bath. No way, no how!

After you read Peep And Egg: I’m Not Taking A Bath out loud to your class, try these activities to get your students writing.

1. Persuasive Writing

Peep tries to convince Egg to take a bath by suggesting different alternatives, such as going to the river, or the duck pond, or the dog bowl.

Write a letter to Egg. In your letter, try to convince Egg to try something new. It could be anything! Maybe you think Egg should go on a roller coaster. Maybe you think Egg should try your favorite video game. In your letter, give at least three reasons to convince Egg.

2. Excuses, excuses!

Peep gives a lot of reasons why taking a bath is not happening—too wet, too bubbly, too slobbery!

Imagine a family member is telling you to clean your room. Make up a list of excuses to show why you can’t possibly clean your room.

3. Make it fun!

Peep finally convinces Egg to take a bath by making bath time seem like a lot of fun.

Imagine it is your job to take out the trash or sweep the floor, but you don’t want to do it. How could you convince a brother, sister, cousin, or friend to do the job instead, by making the job seem super fun? Think of a game to make taking out the trash or sweeping the floor seem as fun as going to Disneyworld!

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Rock, Paper, Scissors!

by Laura Gehl

The Legend Of Rock Paper Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex, is a great book to spark writing in your classroom.

Just in case you have any students who don’t know the game “Rock Paper Scissors,” you can start off by explaining the rules. Then you can let kids practice playing the game in pairs.

After you explain and play the game, have fun reading the book out loud to your class.

Once you have finished the book, here are some related ideas to get kids writing!

1.    There are some funny battles in this book, such as Paper versus. Half-Eaten Bag of Trail Mix and Scissors versus Dinosaur-Shaped Chicken Nuggets. Can you think of some other battles between regular objects that might be found in your home? Write out a battle scene between two of those everyday objects. Use dialogue! See if you can think of funny-but-not-too-mean insults to use, like those in the book (“Giant box monster” “tacky and vaguely round monstrosity” “weird scissory one”).

2.    There are humorous locations in this book, such as the “Kingdom of backyard” and the “tiny village of Junk Drawer.” What funny names can you make up for other locations in your home, school, or neighborhood? Write a story that takes place in at least one of those locations.

3.    An important theme in this book is that Rock, Paper, and Scissors are used to winning all the time…but they don’t like it. All three of these characters wish for well-matched opponents. Think about your own life. Do you agree that it is more fun to play a game if there is a chance you will lose? Have you ever been on a team that won every single game, all season? Did you like it or not? Do you have a younger sibling who you can always beat at every game? Is it still fun to play? Write a paragraph explaining whether you agree with Rock, Paper, and Scissors that playing games is most fun when you have an evenly-matched rival.

After you complete the writing activities, you might enjoy a fast-paced classroom battle of “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” Here’s what to do:

1)    Have students pair off (if you have an uneven number, you get to play too!).

2)    When one student wins against another student, the losing student instantly becomes part of the “squad” for the winner and starts chanting his or her name. “Emily! Emily! Emily!”

3)    When two winners play against each other, the one who loses—and his or her squad—all start cheering for the winner. Now you have a bunch of kids chanting “Nico! Nico! Nico!”

4)    Continue until only two students are left, with everyone else cheering for one or the other.

5)    One student becomes the class champion, with everyone chanting his or her name at once!  “ASHA! ASHA! ASHA!” Hooray!

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Family Chores, Siblings, and Writing Fun

by Laura Gehl

My new book, Koala Challah, illustrated by Maria Mola, is about three sisters. The older two sisters have important jobs to help their family get ready for the holiday of Shabbat—the Jewish day of rest, which occurs each week and is a special time to enjoy being with family. Lila, the youngest sister, wants to help too. But every time Lila tries to help, she ends up making a gigantic mess!

This book can be used in the classroom to encourage your students to reflect and write.

After reading Koala Challah out loud, here are some activities to try:

1)    What jobs do you do every week, or every month, to help your family? Do you put away dishes? Feed pets? Take out the trash? Are there any jobs you would like to try? Have you ever tried to help out your family and then ended up causing more problems, like Lila?

2)    Lila is the youngest of three siblings. Do you have any siblings? If you have older siblings, are you jealous of how much they get to do, like Lila is in the book? If you have younger siblings, do you see them trying to copy you, like Lila does in the book? If you don’t have any siblings, how do you think that changes the way your parents treat you? Do your parents expect you to do more to help out, because you are the only kid? Do they play with you a lot, since you don’t have siblings to play with, or do they expect you to read books and find other ways to play independently?

3)    In Koala Challah, Lila shows a lot of persistence. She keeps trying to find a job to help her family. And after she settles on a job—baking challah—she keeps trying until she perfects her recipe. Can you think of a time you showed persistence in your own life? Did you keep trying and trying until you learned how to do the monkey bars on the playground? Did you keep working and working until you could shoot a basket, or solve a Rubix Cube? Write about a time you persisted until you accomplished your goal, or write about a goal you have and how you plan to be persistent until you accomplish it.

4)    In Koala Challah, Lila is helping her family get ready for the holiday of Shabbat. What holidays or rituals do you celebrate with your family? What is your favorite type of family celebration? How does your family prepare for this holiday or celebration? Do you have any special job to help your family get ready?

5)    Koalas live in the wild in Australia. Where do other animals live in the wild? Pick an animal and research where that animal lives in the wild. Or pick a country that you are interested in and research which animals live in the wild in that country.

6)    Challah is a braided bread that Jewish families eat on Shabbat. What are special foods for your family? Do you ever help make those foods? Would you like to try?

If your school allows students to bring in homemade food, encourage them to help make foods that are special to their families and then bring those foods in to school to share! Have a tasting day! If your school does not allow homemade food, students could still help make special foods at home and then bring in pictures and/or recipes.

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7 ATE 9: THE UNTOLD STORY

by Laura Gehl

7 Ate 9: The Untold Story, written by Tara Lazar and illustrated by Ross MacDonald, is a clever mystery and a great book to read aloud in your classroom.

After you read 7 Ate 9 to your students, you can use it as a fun writing prompt for the classroom. Here are a few writing suggestions:

1) The author, Tara Lazar, took an old joke (“Why is 6 afraid of 7?” “Because 7 ate/8 9!”) and turned it into the plot of a book. Can you take a joke and turn it into a story? Use one of these jokes, or any other joke you like:

-“Why did the chicken cross the road?” “To get to the other side!”

-“How do you catch a fish without a fishing rod?” “You use your BEAR hands!”

-“What is it called when a cat wins a dog show?” “A CAT-astrophe!”

2) This book is positively FILLED with puns and plays on words.

Here are just a few:

-Private “I”

-I orders a slice of “pi”

-7 is described as “odd”

How many other puns and plays on words can you find in this book? Check the illustrations too! Make a list as a class.

3) 7 Ate 9 is a mystery story. Try writing your own mystery story. Before you start writing, organize your thoughts. How does the mystery begin? Is there a missing person or item? Who will solve the mystery in your story? What clues can you sprinkle into your story so that the mystery can be solved?

4) Ross MacDonald managed to draw numbers in a way that gives each one lots of personality. You try! Draw a number and give it hands, feet, and a face, like in the book. You can add clothes or any other touches you like. Now write a few sentences describing the personality of your number. What foods and activities does your number like? Dislike? Who are your number’s friends? Does your number have a pet?

5) Write your own ending to 7 Ate 9. Instead of 9 turning out to be 6, and 6 trying to frame 7…what else could happen? You decide! Think of a different solution to the mystery and write it down.

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Charlotte The Scientist

by Laura Gehl

Charlotte The Scientist Is Squished, by Camille Andros, illustrated by Brianne Farley, is a cute bunny story with adorable illustrations appropriate for very young kids.  But Charlotte The Scientist Is Squished is also way more than that.  Charlotte uses the scientific method in trying to solve problems, which provides a fun way to introduce the steps of the scientific method to elementary school students. Charlotte is also a strong, powerful girl who will remind kids of any age that girls can be scientists, mathematicians, or engineers…and that girls are problem-solvers in whatever careers they choose.

Charlotte The Scientist Is Squished makes an excellent writing prompt for the classroom.  After you read Charlotte out loud to your students, here are a few suggestions to get kids writing:

1) Scientists try to find the answers to important questions. If you were a scientist, what questions would YOU want to answer?

2) Do you ever feel squished at home, at school, on the bus, or in other parts of your life?  Write about when you feel squished. Or, if you never feel squished in real life, imagine when you might feel squished….when you and all your friends try to cram into a closet when you are playing hide and seek? When you and your eight dogs (remember…you are imagining this, so you can have as many dogs as you want!) try to fit in one sleeping bag on a camping trip?

3) Do you have anyplace in your life where you have your own space? Describe it. Or, design the perfect place where you could have your own space.  Would it be a private island? A treehouse? A boat?

4) Camille and Brianne are working on a sequel to Charlotte The Scientist is Squished.  If you were writing the next book about Charlotte, what would happen?  What discoveries might Charlotte make?  What problems might she try to solve?

5) What if you were illustrating the next Charlotte book…what changes would you make in the sequel?  Would you give Charlotte a new lab coat?  Different safety goggles? Cool earrings? Rubber boots? How would you make your pictures of Charlotte stand out?

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School's First Day of School

by Laura Gehl

School’s First Day of School, written by Adam Rex and illustrated by Christian Robinson, turns the typical “first day of school” story on its head.  After a new school is built, makes friends with the janitor, and gets used to a peaceful existence, the school hears some scary, unwelcome news: children are coming! 

School’s First Day of School will be a fun writing prompt to use in the classroom.  After you read the book aloud to your students, here are some activities to try:

1. In this book, the main character is a school.  If you were to write a story with an inanimate object as the main character, what object would you choose?  Why?  When you are choosing your object, think about what characteristics your inanimate object has that might be useful in the plot of your story.  For example, in School’s First Day of School, the school is able to squirt a boy from a water fountain, be embarrassed by setting off the fire alarm, and be hurt by a pushpin. 

2. What other books can you think of where the main character is an inanimate object?  Make a list as a class.

3. The school gradually warms up to the children, just as the little girl with freckles warms up to the school, and the book ends on a happy note.  What if you were to write a sequel to School’s First Day of School?  What would happen?  What new problems would arise, and how would they be solved?    

School’s First Day of School is funny, surprising, and heart-warming.  It is a story of adapting to change, and of realizing that the things we never wanted may be exactly the things we need the most.

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Writing with The Maple book series

by Laura Gehl

The Maple books by Lori Nichols feature Maple, a nature-loving, spirited little girl, and her younger sister Willow.  The series begins with Maple, followed by Maple and Willow Together, and then Maple and Willow Apart.

The Maple books make a great writing prompt for the classroom.  After you read the books aloud, here are a few ways to use this heart-filled trio of picture books with your students:

1)    Which of the three books in the Maple series is your favorite?  Why?

2)    Maple and Willow are both named after trees.  What if you had to pick a name for yourself that is the name of a tree, flower, bird, or rock?  What name would you pick?  Why?  

3)    In Maple and Willow Together, Maple and Willow have a huge fight that starts over something silly—whether to keep their dandelions or blow the seeds.  Write about a time you had a fight with a friend or family member over something silly.  How did you work things out in the end?

4)    In Maple and Willow Apart, Maple and Willow figure out a way to stay connected even when Maple is at school and Willow is at home: Maple carries an acorn from Willow with her to school.  Think about someone you love who lives in a different city or state—a grandparent, a cousin, or maybe a friend who has moved away.  How do you stay connected to this person when you can’t be in the same place?

The Maple books are about sisters, but they resonate with every reader, whether the child has a sister or not.  This is because these books touch on essential truths of every relationship, showing how our important relationships grow and change over time, that there are always bumps along the way, and that we can find ways to stay close to people we love even when we can’t be with them all the time.

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Tell Me a Tattoo Story

by Laura Gehl

Tell Me a Tattoo Story, by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, features a young boy who learns about his father’s life through the stories behind each of his father’s tattoos.

The We Need Diverse Books campaign has raised awareness about the importance of kids seeing themselves, and their families, in books.  While we may first think about racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity, there are other types of diversity too.  Many students in your class may have parents who have tattoos, and this book celebrates those parents in a beautiful way.

Tell Me a Tattoo Story makes an excellent writing prompt for your classroom.  After you read the book aloud, here are a few ways to use this picture book with your students:

1.    Ask each student to draw a tattoo.  It can be simple—like a cat, or a single word—or more complicated.  On a separate piece of paper, ask students to write down the story behind their tattoos.  Whose tattoo is it?  And why did the person decide to get that tattoo?  Perhaps it is the story of how a lonely man found a cat and adopted it, and then got a tattoo to show his love for his pet.  Or perhaps it is the story of a little girl who desperately wanted a pet cat but could never have one due to allergies…so she got a cat tattoo when she grew up.

2.    After each student completes his or her own tattoo story, collect the tattoo drawings, shuffle them, and give each student a new drawing to think about. Ask students to make up stories behind the unfamiliar tattoos that they have received.  When all students are finished, you may wish to hold up a picture of a tattoo and have both students who wrote about that tattoo (the original artist and the second recipient) share their stories, then discuss similarities and differences.

3.    The father’s tattoos in this book are his way of telling his life story.  What are other creative ways that a parent could tell his or her life story to a son or daughter?  Make a list individually or as a class.

4.    Ask each student to think of an important event in his or her own life.  What tattoo would be appropriate to represent that event?   

5.    Would your students want to get a tattoo if their parents permitted it?  Why or why not?   

  

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Peep and Egg: I'm Not Trick or Treating

by Laura Gehl

My newest picture book with illustrator Joyce Wan, Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating, is the second book in the Peep and Egg series. Unlike Peep and the other farm animals, poor Egg isn’t excited about Halloween. Egg is terrified of witches, mummies, and vampires; there is absolutely NO WAY that Egg is going trick or treating!

Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating can be a fun writing prompt in your classroom.  After you read the book aloud, here are a few ideas to try with your students:

1)    Peep and Egg wear coordinated Halloween costumes. Peep is a butterfly, while Egg is a caterpillar. Challenge your students to make a list of other coordinated Halloween costumes that would be fun for siblings or friends to wear. Some possibilities include salt and pepper, ketchup and mustard, or milk and cookie.  For an extra challenge, see if students can come up with ideas that work especially well for an older sibling and a younger sibling, the way a butterfly and a caterpillar work for Peep and Egg.  A seed and a flower, a tadpole and a frog…how many examples can your students think of?

2)    Peep tells Egg Halloween jokes to help Egg feel less scared. What other strategies can your students think of for helping a friend or younger sibling who finds Halloween frightening?

3)    As a class, brainstorm a list of “scary” Halloween characters—monsters, zombies, etc. Then work with your students to make each character less scary by adding nontraditional traits. How about a monster who loves to sing songs from Disney movies, or a zombie who wears a rainbow bikini? 

4)    For many kids, the best part of trick or treating is the CANDY.  Ask your students to invent their own Best Halloween Candy Ever.  Would it be a dark chocolate bar studded with white chocolate chips in the shape of a skull? Or a lollipop that looks like an eyeball, with an oozing red center that tastes like cherry cola?  Anything goes!

5)    Even though many kids find trick or treating fun, there are plenty of kids who are scared by Halloween in general and trick or treating in particular. Can your students make a list of other activities that are fun for some kids but scary for others? Rock climbing? Horseback riding? Ziplining?

Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating reinforces the message introduced in Peep and Egg: I’m Not Hatching…that sometimes all we need to overcome our fears is someone we love by our side.  Happy early Halloween!

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MAGICAL HAPPENINGS IN A NIGHT GARDEN

by Laura Gehl

The Night Gardener, by Terry and Eric Fan, is the story of a town where something magical is happening.  Each night, a mysterious Night Gardener trims a tree into a wondrous creation—a cat, a bunny, a dragon.  And then one extra special night, a little boy named William is invited to help!

The Night Gardener makes an excellent writing prompt for the classroom.  After you read the book aloud, here are a few ways to use this beautiful picture book with your students:

1)    What if each student in your class had the chance to become a night gardener?  Challenge students to make a list of the tree creations they would wish to produce. In the book, trees are trimmed into animal shapes, but your students need not limit themselves to animals.  What about a tree in the shape of a lollipop? A robot? A dress?

2)    In The Night Gardener, the townspeople are changed by the beauty that the Night Gardener brings. Ask your students, “Other than trimming trees into fantastic shapes, what are other ways that you could beautify your neighborhood in the middle of the night?”  Students can write their own ideas, which might range from picking up trash to painting happy faces on parking meters to planting flowers in vacant lots.

3)    This book is written by two brothers.  Ask your students to think about whether it would be easy or hard to work with a family member—a sibling, parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin—to create a book, a painting, or another type of work of art. Ask each student to write about which family member he or she would like to collaborate with, and why.

4)     Give students the chance to look closely at the illustrations in the book, and specifically at all of the townspeople. Do your students see people of varying races or ethnicities? Ask each student to write about why including diverse characters in picture books is important.

The Night Gardener reminds us that small actions can have big consequences, and that it only takes one person to change an entire town forever. Each one of your students can make a positive difference too!

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