Kelly Barnhill’s atmospheric novel The Girl Who Drank the Moon won this year’s Newbery Medal. In an interview with the KidsPost section of the Washington Post, Barnhill talks about trying to create nuanced characters and her desire for a
pet dragon as a kid.
Below are writing lessons for the classroom or for
individual writers ages 8 and up.
Barnhill’s website has a hilarious FAQ about her writing process and information on her other
books.
CREATING
CHARACTERS: Exploring Stereotype: Barnhill’s novel is full of witches, who are
usually presented as problematic in most books. Witches often are the villains
or antagonists in fairy tales, for example.
Barnhill said that she wanted to push beyond the usual stereotype of the
witch as mean (even evil), old, homely, and solitary. Her witch characters are unique individuals,
with a mix of positive and negative traits.
Classroom Discussion: Have kids read the novel and make a list of
the positive and negative traits for some of the witches.
Classroom Discussion
and Writing: Have students think
about a character in a fairy tale or story that is usually presented in a
stereotyped way. The wolf in “The Three
Little Pigs” or “Little Red Riding Hood,” is an example of a character that is
usually presented only with negative traits.
The princess (“Cinderella,” “Snow White”) is usually presented with only
positive traits. Ask students to read
their fairy tale carefully and list traits of this character or what they learn
about the character from this tale. Then
ask them to give this character 1 or 2 traits that are the opposite of what
they listed. For example, the wolf might
be listed as “nurturing” or Cinderella as “lazy.” Ask students to write a story or even just a
short scene to show this character with at least one positive and one negative
trait.
An Unexpected
Character: We usually think of
dragons as large fierce characters but the young witch’s pet in Barnhill’s
novel is a tiny bossy dragon. Classroom
Discussion: Ask kids to list some the
physical and psychological traits of one of their favorite animals. Then ask them to change one or two of the
traits to its opposite (for example, from “big” to “small” of from “cuddly” to
“fierce”), and in this way the character becomes fresh and unexpected.
Classroom Writing: Ask
students to create a story about or that includes such an unexpected pet. Perhaps the unexpected pet is even the main
character! What happens next?
Ask a few students to volunteer to read their pieces
aloud. As a group, discuss what they
learned about creating more nuanced or well-rounded characters and unexpected
pets.
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