Goldie and the Three Hares

GoldieandtheThreeHaresThe Hare family is having dinner when Goldilocks, fleeing from the three bears, falls down the hole. Having hurt her foot, she remains as a guest, but is a terrible one. How can the Hare family get rid of her?

Margie Palatini, Harper Collins, ©2011, 978-0-06-125314-0

Houseguest Manners

Goldilocks is a living example of absolutely terrible houseguest manners. They are so bad, that students should be able to construct a “good house guest manners list” that consists of mainly doing the opposite of what she does. Challenge them in small groups to come up with a list of 10 Great House Guest rules. (They shouldn’t forget bringing a gift for the host/hostess and sending a thank you note.)

The Trailer

The trailer for this book is really a trailer, that is, it summarizes her departure from the three bears and then proceeds to describe how she is the “houseguest who won’t leave.” It’s clever and fun.

Personal Writing (Extreme Writing)

Some topics for personal writing might be:

  • Stories about sleepovers and other times I was a houseguest. (At Grandmother’s? Or a sleepover?)
  • Stories about injuries I have suffered in my life.
  • House rules: If you were going to write them down, what are the house rules for your house?
    • No shoes on the furniture.
    • Brush your teeth before sleep.
    • Make your bed?
    • Say grace?
    • Do the dishes? etc.

For 9 creative writing ideas, click Goldie and the Three Hares to download.

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The Princess and the Pizza

ThePrincessandthePizzaThe king has given up his kingdom and his daughter decides to try to marry Prince Drupert so she enters the competition for his hand. During the food portion of the competition she accidentally invents pizza and discovers that she would rather sell pizza than marry the prince.

Mary Jane and Herm Auch, Holiday House, © 2002, ISBN 0-8234-1683-6

Stories about Inventing

This story is about the invention of pizza and how it got its name. Students could be asked to write inventive stories of how ice-cream, sandwiches, Coca-Cola, and other common foods were invented got their names. These “how things came to be” stories have their roots in ancient Greek tales by Aesop, and extend to the 20th century tales of Paul Bunyan.

Genre Writing

There are several writing topics that rise naturally from this picture book. The topics could be done as Five Square Genre as well.

  • Write the essay: Why I Want to Have the Gracious and Exquisitely Beautiful Queen Zelda for my mother-in-law.
  • Write a letter from Queen Zelda to the princess asking Paulina to forgive all and getting permission to marry her dad.
  • Write a story of what happened to one of the other princesses on her way home.
  • Write a personal memory about a time when you were treated unfairly. (It doesn’t have to turn out well.)
  • Write a diary entry from Paulina about her new boyfriend who is the opposite in every way from Prince Drupert.

For 6 creative writing ideas, click The Princess and the Pizza to download.